Innocent Killers

IK (3) Cover Story

Marcus clutched the handle of the knife in his shaking glove-covered fingers. "I can't do this Madeline it's beyond crazy, what if the police and ambulance don't get here in time?"

Madeline's previously sceptical eyes turned to ice, "Marcus either you stab me, or I stab you, honestly right now I wouldn't mind doing that, so I suggest you hurry up."

Katherine looked away from the bickering two and towards Keith. She wrapped her fingers around his bicep and forced him to face her.

She curled her fingers into her palm and clenched her fist, without giving Keith a chance to defend himself she sent her fist flying towards the bone underneath his eye.

He stumbled backwards and cradled his eye which had now begun to drip blood. A deep gash proudly sat where Katherine's ring covered fist had collided with his skin.

"Jesus Christ Kat! Couldn't you have taken off your rings." He complained. She quickly moved to aid him and pushed a torn price of her shirt up against the wound.

"Sorry Keith, at least you aren't the one who has to get stabbed." As the words left her mouth, she glanced back towards Madeline and Marcus who were still arguing.

Marcus looked as if he was about to cry as Madeline tried to get him to stab her.

"Do it already Marcus! the police will be here soon, and I'm not going to jail because your a fucking pussy!" Madeline yelled trying to antagonise him.

Marcus dropped the knife and stepped back shaking his head in defeat, "I'm sorry Madeline, I can't. I just can't."

Madeline shut her mouth and clenched her jaw. She closed her eyes before opening them again, a determined cold look swirling in her blue orbs. "Give me the Gloves Marcus."

"What- no! You can't!" He protested, but she lashed forward and took hold of his wrist. She yanked the gloves from his hands and pulled them onto her skinny fingers. She soon after snatched the knife from the floor.

In a flash of movement not holding any sense of hesitation, she plunged the blade into the side of her hip.

Marcus, Katherine and Keith both stood shocked.

She groaned in pain as she retracted the blade and fell to the floor, Marcus dropped to her side and began to apply the pressure with his jacket. Madeline's eyes began to water, and she let out a shaky laugh, "Fuck, who knew stabbing yourself is painful."

Katherine turned to Keith her eyes now holding the same determination that Madeline's had previously been possessing, "I need you to throw me at the wall Keith, as hard as you can."

Keith bit his lip, the hesitation unmistakably etched across his face but nodded his head anyway. He wrapped one hand around her waist and the other around her arm; he took a deep breath before launching  Katherine so strongly across the room that when her body collided with the wall it cracked and her head slammed against the surface.

She dropped the floor her body no longer holding the strength to support itself, and Keith rushed to her side his eyes frantic, "You okay?"

She groaned and brought one shaky hand to touch the deep gash on the back of her head, "Just peachy." She moaned sarcastically.

Then everyone turned to Marcus.

"Your turn buddy." Madeline choked out. He stole back one of the gloves from her hand and placed it on one of his own.

He frowned clearly not too happy with what was about to happen, but still, he stood and left Madeline to apply the pressure to her wound on her own. He walked over to the passed out Andrew and tucked the knife Madeline had used to stab herself with into Andrews' hand.

Then he slowly stumbled towards Kieth, an all to familiar look of hesitance on both of their faces.

"Do it, man," Marcus mumbled.

Keith dived into his job before he could process what he was doing. First Keith's fist collided with Marcus's gut, then his hip, then his face, and it continued until Keiths movements became a blur and the blood from each of Marcus's wounds became merged. Keith lost himself. He blacked out mentally as he physically beat his best-friend to the brink of death. The shit-storm he had been living finally added up in his head, Clara was dead, and he was partly to blame for that. His friends were all almost willingly killing each other so that their cover story look unquestionably realistic. They where letting Andrew, an innocent asshole take the blame and be locked up behind bars for life so that they, the guilty ones could continue with their own lives unharmed by the sins they had committed within the last six hours. Punch after punch, whimper after whimper. He couldn't stop, he had completely and utterly lost himself.

Black dots began to dance around Marcus's vision as the pain of each strike became unbearable. He didn't stop Keith; no one did until Marcus fell to the floor unconscious. It was then that Katherine stepped forward and yanked Keith backwards.

"Stop," She whispered, slightly afraid of the crazy-eyed unrecognisable boy in front of her. "Stop... before we end up with another dead body on our hands."

Keith panted his eyes jumping around the room before they landed on Marcus, his lips parted as he finally saw the damage he had done. Marcus laid downwards in a pool of his own blood. If it weren't for the small slow rise and fall of his chest, Keith would be sure that Marcus was dead.

The rooms eerie silence was broken by the lazily mumbled voice of Madeline, "Good job Keith, didn't think you had it in you." Her words spoken with a sick sense of adoration.

Keith glanced at Madeline with an empty look. "Fuck off."

Katherine quickly moved to pick up the pan that Madeline had used to smash over Andrews head and rubbed off all Madeline's prints before making sure hers were all over it.

It was then that the undeniable sound of screaming police sirens could be heard in the distance. Keith rushed to his position next to Madeline's side and began to apply pressure to her wound.

Katherine moved to kneel next to Marcus. Madeline chuckled darkly as the sirens grew closer she gave Keith and Katherine a meaningful look as a smirk twitched its way onto her pale face. Just as her head began to roll backwards, she mumbled, "I hope you're prepared to give the show of your lives, because they sure do depend on it."