Page 9 of Sour
“Stepbrother,” I growled.
“Nonetheless, he’s family. Not everyone has that. You should talk to him, Koven. I mean, he did just stand up to BJ for you. Took a brutal beating from him too. Say what you want about Happy, but that means something.” She stared at me. “People don’t suffer through such pain without some kind of emotion behind their eyes. Happy’s eyes are filled with emotions, Koven. He’s drowning in them.” She blinked and shook her oddness away. “What even happened with you two?”
I sat there in silence, thinking. The last thing I wanted to do was fucking see Ziggy, let alone speak to him. “Things didn’t end well with us. He…I—I don’t want to see him.”
Dream shrugged again. “He obviously wants to speak to you.”
“I don’t want to talk about Ziggy anymore.”
Dream popped up and skipped away in the direction of our room. “Where are you going?” I shouted after her.
She spun around and smiled. “To our room. We’re grounded, remember?”
Fuck. That’s right.
I gathered the supplies and handed what was left off to a staff member before following Dream’s lead.
Dream danced towards me and grabbed my hand, swinging it as we walked down the hall together. For a moment, things felt lighter. “Hey, Koven?” she chimed.
“Yes?”
Dream stooped and spun to face me. “You got a clean change of clothes, right?” I looked at her and nodded. “Good, ‘cause you fucking stink!” We both laughed as we made our way to our room.
It was a nice reprieve from thinking about all the dark shit. Just me and Dream. It was almost…normal. And it would’ve been perfect if Ziggy hadn’t shown up.
Fucking Ziggy.
“Do it.” The two simple words breezed past my teeth while tears swelled in my eyes. “I said do it!” My throat burned with both anxiety and desperation. “Please, Happy,” I whispered. “Do it,now, before it’s too late.”
We stood there, two siblings—no—two fuckups, covered in the evidence of our crime. There was blood everywhere, smeared across our faces and dripping from our clothes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, trash bags of dismembered parts of the very manwe’d killed were sitting just a few feet away in the trunk of Ziggy’s car. We were fucked…so fucked.
Ziggy stared into my eyes as we silently acknowledged the severity of our situation. The sirens were only growing louder in the distance as the police encroached on us. There was no time and nowhere to run to. This was it. This was the end of our fucked story, the ending we knew would find us one day. But it was still ours, and we had planned to go out the same way we intended to live. Together.
It was now or never.
“Please.” I swallowed the harsh plea as my hand touched his face. Ziggy stood there, towering over me with his tall, built frame, filled with both anger and regret. I knew he wanted to protect me, hence how we ended up here, but sadly, things had gone too far.Hehad gone too far. And now, we needed to end this. All of it. Because neither of us wanted to be separated, let alone locked away from each other. It would be torture.
“Happy.” I tucked the long, dark strands of his sweat-drenched, midnight blue hair behind his ear and smiled as the tears rolled down my bruised and flushed cheeks. For once, he didn’t smile back. Instead, he simply closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “It’s time.”
After everything that had occurred throughout the night, we had made one final decision. To follow our childhood plan…our escape. Ziggy would end my life, then his own. Only then could we be free of the evil in this wretched world, and only then could we be together. Forever.
Our sickly perfect ending. Almost…happy.
Ziggy sighed and nodded, accepting our fate, and I exhaled in relief. “Okay,” he whispered. I watched with anxious eyes as he brushed my bloodstained hair back and raised the bloodied knife to my throat. The blade hovered ever so faintly over my skin, and Ziggy’s ocean eyes lifted in defeat. His arm trembledand his brow furrowed. “I—fuck,” he breathed. I could hear the hesitation in his words and it frightened me. I couldn’t have him back out, not now. No, he needed to finish this. We were too far down this path to just walk away from it.
Ziggy shook his head and I knew he was doubting everything. “Fuck! I can’t do it, Koven.” His voice quivered in a way that scared me more than getting caught. “I can’t do it! I can’t hurt you!”
No, you can’t stop now. Not after everything we’ve done!
“Ziggy—Ziggy, look at me. Look at me!” He shook his head. “Ziggy, please!” My fingers curled along his wrist as I tried to force the blade closer. He only resisted, the veins bulging in his tattooed hand and arm as he remained still. My tears mixed with the blood smeared across my face and fell onto the blade of the knife. “You can’t let them take me away! I need to stay with you! Please, Happy!” I screamed at him, and he nearly flinched at my raised voice. “I can’t live without you! Please! Just do it! End this all before it’s too late!” My voice had become hoarse. “Do it!”
Ziggy’s stained hand trembled as he struggled to hold the knife to my throat. His nostrils flared and tears streamed down his cheeks. It was the first time I’d ever seen him cry.
“Ziggy,” I whimpered as he shook his head once more. The sirens were only growing louder and I knew if he didn’t do this, it would be too late. “Happy,” I whispered his nickname. “Don’t let them take me. Please,” I sobbed. “If I can’t be with you, then I don’t want to live. I don’t want to exist in a world where we can’t be together. Please, Happy. Save me.” Ziggy’s face tightened as the heavy realization of my words really settled in. He knew this was the only way. And I knew he didn’t want anyone else to have me. “Save. Me.”
Ziggy nodded and I dropped my fingers. “I’m sorry, Koven,” he breathed. “I wish I could’ve taken you away from here, from all of this.” I nodded and cried, knowing he meant every word.“I’m going to do it. Just like we planned years ago. I’m going to end your pain and make sure no one can ever hurt you. I promise.” With a deep inhale, he pressed the blade against my skin. Ziggy stepped closer, his free hand diving through my hair until he had the back of my head settled into his palm. “I’m going to make it all go away. All the pain, the nightmares, the torture. Everything.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you, Koven. And when our souls leave this fucking hell, I’ll find you in the next one. I’ll never leave you. Never!”
As the words fell from his lips, Ziggy swiftly slid the blade along my neck with one quick motion. My eyes widened at the immediate pain and I gasped. Blood poured from my wound and spewed across Ziggy’s chest while he stood there, holding me. I could feel it pouring down my neck and soaking into my clothes. The sound of my heartbeat filled my ears, and the world began to fall into a numbing silence. My body tingled and deadened as I stumbled, knowing death was tapping me on the shoulder.
