The Project

Chapter Twelve: Killer

The boy was beaten and broken, face swollen and purple. He was still curled into a tiny ball, shielding half his face with one hand and his stomach with the other. A string of blood dripped from his mouth and onto the floor. 

All I could think, was that he fucking deserved it for doing what he did. He doesn't know me. No one does. I stepped back from Ethan and glanced at Felix. He was being helped up by Mark and he looked over to me. He quickly averted his eyes and smiled at Mark. 

I walked back out of the cafeteria and slammed the door shut, making Dan jump. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at me tiredly. His eyebrows shot up and he stood from his chair. "Mcloughlin! Your face.." He pointed to above my eye and I reached up to touch it. A stinging sensation made me hiss in pain.

"We should get you to the nurse." Just as he said that, Tyler knocked at the door and Dan opened it just a crack. "It's Ryan, he's.." Before he could finish, Dan slammed open the door and closed it behind him, going to check on the boy who I assumed was the one who almost called me by my first name.

A few minutes later, Dan walked out with the boy cradled in his arms. "Mcloughlin. What the fuck were you thinking?!" I winced at his tired and angry voice and shrugged dismissively. Dan passed by me after shutting the door behind him. 

I followed him to the infirmary and he nodded toward the door, signaling for me to open it, I did. Begrudgingly. He walked in and I shut the door behind us.

"Hannah, we need your help and fast." The nurse nodded, motioning toward one of the many beds. Dan laid the boy gently onto one of them and the nurse got to work. "So, you want me to check on him after I'm done with Ryan?" 

Dan shook his head, glaring at me. "No. I'm sure he can manage that himself." The nurse known as Hannah nodded.

I walked into the nurses bathroom and grabbed some wipes and a bandage. I'm not very good at this so, that's the best I can do. After wiping down the cut above my eye, I placed the bandage over it. I threw the garbage into the waste bin and made my way out into the infirmary. The nurse shook her head. 

"There's internal bleeding, Dan."

Dan's voice shook as he spoke. "I-Is he..?" He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence and the nurse nodded sadly. "There's nothing I can do for him. The damage has been done."

 Dan looked to me with an exhausted and shocked expression, shaking his head and looking back down to the floor. Did he know this boy? Shite.. I screwed up.

I didn't exactly intend to kill him but.. it served it's purpose. Don't call me by my first name and you won't be killed. That's it. All he had to do was avoid me, without calling me that. We probably could have become friends. I shrugged and sat down onto one of the white beds, in deep thought. 

"Mcloughlin. Why do you hate to be called by your first name so much?"

The question I dreaded the most, asked by Dan. I narrow my eyes at him as he comes into view and squats beside me, eyes puffy and red. The rings are still on my head so I reply without hesitation. "I don't want to talk about it." He shakes his head and stands. 

"Mcloughlin. Do you want to know why I mourn when others die?" I raised and eyebrow at his sudden change in subject before answering. "Because the funeral costs are inconvenient?"

"No.. It's because I feel." I gave him a questioning look and he continued. "It's because they don't have any family left to mourn them." I nodded and laid back onto the bed, resting my arms above my head.

"They didn't have anyone, Mcloughlin." Dan took in a shaky breath before resting a hand on my shoulder. "But they could have." I closed my eyes to avoid his piercing gaze. "-And you killed them before they had a chance." 

My eyes shot open at his spiteful tone and I gave him a puzzled look. "It's not like I knew I'd kill him." The monotone voice didn't express emotion well, so it didn't seem to get my point across.

"No.. I know." His expression suddenly brightened and he gave me a forced smile. "We should go. You have a long night ahead of you." I nodded and got up from the white infirmary bed, following him past the dead boy and out the door, shutting it behind us. He grabbed my arm again and led me to my room.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrived and he gently pushed me inside, shutting the door behind him as he went to do whatever it is he does. I know he's upset but, he didn't know the boy so why is he making a big deal out of it? The door to my room opened again and I though it was Dan, but Marzia walked in.

She shut the door behind herself and took a seat on my white chair. "Ah. Mcloughlin. How are you today?" I just stared at her and her smile dimmed. She sighed and readjusted herself on the rusted chair, making it squeak. 

"Ah.. We should really replace this thing." She laughed and looked up at me.

"So.. Dan was pretty upset.." My gaze flicked to the ticking clock as she spoke. Yeah.. I kind of figured he might be after what I did to that Ryan kid. She sighed again and wrote something down in her clipboard.

 My eyes trailed back down to her as she was writing. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun and she was focused on what she was doing.

She spoke without looking up. "So, do you know why I'm here, Mcloughlin?"

"Because I killed someone."