CW: Graphic Violence/ Death

Luke

"Please don't make me do this to her." I said, tears running down my cheeks as the old man held a small button in his hands.

"If you don't prove your loyalty to me, I will have to extinguish you and find somebody else."

"You already made me kill somebody!" I cried, my heart was racing as I held Ophelia in my arms. Her body was limp from the drugs I'd put in her system.

I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to hurt my cousin. She was the only thing I had that was close to a sibling.

"That other girl was a test. You need to prove yourself to me by showing me that you can do this." The old man said as tears streamed down my cheeks. I stared at my cousin. Ophelia had always dreamed of helping people, her sole purpose in life was to do something medical and help others.

I knew I would have a lifetime of guilt if I did anything to her. But I wasn't willing to run the risk that this old man was bluffing. If that button was any indication, that old man could cause my body to combust from the inside out.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place and it seemed like the only way out was to obey this crazy man.

"Look kid, I don't have all day. And just as easily as I found you, I can end you and replace you. Don't take it personally, it's just business and I need you to prove yourself."

"I... already.... d...did." I bit back tears as they streamed down my cheeks.

"Clearly not." He crossed his arms and I just wanted to throw him off the bridge.

"She's never done anything to hurt anybody! Ophelia is the kindest person I know."

"Look, save me the sob story. Just do it." I stared at him some more, eyes widening at how immoral and dull he looked. He genuinely didn't even care.

"I can't." I wiped my eyes as I saw her slowly shift in my arms.

"Boohoo. I guess I can toss the both of you then. I'll find somebody else. Say goodbye to that precious life of yours." He said as my eyes widened and I saw his thumb about to press the button.

"No...no wait. Can we compromise?" I panicked, wondering if I can get Ophelia to have a chance to wake up enough to run away. If she ran, he would surely kill me. There was no doubt.

It seemed like he had a target on her back and regardless of where she went, he would end her life. I felt so uncomfortable standing there. The moonlight shined above the water below us.

I could so easily just throw her down and hope she survived, but knowing this psychotic asshole, he'd make me ensure she was dead before letting her drop.

My mind wandered back to Caroline. She was the quiet new girl and she had minded her own business. I had taken it upon myself to befriend her, even though she didn't really want my friendship. And once I gained her trust, the psycho-man had already tracked me down and decided that I was the one to do his bidding.

I still remember her screams outside the school a couple days ago.

I wasn't a cold blooded murderer. I never chose this path, I just wanted to finish high-school and now, here I was going on a killing spree for this crazy man who kept warning me about a mind-reading detective.

"Last chance kid," he tossed me a knife, "do it now before she wakes up. I don't want to hear her screams. That last girl was annoying." He lulled, yawning as I stared at him. A car drove past us as my eyes widened. It was too dark for them to see us at the edge of this bridge anyway.

My heart was racing as disgust filled my features.

This was a human life. And he was so nonchalant about it. This person could have done so much. I knew who would be affected by Ophelia's death, I knew I certainly would be.

Her parents faces flashed into my mind.

If I jumped off this cliff and left her with him, I would be dead and so would she. I couldn't do anything.

I had exhausted all my options and now I couldn't do anything, but obey the monster.

"Take out her voice box, and do the same thing I showed you with the other girl. Then throw her over the bridge. I'll be in the car." He said as I tightened my jaw.

"Luke?" Ophelia asked as my eyes widened. If I didn't do as he asked now, she'd be awake and screaming. I didn't understand why it was so difficult for me to kill again. I had already done it before.

I just had to think of her as a non-human. It was almost impossible as she stared at me curiously.

"Luke, what's going on?" She grabbed my arm as the man entered the passenger seat of the car and stared at us. "Where are we?"

"Ophelia, I'm so sorry." I whispered, my hands shaking as I grasped the knife tightly, cutting the inside of my palm, but I couldn't even feel the pain.

"What? Luke, what happened? What're we doing here?" She asked and I looked at the passenger seat of the car as the man made a slicing motion with his finger. I gulped audibly as I stared at her.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, pointing the knife toward her as she looked at me, trying to move her arms to wipe my tears.

"Luke you're crying; I can't move— w...why do you have a knife?" She breathed sharply as she froze. "Luke, why can't I move?" She was shivering now, I knew that whatever he had injected her with would make her paralyzed for a few more hours. There was no use in letting her run anymore.

I was shaking as I held the blade to her neck.

"No, Luke, please no," she cried now as water flooded her cheeks. A loud rumble from the sky shouted as thunder roared. It began drizzling as I shakily held the knife against her neck. "Luke what are you doing? I don't want to die." She breathed, tears flowing down her cheeks and melding with the rain water.

"I'm sorry," I waited, shutting my eyes as I moved the knife, hearing her scream loudly as I felt the knife slice through her skin. My heart was racing as the rain poured down angrily.

