It Cuts Both Ways

"I don't want to. Please, please don't make me do it."

The darkness rumbled.

"I-I can't."

The darkness churned.

"I-I-I won't. Don't make me do it!"

The darkness roared.

"You can't make me!"

The darkness quieted. "Yes, we can."

———————————————————

"God I hate this parade," Officer Alexandra Hersh said, handing a cup of coffee to her partner.

The main street crowd hummed with excitement. Parents pointing out thrown pieces of candy for their children to grab. Old folks lined up in lawn chairs reminiscing about parades past. The high school band marching by making up for their inexperience with plenty of volume.

Floats for all kinds of celebrations in North Creek. The upcoming annual Memorial Day BBQ put on by the North Creek Veterans group. Another celebrating the North Creek High softball team that just won the State Championship. A float for the city's mayor, Jeff Harvey, whose haircut alone had to cost more than most of the other floats. The main event would be last though, the float that would feature the crowning of this year’s Teen Queen.

Officer Leah Lynn shot back a well worn response, "You say that every year. Why do you keep signing up to work the parade?"

Hersh shot her a knowing smile, "What can I say, overtime pay is tempting. Brian and I are saving for the down payment on that house I told you about."

"Where is the old balls and chain?" Lynn said, trying to get her partner to smile.

"Cute,” Hersh said with a smirk. “He’s at the apartment sleeping. He’s been working third shift at the warehouse for extra hours.”

“Jokes aside. He’s a good man Alex,” Lynn said with a hopeful smile.

Hersh knew she was right, she was just as exhausted as Brian. "How about you? Wasn't so long ago you were on one of those floats. Miss Leah Lynn, Teen Queen 2008, right?"

Lynn chuckled. "Oh god Alex! That was forever ago ... and it was 2007."

"Right. Right. I think you could still give these girls nowadays a run for their money," Hersh said gesturing to Lynn’s athletic build.

"Nah, that's ancient history. No, I guess I like to work the parade for them."

Lynn pointed across the street to one of the moms. She was excitedly pointing out candy to two young children in front of her. Lynn smiled warmly. Hersh followed her gesture, "Oh! Sweet, Bianca and the boys got great spots this year.”

Hersh shouted just above the crowd, "Joey! Donny! Save some candy for me!"

Bianca and the two brothers looked up. Bianca smiled and Leah returned it with a slight blush. Joey shouted back, "We will Aunt Alex!"

"You better or I can find a holding cell for you tonight," Hersh said as she signaled 'I'm watching you' with her index and middle finger.

Donny showed Aunt Alex a fun-sized Snickers, her favorite, that had only slightly been run over by one of the trucks. Hersh gave him a thumbs up. Bianca playfully waved to Leah that she should get back to work. Leah placed her hand up to her ear and made the motion for "call me". They laughed, then blew each other a kiss.

In a small town like this, needing to be one hundred percent locked in at all times was rarely necessary so they chose to have a little fun from time to time. "God you really do have it all don't you? Leah Lynn. Teen Queen 2007. A beautiful wife, two amazing boys, and the world's best partner."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

The two officers laughed. This assignment was much less "serious police work" and much more, coffee chat with occasional walky talky interruptions. There was a gap after the Fire Department's engines before the next float. The big finale, the whole town was waiting for. The Teen Queen 2026 coronation float. Hersh prodded Lynn to look down the street at the gaudy spectacle slowly coming up the street. "Sure has come a long way since 2007.”

"Yeah, just a little," Lynn said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Jesus, there's more lights and shiny shit on that float than anything else in town. This is the summer parade not the fuckin' Super Bowl Halftime show."

Lynn chuckled again at her partner's mock frustration, "My year we were lucky to get $10 worth of streamers from the party store."

The float proceeded at a snail's pace toward the intersection where Lynn and Hersh were stationed. A pace that seemed to communicate to the crowd, you will watch this float no matter what. She looked across the street to Bianca. Bianca rolled her eyes in disgust as Joey and Donny fumbled on the pavement for the last few pieces of leftover candy. Leah met Bianca's beautiful rolling eyes with a finger pointed right at her wide open mouth. They both loved the parade, but this float was too much by anyone's standards.

A cheap, public address speaker on the float hissed to life as one of the town's radio hosts named Sam Clancy announced this year's Teen Queen. "Good people of North Creek! My name is Sam Clancy, host of Sam Clancy in the Morning on KUSA 101.7 The Eagle! Each and every morning from ..."

