Wednesday's Written Word: Wicked

The word he selected last week for today...

Wicked

I begin...

***

Stinging pellets of rain attack my cheeks and forehead. The tiny beads pound against my eyelids while I lay on the grass; my clothes clinging to me as my body sinks deeper.

"Will she come?" The words are soft and barely audible.

I do not move in response to his question, I let it fight the drumming of the rain against our bodies, dodging the answer by pretending I did not hear.

I could sense his tension and wanted to laugh. So many things we had done before now. So many nights spent trying to find her; the atrocities we had committed in order to prove to her our faithfulness. He had always wavered, carefully walking a balance of how far he would go.

I had given up on balance the the first time I had drawn blood.

It had been a hot summer day and we were discovering that only certain acts would attract her attention. He had stolen thousands of dollars worth of items from a local department store and no vision. We had burned down an apartment building but she had not come. We had wrecked cars and gotten into fights. We had forced people to admit and act upon their worst fears yet nothing had worked.

Then there had been the brunette, Sarah. Sweet and funny, wanting to 'fix' our bad ways. She said she saw good in us that we weren't all bad.

He had liked her. He wanted to keep her, to take her away and to have her all to himself. It was then that I knew how to summon the one I wanted. The girl had screamed, had struggled, but I had won the battle. Her blood on my hands and my love had appeared.

She had stood in front of me a vision in coal black. Hair flickering with shades of fire whipping around her face and the smile was for me and only me. Then she had seen him. He was standing behind me, tears streaming down his face as his first love died on the concrete floor. Her eyebrow lifted as she glanced from Sarah to him and back to me.

Her hand outstretched she beckoned me forward and told me a secret. One that would allow her to be free, to be with me forever - then she vanished.

Since then I had avoided the secret, wondering if there was another way. I had stained my hands over and over again with the blood of strangers praying she would come. That it would be enough to have her here without it.

No.

It had to be her way.

He had forgiven me. He had stood beside me, helping me with every kill and hoping she would come for us.

The rain slacked off and I opened my eyes to a solid gray sky. The filtered light barely allowed me to see the trees around us. I had chosen this spot because it was special.

We had come here as children and first played with the darkness. It had been here that the shadows had come, teasing us, tempting us with their ideas. At first we had been afraid but then she had appeared. She had been our age, funny and engaging. She knew things that we did not and we wanted to know more. She had shown us how to start a fire with our minds and how to steal small items from the market. She was with us each time we succeeded. She had made it fun, an adventure that we came back for every day.

When we were thirteen she had quit visiting. Our special friend who was with us during every punishment was no longer here. That was when we began to search for her.

"Maybe we should begin." His voice was clear. The confidence appeared now that the rain slipped away.

"Yes. We should." Standing I looked down at him, a mirror of myself. Our eyes the same green, our chestnut hair parted on the same side, and our bodies built with the same athletic lines. We were identical.

I held out a hand, pulling him up easily.

His gaze traveled the edge of the clearing before meeting mine.

For an instant I wavered. My hands began to sweat and I wanted to turn away. Closing my eyes I saw her face. Porcelain skin, against a sea of fire; a curvy frame that beckoned things I had yet to discover and a mouth that with the slightest curve made my own water with desire. Needs rocked my body.

Shaking my head I looked at him. No longer seeing the mirror image, only the obstacle.

Before he could speak my fist connected with his jaw. He staggered backwards, shocked and dismayed slipping on the muddy ground. I did not wait for him to recover, I swung again. He barely had time to block my movement. Our bodies beat against one another for a moment before he regained his stance. His hands shoved against my chest forcing me on my back. Panting he stood over me.

"Why?"

"Because she promised." My words hung between us.

She had always been something we had shared. A friend that had appeared to both of us, had taught us both until Sarah's death. It was the only time she had spoken privately to one of us.

"I see." He stood up straight, towering over me. The advantage was his now and for the first time in our lives the fear of our mirrored strength crept into my mind.

Then he held out his hand; the creases of which matched mine. Hesitantly I accepted it and he pulled me to my feet.

We stared at each other; panting from the exertion.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the knife he always kept. I began to step back but he caught my arm. Placing the knife in my hand he looked around the clearing.

"She will come." Raising his arms to the side he waited for me.

I looked down at the blade before meeting his eyes. There was no fear only acceptance.

Clutching the weapon I nodded before thrusting it through his chest. The scream echoed through the trees as I plunged over and over again. The rain no longer here to wash away the crimson as it flowed against my skin.

My hands trembled and my body began to shake. Tears streamed down my face as I stared at the blank expression reflected in his eyes...my eyes. It took awhile for my breathing to slow down and my body to allow me to move.

Carefully I stood, watching the sky and the trees, waiting.

The minutes ticked by becoming hours. My head throbbed and my eyes grew weary.

As the light began to fade I sat down, propping against his side. I glanced back at his face, the life gone from his eyes and the mirror now nothing but an image.

My heart pounded as the pain racked my body; a moan escaped my lips and I closed my eyes to the darkness around me.

She never came.

***

For new members of the Royal Court, if you would like to peruse past Wednesday's Written Words please peruse the sidebar menu on the right or click on my Original Works page above.

Oh & by the way I just began doing the EMAIL COMMENT reply system - we will see how it goes! ;o)

(How WWW works: these are written on the spot with a time limit of 45 minutes - no word limit. Each word is drawn from a bowl where the 26 letters of the alphabet are represented by words selected by my husband. I have no idea what words are in the bowl nor which ones will be pulled out each week. I use this as a great 'interruption' from my current work in progress to keep my creative juices flowing & to not get bogged down with current major projects)

Have a Wicked Wednesday!

(though not TOO wicked ;o) )