At Fault

I never should've opened the locket.

I thought I could handle it, I thought-

...hell, I don't know what I thought. I definitely wasn't thinking I'd cause the end of the world. People keep telling me not to blame myself, saying I couldn't have known... I don't think I could've stopped myself even if I had known.

Doesn't make me blameless.

I was snapped out of my reverie by Kyle grabbing my arm and hauling me along faster. His hand was slick with blood, and it left a damp, spreading patch of red on my sleeve.

"Come on," he snapped, flashing a feral grin, "we're almost there!"

Few people would've sounded so happy about that.

I followed.

We'd been running since dawn, or near enough to it. The two of us don't really get tired anymore, but I still had that ache in my bones that made me want to lie down and let the falling ash bury me. Kyle never seemed weighed down like that, even before the sickness got him.

That might be the part I feel the worst about, actually. Yeah, the world's ending. It's my fault. It's horrible. The human race is dying off and being replaced with... gods, I don't even want to think about it... but I really wish Kyle had been at home, wish he'd died off in the first wave with the rest of his family. He didn't ask for this. He didn't ask for the ugly, twisted claws his fingers had extended into, for the sharp protrusions sticking jaggedly out of his back...

Maybe he's stronger now, but if he'd known what he was going to turn into when all of this started... I think he would've been happy to go with his family.

"Move it, Felix," he snarled again, glancing back at me. His eyes hadn't changed... that was the one thing about him that was still recognizable. Wide, harmless brown eyes. I'd always liked them. Now they were wide with a frenzy, a desire to be closer to our destination. The ship loomed on the horizon, waiting. He was right, we needed to hurry. The clouds were thickening by the minute, no human left outside would be able to breathe at this point without getting a lungful of poisonous ash.

The locket thumped against my chest as I sped up, strangely warm, its edges digging in where it touched skin.

It wouldn't close.

I tried to close it - believe me, I tried - but it wouldn't budge an inch. Every attempt to close it just ended in scraped and scalded hands, the throbbing pain of the wounds feeling as though the damned thing was laughing at me.

Not that it wouldn't be justified.

After all, I caused the apocalypse, didn't I?

Up ahead of us, one of the geysers erupted, spewing boiling, sickly green liquid and shaking the ground underneath us. Kyle snarled, bracing himself. I watched dully, feeling far removed from all of it.

My fault. This was all my fault, the entire planet was sick, millions of people were dead- even if we got to the ship in time, there was no way to stop that-

Another geyser exploded, barely five feet away.

...

"no- no, no, no- damnit, Felix, wake up-"

Someone lifted me. I screamed.

"Fuck- I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

I barely heard Kyle's panicked muttering over the blinding pain radiating from my right side, an overwhelming, all-consuming ache from my shoulder to at least halfway down my leg. It was hard to tell where it ended, everywhere that wasn't in agony just felt numb...

I pried my eyes open, and Kyle grinned down at me anxiously, fangs poking out over his lower lip. He was always smiling, even when he was terrified... it was nice. Reassuring.

"Hey," he murmured, voice softer than I'd heard it in a while, "hey, y-you're- you're gonna be fine- it just clipped you, okay? You're gonna be fine-"

"what did...?" I mumbled, voice scraping painfully out of my throat.

"The- the geyser, it just- I couldn't get there fast enough, the edge of it got to you, I'm sorry-"

He adjusted how he held me, cradling me gingerly against him as he started to walk again. He used to be clumsy, before the world went to hell. Now he moved like a cat, quick and sure and avoiding the jagged rocks and boiling pools of the earth's new landscape.

"'s okay," I sighed, letting my eyes close as I rested my head against his shoulder. "it's... fine. I'm fine..."

"You're not," he muttered, holding me tighter. I couldn't help a little grin.

"Your bedside manner's the worst."

"Shut up."

"See? Who tells their charge to shut up, it's just rude-"

"It's the apocalypse," he managed, and I could tell without looking that he was trying to smile, and most likely failing. "I don't have time to be polite anymore."

I laughed, then coughed, curling up tighter and gasping out short, ragged breaths as the pain flared up again. It was starting to feel worse, if that was possible. Kyle's breath hitched, and I felt him speed up.

"...it's spreading, isn't it?" I asked quietly. Silence. "Ky."

"Yes," he answered, voice soft, "it's... you don't have long."

I imagined how I must look. A pathetic little heap, curled up in a monster's arms as the boiling poison ate away at my flesh. I shuddered.

"We're nearly there," he promised, "you're- you'll be okay, I'm going to make sure you're okay-"

"Waste of time," I tried to joke through the pain. It came out sounding more sincere than I meant, and he growled.

"Don't say that. You're worth saving, I'm going to save you-"

"I ended the world, Ky-"

"I don't care," he snapped, "I don't fucking care- even if the rest of the world burns, I'm not losing you, too."

I thought I was laughing at first. That's what it felt like, and Kyle always made me laugh. Then I felt the wet spot on what remained of his shirt under my cheek, tasted salt from where my own tears dripped into my mouth.

Well, that made sense.

I leaned into him, holding onto him as much as I could in my weak, damaged state, and let myself sob. It hurt, but then, everything did. Kyle was running flat out now, holding me like I was something precious, like I hadn't destroyed his life and everyone in it for the sake of my own sick curiosity. We were going uphill, suddenly, the impact of his footsteps making metallic clangs, and all at once the scorching heat was gone, the rancid smell of the air was gone-

Kyle hissed sharply, holding me tighter as someone grabbed my arm. I nearly blacked out from the pain, and I must have screamed again, because my throat hurt and I tasted blood.

"-need to give him medicine-"

"-him to us-"

"-please, put him down just here-"

Voices faded in and out around me. Some were familiar. Most weren't. The locket burned against my chest, and I was sure this time it would leave a mark. I was set down on something soft that started to move, and I forced my eyes open, looking around. A few people in white were taking me away on a stretcher, several more trying to hold Kyle back as he whined and screeched and tried to follow.

I saw one of them uncap a needle and lunge for his neck, just before I blacked out.

- End -