BEAUTIFUL MONSTER

69: War

@Kelley_Elizabeth, I thank you for the beautiful banner. It is SO good! That's exactly what Beatrice would say/has said? Please check out this wonderful lady's stories.

Updating again because that update was too short.

+ + +

"Who are coming? What are you talking about?" Orion was like a frantic rabbit, unwilling to stay in one place. He moved around like he had an itch and his fear was as catching as a disease; I breathed in his nightmare despite having no idea what sort of monsters under the bed haunted him.

"You don't harm warriors. You're not supposed to. It's as good as declaring war. It is war!" Orion suddenly stepped forward again, shaking me roughly. "You need to leave. The Warriors and their Creators are coming. They're like hounds, they'll sniff you out and no one will be able to save you."

The severity of my actions caught up with me and every memory, every thought, every feeling I ever had flashed before my eyes. As much as I wished for it moments ago, in the face of death's sinister face I wanted to live. I didn't want to drown, I wanted to inhale the fresh scent of air and hear my heart thumping in my chest and I wanted to be conscious and not lose who I was. I saw my family in my mind's eye and if there was ever a time I was honest, it was that moment: I lived for them. I was too weak to gladly accept death, I had to used the excuse of their misery of loving me as a cause to stay.

"Where do I go?"

Orion's shoulders slumped in regret and his words were full of shameful apologies. "I ... I don't know. I'm sorry... I ...can't save you."

Time stilled, in that moment, the two of us realised, with each other's gazes mirroring helplessness, that something changed, something shifted, and stiffly, I nodded, feeling like I was experiencing a revelation.

No-one could help me. And I didn't mean in just that moment. I was by myself, in every torturous and weak chapter of life, in every step I took, I would be alone.

And oddly, I accepted it.

+ + +

Orion looked ashamed and he didn't meet my eyes, choosing to glance behind me instead. His face was drained of colour. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

I didn't know what I was feeling, it was hard to describe, my fear which was like this wall that had been about to topple over me suddenly straightened and became stable, painting itself a new colour, this time of indifference. "It's fine. Can I have your car keys?"

He nodded, tossing them over to me. "Why?"

"What?"

"Why did you kill her?"

I felt my eye twitch and I lied. "I didn't mean to. It was self defence. She was attacking me, she was about to kill me, I had to defend myself. It was an accident." I wrote in the missing memories with my own lies.

Orion swiped his tongue across his teeth slowly and then nodded. "You should leave."

He didn't believe me. I could tell by the way he angled his body away from me and the way he continued to stare off into the distance than at me. This irritated me. "Sure," I agreed. "Aren't you coming?"

He slid his gaze towards me. "No."

"Okay," I said and took a small step towards him. When he narrowed his eyes I paused, feeling powerful, like a predator or a hunter. I threw away my rifle and backed away from him, heading towards his car.

I had to get away before I did something I would later regret.

+ + +

I was still covered in blood. I drove until I was in the next town over and when the gas died out, I crawled into a gas station. I was thinking of running for it as soon as the tank was full but I felt my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. It was filled with notes.