Half Dead

Chapter ten

      Kay and I actually ended up seeing each other. The first week was more a friendship, haha-we-were-drunk-and-now-unsure type of thing, but by the third Kay really wanted to take things to relationship standards. At first I wasn't comfortable with kissing someone, let along hugging, but Kay got that out of me too.

      Kay and I spent a lot of time together. We went to movies, out to eat, shopping, and tons more together. Gretchen seemed to disapprove of the relationship. He claims Kay isn't a good person and he's not right for me.

      "He's just jealous." Kay would say. He would tell me all the time how no one could have me because I was all his. He would say nice things to me and always be there for me. We rarely fought, and I had stopped drinking as much. I felt so much happier around him. and completely forgot about the whole shadow-demon thing. I never used it, and never had a reason to. I felt like myself and Kay made me feel special. We were together for about six months, and everything felt like right out of a movie; perfect and realistic.

      Too bad reality is a bitch. Four months in he began drinking. A shit ton. He would cancel plans to hang out saying he forgot he told the guys he'd meet them at a bar, or told me he had something pop up last second. When I was at his house there would be empty beer bottles lying around. Even for someone like me who lives and breathes off alcohol, it was concerning. If I ever tried to talk to him about it, he'd get mad and tell me he was just living life the way he wanted to. Sometimes he'd get a little physical with me when he was drunk, but he'd tell me it wasn't him doing it and he loved me.
      Kay and I started hanging out less and less, which was weird considering he used to always have something in mind to do. Our texts became less frequent and less was said. I was left to believe he was going through a depressed time, because when I have a depressive episode I resort to drinking. I thought the only way to help him was to just be there beside him, supporting him. I cared about him so much, so I wanted to do everything I could for him.

