Content Warning
This chapter contains themes that may be disturbing such as: SA
Please proceed with caution and feel free to stop reading,safety First!
The door slowly creaked open and Isaac stepped inside. Ire's head darted to look toward the door; he looked distorted, blurry through her vision. Ire struggled to speak, a burning sensation following each word.
"This… is the… girls'… bathroom."
Isaac walked until he was next to Ire. He looked at her reflection.
"I wanted to make sure you didn't pass out on us."
Ire coughed out words.
"I'm–I'm okay. I just–I just need–I need a moment."
Isaac stepped closer.
"Don't worry, we're friends, aren't we?"
"Friends…" Ire mumbled under her breath.
Isaac suddenly placed his hand upon her back; a shiver moved through her body. Isaac smiled subtly, getting closer.
"Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it. It would have been so boring otherwise."
He got closer; there was barely an inch between them. Ire could feel his breath. Isaac's hand moved up, gripping and wrapping around her neck.
"Hey Ire, do you like me?"
Ire could barely even speak, the feeling of overwhelming dread weighing her down. Isaac let out a quick, light chuckle.
"I know, I've seen the way you act all nervous around me, the way you drop your head, the way you keep looking at me."
Ire mustered the courage to speak.
"I don—"
"It's okay," Isaac said, tapping his fingers across her neck. "I don't mind it."
Isaac's finger raised up toward Ire's lip.
"So, what do you say? Do you—"
Smack.
The sound of a clap filled the bathroom as Isaac stumbled backwards. He clasped his hand to his face. Ire looked down at her hand; she had slapped him, her hand still red from the impact. She muttered under her breath, "Don't… touch me."
Isaac stood with his head down, his hand still grasping his face. He stood perfectly still, almost lifeless.
Ire took a breath. She walked in front of Isaac. She looked directly at him.
"Please don't touch—"
It was too quick for Ire to react. By the time she had come to, she was already falling back. A sharp pain struck directly in her face. Falling back, she could see Isaac, his arms still reeling back. Her head hit the floor and she could feel the frozen hard ground beneath her.
Isaac kneeled down, sitting on Ire's chest. His hands tightly wrapped around her neck.
"You fucking ungrateful bitch!"
Ire could feel her breath leaving. She slapped and scratched at Isaac but to no avail. Isaac tightened and tightened his grip.
"How dare you! You know how fucking lucky you are? How lucky anyone even wants to be around you! I brought you with us, we paid for your drinks and this is how I'm repaid! You think I'm bad? Trust me, I can be so much worse than this! How dare you put your fucking hands on me!"
Ire felt her consciousness fading; her eyes slowly began to close as her mind went blurry. Just before she passed out, Isaac let go of her neck. Ire's body couldn't move. She laid limp, staring out at Isaac above her. Ire coughed out words in a weak mutter.
"I… I'm… sorry… please… let me… go."
Isaac looked down at her; a furious rage was in his eyes. He breathed heavy breaths. He wasn't responding; his face slowly turning neutral before a smirk entered his face.
"Please."
A terrible thought was threaded.
"Stop please… I'm sorry."
A boundary was broken.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please stop!"
A gate was opened.
"Let go, let go."
A blade punctured.
"I'm sorry."
A flower wilted, petal by petal.
"I didn't mean to, I won't ever again!"
The wolf ravaged the fox of innocence, the forest around them empty and vacant, no witnesses to be found. The wolf feasted and feasted, tearing blood and bone until the fox was bleating and bleating, then bleeding. Purity for pain, a one-sided exchange all for the wolf's benefit. The wolf smiled, gritting each and every sharp tooth as its mouth salivated.
"I'm SORRY!"
The fox realised then, she and the forest they were in were nothing more than a hell, an eternal punishment for crimes that never were committed, the wolf her eternal tormentor. The fox was in hell while the wolf enjoyed their taste of heaven. The wolf savoured the moment while the fox wished nothing more but for it to end.
And eventually, it did…
It's ended
It's over
You're free
It's ended
It's over
Don't cry
It's ended
It's over
You can't change the past
It's ended
It's over
Move on
"Hey this is your place right?" Tayo questioned. Ire raised her head up. She was sat in the back of Tayo's car. At some point in her trance the other two had been dropped off to their houses. Ire's hands were tightly gripping the seat beneath her. Tayo looked back at her in the car's mirror "So?"
Ire nodded, she opened the car door and stepped outside into the night. Tayo opened the driver's window "Hey Ire, we're going again next Thursday, you coming?"
Ire glanced behind herself "I… no"
"Alright, your choice" Tayo laughed "I know Isaac's going to be pissed"
Tayo started his car up and its red sheen disappeared as it went further down the street until it was gone. Ire stood by the street. There was complete silence in the night, not a person, not a car, not a thought. The Cascade Apartment Complex towered before her, it rose higher and higher. its top being out of sight. The lights of people's rooms caused the building to shine like a lighthouse in the dark. Ire slowly staggered to the building's door, making her way to the light.
It's ended
It's over
You're free
The apartment stairwell was cold. Oh so cold. Ire could see a burst of white with each breath she took as she ascended. Each concrete step a greater challenge than the first. Any person that passed would ignore her, not even a greeting as they came and went. Soon she'd passed the second floor and had stopped at the third. She left the stairwell and slowly trudged down the apartment's hall.
It's ended
It's over
Don't cry
Ire lay in the bathtub with her arms spread out and on her back. The showerhead sprayed water down onto her, slowly creating a pool around her. She basked in the cold flows of water that baptised her and washed away her sins. She clasped a pool of water in her hands before splashing it on her face. She heard their voices again, the voice of the wolf and his pack.
"Hey Ire, do you like me?"
"You think I'm bad? Trust me, I can be so much worse than this."
"I know Isaac's going to be pissed."
Kneeling in the bath, she punched her fist at the bottom of the bathtub splashing the water out of the bath. She punched the bottom again and again and again, each punch bringing a shock of pain until the bath water claimed a red hue. Droplets of water fell from her, making small ripples in the water that turned into nothing. Ire stood up from the bath.
It's ended
It's over
You can't change the past
Ire held a blank sticky note in her hand and a pen in the other. She spent a moment thinking before writing down the words "I'm sorry, forgive me."
She placed the note atop the television and walked towards the door.
It's ended
It's over
Move on
Ire walked the stairway, climbing higher and higher, from the third floor to the fifth, then sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and all the way to the three-hundred and ninety fourth. Ire opened the door to the roof and stepped out, looking at the night covered roof. Ire's eyes held onto the edge. Ire took one step. Then another. Then another and another....
It won't end
"Please."
It's not over
"Hey Ire, do you like me?"
"Stop please… I'm sorry."
I'm trapped
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please stop!"
It's not over
"Let go, let go!"
"You think I'm bad? Trust me, I can be so much worse than this."
It's not over
"I'm sorry."
"I know Isaac's going to be pissed."
I'm crying
"I'm SORRY!"
Move on