“So you can hurt me, but I’ll hurt you. If you hurt my friends – I’ll kill you, and I don’t care if I die trying.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking, when I killed Kyros. Some part of me just needed the satisfaction: needed the revenge. Everyone’s life comes to an end – eventually, anyways but the few final chapters are thought to be deep and meaningful. Maybe they would write a letter to their family before dying, maybe they would spend their last moments in a peaceful sleep full of dreams and happy memories. Happiness isn’t the final journey for some. Take Tove, as an example. Her final moments in whatever she may have been forced to dream were anything but joyous. If I close my eyes, I could still hear her scream. I could still hear the pain and desperation in it. That’s was everyone’s last moments in this hellhole. Pain, because they tortured our minds and stripped away everything that we had. No one deserved to die that way – with the exception of Kyros, perhaps – but definitely not the small, motionless bodies who I see every moment I turn a corner. Their lives were so short – including Tove’s and Alex’s, maybe even the two fresh bodies outside. Me? I still had hope I would make it out – and that was my plan. I was going to get Drew and Murphy out of here. Then – it’s a bit stupid, really, but no one gets away with hurting my friends. Then, I was going to kill the people who made all of this happen. I was going to make their final chapters full of pain and gore.
I was exploring the mall – to find a potential escape route – when I heard the glass smash. It was unique, in a way, but sounded so elegant and the same time. The shatter on the impact, the tinkling it makes when it falls – then it breaks on the ground beneath. My head whipped around to find the source but I found nothing. I looked up to the second floor. I was sure Drew would be fine taking care of Murphy but I still couldn’t trust anyone else to look after him. The door that had been bolted for several days – or possibly weeks – started rattling. Someone was breaking in, but they didn’t sound like someone nice.
“…I’ll kill them all! No survivors this time…..” I only caught a few words from the familiar voice. It sounded angry and mentally insane. In fact, I heard this same voice on several occasions. It still gave me shivers down my spine. It was the man from the microphone. I didn’t waste any of my time. I ran. I bolted up the stairs – dodging the numerous obstacles that were scattered. I arrived at the bookstore and noticed two things.
1. Giorgi’s body had disappeared.
2. Drew was also missing.
Murphy cocked his head to one side, as if to say ‘What’s wrong?’ But I didn’t have time to reply. The doors below gave a loud smash as the metal that bound them together snapped. I jumped slightly and rushed to Murphy.
“Try getting up, I’ll be right back,” I signed quickly, hoping that he got it, and rushed to find Drew. I did a sweep of the shelve aisles before checking the storage room. He was silhouetted by a small piece of light. A window was high up and as I said his name, Drew tumbled down in fright. A very recognizable item fell to the ground with him.
“Dammit Rose!” he said, rubbing the back of his head.
“We have to leave. The crazy man is coming for us,” I blurted out before pulling him to his feet.
He grabbed the sword. The same sword I had within my grasp a few days ago, but I let the issue go. We had more important things to worry about. The cursing was getting louder as loud bangs and smashing sounds echoed. He was angry – possibly a little crazy with death. Murphy was leaning on a shelf when we got to him. I took one side and Drew took the other. Murphy hopped with our help and as we got to the front of the store – we saw him. He was the reason we were trapped/ He was the reason that we were on death’s row. And I couldn’t have hated him more. His stupid golden hair that was messy from weeks of not brushing it. His tall frame, if I didn’t hate him so much – maybe I would call him pretty. But in my current view, he was disgusting. And when he turned around, his chestnut-coloured eyes met mine. I was frozen in place for a moment, so was he. Staring each other down – I wasn’t going to break away but my mind was frantically trying to come up with ways to get out of here.
I was facing death. He was death. He was the man behind Tove’s and Alex’s death. He was the reason only Drew, Murphy and I were left standing – but for how long exactly?
Those chestnut eyes held too many emotions for me to decipher. Insanity was perhaps one. Madness was another. Power. Power over this place – power over the people inside. And I had no doubt that he wanted to kill us all.
I should have known from the beginning that no one would make it out. That he had planned to kill every single one of us all along. Even his first words:
“You know the rules: you do as you’re told, you fight for your life and you are given the opportunity to stay safe in the real world,”
All a load of bullshit! The worst part – I had believed him. I had believed I had a chance. And now, I stood facing off the man who was planning to kill us. At that moment I couldn’t have hated him more.
