Running

Unreliability—you can rely on that.

I run. I run because I have to. I run because if I don't run, I will die. I run; even though I doubt help will come, or that I will ever find the end of these dank, sunless caves. I run because it's all I have left.

I left Jek far behind me, lying in a pool of his own blood. His attack had been both unexpected and horrific, leaving me with a bloody knife in my hands " pulled from my own side. We hadn't known each other long in the center before we had decided that we got along well enough to go excavating together, in the most dangerous caves there were, of course.

Both of us were ambitious, and wanted to find out what treasures were hidden beneath Mount Everest. We soon discovered the way in, and descended in high spirits.

I had never seen it coming. Jek was such a good man, I had never done anything to him! We had gotten along with each other the whole trip until I mentioned returning to the surface, and then he suddenly had a knife in his hand, with which he attempted to impale me. It was fortunate that I reacted so quickly, or I might have died.

I don't think he's dead yet. He's probably still back there, bleeding from where I smashed his head against the rocks. I did it to protect myself, but I never meant to hit him so hard.

So I run. I run from Jek, his blood, my blood, ... I think I'm dying. I must be. Jek is. My knees are hitting the ground, my legs won't move any further ... This must be the end.

I wake up to the musty smell of an old house. I sit up swiftly, only to go back down at the pain in my side. I had forgotten about Jek, but I remember now.

I can see that I am in a bedroom, a nice bedroom, with a nice bed. I stare around for a long time, unable to move against the pain, but unable to sleep either. Jek is on my mind. Why did he do it? Why did he try to kill me? I, irrationally, want to keep running, but where to?

The door opening catches me off guard, and I jump, to my side's displeasure. It's a man dressed in a white lab coat who I can safely assume is a doctor.

"And how's my patient?" He sits down in a chair next to my bed. I don't know what to say to that. "Feeling disoriented?" He's looking at me intently, so I finally just talk.

"I feel fine."

"You feel fine," he repeats, his gaze is still intense, "what happened?"

I just stare back. Didn't they find Jek?

"What happened?" I repeat, since that was what he had done.

"We found you barely alive with a knife in your hand and a stab wound in your side." He states it plainly.

"What about Jek?" I ask it, knowing in my heart that he is dead.

"What about you." He says it as if I've forgotten it.

"I'm alive." I say it, knowing it to be true. He nods, as is approving of my reply.

"Jek is alive." He says back, surprising me. Then he looks at me very hard, and I have trouble not squirming under his gaze. "Do you remember the expedition?"

"The expedition." I repeat.

"Yes." The doctor nods, "Do you remember your team going down into the caves?"

I want to run again.

"I remember Jek." I say.

"Do you remember anyone else?" His look is so hard that I can feel it.

"I remember Jek." I say again, unsure of what he means.

"What is your name?" He asks it with a look on his face, like he knows it but won't tell me the answer.

"Tom Bradley." I reply as easily as I can. But I can't. It's not easy. Something is wrong.

I want to run.

From the look he gives me, I said the wrong thing. But that's wrong! I said the right thing! I know I did!

"Do you remember what happened?" He asks it in a sneaky way, and I suddenly don't want to answer it. I don't want to be wrong. I tell the truth,

"We were considering giving up the mission, and suddenly Jek attacked me with a knife."

"Jek attacked you?" He seems sad.

I'm sad too. Jek was my friend. "Yes."

"Why?" He asks.

"There wasn't a reason." I manage a shrug, "There wasn't any reason."

"Do you remember anything else?" He asks it as though I won't. But I do.

"I ran." I say, wanting to get up and run away right then. Something was wrong.

"Yes, you did." He sighs.

"I ran from Jek." I say.

"Yes." He responds, looking very sad.

"How did you find me?" I suddenly wonder, who had found me and brought me up out of those caves?

"The rest of your team did." As he says it, he stands, and opens the door. Three men enter, one in a wheelchair with a wrapped head. I know them. Jek knows them too, but he isn't here.

"He doesn't remember you?" The obvious oldest of the trio steps forward, looking at me and then at the doctor. He is obviously the leader, his gray hair making him the most experienced person in the room. I'm not sure why I thought that.

"He hasn't seemed to yet." The doctor says. "All he remembers is Jek, and that his name is Tom."

"Jek?" The young man with the wrapped head looks at me appraisingly. He looks very familiar, but I can't think why.

"Where is Jek, if he's alive?" I ask.

"Well," the leader with the gray hair looks searchingly at the doctor before he continues, "Jek was hurt very badly, and we are very worried about him."

"Then he made it?" I asked, "He's alive? I didn't kill him?"

"No." The leader gives a half-smile half-grimace, "He's alive."

"Then where is he?" I ask, anxious to see the damage that I've done, and hoping it's not bad. I feel better with these people. But something is still wrong.

"Tom." The leader looks at the man in the wheelchair, "Show him." I lean forward, anxiously wondering at our identical names as I watch Tom pull out a cell phone. He hands it to me and smiles tightly when I look at him in confusion,

"Look into the empty screen."

I do, and immediately a scream fills the room. I'm wrong. I've been wrong the whole time.

Jek is staring back at me.

I want to run.

Author's Note

Lunarsong and I were messing around with unreliable narrators, we each chose one we could write about at random to see if we could guess what the other had gotten. I got the psycho, which means that the narrator is crazy. I hope it was obvious at the end, or that you at least got the ending. No my little sister wants me to write more. So tell me what you think. :)

Reviews

[Dust That Drifts Throug..]

I'd like to read more of this story because it's really good.

[Calibaster]

I did consider writing a sort of ... explanation for this story. ... Maybe I'll reconsider. :)

[Low C]

It is a good story, just a little paradoxical.

[Calibaster]

In what way?

[Low C]

That he is his own enemy

[Calibaster]

I guess I can see that. I just hope it was surprising.

[Low C]

It certainly was!

[Anne]

I really like this short story! i enjoyed it to where i would honestly wanna read more! :)

[Calibaster]

Really? I'm glad, that's almost exactly what my sister said! Maybe I will go deeper into it spmetime. :)

[Farrsight]

So WRITE MORE!!! This story scares me. And I think it always will. And I noticed once I read it through again, that you do give subtle hints that the narrator is Jek. When the doctor says some things, and the hints get more prominent the further your read. It's a good write.

[Calibaster]

I'm glad you noticed those! I thought I was the only one! I also thought they were too obvious at first.

[Farrsight]

Nope. You only notice if you read through it more than once, or if you're Sherlock.

[Calibaster]

Oh. Good. That's what I wanted.

[Farrsight]

Oh. Good...