"L...Luke..." she breathlessly said as she cried, "why?" She couldn't even reach for her neck to put pressure on the bleeding. My clothes were quickly getting soaked as I sliced again.

She screamed loudly and then quickly fell silent. I opened my eyes, looking at my cousins face as I looked at the crazy old man who now had a smile on his face, nodding his head.

How was I to know if he wouldn't still get rid of me even after I did this? Would he kill me after I finished doing everything he asked me to do? I felt like a stupid pushover. I felt useless and scared.

But I had no choice. It was her life or mine; and I was a selfish person.

I took a deep breath, realizing that she was barely breathing. The rain soaked her hair and blended with the blood to create a large splatter below our feet. I would need to throw my clothes away later. Or burn them.

My hands and arms were shaking as I stared at her.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I repeated as her eyes opened slightly and shut again. I quickly did as the old man asked me and carved through her neck to remove her voice box. The splashing noises from the rain water drowned out her last few screams. My heart was racing as I realized that even if she survived, she would never be able to talk again.

She couldn't scream anymore as I carried her limp body, my heart was racing as the blood covered my shirt. I was stained with her blood all over and the rain wasn't doing much to stop it.

My tears melded with the rainwater as I saw her eyes shut.

"Please live. I'm so sorry Ophelia. If you live, please know that I had no choice. I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve any of this." I whispered, my heart racing as I continued to look at her unconscious self. I hugged her tightly, afraid of what her parents would think. My aunt and uncle would be indefinitely sad. And I would have to pretend I knew nothing even though I was behind it all.

And within a couple seconds, I stood at the edge of the bridge, looking down at the deepest part of the water. Hopefully the rain had let the river rise enough so she wouldn't hit any rocks when she landed.

"L...Luke?" She opened her eyes, barely conscious, mouthing my name as I felt the guilt strike me. My heart was racing as I stared at her. She was defenseless, helpless, and I had taken advantage of her state.

"Live. Please live Ophelia." Thunder struck at the same time that I released her and watched her fall the fifty feet to the river. I saw the splash from where I stood as I realized my cousin was gone. I was stupid for thinking she could live through tonight. She was immobilized and bleeding. She couldn't swim, nor could she have lived if I had thrown her toward the ground.

I stood staring over what I had done as I looked at the knife in my hand, her blood was rinsed off of it and blood surrounded me on the floor, soaking my white sneakers. I flinched when I heard the car door open and the crazy old man walked out.

"Hurry up, kid. I don't have all night." He called as I wiped my eyes and walked toward the car, starting the engine and driving toward the location that the psychotic old man had made us go to.

"I'm Dr. Robert Dooley." He said after a while. "I'm a researcher and I used to teach at the academy in your town. I see now that you've proven your worth and so I feel that you deserve to know who I am. Anyway, I know you won't say anything about this to anyone because if you do, you'll end up in jail. And dead," he chuckled, patting his coat pocket where I assumed the doomsday-button that he kept threatening me with resided. If only I could get that button, I'd freely turn us both in. This psycho deserved to rot in jail.

I remained silent, grasping the steering wheel tightly and hoping I didn't get any blood on the seat.

"I made this serum a long time ago that allowed us humans to read minds." He said as I looked at him, suddenly intrigued. "And this idiotic boy destroyed it and somehow got hold of the power I had worked so hard to create. And before you ask why I can't recreate it, it's because the research paper I wrote redacted a lot of the steps and ingredients so it has been next to impossible to recreate it. I was so naive at the time, thinking I wouldn't need another copy, absolutely stupid."

I turned onto the street that led to our usual meeting place. It was a small house with a strange basement inside.

"Anyway, that boy grew up and he's now a detective for the Rosemond police. He had me sent to jail for a few years for kidnapping my daughter and some other stuff... regardless that's all in the past. He's a bad man. You might've been wondering why last time I had asked you to keep your mind clear around the police and this is the reason. He can hear your thoughts and see past events if you recall them. He's dangerous." Dr. Dooley said, but all I could think about was the fact that he had sickeningly made me kill two girls that I knew, for the sole purpose of earning his trust. Trust, that I hadn't asked for to begin with.

If it were up to me, I would've rather not have met this man.

"They're still going to be solving the murders of the two girls from this week in the upcoming months. Your new task is to keep your mind clear, don't think or talk about what happened. Don't let anybody know you were involved and if they question you, think of something else. Say that you don't know. I'll hire a lawyer for you if necessary. And once they remove their suspicions from you, we can continue with phase two of my plan."

"Ph...phase two?" I asked, afraid and stuttering.

"Yes." He chuckled evilly as I parked and remained frozen in my seat, the smell of blood surrounding me as I felt sticky and gross. I needed to shower immediately and burn these clothes. "Now, follow me."

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