How to Save a Life

Chapter 3

~ 3rd December, 14:49, 20 Days before Death~

My fingers are caressing the worn pages of favourite book when I hear the bell hanging from the door tinkle brightly. I glance up as Hunter enters the library. A grin tips the courners of my mouth up, up.

I let my book snap shut, watch the cloud of dust fly up from it's pages. Nobody reads the books I do. It's all romance this, romance that, now - ugh. Not that I have anything against romantic stories, but I tend to find thrillers a thousand times more intresting. Reluctantly, I set my book aside and lean forward in my chair, resting my chin in my hands.

I knew he'd come, sooner or later. He always does.

'Well, fancy seeing you here,' I say playfully.

He smiles and goes over to a shelf, selects a book from the "mystery" section. I peer at the title and a cheeky grin bisects my face into two. 'That's a good book.'

'Is it, now?' he says, slumping down into a chair beside me. His shaggy dark hair conceals his fluorescent green eyes. 'Well, thanks for ruining it for me.'

'Anytime.' I retrieve my thriller and flip open to the page.

Hunter narrows his eyes. 'Do you never stop being so irritating?'

'I learn from the best, don't I?'

He rolls his eyes and sinks into his book. 'Sometimes I hate you.'

I smirk, knowing that he's joking. 'It's a love-hate relationship.'

He snorts and ignores me. His eyes flicker across the page. Suddenly, he sucks in his breath dramatically.

For some reason, I get so excited when I see somebody reading one of my favourite books. I get even more excited when the "sad" part happens, becuase I like to see them react the way I did. Especially since I know it's coming, it's like I've got some huge secret that nobody else knows about.

'Oh,' he mutters halfheartedly.

I glance over at his page. 'They killed her, right? You're up to that part already?'

He nods, distracted, and flips over the page. 'I don't see how you like this book.'

Hunter isn't one much for violent reads. I love them. Perhaps it's becuase it soothes the demon inside me.

I shrug. 'It is a great book.'

'You sick girl.'

I know he's joking with me, but for some reason, this rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps it's becuase, although he doesn't know it, he's hit so close to home. What he said is true. I am a sick person. He just didn't mean it in that way.

But I do.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain stabs my stomach. I clutch my belly as if I've been shot, feeling the demon well up inside me. So little sets it off these days.

The roar of the blood in my ears, the pounding in my head, a thousand miners hammering against my skull, cutting, chiselling. My hands curl up into fists, and a demonic scream tears through my being, and I feel as if I'm being pulled apart, torn into tiny pieces.

This has happened before. I'm not angry at Hunter. His words didn't set it off, I did. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I fight the monster struggling to break free, but I'm not nearly strong enough. It breaks out, and I can't see, I can't see.

The next thing I remember is waking up on the ground, people staring down at me, and Hunter lying on the dirty carpet beside me. Unconcious, blood flowing from his head, from the left courner of his mouth, from his eyes like crimison tears. From everywhere. It stains the ground where he lies. There's no need to check his pulse; I've seen this before. He's dead.

I can't have been out for long, becuase there's a Year Eleven Student on a phone screaming for 000. A teacher wraps his hand around mine and hauls me up. His lips are moving, but no sound reaches my ears, and I'm just staring at him blankly, trying to wrap my mind around what just happened, but I don't know, I don't understand, what have I done?

Fear and instinct infilterates my veins, and I'm scared and confused and I don't know where to go. I look up, and all I see are enemies, intent on hurting me, killing me. I freak, and terror rises in my chest. Impulsively, I twist my arm free and push past them, fleeing for the door. That's my only goal.

The door, the door. I've got to get out.

Before they get me.