Self-Sacrifice

• Michelle Pursche
• Short Story
• 2022

“What did you do!?” Alan bellowed as he looked around at all of his wounded colleagues.
“When I said to distract them, it didn't mean to hurt them!” he screamed as he stormed towards the villain.
“They were trying to kill me, it was self defence” he yelled back causing Alan to falter for a moment.
“Now tell me Gav, why would they try to kill you?” he yelled inches from his face. “How the hell would I know?” Gav shot back. “Maybe you put them up to it?” he said before walking off.

Finding a quiet place to think, he sits down in a corner and listens to his surroundings before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Thinking back to the moment he and Alan had the argument, he sighed slightly before he heard voices coming from around the corner. Peeking his head out he sees the man who invaded his thoughts and his boss talking in hushed tones. Listening carefully he hears only snippets of their conversation.
“You either kill that guy or you’re fired and I'll destroy your credibility so no one will hire you” he spat before turning around and walking off. Watching Alan nod, Gav stood up and ran out the back before he was caught.

As he walked around the corner he soon realized that he was surrounded by Alan and a few other people. Coming to a halt, Gav looked around him and saw that people were waiting for him to run away so he simply stood his ground because he already knew what he had to do.

With a strained voice Alan spoke “Why are you doing this? You can become the hero of this story, all you need to do is give up!”

Quietly, Gav responded “I know”

Sighing, Alan started walking towards Gav as the others backed off. “I don’t want to hurt you” he whispered as he got closer. “Don’t make me do this”

Seeing the single tear roll down his face, Alan takes the chance and grabs Gav and pins him to the ground. Hearing the others scream at him, he slowly pulls his dagger off his boot and puts it against Gavs neck.

Before he could register what was happening, he was being flipped over and straddled.
“I love you Allan and I know you love me but I won’t let you ruin your life.” Standing up, Gav takes the dagger out of Allan's hand and takes a few steps backwards.

Smiling at him, Gav thrusts the dagger into his chest without thinking and slowly falls to the ground.

Crawling his way over to Gav, Alan chokes on his tears while trying to stop the bleeding. “W-why would you do t-that?” He sobs as Gav places his bloody hand on his face.

Taking a shuddering breath, he spoke his last words before his hand went limp and fell to the ground. “Because I knew you wouldn’t.”