Insane - Who Are You To Judge? (Gripping Psychological Thriller)

Avery

He lunges at me. I'm not prepared for it and I don't get out the way in time. The weight of his body throws me off balance and a burst of pain explodes across the back of my head as it hits the hard surface.

As he falls onto me, the blade grazes my shoulder. I yelp as the skin parts and the blood seeps out. The knife slips out of his hand and he straddles me, clasping his hands over my throat.

"You did this!" he spits at me. "You made me like this! Why did you do it? Why kill our parents then stay playing the grieving little daughter until your chance came to abandon me?"

Gasping for air that repels my throat, I faintly turn up my lip corners and through chokes, reply, "it would...ave...been..." I shriek for a fraction more oxygen. "Suspicious if I...not stay."

He screams into my face. Tightening his hands around my throat, he presses his thumbs into my trachea and my throat tries to cough, but it can't. I gasp for air but my lungs refuse to expand. My arms flail at my sides, smacking into him but having little effect. Every atom in my body shrieks, screaming at me to keep them alive. But I can't. I have no control.

My back arches up, trying to escape the pain.

A few moments later, my body's screams mute and my vision blurs with my eyes rolling back into the abyss.

I leapt up from the uncomfortable chair that was giving me pins and needles as soon as I caught sight of Mum. The nurse was pushing the wheelchair she rested in in my direction.

"Mum!" I ran up to hug her but was abruptly halted by my father blocking my path. I frowned at him.

"Careful, Ave. Don't hurt the baby," he warned as he removed his hand from my shoulder.

My heart was now in my throat, I was terrified of the little ball wrapped up in a blanket on Mum's lap.

"Ave," Mum whispered fragilely, "meet your little brother. James."

I smiled down at my new sibling and gently stroked his rosy cheek. He was so tiny, so frail. So vulnerable.

My parents saw a beaming child, ecstatic at the new family's new arrival.

Inside, I was raging.

Suddenly the pressure on my throat is gone and I gasp one last time. This time, my lungs fill up. I cough up the lack of air and choke on the oxygen entering my blood again.

Throwing myself up, I see Him with his foot flattening James's throat, the knife poised in his hand.

I stumble to my feet and while the oxygen is being pumped back into my brain, I throw my arms around Him, laying all my weight onto Him and lowering the hand with the knife in and taking it from Him.

"It's okay," I whisper and gently place my lips against his neck. "I'm fine." The sirens are near, now. "Let him go. He won't get far before they catch him, anyway."

His heavy breath gradually begins to calm. For a second, I see James's eyes wide as the pressure against his throat increases, but then he stomps his foot down beside James's head. James stares at me with wide eyes.

I crouch down to his level, smiling as I stare into his dilated eyes that are a reflection of my mother's. I then unbutton his shirt a few and yank the wire taped to his chest, before crushing the device beneath my shoe and saying, "run, run, as fast as you can, gingerbread man."

He wipes the tears from his face, throws himself up to his feet and without a second look, runs out of the house.

I turn to Him and he pulls me in. I give in to his warm embrace, treasuring it. I never thought I would be able to touch Him again.

"Avery, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I didn't know what I was doing." He cups my face and lifts it up so that my eyes are fixed on his. "But you know what? I don't regret it for a moment. Because if I hadn't agreed, I wouldn't have met you. I don't care about your secret, I know we can work through it. I love you."

I swallow down the tears but some of them sneak through and trickle down my face. I lean up on my tiptoes, wrap my arms around him and kiss him. My tears fall down onto our lips and I hold Him there for as long as I can. I don't ever want to let go. But forever has to end.

Pulling away from Him, I see the joy in his face and I trail my fingers along his cheek and jawline, memorising its shape. I drop my hands down from his neck but stay on my tiptoes so that my head is level with his. I then put my lips to his ear and whisper, "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

The blade meets his stomach.