Page 123 of Desecrated Saints
“They w-won’t let me live,” I choke out. “I’ve d-done too much. I’m going to prison.”
“You know we would never let that happen.”
“We’re both going down! We can’t win this!”
I’m growing even more hysterical, staring into his pained, caramel orbs looking down at me. I’ve spent so long trying to spark hope in Seven’s dead soul. I can’t find it in myself anymore. Every twisted, hateful taunt my hallucinations have thrown at me over the years is coming true.
“I w-won’t go back inside.” I gulp hard. “I’d rather die.”
“That’s not an option, Eight. You’re better than this.”
“Am I? You know what I’ve done! I should just get it over and done with.”
Gripping my chin, his forehead smacks straight into mine. Our souls are trapped together in an inescapable prison. I can smell the cigarettes and coffee on his breath, feel the palpable emotion crackling between us. The days we spent clinging to life are gone. Now, we’re waiting for death.
“If you need forgiveness, I’ll fucking give it to you,” Seven says fiercely. “You are forgiven, Patient Eight. The world broke us once. Don’t let it take our future too.”
“I can’t run… they’ll follow me. I don’t want to live in a world without you.”
“So what? You don’t live at all? That’s fucking bullshit, Eight!”
His face is carved in devilish fury, a tidal wave of anger simmering beneath the surface. When his hand latches around my wrist, it nearly grinds my bones together. I fight and writhe, but Seven won’t let me go.
“You want me to live for you? I expect the same goddamn thing,” he hisses.
“I… I c-can’t. Not like this.”
“I refuse to accept that.”
Dragged down the alleyway, I throw every insult under the sun at him. All I want is to get on the first truck heading out of town and hide from the inevitable. The agents don’t give a fuck about what Augustus did to us. I’m a monster to them. Someone who deserves to be locked up.
Seven tows me to the very back of the dank alley, where a sketchy fire escape wraps around the tall, run-down tower block. I scream some more as he throws me over his shoulder, trapping my legs with his arm. I have to shut my eyes when he begins to scale the fire escape.
The world is tilted upside down, growing higher and higher. My fists batter Seven’s back but yield no results. He keeps me imprisoned until we reach the top of the building. He’s panting hard after the gruelling climb. It’s abandoned up here, nothing but smashed pallets and a few pigeons.
“Here we are, then,” Seven announces darkly. “Nice tall building, nothing stopping you. Wanna give up and die? Be my guest. Off you go.”
I’m placed back on my unsteady legs. We’re at the very edge of the rooftop, with an unfamiliar London suburb stretching out in all directions. It must be at least two hundred feet high. I can almost taste the clouds on my tongue.
“What are you doing?” I splutter.
Seven grabs my bicep and hauls me even closer to the edge. My battered Chucks involuntarily step up, heaved by his immense strength. I’m mere inches from plummeting and becoming a puddle of matter. One step or the slightest slip, and it’s all over.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he bellows. “Your men told me about what happened in Blackwood. I’m not going to stop you like they did. If you want to do this, fucking own it.”
“I… I…”
“What is it, Patient Eight? Haven’t got the balls to do it?”
“Fuck you, Sev!”
His steadying hand disappears from my arm. I wobble in the cold air, feeling the first patters of autumn rain hit my face. The rumble of an overhead aeroplane fills the excruciating silence between us. Seven stands there, waiting and watching.
“Clock’s ticking.”
“Why are you doing this?” I scream at him.
“Because you’re being a coward! You told me to live, goddammit.” His hand is a tight fist, like he wants to deck me. “You gave me a family and showed me what it felt like to belong. Now, you want to bail!”
