Imagine A World (Luke Hemmings a.u.) [in editing]

29 Decisions

Luke's POV

Madeline is doubled over, covering her ears and she isn't responding to anything I say.

"Mad, what's wrong? Mad? MAD?!"

She runs out of the room, and strangely enough, Riley and I exchange worried looks.

"Well, don't just stand there, you idiot!" my cousin scolds me.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Go after her! What if she hurts herself? What...oh, you're an imbecile, come on."

Riley grabs my wrist and pulls me out of the kitchen, trying to follow Madeline's path. We hear sobbing from the bathroom, but the door is closed and locked.

"Mad? Mad? Are you in there? Open up, come on!" I call through the door.

"NO! LEAVE! GET AWAY FROM ME, I'M A MONSTER!"

I bite my lip, then sigh and reach up and grab the key that we keep between the ceiling tiles, unlocking the door and opening it. I feel queazy at the sight of my girlfriend.

Her arm is crimson and covered in blood. A strip of sharp metal clangs to the floor beside the toilet.

"The story...last night...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" I yell at her. She winces at the sound of my voice.

Riley disappears for a moment, then returns with a roll of paper towels. She kneels next to Madeline and gently places a bundle of them on the heavily flowing cuts. It comes off with difficulty, and it's completely soaked with the sticky red liquid. I can make out the numerous cuts on her arm now, and I wonder why I didn't notice the scars before.

"Luke, I-" Madeline's voice breaks, and I see tears in her eyes now.

"Why? Why, Mad? Why?" I whisper, kneeling down on the other side of her while Riley continues to tend to the wounds with more wads of paper towel.

"The voices...they came back...I just...I couldn't fight them this time, Luke. They were too strong," she squeaks, her voice hoarse but high.

"Where did you get it?" my cousin asks, her voice quiet.

"What?"

"The blade, where did you find it?" Riley raises her voice threateningly.

"I-I went to the guest room and-"

"What? Riley, you...you too?" I gasp, gaping at both of them. Riley nods very slowly, hiding her face behind her hair.

"The strip, it used to be red," she whispers. "I changed it to blue a while ago. A sad color. Depression. Before, it was red, to show I was doing this. No one noticed. I didn't stop cutting. See?"

She pushes back her large collection of bracelets to show the scars on her wrist, some of them looking very fresh indeed.

"I...both of you...promise me you won't. Ever again. This is horrible. I'm not Ashton, I can't draw a butterfly to make it better. I'll draw a tally mark. Every day. If either of you do this again, I will draw a tally mark on your wrist with a permanent marker, and I'll keep adding more and more until you stop. Got it?"

I look at both of them, and they each nod, Madeline wiping her eyes. Riley keeps her eyes on the wound she's tending.

I pick the blade up from the ground and drop it in the toilet.

"How many more?" I demand.

My cousin still refuses to look at me.

"I said: How many more??"