DEATH JUNCTION

12

I gripped the nylon of foodstuffs that Mama had sent me to buy tightly. My vision wavered, the lines blurring, causing my environment to cascade with runny lines of browns, yellows, blues and whites. I blinked rapidly, my shoulders aching from holding the heavy nylon for too long. Finally, the haze in my vision cleared and I sighed.

The blue that had once splayed across the afternoon sky had now given way to the orange that usually accompanied the setting sun. My mouth was still filled with the bitter sensation of tablets, the downside of not being able to swallow medcine.

You can't do that, like you can't do anything else.

I forced my focus away from my self loathing thoughts. A chill still scraped  my spine as my mind was once again darkened with the news that had come in yesterday, another nane added to the list of unsettling deaths.

“A man going by the name of Gideon was found dead outside of his house.”

Even though that was scary on its own, what scared me more was the fact that the face that had been displayed matched the one of the man I had seen in the boot of the car a few days back. My throat lurched as his bushy brows and beards were too hard to miss. Since then, I hadn't seen the librarian. The librarian's words rang in my ears, adamantly taunting me of the threat that hovered above me.

I won't let her get away from me.

My mind bustled with different realities behind those ominous words. A shudder passed through me as each one brought a different horror than the last one did. My lips parted, barely able to swallow down the bile that clogged my throat. The fever struck me, sweat pulling down my body as I shivered. The haze returned, shrouding my surroundings in mist.

Before I could catch my fleeting breaths, a hand closed around mine. Immediately, I jerked out of my hazy stupor before snapping my neck to meet the person's gaze. The librarian stared back at me, a intense look waxed on his face.

“Zara-” Before he could begin to talk, I pulled, fear gripping me with black talons as my heart thudded. I tried to pry his hand from my other one. The motion made the black duffel bag hanging from his shoulder to tilt forward, the sight of bloodied gloves made my stomach twisted.

My breathing hitched as the sound of blood splattering against the floor filled my ears, the murky liquid forming dots in the periphery of my mind’s eye.

Suddenly, I jerked back, now out of his hold. I crumpled to the floor and a look crossed the man's eyes but I didn't take time to analyze it.

“Wait-”

I stumbled away, my limbs still shaky. The threat of death pestered me. Lactic acid laced around my muscles, leaving pain as it thickened with every step I took . The weariness began to take a toll on me, the painful pulses in my skull increasing with every single sweep of my leg. The bloodied gloves remained glued to my mind. The urge to go to the police settled within me, intensifying with every splatter of blood that blasted down the thin corridors of my mind.

What if that gets the man angry? What if they don't catch him and he comes for me?

I exhaled, the thought translating to a little crack in my resolve.

If you don't do anything about it, those gloves would be stained with your blood.

So I ran, my surroundings whirling by. As soon as I reached my house, the headache worsened and the exhaustion sapped all energy from my system.

They could help me to report to the police.

The reminder gave me a semblance of energy. Soon, I ripped the door open and let myself in. Hearing voices from the kitchen, I tried to still my  palpitating heart. On getting there, I found my stepfather and Mama both hunched over a table, speaking quietly.