Gift of the Goddess

Zacks origins, a christmas Special

“Zack, please don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” 

Her voice was faint, it was like she was trying to tell me a secret. I was so used to her annoying yammering. It just didn't feel real, to hear her sound so dead. 

It felt like I was lost in a dream. No, this was definitely a nightmare.

“Ppft! Me? Worried? As if I’m worried about some gnome like you. I’m just relishing in the fact I don’t have to hear that squeaky voice of yours anymore. This cold of yours must've been my Christmas gift!” I chuckled.

I moved my hand behind my back and balled my fist. The warm sensation of blood started to drip down my palm as my nails dug into my skin. I forced a smile onto my face and looked her over. While she just squinted her forest green eyes at me. Damn, even her eyes were starting to look dull.

“Zack, you know this isn’t just a cold, right?” She asked. 

“The Hippie thinks she’s a doctor now?” 

“Well, I just-”

“Look, I told you before, you have nothing to worry about.” 

I walked over to her bed and grabbed her book. 

“You promise?”

“Leave it to your big bro!” 

I moved the cover over her body and gave her a big grin. She nodded and started to cough, and my heart nearly stopped. I saw drops of blood splattered onto her sheets.

“Zack..” She mumbled.

“Don’t worry, really. It’s just because your throats scratched up, it’s normal.”

“Zack, why are you bleeding?” She asked as she pointed at my hand. 

That's where the blood came from..

“It’s just a papercut. Grabbed your book the wrong way.”

“Zack.” She said with some more base.

I ignored it though and just hurried out the room. It was weird, my whole body just suddenly felt heavy. 

“I’ll be back!”

I quickly shut the door to her room as I left, and then leaned against it. What the hell was this? Is this a joke!? She’s gotten ten times worse! I wiped the blood off onto my pants and took a breath. The weight I was feeling a second ago slowly began to fade.

I'm all she’s got. I’m not gonna let her get worse. I moved my hand into my pocket and pulled it out. I looked over the old rusted kitchen knife and caught my reflection in the blade. I almost didn’t recognize myself. For a moment there, I thought I saw my dad.

I continued to look the blade over. And I noticed the crusted crimson stain on it. A flash of that night came into my mind. My hands trembled just at the thought of it. The echoing of his body dropping to the ground played in my ears. I moved my other hand over and grabbed into my wrist, and tried to force the shaking to stop. My heart was beginning to race again, and my breathing was getting heavy. Flashes of his panicked eyes came into my mind. 

It’s either eat or be eaten. I shouldn’t care about that lousy gang member. I bet he’s killed people, so why should I care? Right, I at least have a reason. I’m being a hero.

…

I watched as a mother and her son walked down the empty street. The flickering lights from the lamp posts barely illuminated their way in the night. I slowly crept behind them and reached into my pocket. Perfect, I recognized the kid. I think I saw him at my school once, back when I was still going to school that is. She drove a pretty nice looking car if I recall. They definitely had money.