Children of the Mirror

...8th Part: Dark...

I didn't see Krad anywhere. I was concerned, but I wasn't about to go looking for him right away. I figured he was just sick or something.

A few students walked by, and I snagged money from all of them, shoving it into my pocket and waiting for another opportunity.

I was about to snatch a twenty from someone's pocket, but my concentration completely faltered and my hand smacked back down onto the table in a fist. Were my eyes deceiving me? I hoped so, anyway.

"What are you doing!?" I demanded.

Tsuki was kissing Furishi. My girlfriend was spit-swapping another guy! And one I knew, too!

"What's it look like?" she laughed. "Wanna break up with me or something?"

So it was all a joke. She'd been cheating on me right under my nose. And now I felt like an oblivious idiot. "Thank you, captain obvious!" I snapped. I was so betrayed. And stupid. How could I not notice before now?

Tsuki only laughed.

Which pissed me off.

Suddenly, I hated her.

And it happened just that quick. "It's over, Dark."

. . .

I left my motorcycle in the school parking lot and just ran. I didn't feel like going home.

So I decided to locate where it was that Krad lived. Maybe I'd check up on him.

It took me a while to find the right place, asking around and getting understandably strange looks from people. I didn't really care what they thought, though. I didn't hardly even care what I thought. My mind was pretty much blank.

I knocked on the door, and it slowly swung open – it hadn't been closed all the way – so I took a chance and walked in. I didn't see anyone, so I stepped farther into the house. "Krad?" I called. My voice sounded unnaturally loud in the silent space. "Krad, are you here? It's Dark..."

When I peered through the doorway to the kitchen, I nearly fell over from the shock I received. Krad was sitting on his knees, slumped back against a row of cabinets. His hands were splayed palms-up in front of him, and his eyes looked glazed when he turned his head up to look at me. There were two bodies lying just inches away from him, and everything was covered with blood: the floor, his hands; some was smeared across one side of his face, and the stuff on the floor was soaking into the knees of his jeans.

"Dark, I killed them," he said softly. Then the most horrifying grin crossed his face and a strangled sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sob came from his throat. He shoved at the woman's head. "She's finally dead," he told me. More of those laughter-sobs, and his shoulders shook with each one.

"How long have you been there?" I wondered. The blood on his hands was all dry and the stuff on the floor was congealed and close to drying as well.

"All night," he said as if it was nothing at all. "I killed them last night..."

To be quite honest, I was completely freaked out – terrified, even – of the scene before me, but I walked in there anyway and extended my hand to him, silently urging him to get up.

He took my hand, and I pulled him up. Krad tripped over one of the bodies and I caught him, helping him right himself again and leading him away from that room, shutting the door behind me.

"Now what?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

An idea struck me, and it seemed the only available option. "You have to come with me," I told him, pulling him out of that house with me. I hope he didn't want anything from that place, because he was never going back.

"Where are we going?"

"To get my bike. And then you and I are going to my house, where you are going to take a shower and eat something," I decided.

Krad didn't respond; just followed me. We got to the school and I got onto the motorcycle, telling him to get on behind me, which he did, hesitantly circling my waist with his arms.

. . .

I didn't sneak past my mom, but Krad did. I directed him to my room and said 'Hello' to her before following him, so she wouldn't be suspicious of me.

I pointed. "The shower's in there. I'll bring up some food, alright?"

I had to shake him a few times to get him to respond. "Okay..."

Worn out, I flopped back onto my bed to stare at the ceiling and just listen as the shower started. The endless rush of the water was relaxing.

What now? was the last thought I had before unintentionally falling asleep.