@beartrappcdβ ||Β β i didnβt want to do that Β , Β i was just so scared β
This canβt be happening. It canβt be; Andrew doesnβt want to accept it. His shaking hands press desperately to the wound, trying to apply pressure like heβs seen people do in the moviesβ but it doesnβt seem to do anything. Dark crimson seeps between his fingers, drenching his already filthy clothes with Emilyβs blood; heβs pretty sure the choked little noises sheβs making are the worst thing heβs ever heard. (Right up until the horrible moment she goes silent, that is.)
Heβs still holding onto his cousin when the light goes out of her eyes, and it feels like part of him dies with her.Β The worst part is, iβs not the first time this has happened; heβs starting to see a pattern now. A pattern of failure laid out in visions of the past, of his friends all dying and begging him to helpβ but he never manages to save them.Β How many times is he going to let down the people he loves?
Andrewβs whole body shakes as he gets to his feet, his gaze vacant as a wave of nausea crashes over himβ and itβs only after he empties his stomach on the grass nearby that he realizes heβs sobbing. Once that registers, itβs like the rest of the world starts to filter in, too; he notices Daniel standing beside him, trying to comfort him, while Taylor stares at Emily with her hands over her mouth in horror. And Mike...
Mike is pacing. Heβs holding his head and babbling, but nothing heβs saying registers because Andrew canβt stop staring at the gun still clasped in his other hand. Even after John snatches it away and chucks it into the woods, Andrew still sees it; some masochistic part of his brain keeps reminding him that the barrel of that gun is one of the last things his cousin ever saw.Β
Oh fuck, Mike killed her. He shot her, sheβs goneβ
Β A few things are filtering in now, like Mike saying he didnβt mean it; he was just scared. It almost sounds like heβs begging for understanding. While Andrew knows heβs probably telling the truth, and that everything had happened so fast itβs unlikely he had cruel intentions (the silhouette couldβve been anything, after all,Β and Mike wasnβt the only one to jump to conclusions), he still canβt help but lash out when the older boy looks to him for reassurance. For justification.
Emily wasnβt always the nicest; Andrew knows that. She had a mean streak, and a tendency to argue, but the same could be said for the rest of the group, too, couldnβt it? It doesnβt mean theyβre bad people. They donβt deserve to die. Maybe Andrewβs biased because theyβre family, but Emily still shouldβve had the chance to walk out of here with the rest of them.
If they ever do make it out of this damn town, that is.
βYou shouldβve waited,β Andrew chokes out, agonized. He gulps shaky breaths down past the knot in his chest, only to have them immediately escape in ugly sobs. The hand Taylor puts on his shoulder doesnβt even register with him as he takes a step toward MikeβΒ not aggressively, not looking to attack, but begging for an answer. βWhy didnβt you wait? She... Why?βΒ