The Death of Alex Kralie
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. My breathing tried to catch up with me as I slid down the back of the dirty hospital room with my heart racing. I’m wasn’t going to be safe here. He’d find me. Oh my God, he’d find me.
The man who I once recognized as my cousin; who I lived with; who I fell asleep to Disney movies on the couch after a long day with...
He’d find me. And kill me.
There was nothing the hooded man could do now. The masked man was no help, either... And the only some-what of a normal guy was already killed by my cousin. Jay loved a good life, I guess. In the end, though, all he had was paranoia eating away at him and the false hope in that my cousin Alex would stop and remember the friendship that we all shared. At least Tim was there for him, no matter the horrible times that he suffered- all because of the mask he wore. The hooded man seemed to make everything worse at first. Then everything calmed down around him and I felt safe and happy. I was happy that he took me. But then the hooded man took Alex and everything got worse again.
Oh my God, he’s walking down the hall now. I heard his heavy footsteps- they were slow, as if trying to taunt me. He knew I was here. I imagined his hands running over the top of his gun, pulling at it to cock it- Getting ready to shoot me. His cousin that he said he’d protect, that he’d love, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her...
My head snapped to the corner of the room- the hooded man, totheark, was crouched there- leaning in the corner. One of his hands gripped a metal pole like the one he’d knocked out Alex with. He nodded to me, so confident in himself.
I was conflicted. Could I just desert my cousin and follow totheark, watching as he knocked Alex out and probably shot him in the head? A part of me wanted to run out into the halls and throw myself at Alex. Let him shoot me.
Totheark stood up and quickly strode to the other door- disappearing into another hallway that probably led to the hallway Alex was in. I put my head in my hands. I started to try and think of what would happen in both scenarios. My thoughts were interrupted, though, by a noise in the hall.
“You can run,”
Oh dear God, it was Alex.
“Riley Kralie, you can run... All you’d like.”
He sounded so close.
“But I’ll get you one day.”
And then I heard him cock the gun. This was it. He was right outside the door, wasn’t he? I wasn’t ready to die. I didn’t want to go with this. Then I heard him start whispering to himself in a harsh tone.
Then a scream.
Totheark’s scream.
Then a clank of pipe hitting the wall.
I shrank back into the corner of the room where totheark was before. I could hear them wrestling. Alex’s gun flew out of his hand- landing somewhere on the floor with a small series of taps. Then they were both screeching, louder than banshees, leaving me to cower in the corner, covering my ears as the tears spilled from my eyes. I bit my lip to keep from screaming as well.
Oh my God.
Someone reached the gun, dragging it across the floor before lifting it up and squeezing the trigger, letting the bullet fly from the black plastic. Then Alex screamed.
I shot up, screaming now for Alex.
I nearly tripped as I sprinted to the hallway, seeing the horror of totheark backed up against the wall, coughing while fumbling around in his pocket for Tim’s pills while Alex ran out of breath to scream with, clutching at his side which leaked blood quickly. The gun lay next to totheark. He shot Alex.
Totheark shot my cousin.
Tears spilled again and I fell to my knees at Alex’s side, moving his hands with my left hand and I pulled off his jacket with the other. I bundled his favorite blue striped jacket up and pressed it to where the blood was leaking out, trying to remember any tips on how to stop bleeding.
“Don’t worry, Alex, it’s going to be okay, just breathe, Alex, breathe and stay with me. Don’t fall asleep, Alex, stay awake- Stay with me!” I cried, my voice sounding more desperate by the word, “Oh my God, Alex! Don’t you DARE close your eyes! Don’t you fucking dare, Alex!”
As I pressed down on his side with the jacket, making Alex groan, I fumbled around in my pocket for my phone.
“Siri, call 9-1-1!” I nearly screamed into the phone. An dispatcher answered.
“911, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher asked in a calm tone. I nearly screamed at him,
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Help us, please! Please!” I held his head in my lap as I yelled into the phone.
“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down. What happened?”
He sounded so calm.
“He was shot! Oh my God, he was shot! He’s bleeding so much, I- I don’t know what to do!” I sobbed as I ran a hand through Alex’s hair, “Oh my God, please, help...”
“Who’s gotten shot?”
“M-My cousin, Alex,” I cried, then mumbled to Alex, “dear God, Alex, stay with me,”
“How?”
“Oh my God! Just get me help! Now! He got into a fight!” I screeched, my grip on the phone tightening.
“Please calm down. Just apply pressure to the wound right now to stop further bleeding.”
“THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING! IT’S NOT FUCKING WORKING!!!!” I wailed at the top of my lungs, however the dispatcher just ignored me.
“Where’s your location?” He asked in the sickly calm voice of his. I bit my lip,
“I-I don’t know, I don’t know... We were in the woods, I just... Oh my God, Alex please, it’s okay,” Crying, I leaned down to plant a kiss on his forehead as his eyes slowly blinked.
“Okay, then where was the last place you remember being?”
I raked my brain for the answer; Jay and Tim had taken me here all the time, “Rosswood Park.”
“Alright, we have an ambulance and an officer on their way. I’m going to need you to stay on the phone with me, okay? What’s your name?” The dispatcher asked, “What’s your cousin’s name?”
Biting my lip as I fixed Alex’s glasses, I tried to answer calmly, “I-I’m Riley K-K-Kralie and m-my cousin’s name is A-Alex K-Kralie.”
