Jason Catastro is Dead

A Story by DataCentre

This is by no means anywhere near done, and it's my first time putting my stuff out there, so please be kind :)

Jason Catastro is dead, no doubt about it. I look down at his body, the pool of crimson blood spilling silently and obscenely from his face. The crowbar rests by my feet where I dropped it, taunting me. Laughing as if it knows something I don’t. LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE it screams. This inanimate object appears to be gazing into my soul and judging the darkness I know it finds there. It disturbs me. I watch the toes of my sneakers push the blood- doused weapon out of my line of sight. Now I can concentrate on Jason.

I kneel beside his lifeless body. The only part of him that seems to be still alive is his long, curly, golden hair that blows in the mild wind. Even in death, he is still elegantly beautiful. It’s like his soul refuses to allow him to be ugly or undignified in any way, ever. The weather is chilly for early September. As soon as I think this, my hands, bloody, bruised and callused, pull up the hood of my sweater. I'm moving on autopilot. I guess I'm in shock. I don’t feel any particular way. I’m not sad or angry or even bothered by Jason’s body and what I did to it. I don’t feel full like I thought I would, though- my entire being is still empty.

There is so much blood.

My jeans are soaking up the mess. There is no escaping the blood. It surrounds me; the smell penetrates the fresh air, the telltale smell like a waving flag. COME LOOK WHAT HE’S DONE it screams. Yes. Come look what I’ve done.

Jason’s left eye, the only one still intact, is aimed skywards. I lie beside him and look up as well. What are you looking at, Jason? I ask the air around us. He doesn’t respond. It startles me to think that I’ll never hear his voice ever again. This sudden realization hits me like a sledgehammer to the gut. I roll to my right and vomit on the ground. White bile mixes with red blood. I assume I should be disgusted or upset by all this, but as suddenly as the sickness hits, it leaves, and a foreign calmness takes over my body, almost paralyzing me. It whispers secrets to me. Everything will be alright, it says, gently caressing my hair. I know, I whisper back. This calmness makes me smile for the first time in months.

I’m laughing now. It’s finally all over. Jason Catastro is dead. I look up at the sky again. The moon is up. Late evening has given way to early night and the stars are out. Isn’t it beautiful, Jason? I know he would have found it beautiful. His soul is gone. I can tell. His hair has finally stopped billowing. Maybe it got sucked up into the sky and turned into a star. It would be oddly fitting. Jason was a huge fan of astronomy. What are you thinking about? I ask him gently. I run my fingers through his hair. I know he can’t hear me, but I will continue to speak to him as if he can. I kiss his bloodied, bruised lips, something I’ve been meaning to do ever since I met him. It’s even better than I expected it would be.

Jason Catastro is dead. Jason Catastro is finally dead.