Short Stories

26. To Kill A Monster

❝Tell me, would you kill to save a life?❞

Would I?

Steve was sitting on his bunk bed. The room was small and cramped. 

And his room mate was dead.

His voice echoed in his otherwise blank mind. The question was ridiculous. Killing to save a life  was like fucking for virginity. Like fighting for peace. That's what it meant. That was all it was.

"Steven." Steve looked up, too numb to be surprised by the sudden arrival of his captain. 

He didn't stand up.

The man was quiet for a while, his red eyes looking strangely calm. "They want you to go." His voice was too soft. Steve hated it. 

To Steve

The lines stung. Etched on the first page of his journal, Steve wanted nothing more than to throw it away, burn it, something.

To Steve, with definitely-not-romantic love, Dan (<3)

PS. What self respecting dude writes in a journal? XD

He tore out the page and roughly pushed it inside his pocket and tossed the book in the cardboard box beside the cabinet. It had all of Dan's stuff crammed inside. His snow globe, that his younger brother had sent him on his birthday, had now acquired a fresh crack. Steve's duffel bag lay beside it, fully packed. 

A pale, lanky guy who was definitely younger than Steve burst into the room, picked up the box, and left without a word. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve and Dan were sitting at the edge of the river. It probably used to look beautiful, but now was merely a stream of blood, corpses, and dust. 

Of sorrow. 

Dan had his pack of cigarettes in his hand, crushed. He hummed for a while, looking no where in particular then glanced at Steve. A crooked smile. And then Steve watched the cigarettes fly into the river. There wasn't even a splash.

"That was anti-climatic," Dan laughed, before flashing his roguish grin. If someone else had done it, Steve would have punched them in their nose till it didn't look like one anymore. But this was Dan, and he had a way of doing the most annoying stuff and getting away with it. So Steve smiled instead. It was far easier to do.

 Especially around Dan.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How do you destroy a monster without becoming one?"

If anyone ever asked him how he liked to take his revenge, he would say he liked it fair. He would hold a knife, and give one to his enemy too. And then he would fight till he won or died. Either way, he would be at peace. That was what he would say if anyone ever asked.

But no one did, and the truth was, Steve didn't like it fair.

He liked it when he was the one in control. When he had the gun and was swiftly and quietly walking towards his enemy from the back who was happily talking to his mom. He liked it better when he had the upper hand and didn't have to worry for his life in the name of revenge. 

He had the gun, and the gun had the bullet. And soon, it would be in a skull that wasn't his. 

It's best that way, he thought, pinning down the man almost lazily, with the end of his gun positioned to his head. He saw the fear in his eyes, the hatred and imagined Dan's face. He was probably smiling even while he was being shot. Probably at how silly the enemy's uniform looked. 

Steve pulled the trigger and the sound was music to his ears.

He still didn't know the answer. And how could he? 

Steve was always a monster to begin with.

~*~*~*~*~*~*June 5, 2023~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I wrote this story on March 2 and have no memory of doing it. But I was bored and it was sitting in here, saved as a draft, so I thought I'd edit it. This is why you should save your drafts fellas. So one day, when you don't feel like writing, you can come and edit stuff instead. 

I was starting to forget my characters ever since 10th grade and I am glad I came back. Steve deserves my time and attention. Dude has issues and I love it. *insert evil author laughter*

Anyway, gotta go to bed. It's 1:30 AM. 

~Anony