Juvenile Heart

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Another Death

          My ears were still ringing when my eye sight focused back on reality.  Everything around me was complete chaos and I was standing in the middle of it.  For some reason, the world seemed to be moving in slow motion. 

          Then, a familiar voice called out to me. 

           "Fuck . . .  Shit, Ivy.  We've got to go!"  I heard Brian said from next to me as I stared into Chris' wide eyes and the blood spilling from his mouth.  All I felt was my mind being pulled into the dark abyss as the memory of Damon's death flooded back to my mind. 

          "Pity," Yvonne said, turning the gun toward me. 

          That was it; that was all it took.  My rage was released and I kicked the gun out of Brock's hand, lunging for Yvonne the second he scrambled to the ground.  I tackled her to the dirt, gripped tightly onto her hair and began beating her into the rocks.  Her body grew weak before going completely limp under me.  Brock ripped me off of her in no time at all, but he was too late to save her. 

          After I fell to the ground, I saw what I'd done.  Yvonne's head was now a bludgeoned pulp – she was dead, no doubt.  There was blood all over my hands and I took my chance to run.  Scrambling to my feet, I took off in the other direction of them, making twists and turns in the woods so Brock couldn't follow me. 

          His cries echoed in my ears even after I was out of hearing distance of his coherent words and screams.  Tears flooded down my face as I fully realized what I'd just done. 

          "Ivy?"  I heard in my ear as someone shook me.

          My body felt trapped; something was still pulling me into the darkness and I couldn't shake it.  It was almost as if there were chains holding me down.  They were mentally locking me in a cage and I felt as if there was no escape. 

          "Ivy . . .  God damnit, open your eyes!"

          Obliging, I opened my eyes to see we were parked in front of the Howard's house and Brian was pushing Jason and the others into the house.  Shaking me again, I looked up into a set of brown pools as the tears slipped from my eyes. 

          "I can't deal with any more deaths, Asher . . . "  I whispered as he carried me into the house.  Nodding, he laid me down on the couch and I closed my eyes, not being able to erase the flashing images and blood all over. 

          Chris' face flooded back to my mind, his brown irises filling with his black pupil as he faded into the darkness and the blood pooled out of his mouth.  Then, without warning, the image of Damon's dead and unmoving body wafted through before Yvonne's bludgeoned head.  Then my mother as she fell to the floor with a small bullet hole in her forehead and finally, the worst image of them all . . .

          Brecken's broken and bloody body was in front of me on the kitchen floor, again.  The stab wounds all over his body were seeping with blood and his eyes blinked one last time before he took his last breath. 

          "No!"  I screamed and pounded my fists into the sides of my head.

          "No, no . . .  No, no . . .  No no no!"  My screaming escalated and I felt someone grip my face and turn my head forward to face theirs.  My eyes remained closed until someone shook me roughly, again. 

          Opening them, I saw Asher sitting in front of me, tears welling up in his brown pools.  His lips parted and whispered something, but I didn't hear it.  All I heard were Brecken's screams and cries and I couldn't get to him.