The sound of the shotgun pulled me from that small part in my mind that I'd receded to while the knife did its work. I looked up to see blood and brain matter splattered across the tall marble columns. The left half of Ben's body was red with the young girl’s essence. Andrew looked surprised as well, he'd stopped cutting and stood there staring at the reflection of Ben in the column I was tied to.
I could see Ben's mind crack through his eyes as they went from distressed to shocked. We all froze there for a few seconds, the only sound being the pieces of skull dropping on the floor as the blood ran down the walls. I knew what Ben was thinking, I'd felt the same when I'd made my first kill.
I watched as the horror faded, replaced by sadness. I saw him mourn for the child trying to find a way to rid himself of the sickness that had invaded him. I knew the next step, the part where he accepts who he is and realizes that his destiny had been this all along. The part where he joins Andrew in the killing. The part where he kills me.
What I saw was something different. I watched as his face went from sadness to rage. I saw the righteous anger surge through him as he realized the lack of control he'd had for the outcome. Through his eyes, like a movie, I watched him blame the person who caused the death of that young girl. Seconds had passed, but something had changed in Ben.
Glancing up at Andrew, I knew that he saw it too. Where his face had been one of ecstasy, it was now very serious. His hand gripped the knife tighter as he turned around just a little to late. The chair caught him in the chest, slamming his back in to me. Pain shot up my body and I cried out.
"How could you . . . ", Ben resolutely stepped up to where Andrew lay coughing as he tried to draw in air, "You filthy, ugly little cockroach."
Andrew grabbed for the knife he'd dropped, but Ben's foot knocked it away and then proceeded to teach Andrew’s face how to bleed with a swift kick to the bridge of the nose. Andrew slipped on the unfortunate child's blood as he tried to pull himself to his feet.
Ben grabbed the chair again and smashed it on Andrew’s back, "She was so young. She hadn't lived."
I wasn't sure what scared me more, the look in Ben's eyes or the fact that he wasn't yelling. His voice was calm as though talking to a child. There was pain and anger behind it, but it was masked with an emotionlessness that made his words sink deep in to my soul as he spoke.
Groans of pain escaped from Andrew as he tried to recover from Ben's retaliation. Ben grasped Andrew's neck and dragged him over to the motionless body of the girl and pointed to where her head had been.
"You like your work? Did you enjoy taking her life away? Did it make you feel better?"
Andrew finally spoke, "I feel no joy in her being dead. The thrill comes from the killing, but you should know that now. You are what your uncle claimed you would become. A monster, just like him, just like me, just like your frie-"
His voice was cut off as Ben shoved Andrew’s face in to the girl's stump of a neck. He pushed him against her neck until it looked like he had been engulfed. There was no way Andrew could breathe. I struggled at my captors. Ben was going to kill him.
Flashes of my past came to me, the anger I'd felt. The killing anger that engulfed me and made me what I am. The loneliness and pain that followed soon after, feelings that could only disappear with another kill. The constant need to rid myself of those feelings. It was a horrible life, and I couldn't sit here and watch as another person traveled down that dark path. I spread out my abilities and lifted the knife from the puddle of blood.
Ben's eyes were lifeless and cold as Andrew's fighting slowed down. The lack of oxygen would cause him to lose consciousness soon. I felt the ropes fall away and for once both sides of me wanted the same thing.
"Ben, stop!" I pushed Ben aside causing him to lose grip on Andrew. Andrew fell to the ground gasping for air. Ben sat on the floor unmoving, only his breath told me that he was alive.
"Thank you.", Andrew’s voice pulled my darkness out and hid my goodness away as I turned to him, "You saved me."
"You're a fool.", I snarled at him grasping the sides of his head, "I saved Ben."
Then I snapped Andrew's neck.
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