Double Edge // ONC 2024 Novella

Chapter Fourteen

The floor was slick. My eyes opened, focusing on the overhead light on the ceiling. Something, some type of a fluid... was beneath me... on me. It was thick, like paint. My eyes focused. It covered my hands in muddy-grey yellow splotches.

What is this stuff?

I squinted, turning my head toward the living room. A shriek rose from deep within my guts, but I choked on it. Tears poured in sheets. I screamed so loud, I made no sound at all.

Strips of shredded clothing mashed into the pool of blood and gristle. Bones scattered. They splayed across the floor. His glasses remained intact. I could not even be afforded the luxury of denial.

The stain on my hands and arms... all over my body was blood.

"No, no, no, this can't be," I exclaimed. My hands trailed over the broken pieces in disbelief. "It wasn't the full moon? Was it? I couldn't have lost track..."

My hand landed on something round and firm, springy like an overripe plum. I grimaced and yanked my hand away. Sitting in the gore, a disembodied blue eye stared up at me in judgement.

Then I remembered the pain. The silver athame sticking out of my shoulder. Seff in the doorway... I got to my feet. Swaying, I braced myself against the wall. A bloody hand print left in my wake. Every inch of my body prickled with a burning Novocaine numbness.

I stepped into the shower. Even with the heat turned to max, I couldn't feel it. I needed to get the blood off. Get dressed. Find Rudi. Any thoughts threatening to rise to the surface of my mind were swiftly shoved down to swarm together in a dull hum.

I dried off.

The bathroom door seemed galaxies away. I couldn't bear the thought of opening it...what I would see... I grit my teeth and slammed my hands against the door.

"What the fuck did you go and do that for? Huh?" I screamed. "You ruined everything! I was going to be normal... I was... I was gonna figure it out. We could've been normal again."

I sunk to the floor, clutching my arms around my knees. The cold wall sprung goosebumps along my back.

Seff you idiot, I'll never forgive you for this.

"Never! You hear me? You really did it this time." I pressed my hands to my burning eyes. "Idiot." Tears overcame me again.

When I settled again, I wiped my nose with my towel and struggled to my feet.

"Ok, ok, I can do this. Just don't look."

I closed my eyes and opened the door. I darted round the corner into my bedroom, slamming my door shut. The wood splintered and cracked.

Blood covered my white sheets. The athame rested on the pillows. My stomach churned. It lurched and I vomited all over the floor.

Sweating, everything poured out of me. I was an empty husk. I'd never be full again.

I dressed and steeled myself to go through the hall. The knife blade glimmered. I took it and tucked it under my hoodie.

I need to find Rudie.

There was no way around it. I had to go out there. My heart crashed under my ribs. Tears swelled against the lump in my throat.

"I'm sorry." My hands curled into fists until my knuckles hurt. "I didn't mean to... I tried to warn you, even."

I stepped out into the hall. The silver blade pressed against my skin as I moved. Heat seared through my shirt. Skin sloughed off my knuckles and forearms in chunks and patches down to the muscle. Blood streaked the wall and pooled on the floor. Despite myself, I stepped in it, leaving footprints all the way to the front door.

****

I skulked off to the cemetery, weaving up the hill, winding through the brick buildings. The ground leveled and the street seemed to go on forever. Eventually, I reached the iron gate.

The cemetery stood stone still. I sniffed the balmy night air, sifting through the miasma of scents until I found it again. Finally, I inhaled cedar and spice and followed the trail. At first it led me in circles as I twisted around the cobblestone paths, then eventually found a way out on the other side.

The trail led me down the hill toward the intersection, away from the uptown core. The buildings were larger here, more modern, but spaced farther apart. I crossed the street. The scent led me down a side street, along a row of shops and apartments on one side and a decrepit strip mall on the other. This part of town was a bit more lively at this time of night. A couple argued under the mouth of a parking garage. Their passionate, shrill voices carried on the still air, echoing against the concrete.

I found the place where her scent was the strongest; A grey building, perfectly rectangular but leaning to one side. It backed up onto the hill, making the second story flush with the street above. The bottom floor was taken up by a pawn shop, and the top was apartments.

I paced around the cement steps. The silver blade rubbed me raw even through the fabric of my shirt.

It's not like I have anything left to lose.

I gathered my nerve and approached the door. Another chunk of flesh slid off my right arm onto the ground. I stepped into the porch, squeezing in amongst the steel mailboxes. The intercom was smeared with grime from ages of grubby fingers pawing at it. By process of elimination, I deduced the fourth button on the intercom must be Rudi's. It was the only one without a name scrawled on tape beside it.

Rudi's scent filled the small space, mingling with all the others. This had to be where she lived.

I grit my teeth and pressed the button. When I leaned forward, the silver blade dug into my gut and I flinched. The static crackled. It clicked.

"Hello?" Her voice broke with sleep.

"Uh, is this Rudi?"

"Who's asking?"

"It's Connor... from the other night."

The three second pause felt like thirty.

"Ok, come up," she said.

The security door buzzed and unlocked with a pop. I pulled it open and ascended the tile stairs. My foot steps echoed in the empty hall. I got to the top. The hallway was long, narrow and dark. I found her door easily. It was the first on the left. When I knocked, I noticed crusted blood under my nails.

The deadbolt clunked open and Rudi opened the door. She peeked out with a shining yellow eye. Ringlets escaped from her messy bun, trailing wisps into her face. Our eyes met.

"I tried to warn you," Rudi sighed. She opened the door wider. "Come in."

.....

Word Count: 1,141