Depression Manifested.
"Dude, it's perfect."
Alex slowly drew the small knife from its sheath, holding it at arms length. "Look at that blade glisten. Look at me!" He put the knife in the sheath, holding it at his left hip. He pulled the knife out and held it aloft. "Yarr! I'm a pirate!"
Tommy, a cat, pouted and tried to grab the knife. "Dude, I got it for you. Give it, it's my turn." Tommy grabbed the knife by the blade end and Alex pulled back instinctively. The edge cut through Tommy's right palm like a hot knife through butter.
Tommy pulled back his paw. "Ow, Alex! What the heck? That hurts..." His face scrunched together and he bit his lip, holding back tears. A little blood flowed from his fresh wound.
Alex laughed. "Quit being such a crybaby. Look at me! I'm a ninja! Hoo, hah!" He swung the knife around, spinning it around his wrist, dropping it, and quickly picking it up. "Cool, huh?"
The two became vaguely aware of the puppy quietly watching them. Ashley was nibbling her thumb as she watched the two, with mild amusement. She was only four, while Alex and Tommy were both seven, but she was fairly bright for her age. "Your mom told you not to play with those. You're gonna get into lots of trouble."
Alex growled, though Tommy was more concerned with the cut on his palm. "Only if you tell on us, pup. And you can't do that."
Ashley stuck out her tongue. "Stop me."
Alex pointed the knife at her. "I will stop you if you're gonna tell on us. I'll hit you."
Ashley turned around and danced off. "You can't hit a girl! Manners!"
Tommy turned to Alex, pointing to her. "Dude, we have to tell her not to tell your mom. Your mom will tell my mom and then I'll be grounded for like ever."
The young dog and cat rushed after Ashley, who began to run herself. Despite her generous lead Alex caught up with her and grabbed her arm, stopping her. Ashley yelled out, her voice a bit higher than it usually was. "Let go! You're hurting me."
"If I let you go..." Alex asked, "Will you not tell Mom that I'm playing with a knife?"
Ashley nodded. "Yes."
Alex let go and Ashley ran back. "Now you're gonna get into twice as much trouble!"
Something in Alex wanted to hurt Ashley, a lot. In a fit of rage, he clutched the knife hard and threw it with all his might towards Ashley.
In a thousand throws, Alex wouldn't have managed to do once what chance dictated he would do then. The blade spun once in the air and buried itself in Ashley's right eye just as she turned around. She stood stock still for a few seconds, a look of blank amazement on her face, and then began to scream in agony.
Tommy looked up, taking in what had just happened. "Dude, Alex, we're dead! Our parents are gonna kill us!"
Alex clutched his head. "Ah, why did she make me do that? I stabbed my little sister in the face! Oh my gosh, Mom's gonna flip."
Ashley fell on her backside, feeling at the knife buried a few inches in her eye socket. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! It hurts! I can't see! I can't see! Mommy!"
Alex rushed over. "Ashley, shut up! Mom can't find out. Shh, quiet. It's okay, it's okay." He brushed her scratched behind her ear to no avail. "Shoot. Tommy! Do something!"
Tommy looked taken back. "What? What am I supposed to do? You stabbed her!"
Ashley began to cry. "I feel all weird. This really hurts! Mommy! Make it better!" Her cries became louder.
Alex hushed her and motioned to Tommy to come closer. "Mom can't find out, your mom either. Go to your house and get a pair of pliers. We're gonna have to take it out ourselves. Maybe no one else will notice."
Tommy came back fifteen minutes later with a large pair of pliers. Alex had succeeded in calming Ashley by then, and she was quietly sniffling. "I wanna go home and get Daddy's help. Daddy would know what to do."
Alex scratched Ashley behind the ear as he had before, as he knew she liked it. "Relax. We're gonna get it out. This might hurt a bit, but we're gonna take the knife out." He took the pliers and opened them, closing them around the knife's handle. He tugged softly and Ashley began to scream. The harder he pulled the louder and shriller Ashley became, until she ran out of air and began to flail.
Tommy grabbed Alex's arm, pulling him back. "Stop it! You're gonna kill her!"
Alex bit his lip. "That's what we need to do."
Tommy gaped. "Kill your little sister? Are you nuts?"
Alex tried to back himself up. "Look, dude, if my mom or your mom finds out about this we're grounded for life. I don't like the sound of that. The only way we can make sure she doesn't tell is by killing her, right?"
