by M Gardner
Robert’s nerves were aflame with unfired energy, and he knew what he had to do. Clutching the solution in his pocket, he walked toward the school and his destiny.
Ruby and Steven separated from another kiss, though it was evident to anyone watching that they didn’t want to. Ruby waved as she walked away, yelling, “I can’t wait to see you tonight! Don’t worry; you’ll be fine!” Her excitement was a miasma, affecting her posture, her lovely face—even her walk was the bounce of someone anticipating something extraordinary.
Robert watched her for a moment. Maybe I can talk some sense into her, he thought, but those thoughts turned dark. She wasn’t the one that needed a talking to. The betrayer was the one. Only then could Ruby be free from the murderer. He was just protecting her from the same fate as Lindsay.
Robert followed Steven down city streets. He wanted to wait for the right time.
You will know when the time is right, the voice chided.
Satisfied that the voice knew something, Robert waited and continued to follow his former friend.
See how he walks like a free man?
Robert flinched at the voice, but a small smile slowly crept onto his face as Steven walked toward him, looking, what was it? Almost hopeful.
Teach him his proper place.
The voice was right. Steven didn’t regret the terrible things he did to Lindsay and would do to Ruby. He didn’t regret making Robert look like a fool in front of everyone he knew. He was so self-centered; he didn’t even realize that Robert meant him harm.
Show him where he belongs!
It was finally time to make Steven pay for everything he had done. It was time for Steven to receive his punishment.
Steven stopped a few feet in front of Robert. He looked at him for several seconds before speaking. “How are you, Robert?” he asked slowly.
Robert remained silent but continued to sneer at him, the hand in the jacket pocket flexing and unflexing around something substantial and long.
Steven sighed and said, “Robert, please. I’m sorry for everything that has happened. I want to be friends again. Please, can we just talk about it?”
Robert continued to stare, and Steven didn’t seem to know what else to do.
“Robert, I want to explain, to tell you how much I missed you.” Steven sighed before continuing, “I wanted to explain what had happened with Lindsay, then with Ruby, but you’ve been avoiding me. Not listening to me. I want to be able to talk things out like before.”
Robert could not force himself to listen or to respond. He opened his mouth more than once to speak, but nothing came out.
Then the hand in Robert’s left pocket twitched as he started to remove it. Steven shivered and took a step back. Robert grinned as a realization came over him. He doesn’t know exactly what’s in my pocket. Slowly Robert brought out his hand, and Steven’s felt face drained of color.
Robert held up the knife, his face now contorted with anger, his whole body shaking with barely-contained rage. Steven took a step back, but his legs were unable to make him run. Robert took a step toward him, staring right into Steven’s eyes.
When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and deep. “You will pay, Steven. You will pay for everything you’ve done!” Robert yelled.
Steven flinched, and tears were forming in his eyes. “Robert, you don’t want to do this. Please, don’t do this! Let’s talk this over. This isn’t how this has to end.”
Robert barked a laugh. “How else could it end? You’re a murderer, and murderers deserve justice.”
Show him his place!
Robert stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Steven. Steven backed up and hit the railing that separated the platform from the concrete below. Behind Robert, the door was pretty far away. They both knew he would never reach it, not with Robert almost right in front of him.
“Never,” Robert said through gritted teeth. “Never will you hurt anyone again! I won’t let you hurt Ruby like you hurt Lindsay.”
“I love Ruby!” Steven screamed.
Robert snarled, “Just like you loved Lindsay, huh?”
Robert pressed his hands over his ears.
Now is the time, screamed the voice.
Robert clenched his hands and rapped his fists on his forehead. Once, twice, three times.
“Let’s figure this out, Robert,” Steven pleaded. “We can be friends again!”
Robert flinched, and Steven hung himself precariously over the railing, recoiling from Robert’s quick movements.
“Don’t give me that!” Robert yelled. “You’re a liar!”
