OIT VI

Our Intertwining Tale, chapter six: Death

Every step I took, every breath that caused me to calm myself, they all reminded me of the way I would die. The wet asphalt crunches with every open pause. The graveyard ahead of me is taunting me, almost telling me to join all the death inside of this fenced in prison.

“There’s nothing more to say…” I let the last words almost float in the air, as if there was more that I could add. I know what must be done, and it’s not something to snicker at. I shake my head, rubbing my temples slowly, staring at the beautiful gate ahead of me. It is open, staring back at me, as if it had eyes.

When I was little, I always thought that the old broken down gravestones were scary. I would imagine accidentally falling asleep on one of the benches here, and wake up with the dead burying a grave, just for me.

I shuddered, feeling an electric shock move up my spine. I always loved this place, but sometimes I could hear strange things; moans, cries, even tears dripping on old concrete. Sometimes I could hear painful screams, begging for mercy on their knees. When I stand in front of an old tombstone, I imagine the death of that person. It gives me nightmares and thoughts of me dying the same way.

I walk up to the gate. It looks almost as if it were made of gold. The arching and swerving of the metal makes me dizzy when I follow their intertwining spins. I almost feel lightheaded when I look over to the twin lanterns, lighting up the night sky. The real fire on the inside moves in and out with the wind.

“Give me at least one reason for why I shouldn’t kill him now.”

I jump, turning quickly around; nothing, again. I don’t want to enter the graveyard anymore. I’ve been hearing voices ever since I stood in front of that “Stop” sign. But the voice always sounds the same, like a young woman. I wonder why…

I hear the click of a slide in my ear; the sound of someone preparing a gun. I turn slowly around, peering back at the gate, seeing nothing.

“He’s the only way of stopping the Reaper Chart, you know.”

That voice again. But before I can turn from where it came from, I hear a cracking smack, followed by the sound of an object sliding on concrete. From where I look, something large and moon shaped is sitting quietly on the sidewalk, in front of the “Stop” sign.

I heard a bang, the sound of a crackling bullet piercing through bone. I turned quickly around, seeing a body lying on the gravel. No blood, no wound, only a body. I turned to look at the strange shape on the sidewalk. Surprised, I noticed it had disappeared. What? I swear that it was right there.

That was when I felt something solid press deeply into my shoulder bone. Six pressure points in my side were shot through my spine. I fell to the ground on my hands and knees, seeing a shadow fly past me and shoot down the road. Seeing its back, the large moon-shaped object was clearly visible for half a second.

A curved rapier. Silver swirls and orbs came from the hilt, following up to the curved adamant blade. It was beautiful, almost peaceful. But before I could see any more of it, the shadow dispersed into the air.

I shake my head, closing my eyes… “What is wrong with me?” Just talking to myself proves how insane I’ve gotten within the last two days. I’ve been seeing, hearing, and making up things. I bring my thumbs up, rubbing them in circles on my temples.

“Maybe I just need to clear my head.” Out loud again. I sigh loudly, pushing my palms to the gravel until I can stand up with my balance intact. I turn around, seeing something strange ahead of me. Something that I know wasn’t there before.

The blazing sun is slowly looking as if it’s coming to meet the center of the sky.

“What the hell?” Now I’m getting angry at myself. I’m hearing things, seeing things, talking to myself, and now I think that my eyes are playing tricks on me. I swear it was at least midnight when I got here. I can just imagine the lanterns that lit the frozen night air. They were so real.

I move my watch up to my face: eight twenty-four. In a couple of hours, my mom will wonder where I am, and why I didn’t return “last night”. I guess I don’t have any control over when I go to sleep, anymore. Thinking about it, this has happened twice. The night I was told that Donovan is trying to kill me. And today when someone or something is killed, I find a beautiful sword on the sidewalk, and when I heard someone mention something about a Reaper Chart.

How would any of this make sense to anyone? And if to anyone in the world, who?

“I had a feeling you’d be here.” Rylan walks up to me, his face blank, emotionless, as he puts his hand on my shoulder. I immediately glance at him, shocked, not knowing what happened a couple minutes ago. I almost glare, but it quickly goes away.

“What are you doing here?” I put my hand on top of his, pushing it away.

“You weren’t the only one that saw that sword, Josiah.” An unfamiliar voice whispers it in my ear. I shake my head, thinking it must have been Rylan who said that.

Rylan’s face is filled with concern, and he walks up to my face, gazing into my eyes. I quickly look away; something about him is making me feel awkward. I close my eyes, hearing a female voice scream next to my ear.

“He can see me?!” The loud voice screeches around both of us. But for some odd reason, Rylan isn’t even moving. I buckle to the ground, as he reacts to my movements.

“Are you okay? Josiah?” His voice sounds distant and blurred. It’s scratchy and painful. I put my fingertips to my ear, feeling blood on my collarbone.

“Josiah? Josiah, are you okay?” Rylan kneels with me, taking his hand in mine, eyeing the blood on my hand, “We need to take you to the hospital.”

I immediately disagree with him. If I get taken to a hospital about this, they’re going to question me. What am I going to say? “Yes, doctor, I’ve been hallucinating. Please lock me in a cell and wrap me in a straitjacket.”

“No!” I protest in a yell, “I mean… Don’t take me to a hospital. I’ll be fine.” I push my free hand up, stumbling to my balance, feeling the warm blood trickle down my neck. Rylan follows my steps, helping to the best of his ability. I caught my balance by gripping his collar; I could hear him gasp for breath in swift, short moments. I let go, hearing him breathe deeply and burst out in protest.

“No, Josiah, you need to get medical help.” He says it as if he has no breath left after me choking him.

“Rylan, I’m fine. Trust me.” I grinned weakly, knowing that convincing him would take more endured pain than keeping my balance.

“No, I won’t trust you if it means killing yourself.” He pushes my shoulder slightly and I almost immediately lean on his shoulder, “At least sit down, okay?” I look at him, searching his face. I’m not going to trust him, no matter what happens. But I nod finally, feeling more blood pour from my ear. It feels like I have lost more than a pint, and my stomach begins to feel worse as I wait.

I limp carefully over to the bench, sitting myself down and doing careful breathing techniques. That’s when the female voice continues to make me bleed.

“Humph, I guess its fine, just another moving target for me.” I suddenly hear a gunshot crack through the air. The sound of a body slamming against the earth follows. The blood in my ear is pouring faster than before, and I hold my pinky inside my ear to stop it all.

Looking to my right, I see, or at least think it is, Rylan’s body in a stiff position on the ground. I don’t even have to think to realize what just happened. I look up, seeing a gun zip through the sky above me.

“A gun?” I whisper the words out loud. The flying pistol is falling towards me. The more it falls, the more I realize it’s actually going to smash me in the face. While my mind is trying to sort out why this has even happened, it pelts my nose and forehead in one swift movement.