I suppose it's better me than her. With all hope lost, my head sunk to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. I'd already done the most I could and I achieved one of the better results. There wasn't anything more I could have done in this situation.
Well, I suppose there was another choice; I could have kept my temper in check, joined them, then bided my time in the group while I waited for a more opportune moment to strike. Through infiltrating their ranks, I definitely could have plotted against them in that manner, but that meant watching all the innocent people behind me as one by one they died directly before my eyes.
I'm not a hero who can clench his teeth and keep living life normally after selling out the last bit of humanity in myself. I'm not a good person, but I like to think there's still a certain threshold or bottom line I won't cross.
Filled with endless remorse and a profound sense of dread, I looked back up one more time. My intention, to permanently ingrain the appearances of the twisted bastard terrorists into the back of my mind; but instead, when I looked up, my heart skipped a beat with the first face my eyes landed upon. A familiar woman with wavy white hair had squatted down in front of me at eye level. She examined me interestedly for reasons I couldn't understand.
In this instant, time felt as though it were at a standstill. The terrorists were all frozen in place, unmoving. There were no longer any sounds or cries from the hostages. Everything remained deadly still, like the two of us were separated from the mortal world.
It might have all been in my head. Perhaps it was one last memory I fabricated in my head before I faced a fate worse than death. She opened her mouth, and for the first time, I heard her voice.
"How long will you keep me waiting, my Darling?"
When she noticed my lack of response, she turned her head away from me in the direction of the terrorists. Time resumed, but she didn't disappear. I thought I was hallucinating as a form of escapism, but something unexpected happened.
"Ahhh!"
A cry from one of the terrorists at the back sounded out. When everyone turned his way, a grey snake had bitten and constricted around his neck. His fingers pried desperately at his neck in an attempt to pull the snake away, but it didn't budge an inch. It was already firmly locked in place.
What a brave valiant snake, I thought. If I had the strength or ability to do that, I definitely would have done the same. However, against my expectations, things didn't simply end there. From the overhead compartments, snakes erupted out like torrential rain. Some bit the terrorists, while others constricted around their bodies to bar any opportunity they had to escape or retaliate. The unexpected change left me shocked and I couldn't comprehend the situation.
My feelings were mixed, very much so. I fucking HATED that godforsaken movie! Why was this bloody shit scene of all things playing out before my eyes right now! I knew I should be thankful in a way, for keeping my dignity intact and all, but I felt my dignity took a hit in another strange sort of way. To be saved in this manner was a bit… insulting? Or should I say humiliating? Perhaps even infuriating?
Unfortunately, the mayhem that ensued didn't stop at the terrorists. The snakes didn't discriminate between them and the hostages on the plane. Mass panic broke out as people chaotically fled in a disorderly fashion to the back of the plane. However, in reality, there was nowhere to flee to.
Some of the unlucky passengers, slower to flee, were trampled underfoot by the stampede of the crazed desperate crowd and immediately died. A good number also suffered at the hands of the snakes' venom. The rest of them were constricted to death and left foaming at the mouth by a few particularly ruthless snakes. There was no way for anyone to escape the maddening despair ridden cabin as countless people died left, right and center. A snake fueled apocalypse had befallen not just the terrorists, but the passengers on board the plane as well.
I was the only one who the snakes completely ignored. No, that was incorrect, the wavy white-haired woman was also similarly ignored by them. She only calmly observed as everything unfolded. She never batted an eye from any particular individual's death no matter how pitiful or desperate their appearance. She was cold, extremely so.
I didn't know what her goal in all this was, but I was in no mood to have a nice little chat with her. I simply wished for death. Dying now was better than living on for the rest of my life in anguish. I'd already killed Val and I'd resolved myself for death the moment I took her life with my own two bloodied hands. The guilt of the deed committed weighed down heavily on my heart. All sorts of suicidal thoughts ran rampant through my mind.
I ignored the woman's existence.
I disregarded the snakes.
I picked up one of the terrorist's guns, then forcefully dragged myself to Val's now headless body.
I picked up her head and positioned it carefully by her neck as delicately as I could. When I saw it in two pieces like this, it truly brought me immense pain. It was unbearable. I was brought almost to the point of tears. To think that I really…
It seemed I could survive this absurd situation if I wanted to, but I much rather just die here like this. There was no point in living with these hands forever stained by her blood. My conscience would never allow me to forgive myself.
I've always believed you can only kill one person in your life. The moment you kill another, you simultaneously kill your old self. You will never be viewed the same way by society ever again. You can never go back to how you once were after you've reaped another person's life with your own hands. Everyone will judge you every time they see you. He's killed someone. He's a murderer. They're a dangerous person.
Even if they don't know that you've killed someone, you'll always be paranoid and jumpy wondering whether they are aware of what you've done in the past. Simple looks of passersby on the street will feel like they're seeing right through you. Sure, if you keep killing more people from then on you will grow numb and desensitized to that sort of feeling, however... I don't want to traverse a path wrought with nothing but endless bloodshed.
Unfortunately, if something happens once, it's bound to happen again. What I'm most terrified of is turning into the same sort of heartless monsters some of my psychotic exes transformed into. I can't live my life in the world with these sorts of thoughts forever tormenting me, dying here and now would be a blessing.
I weakly lifted the gun up, positioned it slightly behind my ear. I shut my eyes tightly and lightly placed my finger on the trigger.
"Hah... Hah... Hah..."
My breathing became ragged as time slowly ticked by. I was... about to die. The moment I pulled the trigger, I'd really die. It would be the end. No more suffering through these endless hallucinations and nightmares. No more of this insanity. It will all be over. Everything will come to an end.
I put a bit of strength into my finger and increased the pressure on the trigger until... I heard the click followed by a loud bang. The moment the bang resounded, my eyes reflexively shot open wide, fully anticipating the instantaneous pain that was to soon follow.
I waited.
Waited.
But... there was nothing.
I lowered my head down and found both my hands stained by blood; however, the pain I expected never followed. Confused, I turned my head to the side, what I saw left me wide-eyed in disbelief.
Val. She was... perfectly fine.
"Hyaaa! S-s-snakes! Everybody, there are snakes on the loose at the back of the plane!"
What followed the bang I heard was a scream from behind.
I looked back down at my hands and the blood I'd seen only just moments before was gone. My hands were as clean as ever. The blood on my hands and clothes were all gone. I didn't feel any trace of blood on my face either. The injuries I sustained from gunshots were similarly gone. Everything was back to normal.
A sudden announcement came from the intercom system. "Everyone, this is an emergency! Please evacuate the plane immediately as calmly as possible in an orderly fashion. Snakes that were being transported have somehow escaped from their cages."
"Mr. Genovese, what are you spacing out for? We have to evacuate the plane immediately!"
"Evacuate? What do you mean? How are we supposed to evacuate, aren't we in the middle of the flight?"
"You've been asleep since I came back from the restroom, we're already at our destination you dolt. Get it together!"
Everyone immediately crowded into the aisles. There were some who'd opened up the overhead compartments to quickly grab their things, but to their horror, snakes flew out from some of the compartments and bit at their faces. A scene similar to what I'd witnessed earlier played out. Although, this time there weren't nearly as many snakes as before, only a few here and there. It was far from enough to block off everyone's path to escape.