Two Halves of the Whole
He tossed the apple into the air, and let it fall to the ground, his eyes pinned on his victim. She struggled against her ropes, but to no avail. She had been struggling like that for the better part of the past hour, he mused. Cursing, swearing, spitting, struggling, and she had barely moved an inch. She hadn’t, however, bothered to ask him what he wanted, which was odd. People, who were trapped in hopeless predicaments always seemed to want to know their fate beforehand, as if they could escape it. He came very close to laughing aloud at his thoughts, but managed to hold back. He hadn’t made a sound in the past hour, except for his rhythmic breathing. The young girl must be frightened, he thought, and he shouldn’t go about trying to scare her anymore. He was just playing.
It was another 20 minutes before she finally gave up, and slumped dejectedly against the wall of the cave. He stared straight at her, but she refused to look at him. He couldn’t stand waiting any longer, and decided to break his silence. He crouched down, and held her chin up, so he could look into her eyes. She at once spit in his face, but he ignored it. He reached out and tried to stroke her hair, but she snapped back, and at once hit her head on the wall behind her. He laughed slightly as she let a tear slide down her face. He looked again, deeply into her eyes. The fear was evident, along with her determination. He grinned, but it was not a pleasant sight. He looked insane. His hair fell to the side in twisted dreads, his brown eyes haunting the sockets they inhabited. He had developed permanent stubble upon his chin, his skin pale as one who sees no sun. She cringed, fearing the worst. He could tell what she was thinking. She was sure that he was going to rape her and then kill her, and probably do something worse in between. This only made him grin further. He just wanted to play.
He placed the apple on her head. "I want to play a little game with you," he said to her. She cursed at him, as if her words could make him go away. He paid her no heed, and took his dagger from the floor. He danced a little, to unheard music, and then knelt beside her, and started to whisper into her ear. "I’ll make you a deal," he breathed, "if you don’t move, you can go." He held his hand over her mouth, so she couldn’t refuse. "I’m going to take my knife and spear the apple on your head. From a distance." She began her struggles again, and the apple fell to the ground. He silently put the apple back on her head when she was still again. Her breathing was heavy, and he could almost hear the panic in her palpitating. "Just don’t move," he whispered. He stood up, and paced off 15 feet, which was almost the very front of his cave. He took careful aim, a deep breath and hurled the knife. Murmuring her last prayer, the young lass closed her eyes, putting her faith in her god.
****
The Mad One took a bite out of his apple. It was delicious, a perfect compliment to the warm spring day. He sat on the grass outside the small cave he had taken residence in, until he finished the apple. When he was done, he went back into the cave and pulled his knife from the eye socket of the cold corpse. He knew it was his knife, but didn’t quite understand how it had been embedded in this unfortunate girl. He didn’t remember a lot of things. Sometimes he could remember the things the Other Half did, but not usually. He cleaned his knife with a cloth, strapped it to his side, and went for a walk. It was truly a beautiful day.
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Important: If you've enjoyed this, please read this--Copyright: 1997