The Ace (Stray Kids Kim Seungmin)

34

"Harri… What have you done? What did they make you do?”

The older female glanced down at Mel, eyes trembling as tears threatened to escape. Her blood-covered hands clutched onto the handle of the shovel recording the events of the day in the wood.

Fear was evident in both their eyes and they were both quaking in terror. Staring at Harri, Mel felt her heart break. The organ shattered into a million pieces, disintegrating until there was nothing left of it. She could practically feel a sharp, cold blade being pushed into her back at an agonisingly slow rate, piercing her body and puncturing her liver as it slipped further and further in.

Watching the sixteen-year-old, Melody felt a lone, warm tear spill down her cheek, her throat tightening. The suffocating ache of betrayal got her gasping for air. Feeling as though her head was submerged in icy water, she felt her nose sting and attempted to scream only for it to come out inaudible. More tears joined the last one, cascading down her cheek as she broke down into choked sobs.

Harri swore she couldn't watch it. She swore she would rather kill herself than watch her Ace in this state. Gulping, she gripped the shovel tighter and shut her eyes, releasing a few tears. Her hands were clammy against the handle and wet with blood. Blood she chose to ignore, knowing dwelling on it would only kill her inside more.

"Harri..." Mel's voice cracked. "Please... This isn't you. Please don't..."

"Shut it! You don't know me! You haven't got a clue who I am! Even I don't know who I am!"

Melody sniffled, scrambling back in the shed as Harri approached.

"Where are they? What did you do to them, Harri? I know you didn't kill them. I know you don't have it in you. I know... I know you... You aren't that type... You aren't-"

"A murderer? Look at me, Melody. Look at my hands. I have gloves of blood. Look at my face. I have blood speckled all over my cheeks and forehead and chin and neck. Do you think this is my blood?"

"This isn't you!"

"This is exactly who I am! I did this because I wanted to, not because someone told me to! Do you want me to prove it? Do you want to know exactly what happened to the rest? I murdered them, Melody. I murdered them with my own bare hands! I heard their screams! I can still hear them in my head! They are echoing and circulating and haunting me every given second. And the way they looked at me, Melody, it's not something I will ever forget! The betrayal and fear and confusion, all of it! I saw it all! I killed them all! Bethany, Esther, Heidi, Lilly, Jia, Winter, Leigh and Kiara! I watched them all take their last breath! Don't you dare say you know me because you don't!"

"No!" Mel broke down, crying loudly as her face fell to the ground, lips kissing the dust-blanketed floor as tears raced down her face, mixing with snot and spit before dropping onto the floor. Her hand pressed against the left side of her chest, feeling as though her heart was being ripped out of her or stabbed by a thousand tiny swords. She didn't want to believe it, she refused to believe it. It couldn't be. "You're lying!" she wailed, her face red with mixed grieve and pain. "You're lying, Harri! Just say you're lying! Please... Please... Please tell me it's all a lie! Please..."

"I'm sorry, Mel," Harri sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

"Liar! You're a monster! You don't care about anyone but yourself! I hate you, Harri! I should have just killed you the first day I met you!"

Exhaling shakily, Harri felt a wave of regret course through her bones. Opening her eyes again, she managed to focus her gaze on Mel again.

"I'm sorry."

Holding the shovel up, she gulped, gaze meeting Mel's as she leaned her head against the wall in one of the corners of the shed.

"Don't do it, Harri. Please don't-"

Bang. Harri's eyes were squeezed shut. She couldn't bring herself to look at her Ace, to look at what she had just done to her. Breaking down, she dropped the shovel and fell to her knees as she balled at the sound of Mel's disoriented grunts.

"Hurry up in here. Just kill her already. We don't have time to waste," Hyunjin's voice was loud in Harri's ear. She heard him pick up the shovel and slowly make his way across the shed to Mel's dying body in the corner of the decaying shed.

"Save me, Harri," Melody whispered, tears slipping out her eyes as she begged the only person that had always been there for her.

Opening her eyes again, she avoided the younger girl's gaze as she picked up the shovel and gulped.

"Please save me..." she mumbled, barely able to speak as agony consumed her. Her head leaned against the wooden wall, completely unsupported and blood cascaded down her body and onto the wall and floor from the large cut on the side of her head. Even if she tried, Mel wouldn't survive. "Please save me, Harri. I don't want to die."

Bang.

Harri's whole body trembled, her lungs seemingly compressed as she stared down at her lifeless Ace. The thirteen-year-old's body leaned limply against the wall, blood painting it red. Her face was frozen in pain and even though she was dead, the lone tear that was in her eye before she had died, slipped down her face.

"Perfect," Hyunjin pat her back in congratulation. "Now, draw symbol I showed you. We need to let the creators know that it is finished."