Dreaded Thought

Dreaded Thought
By Alex Watson

His mind swirled as he walked, swirling like water going down a plug hole, while at the same time a single strand of sweat dripped down his forehead. The right arm on his body still stung from the gash it had sustained, it was like a memento of what had just occurred. It had happened; he had done something he never thought possible! At first he assumed that this was just a dream but seeing the dreaded sight before him more than confirmed his fears!

It had started like any other night with Murphy doing his work, way down the street as always the Sykes kids were quarrelling over some silly issue with their idiot father screaming at them. Why that family didn’t just take the hint and get lost was beyond him. It was a cold night; the chill in the air pierced Murphy deep in the gut and made him want to throw up.
As usual it was your typical night downtown; the Red Lion’s patrons were making their drunken exit, all underage drinkers on the corner of the street. Murphy had been called to ‘amend a disturbance’ at a house. As he approached his front door he could hear that it was going to be another one of those nights, screaming echoed from the front door as Murphy rang the bell. As Johnny emerged from the doorway, sweating, bleary eyed he felt like hitting him there and then. This man had always been a figment of Murphy’s life because in school Johnny had been the hard man and Murphy was his victim. Things were different now as Johnny had become scum of the earth.
“Oh it’s you fucking twat” Johnny said “What do you want this time”
“Seems like I’m having one to many of these visits Johnny” Murphy told him
“Christ your still a fucking square, just like school when you were convinced that you’d be a footballer” Johnny laughed
“Shut the hell up you junkie, your arse is coming with me” Murphy coldly replied to him grabbing his arm in due course
Johnny pushed him away; Murphy could see that this guy knew that this was personal. The glare of Johnny’s gaze made him feel uncomfortable; he had always had the ability to look through people like a mirror.
“So tell me, how’s Ness” Johnny smirked, Murphy threw him against a wall
“You’re nothing Johnny and you’ll never be anything” Murphy screamed at him.
With that he made his exit, this guy wasn’t worth it, he was going to end up behind bars at some point so why bother
“I hear that Ness is banging that guy Jade!” he seemed to mock, in return it was met by only silence from Murphy, he wasn’t going to let the thought of that heartless women ruin his night. If he got worked up over Johnny then he really was no better than him
“Oh come on Murphy that must bother you somewhere, after all you did love her and yet she never did” Johnny laughed. Now he had touched a nerve, Murphy crossed the street towards Johnny and all he could think of was inflicting pain on him.
Murphy swung at him and hit him square in the face, Johnny clutched his face. It gave Murphy a sense of power doing that, as if years of unbridled frustration were finally vented. Johnny still clutched his face. Then suddenly out of nowhere Murphy with fear that Johnny had produced a knife! He grabbed his arm and the two were locked in combat. Each trying to protect themselves and inflict pain or erase years of hate build up over the years. Suddenly as Murphy tried to grab the knife, he felt Johnny widen his eyes and go limp, in the scuffle he accidentally impaled him!

As Johnny lay before him, motionless, still. Murphy felt his whole life beginning to crash down. Had anyone seen him? He ran as fast as he could to some where, anywhere or nowhere. Murphy hid down a nearby alleyway, he couldn’t care who was down it. In the background he could hear a drain leaking fluid; this was terrible because all he could see was Johnny. As he sat he tried justifying this to himself. He re ran this scenario in his head a thousand different times each time was worse than the last. It was like there were metal ice picks stabbing through his every thought. As he sat there he could only think of the person that man was. All those times that he come to the door sweating, barely conscious while his wife clutched her face in the back ground, it was in this moment that Murphy realized what he done may have not been a mistake!
Over on the wall on the left sat a ginger cat, it wasn’t a nice looking one but still it would be worth petting. Murphy stuck his arm out, the cat brushed his head but against it. This made Murphy smile briefly, he saw a tag on the cat which read ‘Dazza’. This cat funnily enough seemed to be the one thing that wasn’t against Murphy, in fact Dazza may turn out to be the one friend he’d ever have left.

Going home didn’t seem like a good option, after all they would know who was the last person to have seen Johnny alive and it would only be a matter of time. He would have to think of something fast, but before he could he was surrounded by a sea of flashing blue, the cops had found him! Now he was in for it.
From the sea of blue emerged a man who he knew as Phillips, this guy had it in for him and surely he would want to see him put away. As he approached Murphy feared the worst, but instead of holding a gun to his head, Phillips put a hand on his shoulder
“Are you alright Sarge?” he asked curiously
Murphy didn’t know what to say so he just nodded in reply.