Gladiolus

Words by runi

Astrid covers her mouth with a hand, coughing into it as she tries to blink through the thick smoke. Beside her, Jett stares ahead with wide eyes, the fire reflecting against them. The fire continues to crackle and set the surrounding ablaze, the smoke stinging their eyes and lungs. On the other side of the fallen structures stands the instigator, a cruel smile on his lips.

“What else do you want from us?!” She exclaims, voice raspy from all the coughing. The instigator’s smile grows before he starts laughing maniacally, wiping at the corner of his eye for show.

“You know what I want.” The other replies in a condescending tone. She grits her teeth, trying to hold back another cough.

“I’m not giving it to you.”

“Well,” He sighs. “Look, I don’t want to kill you, alright? I just want you to come over here and turn yourself in. Easy as that.”

“And if I don’t?”

He sneers. “If you don’t…” He shifts his weight to his other foot, lifting his hand to point at her friend. “Then they’ll die and I’ll force you to come along instead. So really, which is the better choice here?”

She sees movement from the corner of her eye and she whips her head to look at Jett, arm shooting out to stop them. “W-where are you going?” She rasps out.

They finally turn to look at her. “Just run. I’ll buy you some time.”

“What are you talking about? I can’t just leave you here!”

“I’ll be fine.”

“They’ll kill you.”

“It’s fine.”

Tears prick at the corners of her eyes. “What do you mean it’s fine? It’s not fine! I’m not letting you die!” The smoke forces a cough out of her. “Why can’t we just leave together?”

“Astrid.”

“Why?” She responds, voice cracking. The tear tracks are obvious against her soot covered cheeks, eyes glassy.

The other simply stares at her before sighing. “They’ll catch us. They’ll catch you.”

The tears continue to fall. Her heart feels like it’s about to jump out her chest, pain holding it in a vice grip. She lets out a shaky breath. “No.”

“Hey,” Jett continues. “It’s alright, you know? We’ve had some good times together, it was fun. We’ve had a good run.”

“Shut up, don’t say things like that. You aren’t going to die.”

“Come on — ”

“B-because if you’re gone — ” She swallows, reaching out to hold them by the shoulders. “W-what… What am I without you?”

Jett seems taken aback, their mouth gaping for a second before it shifts into a sad smile.

“So much more. You’ll still be so much more.”

They huff a bitter laugh.

“It was bound to happen, wasn’t it?” Jett admits, stuffing their hands into their pockets. They let out a small noise of confusion before pulling something out. It’s a pin of a Gladiolus flower, a gift Astrid had given them. They run the pad of their thumb against the enamel, before looking up with the same sad smile. She watches as they reach for her wrist, pulling her hand away from their shoulder to place the pin in her palm.

Astrid watches as the smile on their face melts away into a stern expression when they hear the man’s menacing laughter. Cold blood runs through her veins as a sly smile settles on the man’s face.

“How touching.”