Apartment Days, Alternate Endings

A short story by: Kadged and Krazi

----------------Alternate Ending 1------------------------------------

"Hey." Came a voice. Her voice. I clenched my pistol and looked down.

"2." I mumbled aloud.

"What?" She asked, extremely puzzled.

"Goodbye." I said back. I set the receiver on the table, pointed the pistol at it, and watched it explode as I fired off a round. I dropped my head, and let my hands hang loosely between my legs. I sighed. I wasn't crying, I wasn't screaming, I wasn't in pain, and that was the problem.

"When people are crying, screaming, or in pain, they are fine. But when they stop, then there is trouble. No one cries when the wrap the rope around their neck. No one is screaming when they stab a razor into their wrist. And no one is in pain when they put a barrel to their head." I said in a dazzed mumble as I placed the gun at the side of my head.

"1."

--------------------Alternate Ending 2----------------------------------------

"Hey." Came a voice. Her voice. My knuckles began to turn white as I held onto the pistol as tight as I could. My hand ached, but I didn't let go.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Waiting." I answered.

"Do you..." She trailed off. "No, I am coming over. We're going to fix this. Alright." She demanded. The phone line went dead. I shook my head. She couldn't help me. She had never gone through self-mutilation. It's something you understand only if you had been through it. Why hadn't I seen this side of her before? She hadn't been helping me at all.

"She's the one making me grab this damned gun!" I screamed out loud as I exploded upwards from the couch. My breathing was sporadic. I calmed myself slowly. I looked to the hand that still held the pistol.

"2." I said aloud. I sat back on the couch. For 15 minutes I waited, until the door flew open, and she presented herself like a knight in shining armor. I rose slowly. Still barechested from the night before. I turned around and faced her.

"We are talking about all this bullshit right now!" She screamed. "This is bullshit!" She yelled. I reached for the slide, and yanked back.

"1." I whispered to myself as I raised the gun and sighted her. Seeing the look of horror in her eyes.

"Wait, please." She cried out. I turned my head away, and squeezed.

-----------------Alternate Ending 3----------------------------------------

"Hey." Came a voice. Her voice. I hated it so much all of a sudden. Her very voice disgusted me, every bit of the tone made me grow in ferocity. I took a deep breath.

"Can you come over?" I asked. "I really need your help." I said, trying to act sincere.

"Of course!" She cried through the phone. "I will be right over, please wait for me." I cringed as she finished her sentence. The reciever went dead, so I hung up the phone.

"Wait for you..." I mumbled. "I've got a round for you bitch." I said as I raised the pistol to my head, and tapped it against my cranium.

"2." I said as I waited on the couch. Time passed, until I heard the door creak open.

"You here?" She said.

"Right here." I groaned, gritting my teeth as I tried to block out her words. I stood up.

"Are you hurt?" She exclaimed as she heard my muffled response. "Please, don't." She cried.

"No." I said as I turned to her. My gun raised. I fired a round. I didn't hear the gunshot, but I heard a sickening thump as I saw her fall to the ground. I looked her over. She was so beautiful. Splattered in blood, that blood, that I made her spill. What had I done?

"What the fuck!" I screamed. "You murderer!" I shouted to myself. "You killed her you bastard." Still screaming to myself. "Why couldn't you just keep doing it to yourself! Why did you have to hurt her, you were wrong, she was helping!" I continued, as I fell backwards onto the coffee table. "One round. It's for you prick." I commented to myself. I placed the barrel underneath my chin. "You deserve this." I continued to comment to myself. "I'm sorry." I mumbled as my chin trembled.

0

---------------Alternate Ending 4-----------------------------------------

"Hey." Came a voice. Her voice. It calmed me, my grip on the pistol loosened, and I noticed it for the first time since I heard her voice. What the fuck was I doing? I dropped the pistol to the ground.

"Can I come over?" She asked. "I want to talk about this. And I want to help you."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." I said, regaining myself.

"I'll be there soon." She said. The recieve went dead, and I hung up. Quickly I stood, and picked up the pistol and the 13 rounds on the ground. I ran to my room and hid them. I came back out, grabbed my shirt, put it on, and sat on the couch. There was nothing left to do but wait.

--------------------Alternate Ending 5------------------------------------

"Hey." Came a voice. Her voice. It calmed me, my grip on the pistol, and I noticed it for the first time since I heard her voice. What was I doing? I dropped the pistol on the ground, and it landed with a resounding thud.

"Listen." She said quickly. "I really, don't think I can be with someone, like you." She paused. "You, were just pretending that whole time you were with me." I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came to my mouth. "Please don't do anything like that anymore, or anything worse. I really care about you, I just can't be with you. I'm sorry." She said, then ended the phone call. I held onto the phone dumbfounded. I placed the phone back as I took a deep breath. She was right, she couldn't be with someone like me. All of this was my fault. I never knew how to deal with my problems, so I had ended up doing this, and look where it had gotten me. If I hadn't been so much of a coward, I could have gotten help from someone, anyone. This was all bullshit. It was time to change. I kicked the gun and rounds under the couch as I stared at my scarred torso. I'd carry these forever, but they would remind me of what I was, and what I had been through, and what I'll never be.

"I will change." I said outloud. "No more being afraid."

-----------------End of Alternate Endings------------------------------

Hope you enjoyed all those. These were more the actual endings, I just couldn't decide on just one. Hope you enjoyed it all, and remember, there is a point I tried to get across in the endings and the story.

-K&K-