Runaway

Katie had grown very good at pretending to sleep. Her waking life wasn’t much different from rest, and the world around her was complete with all the features of a nightmare spare the fact that it was real.

It had become harder and harder to cope with, watching the others go by like nothing was wrong. With each passing day, a writhing, rotted feeling grew within her like a sprawling plant taking over a destroyed building.

It wanted her to hurt them. It wanted her to make them feel the way she felt. They deserve it, it said. And she agreed.

Frankie and Cheryl were the worst of all. She hated hearing them when the others weren’t home. They acted like she wasn’t there either. The brainless children spent all their time playing pretend as she dissolved all alone. She wasn’t jealous of their love, but didn’t necessarily feel like they deserved it. It was just two wounded, dying creatures licking each other's wounds, their fur reeking of blood and pus. Their voices made her sick.

When she finally decided that tonight was the night, she felt such immense euphoria and power flow through her. Finally, she had watered the plant enough. Its roots allowed her to stand, allowed her to fight for herself again. She wasn’t sure where this new dream would take her, but she was willing to find out.

The temptation she felt just looking at the infuriating unconscious face of her sister was overwhelming. She looked like she was having the most comforting dream of her life, all while her living existence was just as sweet, behind the lenses of her ignorance. She could punish that ignorance. By all means, she thought, I should punish that ignorance, lest it be allowed to further propagate.

But again, something stopped her.

Tempting though it was to cut off the loose ends, craving as she was to feel just what it would be like to permanently remove the person she despised more than anyone else on this dying planet from it prematurely… she couldn’t yet bring herself to cut to the chase.

I’d better not waste my time, she convinced herself, and then she left the room, carrying her old travel bag and the phone her mother had bought her to replace the one she shattered in fear.

This is the right thing to do, she repeated to herself.

I chose the right thing to do.

There is no better choice I could have made than this one.

Steeling her nerves, she gently shut the door, slowly sliding the knob back into place before turning to see Cheryl standing right in front of her.

“Tell me what it is you’re doing.”

She hated the authority in the girl’s voice. She had to admit it scared her. The volume she used was one not afraid of waking someone up- if Katie ran now, she’d have the whole apartment know about it that instant.

Katie breathed and tried to formulate a plan.

“I’m going out for air.”

“Like hell you are. Katie, I can’t let you go out there again. If you want to go on another trip, you can do it tomorrow morning. I’m sorry.”

“And what do you care if I leave…?” She hissed.

“Because I care about you. You’re Frankie’s sister, so you’re my sister. You’re not gonna run away.”

“…”

Katie saw a conviction in the shooter’s eyes that reminded her of herself. She wouldn’t back down easily.

“…You think Frankie will come looking for me?”

…But just like that, she got her to flinch. There was one path to her heart, and it was wide open. She acted tough, but that strength didn’t reach past her skin.

“What are you implying?”

“Last time, she came with me. But she won’t have a chance of getting me back if I leave now. She’s useless on her own.”

“You take that back.”

“No, listen to me. If I go now, that’s it. Try as she might, she won’t find me. She’ll be stuck. Stuck with you. …And that’ll be the end.”

“…Maybe for you. She’ll have to live with that grief until the end of our lives.”

“…Not if you’re there to help her.”

Her words coiled like a snake around Cheryl. Suddenly, Katie had found her way out.