Acceptance

“Acceptance”
By Jey Corder


“I have to get a grip on myself.”
He said as he looked into the cracked mirror over top of the rust stained, grimy sink.
“I have to get this blood off, Oh god it’s everywhere!”
As he began to scrub his hands with a ferocity that hoped it could wash away the guilt, a soft musical voice spoke his name from behind him.
“Mitch…”
I-I can’t get it all off!” Mitch said
“Mitch!” She yelled as she grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.
Looking into his eyes she said with great sincerity “It is going to be O.K… do you understand?”
“No” he tremulously replied “have you looked at that- that mess out there? My god Sara who did I kill?” Mitch walked across the bathroom, his shoes squeaking from the blood covering them. As he put a blood stained hand on either side of the door, he stared out into the half destroyed blood soaked room, he asked, ”how did this happen?”
“I don’t know, I can’t remember” came a whispered reply.
Mitch closed his eyes. “I remember you said you had a late appointment, a-and I got worried when you didn’t come home, so I decided to come looking for you”
“And then what happened next, Mitch.” came a soft whisper.
“I don’t remember, every thing is a blur of color and anger after that”
“Try harder Mitch, you can remember”
Mitch let go of the door and turned, anger boiling in his heart. He intended to ask her what she remembered, why can’t she shed a little damn light on this situation, but as he spun around he saw, Sara was not there.
Fear ran through him like ice cold water injected into his veins. The terrified whispered words came to his lips before he was aware of thinking them. “What is going on?”
“You need to remember” was whispered into his ear from behind.
The scream building in his chest never made it to his lips. Shear terror made it impossible for him to breath. As the words where spoke he spun and backed into the wall to look at the door where the voice had come from. He stared at the empty door way, his pulse was racing, his heart pounded in his ears. Mitch noticed something was cutting into his lower back. He reached back and felt the butt of a small pistol in his back pocket. When he touched it memory washed over him like a levy in his mind had been breached, the sudden influx of information caused his legs to buckle, and he slid down the wall and huddled in the corner staring at the crime scene before him. A tear ran down his cheek as he began to speak.
“Oh, god I remember”
“Oh Sara, after you called me to say you had to work late, I decide to surprise you with a picnic dinner at your office.”
Even though his back was in a corner a reply of “Keep going” came from behind him.
Mitch shuddered as he continued to speak, “when I go to your office, I found you weren’t there. I figured you had already stepped out for a bite to eat. So, I put the basket on the corner of your desk and walked around to leave a note on your keyboard I- oh god Sara, why.”
A snarl ripped through the air “FINISH THE STORY”
Mitch flinched and closed his eyes as the tears began to fall more thickly, “as I looked for a pad to write a note on, I bumped your mouse and the monitor clicked on.” ‘I saw a message from your client saying to meet him at this address, so I followed.” “ and my god I though people only met in motels like this in cheesy movies and badly written books” A snarl straight from the pits of hell, which sounded like crushed glass and razor blades whispered in his ear “Finish the goddamn story”
“I pulled up in front of the room and pulled out the pistol I keep in the lock box under my seat. I tucked it into my belt a-and started for the room” “At first I just listened.” Mitch dropped his face into his hands. “Why are you making me do this?”
“To heal you” came a whisper from above. “You cannot move on till you can accept what has happened” came from the left “and what you have done” came from the right.
Mitch began to sob. “Oh god, I heard them in the throws of ecstasy and everything when red” “I pulled out the gun and kicked the door in, I walked right up to the bed and shot her”
A voice that sounded like acid said “Yesssss”
“after I had realized what I had done I-I I shot myself”
A voice, the voice of Satan himself, which seemed to come from every where at once, and got deeper and more vicious with every word spoken said” To live you must love, to kill you must hate, and to leave here you must accept what you have done”
         With these last words the world around Mitch seemed to melt into slime and mold. A putrid stench of death began to emanate from everything. “And now Mitchell come with me” Mitch rose to his feet without him consciously trying, and even though he tried to stop himself he began to walk, and all went black.