Preview of The After
It happened both quickly and slowly.
Liz watched, lips slightly opened and eyes white and wide as deep red blood blended with bits of pink and strange pale yellow liquid burst out from the bruised, beaten skin and flailed onto the ground along with the body itself. The man made no sound besides a final, soft grunt. He lay still with broken yellow teeth poking out from his mouth. He had been wearing what once could have been an expensive tuxedo.
Maybe he was at a party. Or funeral. Or wedding.
Maybe he was a groom.
At one point, this man could have been anyone, perhaps a hero, a legend. But now, he was a dead man on the ground, his blood and brains spitting out from his head forming a pool of blood on the grass. Liz watched, bottom lip hanging loose and brown eyes dark and flat.
She forced herself to slowly stand back up, holding her own pounding, throbbing head, muttering to herself quickly, some soft, shaking words that were nothing but meaningless whispers to anyone around. She closed her eyes and bit her lips, waiting for a full minute before opening them. She looked around and saw nothing but the sifting tree leaves and grass around her. She took a deep, shaky breath, shook her head, and moved on from the body, wiping off her knife on a patch of thick grass.
She didn't see him this time and took it as a sign.
A wonderful, terrible sign.