Massive blood puddles surround me, depicting a sorrowful soul forced to gaze upon her own broken reflection. My failures. As tears fall free, something inside me snaps. Beneath a thick layer of warmness, something frigid crawls from the deepest part of my soul until I’m subsumed by rage.
I find this false Rosie eyeing me in wonder. Awaiting in a taunting manner. Good, because I’m done with running and being afraid.
Vexation takes root, and my entire body heats with conviction.That son of a bitch is going to die. Pushing through my stiffness, I rush in and thrust my blade, finding a home deep in its chest.
“Kyra, why?” the thing asks, using her voice in a dolent tone. For a moment, I settle, examining her features and noting a hint of pain furrowing her brows. My hands tremble with regret until a crooked smile tugs at her lips, and I remove the blade, striking again. The second thrust hits something, and it shrieks in agony.
Swinging for my head, I duck, pulling the blade free and slicing at its thigh. Another attack comes faster, and I’m barely able to evade, but my years of martial arts training won’t go unused despite how long its been—I’m glad muscle memory is a thing. I avoid the strike with a swift step back, pivoting and aiming for its ribs. I watch as my blade impales the demon, and its howl is bliss to my ears.
It retaliates, yet I’m quicker, twisting around and pulling the blade with me, creating a deep gash through its stomach towards its back. Relishing in another howl as it vanishes, I take pride knowingthe demon can be injured as I watch blackened blood drip from my blade.
Movement startles me, and I swivel, listening for any sudden sounds. As my peripheral catches the edge of its shadow, I’m knocked down by a blunt strike.
Pain consumes every inch of my body, but despite how much that fucking hurt, I’m still able to move. With my blade in hand, I know this fight isn’t over, so I roll as it prepares for another attack. Two whips aim for my body, but I’m back on my feet in a flash.
“If you think that’s enough to kill me, guess again,” I warn, taking one step closer, then another, until my strides increase. Each inhalation brings me closer to falling as my chest and shoulder warn against moving. But fuck that, and fuck him, her, or whatever the hell this demon is.
Another tentacle hurls my way, splitting in two, and I dodge the first with ease. The second one–not so much. It deeply grazes my leg but not enough to cease my movements. I strike again, taking my reward with a collision to its ribs, yet it doesn’t stop there.
I dodge and attack, using precise blows, but once again, the demon’s luck lands a hit. I’m tossed aside, banging my head against the ground, but this time, getting up isn’t so easy as something threatens to puncture my lungs.
Fuck. I think I broke a rib.Curling into a ball, I cope with the torment. The crunch of rustling grass alarms me, but I can’t move. Every twitch sparks more pain pinging between organs and bone.
“Your soul,” the demon states, announcing its presence. A shiver slides down my back, and my core demands that I rise, but tears haze my vision. This is unbearable. So was witnessing the couple’s demise and watching Jacob reduced to nothing. But seeing Rosie’s face is…soul shattering.
The blade lies beside me, and though I yearn for it, the slightest reach makes me want to implode.
Something thick wraps over my side, lifting me, and at the lastcall of will, my fingers glide across the blade, remembering my best friend’s words.“DESS. Don’t Ever Submit or Surrender.”
I’m turned around to face this ungodly thing head on, and it is expressionless. Just immoral and ominous eyes staring back.
“What did Rosie do to deserve this?” I ask, my lips quivering.
“Your smell. It clung to her.”
My smell?Sure, we’d been running through the haunted woods together, but how did…My jacket. She was cold, and I lent her my jacket.Which is the only reason I’m wearing hers. Mine was destroyed. This thought hits harder than any punch could. Because of me, she was killed.
“I’m so sorry, Rosie,” I speak before a numbing pressure strikes the right side of my chest. Blood races towards the ground, and I witness a tentacle piercing straight through me. Its leer holds nothing but death.
Pressure strikes again, and I choke. Another tentacle finds its home beneath my broken rib. And hidden within the trees, silently watching, is the same pinkish glow.I hate…those fucking…eyes.Blood spurts across my puffy lips as a cough bubbles up, and a foul taste lingers in my mouth.
My weighted lids close, granting me a reprieve of darkness, and they say your life flashes before your eyes when facing death. I disagree. There’s no sense of things I wish I’d done. Just an empty void and a fleeting promise for her revenge.
An overwhelming revenge.
If I’m to die, then thisthingcomes with me. To leave it in this world after taking everything from me,no. I won’t let that happen. If not now, I’ll get to that bitch Death in the next life.
With valiant strength, I plunge my blade. It pierces the demon’s chest, forcing a dreadful shriek to chase after the darkened blood flying from its mouth. Time doesn’t permit it to dodge my attack. I nudge the blade deeper as heat weaves through my stained fingers, and a smile raises my cheeks while it bellows.
“Fuck you,” I spit. Holding my knife with slickened hands, Istrike its chest repeatedly, continuing at its frame for as long as I draw breath. Another tentacle enters me, but that doesn’t relax my movements. One of us is leaving first, and it won’t be me.
More attacks enter my body, and finally, my arm falls limp. We both hit the ground as its tentacles remain plunged through me. I wanted to watch the life drain from its eyes, yet Rosie stares back.
“Kyra–” she coughs, and tears wet both our cheeks.
I spurt the warm liquid draining from my lips. “I’m so sorry for all of this.” I lost my best friend weeks ago, and though this thing wore her face to spite me, that doesn’t negate what I’m feeling now.
We hold this moment as silence caresses us.