Tommy looked unsure, but the thought of the beating his mother would give him terrified him. "How are we supposed to kill her?"
Alex shrugged. "Whenever I get into a fight Mom always says afterward I shouldn't, because if you punch someone at the right time they can die."
"So when's the right time?"
"I don't know."
Tommy found himself gaping again. "So, what, we just punch her until she dies?"
"We don't have a choice, man. We've gotta do it."
The two turned around, and hope gleamed in Ashley's remaining eye. "You guys are gonna take me home now, right?" Her hopes were crushes, as were her internal organs, by a sudden jab from Alex. The two boys hit her and hit her for minute after minute, until she stopped moving and yelling. They backed off, looking at her.
Tommy was the first to speak. "Is she dead?"
"I think so..." said Alex. "Let's hide her until my mom and dad forget."
Tommy and Alex carried Ashley home, sneaking her in through the basement door in the back. They had decided on an old refrigerator that Alex's father stored batteries in, because Alex had few if not no battery-powered devices in his house and it would be a long time before it would be opened again. "We're only storing her until your parents forget about her, then we move her someplace else so they never find her and remember."
Tommy had left shortly afterward, clearly shaken. Alex went about and did his daily things, trying his best to act normally.
Come nightfall Alex's mother finished her dinner and ran through her bedtime checklist. "I haven't seen Ashley in a while. I wonder where she is."
"Who's Ashley?" Alex asked nervously.
"What do you mean? She's your sister!" Alex's mother scrutinized Alex, and he cowered. "Do you know where she is?"
"She must still be out." Alex shrugged.
But two hours later Ashley had still not come home and Alex's mother began to worry. Another hour and Alex was upstairs reading while his mother and father were out with flashlights scanning the forest out back. Yet another hour and Alex heard the door downstairs slam shut. He crossed his fingers and hoped his family had given up.
But, as it turned out, the flashlight batteries had run dry. Alex's father needed a new pair of double-A's.
Alex's mother and father stepped out of the questioning room, and Alex was called in. His father patted his head, telling him to be strong, as they passed.
Alex entered the room and jumped up into the chair. "Hi!"
The questioner looked at him, a little taken by surprise. "Hello. You're awfully cheery."
Alex shrugged.
The questioner leaned in. "Your little sister is dead. Do you know that?"
Alex nodded.
The questioner leaned back in his chair, nodding and twiddling his thumbs. "Asphyxiation. That means she suffocated. Ran out of air. Turns out she was shut in your refrigerator and couldn't get out. She had a knife coming out of her eye and had about half of the normal amount of blood for a girl her age and size."
Alex swallowed hard.
The questioner continued. "Turns out, the knife belonged to a friend of yours, a certain... Thomas Lee? You hang around each other a lot."
Alex bit his lip. This questioner knew a lot.
"I really hate it, you know, when cases involve dead children. I HATE IT!" The questioner's sudden yell had caught Alex off guard and he began to cry. The questioner looked even sterner. "We're not far away from getting young Thomas to confess as to why you and he did whatever you did, but we're sure already that you did it. Perhaps you'd like to give me a reason?"
Alex shook his head, tears pouring down his cheeks.
The questioner shook his head sadly. "The world has been robbed of a four year old girl today. Your parents are watching through that mirror, and they can hear you lying. What's your punishment for telling a lie?"
Alex snapped. "SHE THREATENED TO TELL ON US! SHE SAID WE COULDN'T USE WEAPONS AND WE'D GET INTO A LOT OF TROUBLE! I DON'T WANT TO BE GROUNDED! I DON'T WANT TO BE SPANKED!" He cried into his sleeve, almost expecting the questioner to come over and hug him as any other adult he knew would.
The questioner merely stared at him. "You make me sick."
The door burst open and Alex's father burst in. "Alex! Is this all true?"
The questioner and Alex nodded in unison. Alex's father looked about ready to cry himself. "This is my fault, then. If I hadn't been so harsh in punishing you... But those things I'd have done to you would have been short-term. Ashley will never come back, and you'll never be the same after... What kind of sentence are we looking at?
"At least a year, probably closer to five to ten. He's not getting out for a while, even if you get the best lawyer out there. I think the entire jury's gonna be against this kid.
"Dad..." Alex asked. "Will you ever forgive me? I don't want to go to jail! I don't..."
Alex's father took a long look at Alex. His compassion and love dissipated, leaving his expression cold and distant. The dog slowly turned his back. "You're not my son."