A fresh start pt. 2

        Terrified eyes snapped open, assaulted anew with the sight of blood streaming down a young man's face. Too horrified to even move, Jasmine lay there as her memories rushed before her eyes, and the men's final moments lingered in her ears.

        "Please stop…."

        "What kind of monster are you…?!"

She rolled over and buried her face in downy ice. Her breath gently melted the pink tinted snow and she closed her eyes. They didn't hurt her, there was no way for them too, but tears still poured down her face

       "That's four." She thought to herself, counting Kyle's life in the wake of her destruction. She shuddered now, as her tears left icy trails down her face and congealed on her eyelashes. It was getting dark and the temperature was dropping rapidly, but still Jasmine continued to lie on the ground. "What's the point?" She though sullenly, "I'll just kill the next person I see…." She had no urge to pull herself from the snow, to shake off that downy fur, to stand and move on with meaning in her life. As the temperature dropped lower, she didn't even allow her body to curl up on its self to withhold the small amount of heat she radiated. "Where's the wind and rain now? Surely nature wishes to be rid of such an unpleasant blemish in her records as well." To die was the only way she could apologize for the lives that she stole, for the families she shredded mercilessly. As this train of thought crossed her mind she felt her hands and feet go numb, meshing together with the snow.

       "Hey, are you Jasmine?" A loud calm voice filtered over the static air. Panic began to crash Jasmine's nerves, and adrenaline warmed her chest.

        "There really is no hope for you, is there?" Jasmine cursed internally as she held her breath and continued to stay unmoving; hoping the lack of acknowledgement would send the stranger away.  She might have been curious as to how her name was known, but she was so close to dying now….

        "D'ya think they killed 'er?" A rougher voice joined the light alto that had moments ago graced the barren field.

        "Nah, it's not possible. Trust me, I've tried." Footsteps crunched in the slowly hardening snow, getting closer to Jasmine. "Besides, I saw her move when she woke up." Jasmine rolled her eyes, her face concealed by the snow and rubble. "She just needs a bit of a……" A foot was crammed up under Jasmine and the leverage was used to flip her over, rather harshly. "Kick-start." Quickly scrambling to her feet, Jasmine edged away from the two people as she examined them. The first, presumably the one who had kicked her, was a lanky girl covered mostly in a long coat that enveloped her almost down to her calves. The man, was thicker in muscle and a bit taller, holding a strong air of confidence around him, as easily as he wore the flannel jacket stretched over his muscles. Jasmine's gaze wandered back to the girl. She had an amused, but wary look to her eyes as she in turn surveyed Jasmine. "Well, don't you look like a fresh cup of coffee?" Jasmine just glared, preparing herself to run or fight off the monster within her mind.

        "Won't she be needin' that book, Alydia?" The man asked, as he pulled a small black pen from a hidden pocket. He held it out to the frightened Jasmine, and she recoiled.

        "I don't want to be a monster"  Alydia pursed her lips, crossing her arms and looking the part of a miffed parent.

        "Look, we aren't here to hurt you, we just came…." Jasmine shook her head, and motioned with her hands, first pointing at herself, then making a breaking motion, and finally pointing at Alydia and her cohort.

        The man actually laughed.

        "Well, that ain't gonna happen either. Ya' see we already kno' about ya. We kno' what'cha are and what'cha can do. We came prepared." Jasmine started slightly, her ears flattening against her skull as her head turned to the side.

        "We know others who are like you, Jasmine." Alydia said softly, taking the pen from the man and then stooping down to pull the book from a snow dune. "Like I said, we don't want to hurt you. But, if you'll just come with us, maybe we can help you." Her eyes drifted back behind Jasmine to the carcasses flayed on the ground. Jasmine ducked her head in a shame that coursed through her entire being.  "…Maybe we can stop that from happening again." A small morsel of hope began to emerge from the darkness of Jasmine's eyes.  But just as quickly her thoughts formed the idea, that her soul was already stained, and her life already meaningless.  The dull began to creep back into her eyes, and she swayed on her feet. "Stop that, Jasmine." Alydia became harsh with her, and crossed the few yards to grab her up by the shirt collar. Jasmine looked away from her, not even trying to meet her eyes, as the taller girl lifted her feet from the snow. "Look at me." Jasmine shook her head, and Alydia grabbed her face and forced the connection.

       Alydia's eyes were just as black and empty as the orbs in Jasmine's own skull. Jasmine's eyes widened and Alydia set her feet back down on the ground.

        "I told you. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just here to tell you that it gets better, and that maybe we can help." She pushed a rough piece of black hair from her face as the wind, now picking up and beginning to blow harshly around them, teased it from her neat pins. "If you really want to die, there are less painful, and less cliché, was of killing yourself than hypothermia." She thrust the book out to Jasmine. "Now come on. I get cranky when I'm cold." Jasmine received the book, properly chastised, but didn't move. As quickly as her frozen hands could manage, she drawled a note out and held it for Alydia.

        "I can't leave them like that." She tossed a long glance back over her shoulder to review the aftermath of her destruction.

        "Oi! Alydia, what'dya doin'? We was suppose' ta be back near an 'our and 'half ago." Jasmine backed away from them and cleared out a large enough area for the remains of the four men, and then began to scrap away with a warped piece of metal. The ground was rough and dark, but as she shifted away the frozen topsoil, the earth was still moderately warm underneath and more pliable.  The man had finished reading Jasmines note, but wasn't happy with it. "We really need ta be getting' outta here." He sassed crossly and he crumbled the note and tossed it into a heap of smoldering embers. With a sigh Alydia followed Jasmine's footsteps and knelt beside her. Lines, set with determination, crossed her face as she scraped mercilessly at the ground.

         "Do you want me to help…?" Alydia asked softly, breaking the revere that was collected over the grounds. Jasmine shook her head viciously, as she began the second hole. S fine sheen of sweat form on her brown and leaked down to mix with the tears that started to pour from her eyes. With each degree she grew warmer and remembered how much colder the men behind her were, with each scrape of metal and earth, she heard the screams of the same men, and with each hole she finished, her guilt never lessened.