Bleeding Ruins

• Lara Awad, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

We finally found it. She didn’t know but I did. The collapsed buildings were remnants of my past. Over 200 years ago. Hallways I would run through in search of my siblings. Our dining hall where laughter was never absent. And the smell of food in our huge kitchen. Now I would finally avenge my family.

“Scarlet, look!” Amelia called. She was the final target. I had been waiting, letting their family grow so that I could end the special one.

The girl that just might manifest the century’s old abilities. This power had run through her family until the world became modernised. They lost their memories of the powers that once brought happiness to the world. The powers that destroyed mine.

I watched her black hair sway in the wind behind her as I ran towards her. Curiosity got to the best of Amelia, so I let her search through what was once my home. My paradise.

Soon after we began exploring the ruins, I left Amelia and headed in another direction. Immediately upon nightfall, she began screaming my name, fear immanent in her voice. I reached into the pocket of my skirt, searching for the jagged shard of glass until I felt a scrape against my skin. I smiled.

Perfect.

After a short while, I found Amelia and we began searching for an exit. Slowly, in the blackness of the night, I reached for my weapon. My heart beat began racing. My moment had finally come.

Boom…boom…boom

I launched myself onto Amelia, enjoying every second of her screeching in the unbearable pain of the glass in her neck. I could’ve ended her life quickly, but I refused to. After all the pain not only her family put me through, but the hurt Amelia caused me; I would make sure she regretted all of her life choices. Her screams fell silent but then a husky voice I didn’t recognise whispered through the hyperventilating.

“I thought we were friends.”