. . .
Ellis was 22, insecure, and skinny. He was pretty quiet, but a genuinely nice guy. That morning he woke up hungover. He sat up and saw his blue light in the mirror on his closet door. He stared at himself and said nothing.
Adrian was 25, easygoing, and smart. She was working on her master's in political science. That morning she woke up, showered, and then saw her blue light when she went to fix her hair. She screamed and threw her hair brush across the room, then sat down on the side of the bathtub and cried.
Andy was 34, confident, and loving. He and his girlfriend used to party a lot, but now he had a job and lived a much calmer lifestyle. He sang to himself in the shower and didn't notice his blue light until he had gone downstairs, had breakfast, and looked out the window at his girlfriend's garden. When he saw his reflection, all he could think about was how he was going to tell her. They had been dating for almost nine years and she meant more to him than anything.
Ellis was still sitting on his bed staring at himself. He picked up his phone and browsed through his contacts looking for someone to tell. He noticed he was shaking. He put the phone back down.
Adrian walked across the hall, her eyes still red with tears, and sat with her housemate. They sat together and hugged, then they went and had breakfast. The housemate called up Adrian's friends to have a get together that night so that Adrian wouldn't feel alone.
Andy called in to work and told them he was sick; then he cooked a nice dinner. He set up candles and put out the good table cloth and glasses. When his girlfriend came home, they had a very tearful meal together.
Ellis was still sitting in his room. He picked up his phone, and then put it down again. He stared at it, hoping maybe one of his friends (he had many) would call him, and then he wouldn't have to do it. Like maybe his phone would know, and take care of it for him. If this were his last day, it shouldn't be going like this. He looked back to the mirror, and that stupid blue light was there, taunting him. He desperately wanted to beat it. "This isn't fair," he said aloud to the empty room.
Adrian's friends (she had many) had come to her house, and they all sat around in the living room. Adrian didn't want to spend her last day tearfully; she suggested that they all go out to a bar and have a good (albeit bittersweet) time. "We should enjoy the time we have left together," she said to her friends.
Andy and his girlfriend finished their dinner. He thought about calling his parents or his friends (he had many), but then decided that the only people he needed to have a good time were right here. The two of them decided to go out and have a drink together, for old times' sake, and then spend the night together, just the two of them. "I've had a good run, and I wouldn't want to spend today any other way," Andy told his girlfriend.
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Ellis walked into the bar. He pulled a gun out of his cardigan sweater. He fired into a crowd of girls, and Adrian fell to the ground. The whole crowd of everyone there flew into a screaming panic, but Ellis stood his ground, determined to beat the blue light; if he could break its rules, maybe he could survive his own blue light. He took aim at a woman sitting at the bar, who did not have a blue light above her head, and he fired.
Andy pushed his girlfriend out of the way of the attacker, and the bullet found him instead. Ellis pulled the trigger again, but the gun was jammed. He stood staring at his target, who was now crying over Andy's body. He kept pulling the trigger but it wouldn't fire. He felt like he was watching himself from outside of his body.
Gradually he became conscious of the sound of sirens and the blare of red and blue lights from behind him. The bar was mostly empty now, the crowds having stampeded out in terror. Ellis was brought back to reality by someone shouting something at him. He instinctively spun around and pointed his gun;
The cop shot him.
-Nick.
This is good. Cool spin, but I actually thought Ellis was a more fascinating character before he became a murderer after the section break.
ReplyDelete-Robert