Eclare: Romeo and Juliet
Clare's POV:
I walked down the dark hallway, towards the locker of my date who I was becoming more and more fond of.
Honestly, he was more willing to settle this childish dispute than Eli was!
Eli.
Only a few hours ago I had been celebrating the fact that we were finally a couple. Now I was debating breaking up with him.
Honestly, if THIS is how he chooses to solve his conflicts I don't see how I can be with him.
I turned the corner and Mark Fitzgerald came into view. He saw me and flashed his teeth my way. I took it as a smile.
"Hey, I'm sorry about Eli. Are you okay?"
I asked, concerned, as I walked closer.
He turned to me, a sick look still on his face. "I'll manage. Those pills were nasty though." He grimaced and held his stomach.
I frowned sympathetically.
"I really am sorry about all this."
"Me too. Stupid emo boy." He muttered. He slipped something into his pocket from his locker, but I couldn't tell what it was. I decided it wasn't important.
"So…" I said awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say next.
"Wanna ditch this shit hole?" Fitz asked, raising his eyebrows at me.
"Excuse me?" I asked, taken aback.
"C'mon, lets go to my car, I guarantee you it's more comfortable than that hearse."
"Uh…I think you may have misunderstood-.."
He cut me off by grabbing both my wrists, none to gently.
"I didn't misunderstand anything. You said you would hook up with me so I wouldn't beat your pansy boyfriend."
"No, I said I would be your date to the dance, I said nothing about-…"
"Shut up." He muttered, cutting me off again, and he pressed his lips to mine.
He roughly forced open my mouth with his tongue, and moved his tongue far into my mouth, making me gag.
"Get off me!" I screamed.
"Shut up you bitch!" He yelled, and pushed me to the ground.
He grabbed my hair in his hands and pulled my face to his, I yelped.
He pressed his lips to mine again, and as hard as I struggled, he was too strong and I couldn't break free.
A tear trickled down my cheek as I realized he was going to rape me.
"GET THE FUCK OFF OF HER!" I heard someone scream across the hallway.
Fitz sat up and released me, smiling evilly as Eli stalked towards us down the hallway.
"Eli!" I gasped, relieved. He looked at my messy hair and noticed the tear stains on my face. He turned back to Fitz, pure hatred burning in his eyes.
"You disgusting demon. She's a VIRGIN."
Fitz looked between the two of us, gave me a toothy, menacing grin and looked back to Eli.
"Not for long."
I gasped and tried to pull away, but Fitz grabbed my wrist again.
Eli snarled and practically spit his next retort at Fitz.
"Even puke-pills couldn't incapacitate you enough to not rape my girlfriend."
I looked at him, startled.
"You knew all along?" I gasped.
"I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen to me. I'm so sorry Clare, I promise I won't let this bastard hurt you."
I remembered then, when we were outside Alli's house, him telling me…
Put these in his drink….he wants to have sex with you.
Tears came to my eyes again. By drugging Fitz's drink, he was only trying to protect me.
"Aww. What big words for such a little punk." Fitz cooed, mocking us.
"I meant what I said. You will NOT hurt her." Eli stated coldly, not breaking eye contact with Fitz.
"Tell that to this." Fitz said, as he pulled what I now realized was a knife out of his pocket.
I stared in horror as he brandished the shiny blade in front of Eli.
Eli's jaw dropped and he took a step back, slowly raising his hands in defense.
"Woah, let's not…" He stammered, pure terror in his eyes.
"Shut the fuck up."
"Please…" Eli begged, as Fitz took a step towards him. "Don't hurt Clare."
My eyes widened in astonishment, as Eli defended me over himself. If it weren't such a horrific time, I would've been happy that he cared so much for me.
Fitz stopped in his tracks and let out a cackle.
"Clare? You thought I was gonna stab her? No, this bad boy is for you." He said, waving the knife again.
Eli gulped. "Do what you want with me…just don't hurt her."
"Aww. What a chivalrous little baby." Fitz said, mocking him again. "Actually, come to think of it, being the little emo bitch that you are, you probably cut yourself up enough. So what do I do with this?" He questioned, looking at his knife.
He turned back to me, and his grip tightened on my wrist.
"Oh, I know!"
I heard a scream. It might've been mine. I felt a stabbing pain in my abdomen. I felt warm liquid seep through my clothes. I felt…I felt…
Eli's POV:
"NO!" I watched as the devilish bastard plunged his knife into Clare's stomach.
She yelped, and her eyes crossed. The life slowly slipped out of them as her eyelids shut and she fell to the floor.
"How could you do this?" I screamed at Fitz.
He laughed.
"I didn't do this. YOU did this Eli. I was planning on stabbing YOU. But, you gave me the idea to stab Clare instead. Reverse psychology bitch. I told you that you talk too much."
With that, he dropped the bloody knife and sauntered away.
I fell to the ground, my whole body quaking.
I'd done it again.
I looked at Clare's body, lying unconscious in front of me, blooding seeping out in a puddle around her.
I'd killed her. I'd killed my girlfriend.
Again.
First Julia, now Clare.
What was wrong with me?
I was a curse, a demon. Put on this earth to destroy the innocent. That's the only conclusion I could think of.
I turned my face to the ceiling and cried out.
"Take me instead!" I hollered to a God I wasn't sure I even believed in.
"I'm a demon, so send me back to hell!" I screeched. "Send me back and let Clare live! And let Julia come back! Let me die in both their places and suffer like how I deserve!" My voice strained as I proposed a bargain I knew was impossible.
