To Us

I can feel the heat rising from the pavement as Kyle slips around a corner, looking briefly over his shoulder as he disappears into shadows. I wait a beat, pretending to check my phone, then follow him. 

You can run, but you can't hide...

I round the corner just in time to see his door shut behind him and hear the faint click of the deadbolt turning. Silly boy, thinking a simple lock will stop a ghost. I stop in front of the door, take a deep breath, and knock twice.

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

There's a moment when I think he won't answer the door, or will see it's me and leave me standing out here. But then I let my breath out in a whoosh as the lock turns again and the door slides open a crack. He sticks his nose out. "Yes?"

"Kyle, it's me," I whisper.

"Alice?" The door flies all the way open and I step inside. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been thinking about what you said, and I forgive you. I want to get back together."

He reaches out, touching my face softly. I suck in my breath, trying not to flinch away from his fingers, and pull my sleeve down further over my bruised wrist.

"I'm so glad you came back to me." He grins, and I can see the haze of alcohol in his eyes and smell it on his breath. I swallow hard.

"I was stupid to kick you out. You were right, we have unfinished business, you and me."

Kyle jabs me in the stomach, a little too hard in his drunken state. "I knew you'd see reason. Wait here." He turns on his heel, tipping slightly and nearly falling, then rushes off into the recesses of his apartment.

Fool me once, shame on you...

While he's gone, I wander into the tiny kitchen. There are still unpacked boxes laying everywhere, as if he really did know I'd come back. I grin. Perfect.

Kyle comes back after a couple minutes, holding a bottle of expensive-looking wine and grinning like an idiot. "To celebrate," he slurs.

He sets the bottle down on a precariously balanced box and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close. "I'll never let you go again," he whispers into my ear.

"Yes, you will," I whisper back.

I pull the knife from my back pocket and drive it into his back, just between his shoulder blades. His bones shift, blood squishing from the wound, a squelch accompanying his sharp cry.

He pushes me away, falling to his knees, and claws at his back. I pull the knife out and shove it deep into his abdomen, beneath his rib cage. He stares up at me, gasping and fighting for breath. "Alice..." It's barely a whisper, and a dribble of blood follows the words out of his mouth. 

I lean down to face him. "You'll never hurt me again."

As he collapses to the floor, I open the bottle of wine, find a glass, and drink.

"To us," I say, holding the glass up in a toast towards Kyle's writhing body.

By the time I've finished the wine, his body is lying still in a pool of deep red blood.

Fool me twice, shame on me...