For The Best

Her eyes flickered open. They were still heavy with the intoxicating weight of sleep. Before she could wonder why she was awake the answer was already in the forefront of her mind.

She glanced over at the girl in her bed. Brite. Her love for this girl was the only reason that either of them were alive. This girl, she would die for a thousand times over. She'd sit in a chair, strapped to it with duct tape, Serpent standing over her, for a million years if it'd save Brite.

"She makes it all worth it," she told herself, now sitting on the edge of the bed. "If you just keep going on, she'll make it worthwhile."

She wanted so badly for those words to convince her. Maybe if they were coming from Brite, they would. But she couldn't bring herself to let her girlfriend know about anything. She desperately needed her to stay happy. She desperately needed her own advice to work.

She stood up from the bed, wincing as her scarred, bloody thighs pressed their wounds against each other.

It only got worse as she walked slowly and quietly into the master bathroom, inching the door shut and locking it.

She reached into the cabinet, already resigned to her fate.

"No! Please!!! Do you even know how much this will hurt Brite? She's gonna wake up in the morning, come into the bathroom, and her whole life will be completely fucked. The love of her life, lying on the ground, dead and gone. Without a chance to say goodbye. She'll have to call 911, sobbing with pure sorrow and confusion as she attempts to explain everything to the operator. Between the numbers and words of your address she'll break down completely,  letting the phone fall to the floor and just sobbing her throat raw for however long it takes the paramedics to show up. Do you know what that does to a person? Of course you do. You've watched your friends die. But this is different. You're the most important, beautiful, amazing person in the world to her. You're her joy. You are the reason she wakes up smiling. You are her only one. The connection you two share is beyond nature, beyond science. It's so deep. And she won't even know why you did it. At some point she'll blame herself, torturing her own mind with questions like 'Was I not good enough?' or 'Did she even love me?' DO YOU WANT TO DO THAT? TO HER??"

She sighed, realizing she was going to change her mind again. The fourth night in a row. She reached for the bathroom doorknob, to go back to her bed and fall asleep. But then she thought twice.

"I'm gonna have to explain this at SOME point, right? Somebody is going to trace the murder back to me and I'm going to have to explain myself. If they don't lock me up on the SPOT, she'll go to bed with me that night in pure terror. She's too innocent. She can't handle that. What kind of decision is that to force on a sweet girl like her?"

Scorpy stopped for a moment.

"Fuck it."

She turned the knob, returning to her bed. Sitting on the edge, she opened her nightstand drawer. By the barest moonlight, she could still see the outline. Next to her favorite "toy" was a pistol. She smiled lightly, amused by the juxtaposition.

She picked up the gun. It felt comfortable in the hand. This was the last time she would ever hold it. As a precaution, she took out the magazine to check that it was loaded.

Sixteen hollow point rounds.

She slid it back inside and cocked it, making sure to engage the safety.

She rolled onto the bed, sitting on her knees. With her unoccupied hand she jostled Brite's shoulder.

"Baby, wake up."

"Mm?" She immediately stirred. Scorpy quickly held the pistol behind her back.

"Sit up, baby, I have to tell you something. It's important."

Brite slowly rolled over and sat up, facing Scorpy. She rubbed her eyes, mumbling, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong. There's just something I really need you to know."

"Oh, good. I thought maybe you killed someone," Brite joked, giggling softly.

A huge shiver ran down Scorpy's back. Every fiber of her being had to muster the courage to keep herself together.

"No, I just... I know you know this, but... I love you. To the point where I'd do anything for you. I'd do the absolute worst to give you the absolute best. Like, I feel so happy every time I think about you. I love kissing you, I love cuddling you, I love talking to you, I love looking at you..."

She paused, tears in her eyes. She tried not to sound like she was choking back sobs. The lump in her throat made it difficult.

"Awee," Brite said softly.

"B- baby... can you turn around? A- and close your eyes?"

Brite hesitated, but she obeyed.

"What for?"

"I want you to imagine something. Close your eyes... imagine our wedding day. The happiest day of our lives, remember?"

Even from behind, she could see Brite's lips curling into a smile as she reminisced. Tears were flowing down her cheeks but she kept her voice steady. Slowly she raised the gun to Brite's head.

"And the day I proposed to you?"

"Mm-hmm," Scorpy replied. "As soon as you got down on your knee I knew what you were gonna say but I was still so happy when you actually said it... God, that was—"

She whimpered softly, quickly covering it up with a cough. She could hardly see anything past her tears now. She felt them dripping into her lap and onto the sheets.

"And when you put the ring on my hand and we kissed... And I smiled and I told you we would die together."

"I still think we will," Brite said. She hadn't picked up on anything yet.

"You're right, baby. We will."

And then, she pulled the trigger.