“Alright, Riley, you and your cousin are going to be fine,” the little speaker on the phone blared into my ear as the dispatcher talked, “Did you see who shot your cousin?”
I stared into Alex’s slowly closing brown eyes, matching hers, “H-He was wearing something over his face. It was black and r-red.”
“Alright. Is he gone?”
“I-I... Yes. He is gone.” I said, sighing as I leaned down to Alex’s ear, “Alex, stay awake.”
The dispatcher spoke again, “Ma’am, are you talking to your cousin? Is he conscience still?”
With that question, a cry ripped through me, “I-I don’t know!”
“Okay, Riley, he needs to be conscience. Make sure of it. Can you do that?”
“Oh my God...” I breathed, “N-No, I can’t. He’s losing blood...”
Then he spoke again, “Put pressure to the wound to prevent further bleeding. Use a shirt, a jacket...”
“I AM!” I screeched, doubling over.
“Calm down.”
I ignored the dispatcher and leaned over Alex, “It’s okay, right, Alex? You’re fine, right?”
The dispatcher continued to talk, so I moved the phone away from my ear and set it on the ground. I pulled his glasses off and cleaned the lenses for him, then put them back on. His hair was a mess and he had a few bruises on his face. Using my free hand, I fixed his hair so it didn’t stick out everywhere and ran my hand over a few bruises.
“Wake up, Alex,” I muttered, looking at his closed eyes, “Please, wake up...”
A roaring voice interrupted me,
“Is anyone in there!?”
I stood up, laying Alex’s head down gently, “Over here! Over here, please, he needs help!”
A head peeked around the corner of another hallway into the one Alex and I were in. It was a police officer. His eyes widened when he saw me and he turned around and yelled,
“They’re in here! Get here quick!”
A whole team of paramedics ran in with the police in right behind them. One of them rushed to me while the rest- three of them- ran to Alex, kneeling down next to him. I looked away. The paramedic next to me looked at my face and felt at my arms,
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I snapped, “H-Help Alex!”
“Ma’am,” the paramedic breathed, unzipping my jacket and pulling it off to reveal some blood leaking from my stomach. I stared at it and suddenly my abdomen began to sting.
“O-Oh.”
The paramedic pulled my shirt up to see the wound, running her hand across the bandage across my stomach. I remember that. Totheark bandaged up a scrape that I got when the Operator was about to get me. I tripped in the woods and fell over a branch. The cut must have opened up again. I stared at it still.
“Oh dear,” I muttered, putting a hand over my eyes, “Please tell me that Alex will be alright...” I said before I doubled over, letting the paramedic catch me.
Then darkness.
I woke up to white everywhere. Hooked up to a few wires- leading mostly to pouches of clear liquids. IVs. I sat up, looking around. I sat in a hospital bed, in the corner of the normal hospital room. White walls, white curtains, a white door, and the shiny machines in the corner next to the bed. The door knob jiggled a little before the door was opened. A brown-haired doctor walked in.
“Hello, Miss Kralie. I see you’re awake?”
Resisting the urge to snap at him and answer that noo, I wasn’t awake, I smiled politely and said, “Yes.”
“That’s good news. You’re all patched up, in fact,” the doctor said, “And your cousin wanted to see you. He’s already awake.”
My eyes must have brightened at the mention of Alex, because the doctor chuckled at the look on my face.
“All we need is for a nurse to come in and take your IV out. Then you’ll be taken to his room. After that, the police would like to talk to you about who shot your brother.”
“Cousin,” I corrected, “He’s my cousin, sir.”
With another chuckle, the doctor nodded, “Of course. My bad.”
“Thank you,” I said as he got up, leaving to get a nurse.
And so I sat in bed for a few minutes. Thinking about what had happened yesterday. Totheark brought me to the hospital. Alex was shot. I called 9-1-1. And then they picked us up. I guess what summed it up. Why did totheark lead me to the hospital? Where was Tim? The door opened again.
“Hello!” A nurse called, “I’m here to remove your IVs and take you to your brother.”
“Cousin,” I corrected, “I just corrected the doctor on that.”
“Sorry,” the nurse said, “I’ll remember.”
She strode over to me and carefully took my left hand, the one with the IV stuffed into it. She pulled the clear tape off of the back of my hand and then quickly plucked the needle from my hand, making me wince. She then moved to my right arm and plucked a needle from there. She handed me a bundle of clothes and helped me out of the bed and into a bathroom. I changed with her help. Then we were out into the hallway.
We didn’t walk far. Alex’s room was right next to mine. The nurse opened the door and peeked her head in, saying hello and that I was here to visit. Then I heard Alex’s scratchy voice answer her, saying to let me in. The nurse gave me a slight push into the room.
There he was. All hooked up to a bunch of machines and pouches of fluid. Alex was dressed in the typical patient outfit, cleaned with no blood anywhere. His glasses were pushed up to the top of the bridge of his nose. Once he saw me he smiled,
“Hi, Riley.”
“Hey, Alex.” I answered him, slowly walking to the side of his bed.
“Ri’, sorry about everything. I just lost it, I mean-”
“Wait,” I said, leaning over him and kissing his forehead, “It’s okay, Alex. All that matters is that we’re all okay. I forgive you. Let’s just agree to never do that again?”
Alex grinned, “Agreed.”
End!