THE BEAUTIFUL ONES
Part Twenty-Five: All change
Gaz stood at the entrance to the room. To say she was foreboding meant concentrating on particular aspects. She was holding a knife, covered in blood and holding a cold, calculated look on her face, that is true. But she was also gently swaying, panting heavily, and quite a substantial amount of the blood that soaked her person was her own. Next to Alex, it looked almost laughable. Alex herself was standing in front of her, the last shreds of sadness or anger that dominated her only a few seconds ago completely disappeared. She had her knife poised as well.
"Didn't expect to see you come here," Alex commented, "I thought you would have broke down and gone crying to your mommy by now, VICTIM!" Gaz began circling round the room, as did Alex likewise, carefully scrutinising each other's movements.
"My mom's dead and my dad's in Uruguay, and I'm not even likely to see him when he comes home," Gaz retorted, "I have no one else but myself, and that's enough to send your scrawny ass into the next world." Alex had left her two captives and was going in a complete semi-circle round the room, Gaz always taking an alternate position.
"Fighting words, let's see you try and implement them shall we?" Alex taunted, "your heart would burst under the strain if you so much as lunged at me. You can't put any strength behind your convictions. You're spent, Gaz. You've been usurped. And you're not even going to make it through the night alive. So what's your move going to be, victim?" Gaz had countered Alex in a complete semi-circle round the room and, seeing that she had fallen for it, hurriedly used her knife to cut loose Dib and Jessica, who were now situated before her.
"Hey! HEY!" Alex yelled, taking a running kick towards Gaz, breaking a few ribs and forcing the knife out of her hand near Jessica's chair, "are you TAUNTING me, little Gaz?" Alex kicked her again, making her momentarily cough up blood, "who are you to taunt me? What are you?" Alex stood on Gaz, forcing her against the bare floorboards, "you're a nothing! A loner! A freak! A victim! I'm above you Gaz! I'M A LEADER! A SOVEREIGN! A GODDESS! I'M ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL ONES-" At that moment Alex found a knife embedded deep in her back, and she fell to the floor, face paralysed in surprise.
"WILL!" Jessica stabbed her again, "YOU!" Alex clawed at the floor as Jessica plunged her knife back in, "PLEASE!" the knife entered her again, forcing blood out of her mouth, "JUST!" another stab sent her head falling to the floor with a satisfying thud, "SHUT!" a sixth stab wound shook whatever life she still had out of her body, "UP!" Jessica left the knife in her back, and it was over.
Gaz lay still on the floor, unable to muster any energy. She had done it, she had succeeded, she had shown she was no longer the victim. She slowly picked herself up from the floor. Her gut wound had reopened, and blood appeared to flowing silently out of every orifice. She should probably go to a hospital, but from there a check on her records would inevitably send to at best juvenal hall for the next ten years and at worst an insane asylum. She would return to being a victim.
Light began streaming into the room. Gaz looked up and saw that it was emanating between the floorboards nailed on the patio door. The sun had come up. The light shone something in her eye, it was Alex's knife, lying next to her body. She picked it up. For the first time since this ordeal began, she had power. She would lose it in a moment, so she decided to use it wisely.
She limped over to the door and let the light enter her soul. She drew the knife in front of her and forced the last few reservations out of her mind. Dib, sensing what was going to happen, rushed over to stop her, but was too late. Gaz plunged the knife deep into her chest and finished the work the gut wound started. As she slumped to her knees in front of the light-filled door her expression was not one of despair, but of wide-eyed hope. She would never have to be a victim again.
As Gaz slumped to the floor, Dib clutched his wounded shoulder and paused in the middle of the room. Tremendous feelings of pain and loss crept up through his throat, but with it came a quiet acceptance. Maybe it was better this way. He peered at Jessica, still kneeling beside Alex's bleeding corpse, staring at Gaz, and received his final confirmation that things would never be the same again.
For a tear was rolling down Jessica's cheek...
