Fall

• Zehra David, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

They’re this way. I ran off sprinting as I said this, and I heard them trailing behind me. I stopped to catch my breath as I looked around. As I looked up, I saw a cliff, covered in snow, and on top of it was Xander.
“Xander!” As he turned around I noticed his eyes. They had changed from a soft gray to this vibrant green. He'd been hypnotised.
“Xanthe! There you are.” He sounded the same but there was something flat in his voice, something absent. “There’s someone I want you to meet, and they’ve been dying to meet you.” As he walked forward, I grabbed both his hands and stood in front of him.
“Xander, please, talk to me,” I pleaded, looking into his eyes.
“Don’t worry, we’ll talk later, but right now my fiance is dying to meet you.”

I heard a voice. “Hey Xanthe” Lilith swept her brown hair out of her green eyes. “Let’s talk about old times, Xanthe. Remember the games we played?”
“I don’t have time for you Lilith. I just want answers. What did you do to Xander? What is wrong with him, he looks like he’s hynotised!”
“Mmm. Looks perfectly fine to me.”
“Answer. Me.”
“Fine. I wanted him, and when you came in my way, I went out of my way to find out your weakness, and when I found it, I couldn’t believe it. I thought, what is the most painful thing that I can do to you? Something that will make you suffer” She snarled as she turned to Xander.
“Xander, darling, what are you willing to do for me?” reaching out she held his hand.
“Anything.” It was clear to see that under her influences.
She gave him the knife, “Kill her.” Xander gripped the knife and looked up at me.
“Xander, listen to me, you don’t have to do this. I know the person that I love is still in there.” I scrambled to my feet and continued stepping back as he approached.
“Xanthe, why did I even care about you? I could’ve had anything or anyone. Everyone loved me, but instead of all that, I chose you, poor little girl, left with no one with her. I sympathized. But now after all this time, I realize that you only brought me down. You never made me happy.” I turned to see that I was at the edge of the cliff, and looked back to see him wiith the knife in his hand. “And the best thing that you could do for me is die.”

If this was the last time I ever saw him, I needed to say one thing. “Xander, I will always love you.”
And with that, he stabbed me in my stomach and pushed me off. As I fell, I closed my eyes remembering everything Xander meant to me. As long as he was safe, I would be fine.