Salvation : Book 3

CHAPTER 8 : Dead Man Walking

I was on the ground, my feet brought up to my chest; my arms were wrapped around my knees and my head rested on top of them. I hummed a lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was younger, as I tried very hard to keep my mind away from the screams coming from the next room. 

     "Come join me, little bird," Ashon called for me, I ignored him, humming even louder. However, the screaming also got louder. 

     "You have to join me," he said as he appeared before me. I shook my head. 

     "I don't want to," I told him. 

     "You have to. You're one of us, you have no choice," he reminded me. I looked up at him with moist eyes. His expression looked stern, the kind of look you'd see on a parent telling their child that they had no choice but to do their homework.

      He stretched out his hand, the one with the scalpel. The steel blade was stained with blood as I gawked at it. He wanted me to take it; he expected me to take it. I didn't want to do it. But I had to. He was right; I was one of them and that meant I had to behave like them. 

     I stumbled to my feet, my legs unwillingly moving towards Ashon. I took the scalpel from him,  before he led me into the next room. It was dimly lit, the fluorescent lights flickered, making it harder to make anything out in the room. The stench of blood was pungent and I grimace the moment I got a whiff of it. Someone was breathing heavily, panting for air as if they were injured. 

       The lights flicked on long enough for me to make out a figure curled up in one of the corners of the room. Ashon stirred me in the direction of the figure. She had long dark hair, her tanned skin was caked in dirt and blood. She trembled the closer I got to her. 

      "Get away from me," she snapped as I stretched my hand out, it trembled as well. I recognized the voice immediately. But I needed to be sure. 

      "Paige?" I asked taking a wary step towards her. She looked up at me, her chocolate brown eyes meeting my grey ones. Her eyes were filled with fear, something I'd never seen touch her before.  

       "Marcus," she said, her voice hoarse from screaming so much. "You have to help me," she said crawling my way, grabbing hold of my shirt. "Please, he's going to kill me," she cried. Tears trailed down her cheeks like a river. 

        "I know," I told her, letting the scalpel slip from my hand. It clattered to the ground. "I'm so sorry Paige, I'm so sorry," I wept, kneeling before her. I took her into my arms. Holding her close. She felt so much smaller, so much more fragile. This wasn't right. Paige was one of the most fierce people I knew. She wasn't supposed to be this, she wasn't supposed to be afraid of the monsters. She was supposed to kill them. 

       She was supposed to kill them all. All the monsters including me. I reached for the scalpel which laid beside me on the ground. "I'm sorry," I said, more tears filling my eyes before I plunged the blade into her neck. She gasped, her eyes widening in shock. She looked at me in disbelief. And I looked back at her with the same baffled expression. 

       "Why?" she choked out, as blood splattered out of her mouth. I looked at her, my mouth moving but no words were coming out. 

      Why? Why did I do it? 

      I didn't want to, I never wanted to. This wasn't me. I wasn't this. I'd never hurt anyone. I was good. I wasn't a monster, or at least I was trying to tell myself but how long could I lie to myself? How long could I deny what was right in front of me. I was a monster. Ashon was right.