"Get to the point Sam!" Hersh shouted, knowing that only the people around her would hear.

The blabbering old man continued, "... my pleasure to proclaim this year's Teen Queen. Today she is joined by her boyfriend, himself also one of North Creek's finest young people. Star quarterback for our North Creek High Patriots. Go Patriots! The son of our esteemed mayor, Jeff Harvey. It's Braxton Harvey!"

Hersh bristled. "Star quarterback? Sure. Did Sam forget when he threw four picks last season against Lakeshore High?"

Lynn remembered even more, "That game was especially terrible. Remember that time we busted Braxton and his buddies with pot in the woods off the highway? God was Mayor Harvey mad."

KUSA's morning monologue enthusiast interrupted the officer's reminiscing, "... She is the head cheerleader for our North Creek High Patriots. Go Patriots! Not to mention ..."

Hersh leaned in, "Leah, I will give you one thousand dollars if you knock me out with the butt of your sidearm right now."

Lynn didn't love hearing how spectacular this 18 year old living Barbie doll was either, but she had a longer fuse than her partner. "One thousand dollars? Aren't you supposed to be saving money?"

"Oh, yeah ... fine, five hundred dollars. Final offer."

Lynn chuckled as somehow Sam Clancy was still droning on.

"... She is North Creek's pride and joy. The lovely. The beautiful. The stunning, Kennedy Rose!"

Hersh bristled, "God Sam is a creep."

Lynn couldn't agree more.

The crowd cheered as Kennedy performed a smiley, pageant wave. Braxton stood nearby giving somewhat unenthusiastic waves to the crowd as well, but smiling in the familiar vein of his politician father. His demeanor was awkward, but Lynn thought most teenagers were weird. She couldn't wait for Bianca and her to navigate the teen years as parents. She might need Hersh to knock her out one day.

The float prepared to turn the corner and go down the final stretch. Sam Clancy continued to encourage the onlookers, "Give it up folks! Teen Queen 2026, Kennedy Rose!"

Kennedy's porcelain skin and doe in the woods innocent face reminded Leah of her time in the spotlight. The float and ceremony had been much more subdued. There was no endless Sam Clancy address. There was no boyfriend. No young couple North Creek could pin up as an ideal to aspire towards.

The float turned the corner, but jolted to a sudden stop. The platform shuttered. Sam Clancy eagerly caught Kennedy from falling. The two officers put down their coffees preparing to intervene with the breakdown. The crowd gasped at the malfunction. Lynn clicked the button on her radio, "All units, be advised we have a situation at the corner of Main and 8th. The Teen Queen float seems to have suffered a breakdown. Requesting--"

"Leah! Look!" Hersh said.

Lynn's eyes switched to the float. She saw Sam Clancy "steading" Kennedy with an unnecessary hand on her exposed back. Kennedy's face nervously rotated from anxious laughs and growing discomfort. Lynn quickly visualized punching Sam Clancy in the face, but then realized that he wasn't who Hersh was pointing at. She was pointing at Braxton Harvey.

The boy stood tall amongst the float's disheveled decorations and fallen PA speaker. Mere feet away from his newly crowned girlfriend and North Creek's most insufferable radio host, Braxton stood tall with his face gazing endlessly into the sky. Something was off, Lynn could feel it. She shot Bianca and the boys a glance, making sure she knew where they were amongst the increasingly uneasy crowd.

Sam Clancy finally took his hand off Kennedy's back to approach the other teenager, "Braxton? You okay son? Are you hurt?"

Braxton's face tilted to meet Sam's concerned gaze. The radio host shuttered at what looked back at him. What were mere minutes ago the youthful blue eyes of an awkward teenager, were now pitch black. Hollow and unsearchable. Sam's foot slipped, the unexplainable change catching him entirely off guard. Braxton pulled Sam back to his feet with his left hand. Sam felt it, the incredible strength. A deep, cavernous echo replaced the charming, charismatic tone of Braxton's voice, "Are y-y-you okaaaaaay son?! Ar-r-r-re you hhhhhurt?!"

Sam quivered in the teenager's firm grip, "N-n-no Braxton. I'm not hurt."

Braxton's black eyes remained wide as an ear to ear smile crept across his face, "Youuuu're g-g-gonna be!"

