the killing kind - (lgbt | onc 2022)

10

word count: 1855
total word count: 21981

Laura led the pair into Declan's bedroom. The bed was neatly made with sheets that had seen better days, and everything was in its place, from the books stacked on the dresser to the framed photographs of the medic and his late wife on the nightstand. Jasper sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around himself, looking at the worn-down carpet.

"What is it?" Kavi asked.

Laura glanced at Jasper, but he didn't return it, staring adamantly at his shoes. He was pale; the complete lack of colour in his face made dread coil in Kavi's stomach. The apathy was replaced by an odd combination of numbness and terror. How he could feel both at the same time, Kavi didn't know.

Apparently realizing Jasper wasn't going to speak up, Laura plunged ahead.

"There's only one solution," she said, and for the first time Kavi realized she was less composed than he'd ever seen her before. Her eyes glistened, her face was pale, and she tangled her hands together in front of her, never keeping them still for a moment. "Declan has drugs that'll work. We don't have long, but we don't need long. They'll hit fast, and then when the army comes, we'll give them his body."

Kavi couldn't figure out if it felt like the words hit all at once, or if they sank in slowly, with him struggling to comprehend. Either way, he felt the air leave his lungs, felt himself go blind.

"What?"

Laura had clearly rehearsed this in her head, but the words came out too fast anyways, and she stumbled over them as she spoke. "There's no other way. They won't stop until they have him—all we can do is stop them from getting to have him alive."

Kavi couldn't think. Not past the roaring white noise that had filled every corner of his skull.

"You want to kill him?"

"It wasn't my idea." Again, she looked to Jasper, for backup or for help, silently pleading through teary eyes. This time, he came to her defense. He looked up at Kavi through his light brown lashes, gaze even and solid despite his ashen face.

"Jas—"

"I suggested it," he said, speaking quietly. "I don't see any other way out of this."

Panic was creeping into Kavi's throat. He spun on Laura, voice rising. "You promised we wouldn't let them have him!"

"They won't," Jasper retorted, lifting his voice to match Kavi's. "That's why I have to do this."

"You don't! This is insane, Jas!"

"Look," Laura said. For once, Kavi didn't notice the wet shine to her eyes, or the way her hands shook. A brilliant white fury had filled the space behind his eyeballs; it was all he could see, all he could focus on. She was going to let him die.

She was going to kill him.

"I'm going to give the two of you some time," she said. "But we don't have a lot of it. I'll be back with Declan in—in ten minutes."

Ten minutes. The rage doubled until Kavi could feel it in his chest, in his buzzing fingertips. He could've left his body right then—it wasn't doing him any good, anyways. His lungs didn't work, neither did his voice or his ears.

She was giving them ten minutes, and she'd be bringing Declan, and with Declan would come medicines in amounts that would lay Jasper to rest forever.

He saw the door close behind her on her way out.

She was going to kill him.

Kavi startled, realizing Jasper was in front of him, that he'd stood up at some point.