"Eli, what the he-…"
I heard a voice. Adam.
He came towards us, his knees wobbling as he saw Clare.
"Wha-…what…" He gagged, and looked at me, his usually bright eyes now empty and disgusted by the mess.
"Fitz stabbed her. And it's my fault." I cried.
"Is she…?" He didn't finish his sentence.
"She can't be!" I screamed. I turned to Clare again and picked her up, forcing myself to not recoil as her blood seeped into my jacket sleeves.
I opened the door to an empty class room and set her down on the desk.
"Here, she's elevated now. That's what you're supposed to do, right?" I said, more to myself than to Adam.
He simply shrugged, still in shock.
I took off my jacket and threw it over her abdomen, balling it up around the wound.
"Hold this here, it'll keep her from losing more blood!"
Adam did as he was told, wincing as he felt the blood on my jacket.
I looked at Clare's lifeless face and a tear rolled down my cheek.
Dear God.
I pried open her lips and breathed a deep breath into her mouth. Her lips were cold.
I put my hands on her chest and pressed down, trying to pump her heart.
I pressed as hard as I possibly could, hoping I didn't break any ribs.
I pressed my ear to her chest and listened…there was a faint heart beat.
I continued to give her CPR, breathing all the air I could muster into her lungs.
I pumped her heart as fast as I could, trying to maintain the beat.
It was ironic and heart-breaking, realizing that we'd just had our first REAL kiss only a few hours ago, and now her lips were unresponsive against mine as I tried desperately to keep her alive.
"Eli…".
I looked up from what I was doing as Adam whispered my name, his voice cracking. He was holding Clare's wrist.
He looked at me, his eyes puffy and wet.
"She doesn't have a pulse." He croaked.
"SHUT UP!" I screamed at my best friend as I furiously pressed down again and again on her chest.
I breathed a few quick breaths into her mouth and laid my head on her heart again.
Adam was right…no pulse.
"No." I whispered, and resumed pumping.
Clare's body bounced up and down beneath my hands, yet her eyes never opened.
"Eli, she's gone." I heard Adam whimper, his voice sounded distant.
"No." I said again, this time more firmly.
"Eli…"
"NO!" I screamed, my voice cracking as sobs burst out of my body. Tears streamed down my cheeks as the pressure of my hands decreased, until I wasn't pumping anymore.
"CLARE!" I cried out, misery in my voice.
I fell to the ground beside the desk as my entire body shook violently.
I screamed and cried and whimpered and sobbed, as tears flowed down my cheeks and onto my clothes faster than water from a sink.
As I wept for my second dead girlfriend on the floor, I heard Adam's voice faintly.
"I'm going to get Mr. Simpson."
I didn't respond, I just moaned and sobbed broken heartedly as my tears mixed with her blood.
I blinked, my vision was blurry from all the tears and my eyes were itchy.
I gazed outside the open door to the classroom, and my eyes fell on something shiny.
Fitz's knife.
I stared at it, incredulously.
I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up off the ground, but I slowly crawled towards the knife, until I could reach out and grab it.
Finally, I mustered enough strength to stand up. My knees wobbled as I held the knife that had killed my girlfriend.
It could be my escape.
I knew I was going to hell at some point, why not get it over with right now? Begin my punishment for the deaths I'd caused. And maybe, just maybe, after I'd burned in the underworld for a while, I would have the chance to see Clare again. Her smiling face, her electric blue eyes…
I could end all of this hardship right now.
I smiled and chuckled without humor as I realized how similar this was to the Romeo and Juliet project we had done just last week. I found myself speaking the lines…
"Awestruck? Not for long. I'll see you in the afterlife, Clare." I spoke, as more tears fell from my eyes.
I put my lips to hers one last time. I held the knife to my throat, and braced myself…
Clare's POV:
Screams. Pain. TERRIBLE pain.
I forced my eyes to open. I was in a dark room, it looked like a classroom.
Suddenly I remembered.
Fitz was harassing me. Eli came to help. Fitz had a knife. And then pain.
Everything became blurry. I heard Eli's voice. He was upset. I wanted to tell him everything would be okay, but I couldn't speak.
I was picked up. Someone was breathing into my mouth, and pumping my heart. It was probably Eli. I remember another voice too. Adam, possibly?
My eyes adjusted and I was able to turn my head slightly, to see him.
Eli, my rescuer.
His face was red, his eyes swollen, and…
He was holding the knife.
"Awestruck? Not for long…"
NO.
"Eli, don't!" I croaked, a second before the blade came in contact with his skin.
He stared at me, eyes wide, and dropped the knife.
"Clare? Clare, are you really alive?"
I nodded, and tried to speak. "What the hell were you doing with that knife?"
"I…I…I thought you were dead and…"
"Elijah Goldsworthy, do you think you're Romeo?"
He laughed and smiled, tears flowing from his eyes again.
"Only if you'll be my Juliet."
I giggled weakly, and winced at the pain it caused me.
He took my hand and stroked it gently.
"Adam went to get Mr. Simpson. Help is coming, don't worry."
I nodded, and closed my eyes. I remember lots of voices. My parents. An ambulance. Being admitted to the hospital.
But none of that mattered.
Eli held my hand the entire time.
We really were like Romeo and Juliet, I thought happily.
But our story wouldn't be a tragedy.
After all, what's life if you don't take some liberties with the material?
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