TO BE CONCLUDED...
Part Twenty-Five: All change
Gaz stood at the entrance to the room. To say she was foreboding meant concentrating on particular aspects. She was holding a knife, covered in blood and holding a cold, calculated look on her face, that is true. But she was also gently swaying, panting heavily, and quite a substantial amount of the blood that soaked her person was her own. Next to Alex, it looked almost laughable. Alex herself was standing in front of her, the last shreds of sadness or anger that dominated her only a few seconds ago completely disappeared. She had her knife poised as well.
"Didn't expect to see you come here," Alex commented, "I thought you would have broke down and gone crying to your mommy by now, VICTIM!" Gaz began circling round the room, as did Alex likewise, carefully scrutinising each other's movements.
"My mom's dead and my dad's in Uruguay, and I'm not even likely to see him when he comes home," Gaz retorted, "I have no one else but myself, and that's enough to send your scrawny ass into the next world." Alex had left her two captives and was going in a complete semi-circle round the room, Gaz always taking an alternate position.
"Fighting words, let's see you try and implement them shall we?" Alex taunted, "your heart would burst under the strain if you so much as lunged at me. You can't put any strength behind your convictions. You're spent, Gaz. You've been usurped. And you're not even going to make it through the night alive. So what's your move going to be, victim?" Gaz had countered Alex in a complete semi-circle round the room and, seeing that she had fallen for it, hurriedly used her knife to cut loose Dib and Jessica, who were now situated before her.
"Hey! HEY!" Alex yelled, taking a running kick towards Gaz, breaking a few ribs and forcing the knife out of her hand near Jessica's chair, "are you TAUNTING me, little Gaz?" Alex kicked her again, making her momentarily cough up blood, "who are you to taunt me? What are you?" Alex stood on Gaz, forcing her against the bare floorboards, "you're a nothing! A loner! A freak! A victim! I'm above you Gaz! I'M A LEADER! A SOVEREIGN! A GODDESS! I'M ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL ONES-" At that moment Alex found a knife embedded deep in her back, and she fell to the floor, face paralysed in surprise.
"WILL!" Jessica stabbed her again, "YOU!" Alex clawed at the floor as Jessica plunged her knife back in, "PLEASE!" the knife entered her again, forcing blood out of her mouth, "JUST!" another stab sent her head falling to the floor with a satisfying thud, "SHUT!" a sixth stab wound shook whatever life she still had out of her body, "UP!" Jessica left the knife in her back, and it was over.
Gaz lay still on the floor, unable to muster any energy. She had done it, she had succeeded, she had shown she was no longer the victim. She slowly picked herself up from the floor. Her gut wound had reopened, and blood appeared to flowing silently out of every orifice. She should probably go to a hospital, but from there a check on her records would inevitably send to at best juvenal hall for the next ten years and at worst an insane asylum. She would return to being a victim.
Light began streaming into the room. Gaz looked up and saw that it was emanating between the floorboards nailed on the patio door. The sun had come up. The light shone something in her eye, it was Alex's knife, lying next to her body. She picked it up. For the first time since this ordeal began, she had power. She would lose it in a moment, so she decided to use it wisely.
She limped over to the door and let the light enter her soul. She drew the knife in front of her and forced the last few reservations out of her mind. Dib, sensing what was going to happen, rushed over to stop her, but was too late. Gaz plunged the knife deep into her chest and finished the work the gut wound started. As she slumped to her knees in front of the light-filled door her expression was not one of despair, but of wide-eyed hope. She would never have to be a victim again.
As Gaz slumped to the floor, Dib clutched his wounded shoulder and paused in the middle of the room. Tremendous feelings of pain and loss crept up through his throat, but with it came a quiet acceptance. Maybe it was better this way. He peered at Jessica, still kneeling beside Alex's bleeding corpse, staring at Gaz, and received his final confirmation that things would never be the same again.
For a tear was rolling down Jessica's cheek...
TO BE CONCLUDED...