19 Reconcile/Finality
Steven
Leonard and David ran outside, their heads swiveling back and forth as if they could home in on the commotion like a bat zeroing in on its prey. Steven had a clear view of the duo as they exited the building.
“That was Robert,” Leonard said and looked around wildly. David lurched back, his elbow preventing the door from closing. He disappeared back through the door. Leonard turned to watch his friend disappear back into the building. When Leonard resumed his visual search, his eyes landed on the bridge. His eyes met Steven’s, and he gasped.
“Shit!” Leonard said. He raised his voice. “Robert,” he cried out and spun to open the door. Steven noted how his brain took in everything, and the clarity was high definition. He watched Leonard reach for a doorknob that wasn’t there. Leonard clawed at the seam between the double doors. “David!” he cried out and slammed his fists on the security door twice to emphasize the syllables in his friend’s name.
He pulled out his phone and dialed. His panicked eyes darted from Steven to Robert’s back. Someone must have answered because Leonard screamed into the phone, “I’m at Twin Oaks High School; I think Robert’s gonna do something bad to Steven!”
Steven was aware that Leonard continued to yell into his phone. Pauses in his yelling were emphasized by hitting the door. A small part of his brain told him that he was focusing on the wrong thing.
“I won’t let you do it again!” Robert yelled, and he stalked forward.
He was so close. Steven was panicking; he didn’t know what to do. His eyes darted around, looking for any escape, but Robert and his giant hunting knife stood between him and all escapes that wouldn’t end with him splattered on the concrete below. The knife gripped in his former friend’s hand was now the only thing he could see. Leonard’s shouts faded away, and his vision darkened on the sides. One of his friends was a major anime fan, and he constantly criticized the absurd size of swords, but the looking knife in Robert’s hand was larger than life. Even Robert’s scowl and red-tinged eyes faded, and the long blade was his entire world.
“Goodbye, Steven,” Robert sneered as he lunged forward with the knife held high. Steven only just managed to avoid Robert’s deadly intent by dropping straight down, hitting the back of his head on the concrete and steel divider. He stumbled to the ground painfully; the palms of his hands scraped on the non-slip grooves in the concrete. Robert charged again with a snarl like an enraged beast.
Steven managed to catch his arms and hold him back. He couldn’t believe this worked in the movies. Robert meant to do him harm, and just holding up his hands to grapple Robert left him sweaty. Robert let loose a yell and raised his knee, catching Steven in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. Steven sprawled on his back and gasped for breath. Robert swung, and Steven instinctively raised his hands to block the knife. Steven yelled out as a slice appeared in his arm and started to ooze blood. Robert froze at the sight of the cut. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Blood trickled down on the concrete in a trail between them as Steven scrambled back like a crab.
Steven recognized the look of terror on his former friend’s face. His mouth hung open in indecision, but he tilted his head like someone was whispering to him. Steven lurched forward and made contact with Robert’s midsection. They were a tangle of arms and legs, and both fell to the ground. The knif
e clattered to the sidewalk and teetered at the edge of the platform.
Steven perched on Robert’s chest and held Robert’s arms akimbo. Blood dripped down his arm and made the grip on Robert almost impossible. With tears streaming down his face, Steven screamed in Robert’s face, “What the fuck are you doing? I’m your friend!”
“You’re no friend!” Robert yelled back. “Murderer!” He spat at Steven, the spittle striking his eye. Steven flinched, and Robert twisted out of Steven’s bloody grip. Robert head-butted Steven and dove for the knife.
Steven’s world slowed. It was infinity in a single moment. He lashed out his foot, striking Robert in the knee. Robert buckled, and Steven threw himself over Robert at the knife gleaming at the edge of the platform. His back impacted the divider, and he landed on top of the knife. Steven rose to his knees, the edge of the knife embedded in his shirt. He gripped the handle and sliced through his clothing as he brandished it to defend himself.
Robert grinned, his teeth crimson from a head wound dribbling down the side of his face. He looked like a comic book supervillain. His ragged panting evened out, and they both rose, Steven holding out the knife as if it were a talisman warding away evil.