He broke our stand off first. He held a gun in his hand, yet he was walking towards us briskly. I knew that we couldn’t get Murphy away in time. We had to fight. That was what I dreaded most.
“Rose!” Drew’s voice was urgent, as if he had said it for a thousand times, “Let’s move!”
“There’s no point,” I murmured. Death was eventual: He had a gun, we didn’t. Simple as that.
“Rose?” Murphy’s soft voice whispered. I glanced at the man – Azriel, that was his name – then back to Murphy. Azriel was taking aim, he had a crazed smile on his lips. I don’t know why I didn’t duck – I should have. Azriel’s intentions were clear: kill me first. But I hadn’t even heard the bullet fire until Murphy jerked back. Azriel cursed loudly but I ignored him after that. Murphy’s full weight made him full to the ground.
“Murphy!” His name barely left my lips. The second time he had been hit with a bullet instead of me. And he would pay his life for this one. Tears already fell down my face. I caressed his cheek softly with my tears dripping onto his face. The bullet had hit him straight in the center of his chest – not in the heart but it would still be a fatal shot.
“Rose,” he murmured. He lifted his hand up with a struggle and twirled my messy hair in his fingers, “Don’t leave?” the way he said it made it sound like a question, rather than an order.
“I’ll always stay with you, Murphy.” I leant down and kissed him. He kissed back. This was the person I would lose. I should have taken the bullet. When I pulled away – Murphy’s face was alarmed but bright at the same time.
“Your voice is amazing,” Murphy whispered, “It’s just like I remember.” He could hear me! I smiled and cried. His eyes started closing, he was losing his fight with the bullet.
“What is this!?” the voice sneered, “Romeo and Juliet?”
I glared at Azriel. He had the gun pointed at either me or Drew – I couldn’t quite tell because Drew was behind me. Murphy mumbled something faintly. I squeezed his hand as reassurance because there was no way I was taking my eyes off Azriel. I didn’t dare to move.
I couldn’t quite make sense of what happened next. It happened quickly. Drew jumped over me, with the sword in his hand, and tackled Azriel. He literally flew over me. I had no clue why, but he was armed with his sword. Then came the shooting: Gunshots – too many to count at once – ran out through the Mall. I ducked down for cover. There was scuffling and grunting but I couldn’t watch. The bullets tore past me – but not as many as I heard – then Drew screamed.
I knew his screaming too well for my liking. When Tove died, he had screamed. It was pain – agony, suffering, anguish: whatever you want to call it. But it was horrible. The second time I had heard it was when Alex had died. Before, I couldn’t have been able to imagine what it would have been like to lose a best friend and someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. But now I knew. Murphy was growing colder and I was losing my best friend and the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with all at once. He was the flower that the life was draining out of. He was withering and dying. And it was one man’s fault.
I sprung up – not noticing Drew, but I did take the sword on the ground – and shoved Azriel violently to the ground. I didn’t know how to use a sword but a thrashed it around best I could. Azriel cried out in pain several times but I kept going. The clicking of his gun meant he was out of ammo. He was kicking me, but I didn’t care. It hurt so much – but I didn’t care. He punched me – but I kept thrashing. Hell! I was still waving around my sword before I realized he had died. I stopped and threw the sword to the ground. It was the only sound. The clang echoed through the silence. It was eerie. I was surrounded by so much death.
Azriel. His body was – well – all over the place. I had sliced him up good. But as I had warned earlier:
“…you can hurt me, but I’ll hurt you. If you hurt my friends, I’ll kill you…” His body lay in front of me. I had no regret about killing him. He killed Murphy – and when I looked to Drew, he had obviously killed him too.
I shuffled over to Drew. The gangly teenager and his big green cat-like eyes. His long black hair had that always covered half his face. In a way – he had saved me. And I thought of him as a friend. Everything we had been through together – he even knew my deepest secrets. And I never once told him that he was my friend – that I thought about him that way. I counted the holes in his body. Azriel had shot him nine times. Drew had saved me and he paid the price. As my tears wet his batman shirt, guilt ran through me. Too many people had died for me and because of me. I hated myself for that.
“Sorry, Drew.” I whispered. I gave his cold cheek a soft kiss. At least he was with Tove now.
I moved to Murphy. His chest had stopped moving. His electric blue eyes were never to be seen again – even though I wanted them so badly. I would never hear melodic laugh when I made a weird face. I would never get to see him dance. I cried. He would never be able to see his little sisters again. I pressed my forehead to his. It was like ice, but I didn’t even flinch.
