For days I stalked Ronnie, waiting for the perfect moment. But Ronnie never slipped up in public. My frustration deepened until a solution came to me. I didn't need to wait for a mistake. I could create one.
That weekend, Ronnie posted about a party. I followed him there.
Outside, two supervisors stood at the door, checking invitations. I hung back in the shadows until a group approached. I locked eyes with the guards, bending their minds with subtle pulses of disorientation. When the group flashed their cards, I imprinted the memory over the guards' sight, rewinding it like a broken tape until it was my turn to show my. cards.
The guards blinked, confused, stammering. "Uh, did we already?"
"Yes," I said smoothly, smiling. "You did. I'm good to go, right?"
One of them frowned, still dazed. "Er… yeah. Go ahead."
Inside, the party raged, music pounding, lights cutting the dark like blades. Ronnie sat with friends at a corner table, already drunk, laughing too loudly. I melted into the background, eyes fixed on him. I didn't need to act directly. Just… nudge things.
The drugs came out, powder lined on glass. Ronnie hesitated, then bent down, sniffing. My mind reached out like claws. I erased the memory the instant it formed, of Ronnie's and the group. Ronnie blinked in confusion, friends egging him on.
"Come on, man, don't pussy out! Why are you hesitating, be a man!"
Another line. Another erasure. Again. Again. Ronnie's body staggered under the weight of what his mind couldn't process. To him, it felt like like he was in a different world, but he doesn't remember taking the powder. Peer pressure did the rest.
Minutes later, his body convulsed. His face went pale. He collapsed. Chaos erupted, screams, frantic calls for an ambulance, police arriving. Word spread through the neighborhood before dawn: Ronnie was in a coma.
His family was devastated. Thea didn't come to school for days. I felt no remorse. On the contrary, I felt powerful, untouchable, almost godlike. And yet, buried under the euphoria, there was a faint whisper that didn't feel like me at all.
Ronnie's condition worsened over the following weeks. Machines kept him alive, but the doctors grew grim. They told the family to prepare for the worst. Thea clung to hope, visiting his bedside daily, praying and whispering promises into his ears.
Then one morning, against all odds, Ronnie opened his eyes. His face was pale but alive, his voice weak but steady. The room erupted with joy.
"Thea…" he rasped. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm sorry, for everything. For disappointing you. For wasting myself. I don't want to live like this anymore. I'll change. I'll stop. I'll go to rehab. I'll be better."
Thea sobbed, clutching his hand. "Don't scare me like that again. I don't care how hard it is, I'll stand by you. We'll get through this. Just don't leave me."
His mother broke down, laughing through tears, striking him lightly on the chest. "You devil. You care more about your girlfriend than your own mother. But I'm glad she's here; she's a good girl." The room chuckled, even as everyone wept.
Ronnie turned to his little brother, who stood frozen in the corner. "Hey, champ. When I get out of here, we'll go to that cosplay event you wanted. I'll buy you the best costume."
His brother lit up, hugging him tightly. "Really? You promise?"
"I promise."
Even his father, usually so cold, was moved. He pulled his son into an embrace for the first time in years. "I'm proud of you, boy. Don't waste this second chance." All of his family witnessed his redemption moment except his older brother, who was working in Leazing.
The room glowed with relief. For a brief moment, it felt like a miracle.
But miracles lie.
That night, Ronnie asked for everyone to leave him with Thea. His smile was soft, his tone warm.
"I love you," he whispered, resting his head in her lap. "Thank you for always staying by my side. I don't deserve you."
Thea stroked his hair, tears falling silently. "Don't talk like that. I love you more. I just wish… I wish it could always be like this."
He closed his eyes, still smiling. "Then let me dream of you."
And with that, he drifted into sleep.
Thea stayed with him, humming, until she realized something was wrong. His breaths grew shallow, then stopped. His hand went limp in hers. The smile froze on his face forever.
Her screams echoed through the hospital. Nurses rushed in, his family followed, but it was too late. Ronnie's moment of clarity had been nothing more than terminal lucidity, the mind's last cruel trick before death.
Thea collapsed on the floor, unable to breathe, clutching her chest as if her own heart were torn out. His mother sobbed into his body. His father stood silent, guilt etched into his eyes. His little brother shook him, begging him to wake.
And me? when I heard the news, I felt a shiver of dark delight. My enemy was gone. Thea was broken, now I could shape her as I will. Power coursed through me like fire. Any trace of guilt was buried beneath the intoxicating rush of victory.
For the first time, I believedI was untouchable.
The hospital corridor smelled of bleach and grief. I stood outside the ward with a stupid grin on his face, feeling like I snapped something into place in the world. The darkness inside me had a clarity now, an answer for every small wound I carried. I was about to get in the car when a voice cut through the drizzle.
"Well, hello there, Ducce." Joel leaned against the concrete like he belonged to the night. "You look like you're having fun by yourself. Not fair, man."
I blinked. The smile slipped. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting a mate who broke his leg," Joel said, casual. "You?" He jutted a thumb toward the ward. "You here for the same kind of fun?"
"Just… wanted to revisit old memories," I answered. I started the car and pulled out; Joel climbed in like it was nothing.
We rolled away under streetlamps smeared by rain. Joel's voice tried for lightness. "How have you been feeling lately, man?"
I kept my eyes on the road. "Fine. Great." The smirk tasted false even to me.
Joel studied me. "You sure? We haven't really met for awhile now, you seem distant" He stopped, measuring. "You okay with what happened? The whole… incident.. I heard he got you pretty bad, but coincidentally he is now in a really bad situation, Karma got Ronnie, maybe he is even dead, I heard some pretty loud screams coming out from his room, did you?"