      I decided to go to his house one Friday to surprise visit him, considering he'd be off work soon and he wouldn't be expecting it. I love him so much, and I wanted to show him that. I drove my car to his house and I got out, walking up his driveway and to the door. The door was unlocked, which was odd. Maybe he just forgot to lock it. I shrugged it off and walked inside.
     I walked through the living room and into the kitchen. There were empty bottles everywhere. I figured I'd just wait in his room for him, so I began walking back towards his bedroom. I opened the door and there he was...
screwing.
some.
red.
headed.
slut.
      They both froze. "Fuck." Kay mumbled. I didn't even give him time to say anything else, because I turned around and quickly walked away. I walked calmly out of the house and to my car, where the calmness turned into anger and heartbreak. I punched my dashboard angrily. I began to cry as I drove away. This is the first time I've cried since I first saw my dead body. I sped home and stormed in, slamming the door behind me. My phone rang, Kay's number popping up on the screen. I pressed decline and threw my phone onto the couch. I sat down on the couch and screamed and cried into a pillow.
      Five minutes passed and there was a knock at the door. I stupidly went to answer it, and who else was it but Kay.
      "Get off my front porch." I growled at him, sniffing from crying.
      "Shadow, listen-" He said, putting his hands up in defense. I cut him off before he could continue.
      "No! You listen!" I yelled. "How could you do that to me?!" I pointed my finger in his face.
      "Shadow stop being so dramatic!" He scowled.
      "You're drunk! You're a cheater! A liar!" I yelled at him.
      "Shut up!" He shoved me backwards. He stepped inside the house and up to me. "Don't you speak to me that way." He growled in my face.
      "Go to hell." I spat in his face. He slapped me red hot across my cheek. My jaw dropped.
      "You stupid bitch." He mumbled at me. I stood up and punched him square in the jaw. That really lit the flame in his eyes. He turned around and grabbed me by my throat, a bruise definitely forming. I gasped for breath, hoping what would happen next wouldn't happen.
      The familiar flame started inside me, and I turned into the purple demon I despised, my claws digging into his arms as my tail swung limply under me.
      "What the hell?!" Kay yelled, dropping me and stepping back. "What the fuck are you?" He fell to the floor and backed up against the wall. I moved closer to him, so he could get a real look at what I was. "Back away from me you ugly fucking monster!" He held his hands in front of his eyes.
     I was so angry at this man right now that I wanted to just shoot him. I felt a warm, burning feeling start to form in between my left hand. I looked down at it and from the shadows of my hand, a gun began to take form. I would've taken a minute to admire how I just caused an object to form from whatever I'm made out of, but I was too busy being filled with rage for that.
      I shifted myself back into my normal human body and raised the gun.
      "Wha- Shadow! Are you fucking insane? Somebody hel-"
      He was cut off by a bullet flying right through his skull. And a second. And a third. I walked over to his body slowly, bending down as I reached him.
      He coughed up one last choke of blood. I smiled, lifting his head up forcefully by his hair. "Look who's the ugly one now." I said. I spat on him and stood upright, his head falling limply against his collarbone. I placed the gun onto the coffee table and then realized what had just happened. I just killed a man. I fell back onto the arm of the couch, my hand on my forehead. I had no idea what to do about the situation. At first I thought of telling the cops he was an intruder, but then I realized I could just dispose of it. I had not that many options, but I needed to find a way quick before someone found out. I picked him up, bridal style, considering that was all I was really strong enough to do. I kicked the front door back open and I threw him into the back of my car and got in the drivers seat. I drove to the town dumpster and tossed his body inside, disgustingly looking at his cheating, lying face. I drove back to the house and cleaned up the blood on the wall.
      It was so funny how not once that entire time any of that felt wrong to me. It felt almost normal, like killing your parents is enough to make killing feel right. After I cleaned up the bits of blood on the wall, I looked down at my blood stained hands and sighed. I threw out the paper towels I used to clean and I walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of vodka. You'd think after what just happened I'd never want to touch alcohol again, but I needed to numb the pain of the awful emotions surging through me.
      I walked up the steps with my head down, almost running into Vladamir, who had his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised.
      "So, tell what happened." He said. It scared me and I jumped down a step. Shit! I'd forgotten he had nothing to do during the week days, and since it was thursday, he was the only one home.
      "I, uh-" I said, looking around.
      "He deserve what he got." Vladamir said. "I am on your side, but explain why did it. I only know up until when came home." He explained.
      "Come with me and I will." He followed me to my room and I sat on my bed, him joining me. "I found him cheating on me. He followed me to my house after I left and he's been so drunk lately and he shoved me and-" I choked on a sob, not being able to hold it back.
      Vladamir hugged me from the side. "It is alright dear Shadow. He was bad man. He did not ever deserve you, I could tell." He sighed.
      "I wanted to believe he did." I said quietly.
      "I know, we all do. We help get you over heartbreak. What matters, is how do feel after killing boy?" Vladamir asked, looking at me seriously.
      "I, uh, fine?" I said. I truly didn't feel anything from killing Kay. All I could feel was the feeling of heartbreak. I was miserable.
      "Mm. I see. I had big feeling you were not done killing after parents." Vladamir said.
      I looked up at him. "You did?"
      "Da. Shadow, you have lot of anger to take out. You seem to just take out differently." He shrugged.
      "Why are you so calm about this?" I asked, surprised.
      "Silly Shadow, I was military leader. I have killed many." He said, chuckling.
      "Right." I was glad this was how Vladamir was acting. For once, I felt like a stern, straightforward conversation was what I needed to process things. If someone handled it with panic, concern or with trying to comfort me by telling me everything will be okay, I would've taken things a lot worse, but all I could feel was a numb feeling with a dash of straight up pain.
      "I will keep secret, do not worry." Vladamir smiled at me lightly.
      "Thank you, Vlad." I said. He nodded and sighed. "You are sometimes just like father. You do not hesitate to pull a trigger." Vladamir said.
      "Did my father kill people other than me?" I stood up off the bed.
      "Da, many." He had a flare in his eyes. I could tell he hated my father, and regretted ever trusting him.
"Hey Vladamir?" I looked him dead in the eye.
He turned to look at me. "Mmh?"
"What happens if I get a liking to killing?" I asked.
"Well, likely will. If you do, all I say is not get caught." He said, winking at me.
Holy shit. I think Vladamir is by far one of the coolest people I know.
"Thanks a ton Vladamir. I'm so glad you were home and Gretchen or Lucifire weren't. Lucifire would've called the cops." I chuckled guiltily.
"She could try." He said.
"What do you mean try?" I asked.
"Shadow, you are dead. You have no file of being real person. If Lucifire reports you, cops no find you. Plus, fingertips could not be traced. You have not real human body." He stated, like all this was common knowledge.
"Shit!" I laughed. "I didn't even think about that until now!" I smiled, feeling a little better.
"Don't let get to head. If they catched you, science could take back what it made." He looked at me seriously.
"Yeah, I suppose that's right." I nodded. "Hah it's good you know all this."
"I also am very interested in your ability." He glanced at me from the side. "I just find very interesting." He must have seen the confused look on my face, because he put his hands up. "No, no, I not make it sound like I will test you! My apologies."
"Hah, sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like I was worried about that. Just, last time someone said that it was my dad and then he got me killed." I chuckled.
"I will no longer use sentence, sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"No, don't be. I should drop it anyways it's not like I'd let anyone do that ever again." I said. He smiled awkwardly and nodded.
We heard the front door open, and Gretchen called if anyone was home.
"Well, lets go see what he wants, shall we?" I asked.
"Mm, da." We left the room and went downstairs, where Gretchen saw both of us.
"Hey guys." Gretchen set his keys down on the coffee table and half smiled.
"Hi Gretch." I said, smiling at him, which made him double take it.
"Someone's in a good mood. Did Kay do something nice for once?" Gretchen asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Actually, I broke up with Kay." I said flatly.
Gretchen whipped around with a look of shock on his face. "Actually? But.. I thought you two loved each other?"
"He cheated on me." I said flatly.
Gretchen dropped his school bag and walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. I hugged back. I wished I could've cried, because it would've felt nice to, but I didn't feel like I had the emotions in me to do so. I could feel my trust issues growing, and my emotions dying.
"Shay... I'm so sorry.." He said into my shoulder, still hugging me tightly.
"It's fine. You were right, he wasn't the one for me." I chuckled sadly.
He pulled away from the hug to face me. "You were always better than him, it wasn't your fault. He probably knew that too." Gretchen said, moving a strand of hair out of my face.
"Thanks." I smiled warmly at him. He backed away from me and picked back up his bag.
"If it'll make you feel better, I found your favorite movie on tv and we can watch it tonight." Gretchen smiled at me, turning his head to face me.
"That would be nice." I said, nodding. Thank satan people like Gretchen exist, because he always knows how to make me feel better.