THE BEAUTIFUL ONES
Part Twenty-Four: Makeover
Jessica was slowly degenerating into a bloody pulp. Her face was covered in bruises and cuts in what was essentially a very perverse facial makeover. The beautician behind this new look was kneeling on the floor nearby, cheerfully wiping away some blood that had stained her knife. Dib had watched through the entire ordeal, and while usually he would be the first to cheer if something horrible happened to Jessica, seeing it slowly build up over the course of three hours was simply too much to bear. That on top of the deep wound in his shoulder that he was certain was probably infected by now, signified an intense need to get out of here. Jessica let out a long, laboured whimper and stirred her head, catching Alex's immediate interest.
"Oooh, hang about! I think Jessica wants to say something!" yelled Alex in glee, pulling up Jessica's head to reveal a bloodied mess underneath, "are you going to let me in, or are you just going to pass out again?" Jessica hesitated. Alex had eschewed poking her eyes out but she wasn't going to remain stalled for long.
"We don't let in pathetic little losers like you, Alex," Jessica informed her, making Dib skip a few heartbeats beside her. Alex wavered a while, then swung a fist straight into Jessica's face in calculated anger. Letting her head flop back down, she turned her attention to Dib.
"Jessica, I've always wanted to be your friend, and I realise that we could only be friends because we're seperate from THEM," Alex said, swerving dangerously back to hero-worship and holding Dib's head to her face, "you were always the 'leader' of the freak patrol weren't you? You're more abnormal than anyone else in skool. I wanted to leave you last as I wanted Jessica to witness this." Alex drew up her knife to Dib's neck, nicking it in places. "This is my last chance to prove myself to you, Jessica," Alex added, "I'm going to kill Dib. For you."
Dib began shaking his head urgently at Jessica, sounding out the message loud and clear that getting him killed was NOT a good thing. A few hours ago she wouldn't have felt anything for Dib's death, but this was different than the other murders. Then it was at a distance, and she had seemingly nothing to do with them. But this, this was up close, this was in her face, this was on her very order. She was going to see another human being have his throat slit if she didn't do something.
"Don't..." Jessica said, one word, mumbled into the distance, that relieved Dib, but appeared to anger Alex more than words could adequately describe. She took the knife away from Dib's neck and pointed it at Jessica.
"Don't? DON'T!? You've gone soft, Jessica! You were the leading beacon of my existence! You were the one I looked to for guidance!" Alex rambled, her attitude towards Jessica twisting and turning in unexpected angles, "you were the person I took after! Whenever I killed a loser, a weirdo, a freak, a nerd, ANYONE, I was thinking of you! I KNEW that this was what you wanted me to do! To rid the world of those who were unclean. To assure the ascent of The Beautiful Ones so that I may join their number. And here you are! Protecting this...THING!"
"You'd never be accepted as one of us, Alex," Jessica continued, "normal people don't kill."
"Well that's nice to know," Dib added mockingly, but Alex was lost in a sea of confusion.
"But...but...how am I supposed to prove myself otherwise?" Alex ranted, tears of insanity running down her cheeks, "I bankrupted myself with the latest trends, that wasn't enough. I made cruel fun of all the people you hated, that wasn't enough. I did EVERYTHING expected of me, AND IT STILL WASN'T ENOUGH! Tell me, please! TELL ME! WHAT AM I MEANT TO DO!?" Alex fell to her knees in front of Jessica, sobbing profusely. Jessica, in her blood-stained tunic, looked very far from a sage, but that was the status placed on her.
"I don't know, Alex," admitted Jessica, "it just happens." Alex's look of sorrow gave way to intense rage after that sentence had been uttered.
"It just happens..." Alex repeated, not daring to wipe away the tears, "nothing HAPPENS, Jessica. Everything has a pattern. A label. Forms of movement. I'm one of The Beautiful Ones. You were just too short-sighted to see. You were never worthy enough to be popular. It was an accident, a perversity of nature. I am going to correct that mistake..." Alex began advancing on Jessica, knife poised, when she heard the sound of the front door being kicked open. Swerving around, she immediately recognized the figure in the doorway.
