RED

“Why did you do it?” you quietly asked the person behind the gun as you slowly sat to the ground as your blood gushed out of you. The person stared at you blankly, eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

“I had no choice. I’m being controlled,” the gun owner replied. You knew it was a lie, you wish you knew why she lied to you, why she betrayed you like that.

Your breathing hitched as you hissed,“You know damn well that’s not what I’m talking about. I couldn’t give less of a flying fuck knowing my best friend shot a bullet right through my chest in a darkly lit alleyway in a foriegn city.” after all you’d been through together the last thing you could care about was the blood splattered across the floor.

“Why did you betray me? W-what did I do to deserve this? At what point did our friendship drift apart? Why did you lie? I want to know. I want to forgive you. Even after you shot me. Tell me everything. Give me a reason to hear you out. God d-damn i-it,” you stammered after inhaling a shaky breath.

“I have no remorse for shooting you. I don’t regret it, I have no reason to regret my actions,” spat your best friend, her voice laced with venom. You could see it in her eyes; the remorse, the regret, the guilt as tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Stop calling me that. Stop associating us for the love of god. We aren’t friends, stop it. Please stop looking out for me, just stop. Why did you take that bullet when you knew you could have dodged it? Why do you still care about me? I don’t deserve to be associated with you!” she exclaimed, as tears fell from her eyes.

“You’re a liar.”

“You lied to me. You lied time and time again and me being a fucking idiot believed it” you whispered, still short of breath as blood continued to seep out of you at an alarming rate.”Well guess what? You’re dead for that-” you retorted violently.

“Wrong.you can’t kill me no matter how hard you try, i know you can’t. I know you too well, ” she interrupted.

“And that was my mistake; letting you get to know me. This is why you’re not leaving here alive. I know you can’t leave me here. I’m taking you wherever I go, even if it’s the depths of hell. Our friendship ends when I say it, even if it ends with either of us bleeding out helplessly,” you chuckled bitterly.

You weakly fiddled with the clasp attached at the circumference of your thigh, unbuckling it. With the little strength you could muster, you grasped at the dagger lying against the fabric adjacent to your body. It’s handle in your palm had become such a welcoming sensation.You took a deep breath before forcefully sending a sharpened metal projectile into your target’s chest. You witnessed your friend slowly falling to the ground with hazy vision.

At that moment we knew we were saying goodbye. Her eyes onto mine as she smiled whilst her blood seeped from her chest rapidly. She forced the blade deeper into her chest before yanking it out causing the blood to paint the walls.

“If you ever need blood, we can share a pint or two. That’s what mates do for one another.” she panted heavily as the red stained her hands.The room grew quieter by the second, even the sound of your breathing almost coming to an end.

And with that silence you finally understood how many ways a person can die yet remain alive.

fin.