Chapter 32-Slipping Away

I felt my head connect with the hard stone a moment later. I slid to the floor while the world around me spun and twirled in a sickening dance. I held my fingers to my temples and shut my eyes tightly but it kept spinning and I could feel myself growing sick. Though the haze I heard Kyle’s voice saying, "I’m sorry Mel but you made me do it." I opened my eyes and groped at the fuzzy image that seemed to be Kyle but my hand never ended up where I wanted it to go. I could see him laughing in what seemed like slow motion then he turned from me.

"Must..help," my mind told me and I staggered to my feet; however, when I tried to move them, I tumbled to the ground again. The room seemed to be at an odd slant and I couldn't figure out how to maneuver in it. Not only that but my legs wouldn’t go where I wanted them to go-wouldn’t do what I wanted them to do. From the ground I tried my arms. It seemed as though I had a minimal amount of control over them. That meant there was at least something there though, so I stretched out my arms and grabbed onto the surface of the floor. Then I dragged my body over to where my arms were. I put out my arms again and again. The haze from my mind began vanishing a bit and things grew clearer. The pain in my head was overwhelming but I kept myself going on determination. I noticed something shining brightly to the side of me. It was the knife Madeline had held earlier and it sat untouched, waiting for me. I closed my fingers tightly around the hilt and began moving toward the table.

Kyle had a knife and he was nicking each of my three friends with it, laughing to himself at their pain. Across the table, Cerant looked furious and was struggling against his ropes but they had been tied well. "Don’t worry Cerant," said Kyle. "You’ll get your turn soon." I felt rage building up at me as I moved closer and closer. His back was turned to me and I felt myself hoping that somehow I could surprise him. The anger coursed through my veins and it seemed to make my stronger. My movements became less forced and more powerful. It pushed away all the pain and confusion and let me focus on him. No longer was I Melanie. I was a fierce creature protecting those I loved. It was probably something maternal. In a few moments I was behind him and I paused for a moment.

Then, I held the knife up in the air and then used everything I had built up inside of me to vault myself up and through the air. Kyle turned toward me and for a moment an expression of terror crossed his face. I probably was frightening. My face was contorted by the rage inside of me. In a moment I was on him and I had slammed the knife through the air in front of me. I felt it connect and the terror on Kyle’s face turned to pain as his eyes went wide.

"Melanie?" he whispered in shock and disbelief. Then he fell to the floor and I went with him. Everything had vanished from within me and I was left with an overwhelming exhaustion. I lay on the ground for a moment before I felt Kyle stir beside me. "Melanie," he said from the floor. "Why’d you do that?" I didn’t respond. I just lay there exhaustedly and breathed deeply.

After a few moments I finally said, "You know why. You know why because you were doing the same thing for someone you care enough about. You just did it the wrong way."

Kyle sat silent for a moment then he pulled himself up and dragged his body above me. The inside of his mouth was red from blood and he encircled my throat with his hands. I pushed at him weakly but his hands were locked in a death grip. He was dying and I was going with him. I struggled against him as I felt my breath slipping away but I had used everything to kill him. The pain in my head was thudding and my chest was joining it in the beat of agony as my lungs tightened.

"You could have lived," he said, his voice full of pain. "We both could have lived."

I didn’t regret a thing. I had saved my friends and that was all that mattered to me. Even as I felt my life slip away, I was strangely happy. I tried to say something to him but only a gurgle came out. He released his grip for a moment, curiosity on his features. I forced the last of my breath out of my mouth to say to him, "To live without friends is worse than death."

He looked shocked for a moment and then he began retightening his grip. Before he had gone all the way, I whispered, "I forgive you." There was a hesitance in his manner as he continued to squeeze but he looked away as he did it. I had managed to get a small breath in before he began anew but knew it wouldn’t last very long. He stared at me as the moments passed by slowly. The moments that my world grew smaller and smaller. Suddenly, Kyle’s body began shuddering as I could see pain rise in his face. Then he stopped and lowered himself slowly. His bloody lips kissed mine for a moment then he dropped down on me. He had gone too late. I was too weak to move him, and between his hands still locked on his neck and his body smothering me, I was still trapped. I felt my life inching further and further away and then, everything went black.