Steven was aware of the splat, splat as blood dripped down his elbow and struck the concrete. “What is this about, Robert? What do you hope to gain from this?”
Robert spat a wad of blood and phlegm at the ground at Steven’s feet, his eyes locked on Steven. “You fucking deserve what you’re getting, you murdering bastard. You deserve to die!”
Steven cried out in frustration. “Deserve to die for what? For what? I didn’t do anything! Why can’t you believe that? If anything, I was just a sucky boyfriend.”
“SHUT UP!” Robert screamed, then charged him.
Steven backed up against the divider, but Robert caught him in the chest with a haymaker. They both tumbled to the ground and wrestled over the knife. Robert tried to punch Steven, but he pushed him back. Steven managed to keep a hold of the blade, but Robert slammed his fists on Steven’s arms. Steven pulled as hard as he could and dragged it down, desperate to prevent Robert from getting his hands on it again.
Steven was shocked when the knife’s tip gouged the concrete floor. He jerked back. Robert gave no resistance, so Steven rolled out of the way and rose on wobbling legs. With Robert still on the ground below him, Steven frantically searched for the knife. His eyes finally found it. The blood that smeared the edge was thick and a dark crimson.
Steven slowly turned his gaze to Robert. The young man was struggling to get up, but it was apparent he was in great pain. A pool of blood had formed underneath him and grew by the second. Steven shuffled to his former friend and rolled him over, ignoring his cries of pain. Tears streamed down his face like a waterfall. The wound was deep. Steven guessed the whole knife had penetrated his stomach, and when it hit the ground, its length was still inside him.
Robert convulsed and coughed, the blood from his mouth a frothy miasma. It joined the rest and stained his clothes a dark, otherworldly hue. Wailing, Steven tried to cover the wound with his hands, but nothing he did stopped the flow of blood from his friend’s stomach.
“Help me!” Steven yelled out, praying someone would see them. The hunting knife lay on the ground, still stained.
Robert tried to speak but instead coughed up more blood. Steven put his hand under his pale head and lifted it.
“Robert,” Steven said through tears. “Robert, please, don’t leave me. I didn’t mean to. Please, don’t go.”
Robert seemed to gather his strength and reached up. Clutching Steven’s shirt, he pulled him close to his face. He coughed up a little blood, and it hit Steven’s cheek.
“Oh, God, Robert…” Steven cried. What had he done? He didn’t want Robert to die; this wasn’t meant to happen. Robert put his mouth right by Steven’s ear, and Steven heard him gasp for breath, and then words escaped his lips.
“I…hate…you…” he whispered. Then, with Steven clutching him in his arms, Robert fell limp.
Steven’s body went cold as if all his blood had just turned to ice. He didn’t feel heavy but light, like he was empty inside, drained of all that made him human. Nothing mattered anymore. Even Ruby was gone from his mind. Steven began to shake Robert roughly.
“Come back, Robert. Come back!”
Tears dripped to the ground and mixed with the pool of blood beneath them. Steven fell onto Robert’s body, covering himself in more blood, but he didn’t care. Robert was dead, and it felt as if the world was ending. It was Lindsay all over again. Robert died hating him.
Without thinking, Steven grabbed hold of Robert’s limp arm and tried to drag him away. He didn’t even know where he was trying to take Robert. All he knew was he didn’t want to leave the body of his best friend on the dirty ground to rot.
“Freeze!”
Steven spun around, Robert’s arm still clutched in his hand. A cop stood several feet away with his gun trained on him.
Steven let go of Robert, stumbled to his knees, and cried out, “Please! I didn’t mean to; it was an accident, I…”
“Shut up!” the cop demanded, and Steven noticed the hand holding the gun was trembling. “Just stay calm, son. Drop the body, stand up, and put your hands behind your head!”
Trembling, Steven rose to his feet, but he didn’t drop Robert’s hand. “Please, it was an accident! He’s dead, oh, God, my best friend! Please, help me!”
