Angel of Mercy

"Three Teachers, five Freshmen, ten Sophmores, eight Juniors, seven Seniors. I don't think that's so bad, do you?"1

She didn't answer, she didn't even look at me. She was kneeling on the floor, hugging her friend. Tears flowed down from her eyes. She was crying loudly, not even trying to cover up those hiccups and sobs. 2

"Look, all I'm saying is that it's a pretty good number. I mean, fifty total would have been great, but I'm not picky."3

Again, no answer. Her tears covered her friends face, as if she were trying to drown her in them. They were right in the middle of the hallway. I was standing in front of them. 4

"You know... I think it's pretty obvious that you don't want to talk to me. Why don't you just go then? Believe me, I have other friends."5

I sat on the floor and leaned against a locker. Her side was facing me, and the back of her friend's head was in my sights. 6

"Oh wait, no, I don't. You made sure of that didn't you? You and Michael and James and Carol and the rest."7

"You... monster" she finally said to me. 8

My facial expression turned to one of false surprise. "Me, monster? What about you my dear? I am a monster, yes, but look in the mirror. I'd swear that we were twins."9

"What *sob* you *sob* did-"10

"What I did was justified. What you did was cruel." I yawned. "In any case, she's dead. Drop her and run."11

"No. Just end it, but I'm not going."12

"Fine." I pulled out the gun from my jacket, and reloaded it. "The funny thing was that the gun... was empty this whole time." I broke out laughing hysterically. She never had a sense of humor, so she just sobbed even more. Buzzkill. 13

"Anyway," I said, trying to get serious again. "I won't kill you. Your friends are dead, your brother is dead-"14

"My... brother is... dead?" she whispered to no one. "Dead?" 15

"Yes, he is. Poor guy, he begged me not to harm you. I kind of liked him too, but vengence before friendship and blood before tears is what I say. Like I was saying, you have nothing but your mom and dad, and your little cheerleading thing. By the way-"16

I shot her in the kneecap. She dropped her friend and rolled on the floor, cluthing what was left of her leg.17

"-I hope you can find something else to hang your hat on." And, after delivering a few swift kicks to her ribs, I walked off. 18

As I was walking through the halls, which were deathly silient, I pulled out my ipod and scrolled through the songs, looking for something good to play. Neodammerung from The Matrix seemed like a fitting choice to play while I did some more sweeps of the school. 19

I turned the corner, nodding my head to the song, when I was, well, dumbfounded, to see a group of kids blocking my path. They were holding, get this, PLASTIC BATS from the gym. 20

"You guys can't be this stupid."21

One of them, the leader of this... this... whatever this was supposed to be, steped foward. His eyes were red, and you could see the dry tear marks on his face.22

"I don't care why you did this, all I know is-"23

I shut him up with a bullet to the head. His companions began to flee, but I mowed them down one by one. Soon this hallway, like the others, was covered in blood from ceiling to floor. Brains splatered everywhere. I walked over to one of the bodies and stuck my hand in his open skull. It was warm and mushy, like, like, well, I can't explain. But it was wonderful. 24

I don't know why, but I got this powerful urge to scoop out his brains (what was left) and put them in an ice cream cone. 25

I smiled, and started pulling them out of his head in a frenzy. I had no ice cream cones, which was a shame and a lack of foresight, but I just got so angry that I couldn't stop. Soon his head was empty and I moved on to the next body, and when he was empty, the next, and the next, and the next. Soon brains were everywhere, and I spread them out on the floor and sat in them. And get this, I began to cry. Not because I was sorry about what I had done, but because I had finally gotten my parents to get me a pet tarantula and now I wasn't going to see it ever again. And we had gotten along well together, Fuzz Lord (Yes, I named him Fuzz Lord) and I. We went everywhere together, even to the supermarket. 26

I suddenly remembered that I had asked some kid in my English class if he wanted to come over to my house and see him, and he said "No, freak". I smiled and said "Your loss". 27

My parents then flooded into my mind. My mom was going to make meatballs tonight. There was absolutly nothing special about that, she made it every week, in fact I hated them, but it still brought tears to my eyes. And my dad said he might be home early tonight. Again, nothing particularly special, but still...28

I began to really heave now, my voice was quivering, I was shaking, my throat burned, my eyes were red. The brains felt squishy underneath me. 29

My ipod was playing something, I think Try Honesty, but I couldn't be sure. I pulled my headphones out anyway and dropped my ipod into the pool of blood, destroying it.30

I guess I was always an odd kid. My parents never said it, but they thought it, they must have. And now, what would they say? 31

I heard doors burst open someplace a few halls away. The police, finally. I raised the gun to my head.32

It wasn't long before they came to my hallway. The came into my sights running, and then stopped.33

"What the hell?" said one of them right before throwing up.34

The other officer, perhaps a veteran, pointed his gun on me. "Put the gun down kid!" he barked, which I felt was unnessacary because he was only a few yards from me. 35

"Does it really matter? I'm pointing it at my own damn head."36

"Kid, just... put the gun down. You don't need to do this."37

I was silient for a minute. I looked up at him. There was concern in his eyes.38

"You know..." I said, quivering voice and all. "I think... that I wouldn't mind having meatballs for dinner."39

"What?" he asked, puzzled.40

"Sorry. I must be going now. Tell Fuzz-"41

Then I realized that I was out of ammo. I gulped. He noticed it.42

"Kid, please, for your sake, just put the gun down."43

I couldn't live. I couldn't. For what? A cozy, padded room? The hatred that I would feel from the parents in this town? The tears of my own parents?44

No, no, no, no, no. I just couldn't. I shouldn't. It would be... unfair. God, listen to me get a conscience. I must really be insane. 45

"Officer, what is your name?"46

"Roberts."47

I slowly, pulled the gun away from my head. By this time, his partner had finished puking and rushed to his side. "Well, Roberts, I am afraid that this, is goodbye."48

And before he could say anything, I raised my gun to him. He knew what I was doing, they both knew, they knew what I was doing. But that didn't stop them from shooting me in the chest. Two bullets entered my lungs and exited my body. I coughed and fell on my back, my gun sliding away from me on the slippery, bloody floor. They ran to me, kicked the gun away farther, and tried to sit me upright, against a locker. I was coughing pretty badly, I knew it was all over. 49

The puke guy called for someone on his radio. The other one stayed by me, why, I don't know. He should shoot me in the head, I am a monster after all. 50

Everything was getting hazy and cold. I shivered. 51

"Oh God, oh God, I'm really dying. It's over, I'm dying." I kept saying this over and over until it became difficult to speak. So this how it ends, in pain and tears, I thought. 52

And as if to prove me right, my mind showed me one last memory. Of this morning, at my house. I was finishing up breakfast with Fuzz Lord on my shoulder. My dad ruffled my hair and said "Today we'll take you to that Bodies Exibit thing after school. You did want to go right?"53

"Yeah" I said, not really paying attention. Then I remembered my plan. "Actually, I think I'll just hang out at the park today" I said lying. 54

"Oh, okay, but I just thought that it would be fun for the three of us."55

I looked him in the eye. "Dad, I don't think I should be hanging out with my parents anymore. I'm in highschool."56

There was such pain in his eyes, but I didn't care, I just ran out the door, too focused on my death to see it. 57

I really am a monster.58

"Oh... fuck." I said, and then died. No last goodbyes, no tearful confessions, no one there to hold my hand. Just me, dying in a mix of blood and brains. 59

It was a death worthy of someone like me.