"Oh look, it's the victim..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Part Twenty-Four: Makeover
Jessica was slowly degenerating into a bloody pulp. Her face was covered in bruises and cuts in what was essentially a very perverse facial makeover. The beautician behind this new look was kneeling on the floor nearby, cheerfully wiping away some blood that had stained her knife. Dib had watched through the entire ordeal, and while usually he would be the first to cheer if something horrible happened to Jessica, seeing it slowly build up over the course of three hours was simply too much to bear. That on top of the deep wound in his shoulder that he was certain was probably infected by now, signified an intense need to get out of here. Jessica let out a long, laboured whimper and stirred her head, catching Alex's immediate interest.
"Oooh, hang about! I think Jessica wants to say something!" yelled Alex in glee, pulling up Jessica's head to reveal a bloodied mess underneath, "are you going to let me in, or are you just going to pass out again?" Jessica hesitated. Alex had eschewed poking her eyes out but she wasn't going to remain stalled for long.
"We don't let in pathetic little losers like you, Alex," Jessica informed her, making Dib skip a few heartbeats beside her. Alex wavered a while, then swung a fist straight into Jessica's face in calculated anger. Letting her head flop back down, she turned her attention to Dib.
"Jessica, I've always wanted to be your friend, and I realise that we could only be friends because we're seperate from THEM," Alex said, swerving dangerously back to hero-worship and holding Dib's head to her face, "you were always the 'leader' of the freak patrol weren't you? You're more abnormal than anyone else in skool. I wanted to leave you last as I wanted Jessica to witness this." Alex drew up her knife to Dib's neck, nicking it in places. "This is my last chance to prove myself to you, Jessica," Alex added, "I'm going to kill Dib. For you."
Dib began shaking his head urgently at Jessica, sounding out the message loud and clear that getting him killed was NOT a good thing. A few hours ago she wouldn't have felt anything for Dib's death, but this was different than the other murders. Then it was at a distance, and she had seemingly nothing to do with them. But this, this was up close, this was in her face, this was on her very order. She was going to see another human being have his throat slit if she didn't do something.
"Don't..." Jessica said, one word, mumbled into the distance, that relieved Dib, but appeared to anger Alex more than words could adequately describe. She took the knife away from Dib's neck and pointed it at Jessica.
"Don't? DON'T!? You've gone soft, Jessica! You were the leading beacon of my existence! You were the one I looked to for guidance!" Alex rambled, her attitude towards Jessica twisting and turning in unexpected angles, "you were the person I took after! Whenever I killed a loser, a weirdo, a freak, a nerd, ANYONE, I was thinking of you! I KNEW that this was what you wanted me to do! To rid the world of those who were unclean. To assure the ascent of The Beautiful Ones so that I may join their number. And here you are! Protecting this...THING!"
"You'd never be accepted as one of us, Alex," Jessica continued, "normal people don't kill."
"Well that's nice to know," Dib added mockingly, but Alex was lost in a sea of confusion.
"But...but...how am I supposed to prove myself otherwise?" Alex ranted, tears of insanity running down her cheeks, "I bankrupted myself with the latest trends, that wasn't enough. I made cruel fun of all the people you hated, that wasn't enough. I did EVERYTHING expected of me, AND IT STILL WASN'T ENOUGH! Tell me, please! TELL ME! WHAT AM I MEANT TO DO!?" Alex fell to her knees in front of Jessica, sobbing profusely. Jessica, in her blood-stained tunic, looked very far from a sage, but that was the status placed on her.
"I don't know, Alex," admitted Jessica, "it just happens." Alex's look of sorrow gave way to intense rage after that sentence had been uttered.
"It just happens..." Alex repeated, not daring to wipe away the tears, "nothing HAPPENS, Jessica. Everything has a pattern. A label. Forms of movement. I'm one of The Beautiful Ones. You were just too short-sighted to see. You were never worthy enough to be popular. It was an accident, a perversity of nature. I am going to correct that mistake..." Alex began advancing on Jessica, knife poised, when she heard the sound of the front door being kicked open. Swerving around, she immediately recognized the figure in the doorway.
"Oh look, it's the victim..."
TO BE CONTINUED...