“I said drop it!” the cop yelled, stepping back, the gun shaking violently.
“Help me!” Steven screamed and threw his arms in the air.
There was a flash and a loud noise that made Steven flinch. He tried to ask what that was, but he couldn’t. His mouth didn’t seem to want to move. He tried to step forward, but he couldn’t do that, either. Why did his entire body feel numb? What was that sharp burning feeling in his chest?
He looked at the cop. The cop seemed shocked and almost scared. Why was he afraid? What had happened? Steven watched the gun drop from the cop’s hands. What was wrong with him? Steven had to make him understand it was an accident. He needed help to move Robert’s body.
Then Steven realized he was falling. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his limbs to cooperate. He hit the ground, but it felt light, almost as if it was far away. What was happening to him?
Suddenly the cop was above him. He was doing something, but Steven couldn’t tell what it was. It looked like he was doing something to Steven’s chest. Was he trying to help with the burning feeling? It hurt so bad; Steven prayed that he could stop it. Steven tried to speak, to tell the cop to help Robert, but it was too difficult.
Something was wrong. Steven’s vision was blurring. He couldn’t feel any part of his body; he couldn’t move at all. The edges of his vision were going black. What had happened? Would he be all right?
Ruby flashed in his mind. Would he see her again? What would she say about Robert? Steven didn’t know whether he was crying or not. The cop seemed to be yelling for something, but Steven could hardly hear. The man had blood on his hands and shirt, but the gun was holstered again as if it had never been drawn at all. Had Steven imagined it? Had Steven fallen while the cop helped Robert?
As Steven’s vision became more blurred, he became scared. Something had happened to him. Something was wrong. Ruby flashed in his mind again. He needed to talk to her, and he felt he wouldn’t get another chance. He felt himself slipping; he was going away. Surely, he wasn’t…?
Steven reached out a hand with panic filling his mind. He needed Ruby; he needed to see her and feel her face one last time. His vision was almost entirely black, and his arm weakened and flopped to the ground. He needed to tell her. He needed to make sure she knew the truth.
He gathered all strength he had, every little ounce he could find, and then he moved his lips to form the words. He couldn’t even hear what he said, but he spoke anyway, hoping someone heard. He needed to say it; he needed her to know.
>
“I…love you…Ruby…”
20 Forever/Redux
Ruby
There was a crunching of leaves as people walked across the grass dressed in black. They clutched each other, their hands a connection to each other that they guarded with fierce determination. They approached the rows of chairs and took their seats in silence. Creaky wooden chairs betrayed their attempts to be respectfully silent. The white of the folding chairs contrasted with everyone adorned in dark colors. More people approached and sat down. They all looked upset, and some wiped tears from their eyes.
Ruby tried her best to hold back the inevitable tears. Someone handed her a single white flower, and she dropped into a seat in the front row. Her parents sat on either side of her. Her mother put a comforting arm around her shoulder. Leonard and David arrived. They sat further down the front row. David had a stern look on his face, and Leonard’s eyes were red from crying.
The two coffins were laid out in front of them. Both were simple coffins made of standard pine. They were polished; glare reflecting off the bronze handles on the sides. Between the coffins, a gigantic wreath sat delicately on a frame with an assortment of other flowers.
A picture of a smiling Robert sat to the left and a smiling Steven to the right. Ruby tore her eyes away from them, unable to bring herself to look at their frozen, happy portraits. Those pictures were lies. Neither Steven nor Robert had been so happy in a long time. Once everyone had taken their seats, the priest approached the lectern and began.
“We’re gathered here today to say goodbye to Robert and Steven, two friends whose lives were tragically lost what seems like only days ago.”
Ruby felt tears begin to dribble down her face. She tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming too fast. She couldn’t believe this had happened. Just when everything was so right. Just when everything seemed to be getting back to normal. Just when she figured out how she felt about him. How they felt about each other. Why did they have to die? It was just so pointless. Why was life so cruel?
