[ c o m p l e t e d ]
"She looked like a goddess. The kind that sends cities to their knees in fear. The kind that is never in picture books.
The kind that twists people."
- - - - -
April is a devil. A demon. And above all, she is a...
"He said that, 'Times are changing.' And then he left."
April nibbled on her lip in thought, casting her gaze downwards. "He made his way to the downstairs, with my gun. Shot up the guards, and whoever else was lingering in the vicinity. And then he ran his ass into the forest, where he thought they wouldn't be able to track him."
"Let me guess, they got him."
"Herded him like a cow to slaughter."
April rubbed her eyes slowly. "Oliver was a big deal. He knew too much, thanks to me being such a fool. He had killed Saviors. I think the count ended up being upwards of forty. I don't think my dad ever intended to let him out alive. So they set him up as an example.
"They called all the Saviors into a big commonroom, where Oliver was tied to a chair in the center. They doused him in gasoline, and set fire to him."
There was a sharp intake of breath from Carl, and April looked up to see sympathy in his gaze. She watched him struggle for words, then shook her head. "It was awful. I got front-row seats, next to my dad. We were about five feet away, and I could see every ounce of pain in his face. I could see his skin turning black. And he was screaming. It was the worst sound I had ever heard, really... panicky. And shrill. He was yelling something too, but I couldn't hear anything over the cheers of the crowd. There was blood pooling out of his flesh and the air smelled like sulfur and... charcoal."
She took a shaky breath. "I don't care what he did or what he knew, nobody deserves a death that grotesque."
Carl was quiet. She gazed at his expression, lips pressed together, eyebrows drawn.
Finally, he spoke. "And I'm next in line?"
April twitched, rubbing her arms. "You were brought here for the same reasons, yes. But the intention is that you leave. And that you don't know too much. And that I mess with you."
He exhaled. "Fun times."
"I know."
The air was near empty now, like the vacuum of space. April struggled to breathe as images rushed to the forefront of her mind. Oliver's skin, the color of dark gold, eyes like little suns as the fire crept up the skin of his neck and his head slumped forward and the crinkled edges of his smile falling into statuesque finality—
And hell, she hadn't even said a word about what happened after, how she laid in her empty bathtub and made a heart-shaped scar on her inner wrist, numb in a lightheaded bliss, blood red as garnets—
And Carl, dark eye socket, sad smile. "Come here," he said.
April moved closer to him, and let his arms catch her chest. His skin was warm. He smelled like her shampoo.
"You're okay," he assured, voice quiet. "Time runs its course, but you're still here."
Still here.
Times change, yet we're still here.
That has to mean something, right?
"It seems like things keep getting worse and worse," She whispers, pulling back slightly to look at him.
His iris found hers, then fell to her mouth, then back to April.
"We can change that," he promised. A smile. He slowly kissed her forehead, then closed his eye, overcome with a sense of longing. "We can change all of this."
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A/N: I love how this is now in my search history:
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QOTD: Ready for school?
AOTD: Kind of. I'm anxious to meet the new kids in my creative writing major class, because we're kind of a family and it's going to be strange to have new people in the mix. [update 8-25-17]: one is sweet, one is quiet but edgy, and one is a little self-righteous
[update 6-9-18]: this is still true tbh
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Word Count: 2476 Created 7-27-17 Edited 8-8-17 Edited 8-25-17
