twenty-seven

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by firstorder

by firstorder

Chapter 27

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We all wait for the last person to get out of the fear landscape. We've each done them twice and its time to leave. Mine are all the same except two.

Instead of the fear of those four doing it again, its different. Im just wandering. Everything is black and I cant see. I hear screams and cries and gunshots. Sometimes random things brush my legs.

"Get out." are my only instructions for this fear. But theres no way to get out. I start to panic, trying to find a wall to steady myself but find nothing.

"Help!" I scream. Then I realize, I have to stop moving forward. I have to move backwards. There is a pinprick of light which I follow. It gets bigger and bigger until Im done with that fear.

The last one thats different is my worst fear. I have to kill Eric. But I dont want to. During the simulation I stood there for a while, taking ten minutes instead of my usual five. I stare at him. He doesnt move. Doesnt speak. Doesnt do anything. The warmth in his eyes are gone. They are just cold and hard.

"Shoot me." he says robotically.

"No." I choke out.

"Shoot me." he says again.

"No!" I yell. After this he doesnt say anything. He just waits for me to shoot him. Eleven minutes. I raise the gun and aim it. Twelve minutes. And shoot.

I stop thinking about my fears and turn to Morgan.

"Whats going on? Why is it taking so long?" I whisper.

"I dont know." she says. Finally the girl comes out. Its Mark. He was in there for fifteen minutes. Good, that means he wont make it tomorrow. I smile but soon Eric beckons me over.

"What do you need?" I ask.

"His fears, they're mostly all about you. Having to redo what he did. Having to do what Troy did. Just hurting you but in different ways. I think he feels... remorse." he says to me. My eyes go wide but I quickly change my expression.

"Either that or-"

"Love." I say quietly finishing his scentence. He smirks at me and my face gets red.

"Looks like you got a boyfriend." he says still smirking.

"Yeah. We fell in love when he watched his friend almost rape me. True love right there." I say sarcastically. I turn and walk away. The words repeat in my mind.

I think he feels remorse.