“I love you, Murphy Nixon.” I whispered softly. I remember when he heard me. At least he got to hear my voice one final time, and I got to hear his. I slowly got up and wiped the tears from my eyes even though I was still crying. I picked up the sword and gave one final look at the scene.
Massacre was the only word for it. And I was the only survivor.
“And who do we have here?” a voice startled me. I didn’t recognize it at all. I turned to the voice, a little surprised I hadn’t noticed him earlier. He had brown hair and matching eyes. He was neither skinny nor muscular but had a certain edge to him. Yet, he looked nervous and crazy. His eyes flicked to Azriel and back to me. I didn’t know what to do exactly. I couldn’t take him down, yet I knew he was with Azriel – he was a killer too. So what did I do: I ran.
I ran past Murphy’s body and past the bookstore. I flew down the stairs and I could hear him chasing behind me. I got to the bottom floor. I saw a glimpse of flashing police lights outside before I hit the ground. The sword cut into my leg but I swung it around to the man on top of me. He shouted out and kicked me. I screamed in turn and stabbed. His grip released for moment. But just long enough for me to squirm out of his hold. I jumped up and backed away.
He tried to crawl towards me. Insanity in his eyes as the blood ran down his back. He was muttering something under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. They were also pained but crazed at the same time. I shook my head and turned run, but he grabbed my ankle and I fell. I let out a scream and stabbed the sword backwards. The grip on my ankle loosened and this time I didn’t stop. I ran straight to the doors.
I hadn’t realised that it was my family outside. Rodney and Chrom stood right at the front. I ran into Chrom’s arms first. He hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe – but I felt safe. I reluctantly hugged Rodney – recalling when I had told Drew what he had done to me. Then I froze. Murphy’s sisters: Lilly and Felicity. Their faces lit up as they saw me and they ran to me.
“Where’s Murphy, Rosella?” Lilly asked. Tears – once more – cascaded down my face.
“Where is he?” Felicity’s face was worried. I sobbed and wiped away my tears as Murphy’s Aunty and Uncle came up.
“He’s dead!” I sobbed, I also came to the reality that I would never see him again, “Murphy’s dead!” I ran to the back of the crowd. People shouted at me. They asked me questions. But I couldn’t take it. Not any longer. As I broke away from the crowd, I saw a figure in the night. As I came closer – I saw his features. His shaggy black hair with an electric green streak and his brown eyes were similar to a cat’s. I gasped.
“Morgan Griffin? Drew’s brother?” I said, they both sounded like questions. He looked up. This was Drew’s brother. The only person to have survived the Carnival massacre.
“Do you want an autograph?” he mocked. He had dark bags under his eyes. “Let me guess, no one else made it out, did they? You’re the only one to escape.” He came closer, “And I bet you lost too many friends to count.”
I nodded my head meekly, too stunned to reply to him. More tears began to slowly creep down my face. I had lost them. Murphy, Drew, Tove and Alex. All gone: all dead.
“I knew you’re brother.” I said. I don’t know why exactly. But his eyes lit up for a moment, before returning to dullness.
“I barely knew him.” Morgan whispered so quietly I only just heard him.
“He was very brave,” I smiled at the thought, “He saved my life.” I frowned. He died because of me. Hopelessness plagued my body. Why let me live? Couldn’t have Murphy made it out? Drew? But instead – I did. And they practically sacrificed themselves because of me. I suddenly realised that I still held the sword in my hand. I could end it all. To be with them. I moved it up but something stopped me.
“Don’t.” he said, “It’s not worth it.”
I looked up into his eyes, they held fear.
“You’re the only one who gets me: The only one who knows what I went through. I can help you.” He out his hand. I took it and he helped me up. To me, it was a sign of friendship and a sign of trust.
Trust.
I had just met him, but something told me I should have faith in him. After all, trust was hard to come by in a world where anything could happen.
**
On the highest part of the cemetery, several gravestones stood. It was for those who had been lost in the Mall Mayhem. 25 headstones. Each individually decorated by the ones who loved them. One belonged to a boy who was loved by a girl. His was the tidiest. His was the one that was visited everyday by the same girl. And each day, she would water a single flower that grew by its side, to watch over the boy and keep him safe. The flower was a beautiful red Rose. The boy’s name was Murphy. And the Rose always stood by him even though the Mayhem was over – for now.
The End