Ghetto

by M L Sparrow

  Recovering himself quickly, he stood back, tilting his head as if he was now considering her an equal opponent instead of easy prey. Darcy shivered, she didn't feel like any kind of opponent; she felt terrified and sick to her stomach, like a child unsure what her next move should be. However, in the next instant, instinct decided for her. Prowling forward, he suddenly lunged at her. Flinging herself backwards in shock, her back hit the corner of the shower. Twisting, she slid open the door with a trundle of wheels, jumped inside and shut it behind her. Coming up against the transparent barrier, he tried to go through it, only to bounce off. Stepping back, he cocked his head, baring his teeth angrily, before trying again and getting the same result.

  The last couple times he had changed there had still been some semblance of human intelligence lingering behind the whites of his eyes, as if the creature could draw upon Alec's knowledge because he was still trapped inside with it, but now that was mostly gone and that was what scared her, the fact that Alec appeared to be slipping away. She knew Alec would never hurt her, but this wasn't Alec. Giving up, he backed away and she had a brief moment of hope before her eyes widened and she cringed back against the cold tile wall. Running towards her, large and unstoppable, he barrelled into the door with enough force to make both glass panels quake and rattle in their frames. Another charge and a hairline crack appeared. She held her breath; she should have stood and fought, accepted her fate, but she hadn't and now she was trapped and she had a feeling things would be all the worse for it. The third time he hit the crack expanded, spider webbing. On the forth it shattered. Darcy screamed, throwing her arms up to protect her face. Glass sprayed over her, cutting and stinging, drawing blood. Crashing into her, Alec's body slammed her back against the wall, knocking the breath right out of her lungs and leaving her gasping, floundering like a fish out of water.

  In the split second of confusion that ensued, Darcy somehow managed to scramble out from under him, escaping from the broken cubicle. Daggers of glass cut into the soles of her bare feet, but the crippling fear racing through her made her oblivious. A heavy weight knocked her to the floor. Thrusting her hands forward to break her fall, she heard her wrist snap as searing pain shot up her entire arm. Her cry of pain seemed to make him hesitate and a second later his weight left her. Twisting around, she saw Alec backing away, his hazel eyes stricken as he took in the damage he'd done.

  "Darcy..." He whispered, gaze sweeping over her body, lingering upon the tiny cuts decorating her legs and the way she cradled her injured arm protectively against her chest. "Jesus," the word left him in a whoosh of air, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

  Nodding weakly, she swallowed, whispering back, "It's okay." But it wasn't and he saw that, he saw the fear in her eyes, not of him, but fear of the unpredictable being inside of him. Attempting to stand, to go to him despite her fear, she slid on the glass sprinkling the tiled floor. Once more she made the fatal error of putting out a hand to break her fall. A large shard of glass sliced across her palm, cutting deep. For a moment, looking down at it, she thought that it looked like someone had drawn a neat red line on her skin in thick felt-tip, until blood started to ooze out in earnest, dripping down her hand and splashing onto the floor.

  Instantly, Alec's body went stiff, his head tilting as if sniffing the air, even as he tried to blink back the darkness, his jaw tightening as he fought to resist, fists clenching. But in the end it was inevitable.

  Despite his valiant effort, the change overcame him, his eyes flashing a bright, hungry white. However, Alec's brief appearance had given her hope that he wasn't entirely lost, yet a voice inside of her whispered that she had to put an end to this before someone else got hurt; it was okay while she was the only one in the firing line, but one day someone else would come around, her sister maybe, or god forbid one of the children, and they would get hurt, maybe killed. She didn't think she could live with that on her conscience and she already knew Alec couldn't. And so, with a heavy heart, she curled her blood slick fingers around the shard of glass that had cut her as he lowered into a crouch, preparing to pounce. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, but she refused to cry, because once she let that first tear fall the dam would break and she refused to breakdown yet, not until he was free.

  Tensing in preparation for impact, she squeezed her eyes shut as he sprung, tackling her backwards with a snarl which bared his teeth in a victorious smile, crushing her broken wrist between them. His fingers dug into her shoulders as he rose above her, keeping her pinned to the floor. As if in slow motion her arm rose, pressing the point of the glass against his chest, right over his heart. However, she couldn't resist giving him another chance.

  "Alec, come back to me," her voice was a husky whisper. "You love me, remember? You don't want to hurt me." His hand shot out to collar her throat, squeezing until she was gasping, grabbing at his wrist, scrabbling desperately at his arm, drawing lines of blood with her nails, weapon forgotten in her panic.

  "Alec's not here anymore!" He roared the words – the voice was Alec's but at the same time it was not; it was raspy and monstrous, like nails down a chalkboard, an offence to the ears. But it wasn't the voice which struck fear into her heart, it was the words themselves.

  Alec's not here anymore. Alec's not here anymore. Alec's not here anymore.

  Those words rung in her ears, echoing round her head. The glass dug into his skin deep enough to cut, but still she couldn't bring herself to actually do it, not even when her life hung in the balance. Choking, vision blurring, fingertips going numb, she saw her life flash before her eyes.

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