Tell No One

Chapter 16

By the end of 9 deaths, Shelia was an unrecognisable mess of indistinguishable meat. True to her word, Kiera had flayed her, and exposed to the fire's dying light, Kiera admired her handiwork. The various blood vessels, muscles and bone of the human body were bared to the air, things never meant to be seen on the outside. All in all, Shelia's body was a disarrayed heap of biological material. Well, it wasn't a body anymore. Done with it, Kiera returned to Shelia's bedroom and picked out a set of clothing from Shelia's wardrobe that would seem to fit her. Hers were ruined, a bloodied, muddied mess. Kiera washed off in the bathroom, before returning to the fireplace. Stoking the flame, Kiera left the house as the fire quickly enveloped it. Kiera left the house and kept walking. Eventually, she came to the set of traffic lights she was walking towards. It was the early hours of the morning, and there were few cars on the road, but, after waiting for a few minutes, a car found the red light and she walked towards it. Knocking on the window, she watched the tired man as he rolled down his window. Without another word, Kiera reached into the car and yanked him out, pulling him onto the road with a startled groan from him. Smoothly, she opened the car door and stepped in, running the red light and speeding off. She watched in the rear view mirror at the man, who sat rubbing his head in the middle of the road. Eventually, he faded from view.

Kiera drove for several minutes, hunched over the wheel. She was paranoid her eyes darting at every car on the road. At one point, she hunkered lower in her seat as a firetruck went blazing past, sirens screaming. Finally, Kiera found the highway and felt like she could relax, cruising at a constant speed. Just as she released the tension in her shoulders, she heard a familiar voice next to her.
"How do you even know how to drive?" Mera's voice was amused, a grin on his face, as always. Kiera felt a genuine smile on her face.
"Had a few driving lessons before. The rest I learnt along the way. Not that hard- one pedal makes it go, one makes it stop, and the wheel makes it turn." Kiera's eyes briefly flitted to his face, but avidly paid attention to the road. In the east, the sun was beginning to rise, bleeding red into the velvety sky. Mera kicked his chair into an almost horizontal position, his upper body disappearing into the back seats. Leaning back with his head in his hands, Kiera was at that moment envious of how relaxed he could be. He didn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"You know, you weren't supposed to be able to do that." Kiera glanced over at him, his eyes closed.
"Do what?" Kiera returned her eyes to the road, keeping them fixed on the empty tarmac that stretched to oblivion before her.
"Bring her back. Resurrect her. Revive her from the dead." Kiera was silent, thoughtful. "Caused quite a stir." Without warning, Mera suddenly came to sit upright, sitting on the edge of his chair as he stared at her. A big grin was stretched across his face. "Oh, and Shelia? What you did to Shelia?" His voice was full of excitement, a kind of frenzied enthusiasm. "By God, Kiera, you truly are devious. The way you..." Kiera tuned out as he carried on, describing her sins against humanity. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands her actions in detail. 

"Mera, I..." Kiera gripped the steering wheel harder. Mera stopped talking and turned to her, the grin descending from his face. "I shouldn't have done what I did. She was only doing what was morally right. What is right." Mera's face looked crestfallen for a second before it developed into an understanding smile. "So all those other people you killed, that was okay?" Kiera was taken aback, shocked by Mera's brashness. But, instead of responding with her usual fire, Kiera only felt that sinking feeling deepen.

"But I didn't know them." Kiera's voice was barely a whisper.

Mera chuckled. "And that makes it better?" Kiera didn't take her eyes off the road. Instead, she began slowing down, before putting the hazard light on and pulling into the hard shoulder. The feeling in her stomach had morphed into something else. Slamming open her door, Kiera only got one foot out before she vomited onto the asphalt. She heard the passenger door open beside her, before Mera entered her vision. Her eyes were swimming, head throbbing as pure nausea took over. Mera watched as she vomited again, the bile burning her throat as it came up.

"Maybe we should take a break."

***
They both sat just over the road boundary, on the verge that overlooked a field. The sun was finally above the horizon, the deep reds fading into an ombre of orange. Kiera was a groggy mess, feeling like shit. Mera just sat beside her, legs stretched out before him, in a companionable silence. The car was parked behind them, headlights cutting the morning sunshine. The sky was frosty, the late autumn air turning the end of Kiera's nose pink. In the distance, the few trees that dotted the horizon had already lost their leaves, only some orange stragglers holding on. Strangely, Mera looked untouched by the cold. The world still swam slightly before her eyes, but Kiera was feeling a bit better. She pulled her knees to her chest, her bum cold against the damp ground. Somewhere, deep inside of her, she felt a pang of shame. But, smothering that, was the sense that nothing really mattered.

Kiera looked at Mera. His face was upturned to the sun, a placid smile on his face. Watching the sunrise, Mera by her side, Kiera could not think of a better place to be at that moment. In truth, right now, he was her only true friend.

Kiera sighed, a deep resonating sound that carried her feelings onto the early morning air. Feeling defeated, she let her head thump onto Mera's shoulder. She felt him tense up, but then quickly relax. It was surprisingly comfortable, a soft radiating warmth emanating from him.

"What are you going to do now?" Mera voiced the question that had been plaguing her ever since she left Shelia's house.

"I don't know." This time, it was Mera who sighed. Kiera wished she could capture this moment forever, and live in it.

Because right now, it felt like the calm before the storm.