Jansen

"She was a .45 caliber sweet heart tucked beneath my chin line, and when the casings hit the pavement it reminded me of wind chimes."


(( Before you read this, know that I do not RP in the first person! Also know that this is a rough draft I wrote quickly, just so there was something here! Forgive errors please. ))

"It's going to happen soon..." She spoke quietly, as if not to startle the coming change and trigger it too early.

A wine colored dusk bled the sky, the last remaining light striking the girl-Katherine-and her hair shimmered like sunrise. Blond a wonderful, silken to the touch, spilling down her shoulders and back and draping over her face as she tucked her nose gently into my neck.

"This is going to be an awful position in a few minutes." I tried to jest, to keep Katherine at ease. I didn't intend on acting differently in the face of the tragedy, not when she was about to lose so much. No, she'd lay with Jansen--the ambitious, amicable, sarcastic Jansen. The same Jansen she had come to know over the past decade. The same Jansen she had fallen in love with... And who had fallen in love with her so long ago. That Jansen was going to remain with her until the end. Then, and only then, will I allow myself to mourn.

"Jansen..." Katherine scolded, but I could feel her grin spelling out her laughter as her lips pursed against my neck. Good, she was smiling. "You know..." She began, somber hesitation in her voice, she quietly continued, "I know that we've talked about this before... The likelihood that one of us will die along the way. I mean, what we are doing isn't exactly... Safe. But somehow... Urgh!" Katherine grimaced in pain, her insides boiling, her teeth clenched and her grip upon my suit jacket nearly tore a hole in the strong fabric. There wasn't much time left now. She had already developed abnormal strength, and the pain was coming far more frequently, "Somehow..." She began again, panting, her mouth wet with saliva, "I never believed it. I thought we'd last... Forever."

What was I supposed to say to that?

Nothing. I remained silent. Katherine curled a leg over my waist, and I began to run my fingers through her hair, sifting and parting the corn-colored tresses, tracing cursive upon the surface of her skin. She has always loved that.

And there we waited. The bleeding sun hemorrhaged in a cornucopia of vivid reds and yellows, oranges and purples--staining the sky like an egg on Easter Sunday before sinking beneath the horizon, a disappointing pale moon taking its place. The scenery was stricken with a very recent war. The city scape was no more. Carcases of decayed skyscrapers littered the earth, traveling up ten stories before a crooked skeleton of steel girders and fireproofing were all that remained, pointing skyward as if somehow accusing it of the destruction below. Beautiful parks with swing sets and slides were bloodstained, corpses of men and demon alike draped over top of the children's toys in brutal contrast. A bus lay on its side, still sputtering exhaust as it gasped its final breath, carrying a dozen dead passengers with it. Trees were unearthed like weeds or destroyed completely, splintering off in one thousand directions and leaving a mangled wooden spire behind. The only life at all in this wretched place lay in its center upon the concrete.

Soon, this battlefield would claim one more.

"I... I love you, Jansen!" Katherine grimaced, speaking through clenched teeth. Her voice began to split. One was familiar, the other deep... Demonic.

No! It's too soon!

Her body was tense. Every muscle was contracting as Katherine gnashed her teeth together. She was shaking, choking, coughing... Staining my shirt with her own fucking blood!

There was no time left. It had to be done. Now.

The tip of my pistol worked its way to Katherine's temple, the cold steel pressing firmly to her head, "I love you too, Katherine." I wanted to cry, to yell, to scream! But I couldn't. I had to be strong for her one last time. My thumb tugged the hammer backwards, the bullets rattling in the barrel as it shifted--

"I love you!"

I screamed the words, hoping to shout them over the gun shot, hoping she'd hear these words as her last, and not the noise of the pistol. A single silver casing fluttered through the dry air. And when it hit the concrete, it reminded me of wind chimes.