In one sadistic second, Braxton's right hand shot forward and grabbed a hold of Sam's throat. Fingernails tearing at the man's skin like claws. Blood poured from the instantaneous wound and Sam attempted to free himself from Braxton's unnatural grip. Grasping and writhing, it did not matter. Panic overtook the older man as Braxton's fingers sunk deeper and deeper into his neck. "Plea-pleas-please!"

Sam's words drowned amidst the surge of blood pouring from his neck. Braxton's dark stare and ever increasing smile would be the last thing Sam Clancy ever saw. With ease Braxton clenched his hand tighter around Sam's muscles and bone. Snapped the old man's shivering spine with a squelching pop. Braxton looked up from his handy work with the sick eerie grin.

Kennedy let out a bone-chilling scream. The shrieking crowd scattered. The two officers stood frozen. Mouths open. Minds racing.

Braxton closed the distance between himself and Kennedy in a flash. His strong left hand forcefully grabbed ahold of her bare shoulder, holding her in place. Slowly his bloodsoaked right hand touched the white, unblemished skin of her neck. The hollow darkness in his eyes met Kennedy's terrified eyes. "Braxton. You killed him? What's going on babe?"

Kennedy squirmed as Braxton's grip intensified. "Y-y-youuu killed-d-d-d hhhim?"

Lynn's horrified stare broke as Hersh yelled above the madness, "Braxton Harvey! Put your hands up!"

Braxton paused.

"Put your hands up NOW!" Hersh shouted, her sidearm drawn.

Lynn instinctively drew her own sidearm as she noticed a horrifying detail. Braxton's arms were tensing up again. Nightmarish eyes turned to meet the officer's and as his smile strained against the edges of his mouth. "W-w-whatevvvver yooou sa-a-ay offfficer."

"Wait! No!" Lynn shouted, running towards the float.

Braxton's left hand forced Kennedy's shoulder down and his right hand pushed up against her trembling jaw. The flawless skin of Kennedy's neck stretched further and further as her schill scream strained into a sputtering whimper. The crack of collar bones. The squelching of muscles and blood. The last gasp of air. With a final powerful movement, Braxton's right hand wrenched Kennedy's skull upward. Blood splattered over the right side of Braxton's hellish face as Lynn got to the float and Hersh wailed behind her.

"You fucking prick!" Hersh screamed with tears streaming from her face.

Hersh fired several rounds into Braxton's chest, barely staggering the young man. The bullets entered his chest and … sank into his skin. The sick smile disappeared for a moment, then suddenly returned as his chest writhed. The bullets bubbled back to the surface and fired themselves back at Hersh. Hersh dove out of the way, avoiding two of the bullets. However, the third struck her unexpectedly in the shoulder.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Alex!" Lynn shouted, turning to her partner.

Hersh gritted her teeth, her body twisted in visible pain. Lynn instinctively went to run towards her partner, but Hersh stopped her short, "Don't let him get away!"

Her fixation on Hersh’s bizarre gunshot wound broke and her shaky eyes went back to the blood covered float. Braxton was gone. Bianca and the boys ran to Lynn and Alex. "Babe, what the hell is going on?!"

"I wish I could tell you," Lynn answered with stomach-churning honesty.

Her mind raced, but she knew with officers scattered across the parade route she was the only one who could chase down Braxton. She jumped onto the float for a better look. The Teen Queen coronation float now was decorated with the two grotesquely mangled corpses. "Bianca, stay with Alex. Boys, stay close to your mom. I love you."

"We love you too," Bianca answered.

Lynn’s eyes tracked Braxton in the crowd, attempting to blend into the chaos he had caused. She leapt down from the float and began to sprint toward the killer. The crowd swarmed and made it difficult to move, so Lynn did something she did not wish to do. Pointing her sidearm up into the air she fired a declarative shot, sending most of the crowd to the ground. The entire crowd except Braxton, who stood stone still in the middle of the street. Staring back at Lynn with those sunken, black eyes. Braxton's stillness broke into a ferocious run down the nearest alleyway. Lynn pursued.

"This is Officer Lynn! Officer down at the intersection of Main and 8th. I am in pursuit of the suspect between 7th and 8th Street. Requesting back up!"

The radio crackled in response, "Affirmative. EMT's and backup are on the way."

Her feet pounded the pavement. Her arms pumped back and forth. Turning the corner she saw Braxton down at the end of the alley. With a shuffle of footsteps, he stopped just short of a locked garage door and some fire escapes. Lynn stopped just a little ways back. "Stop right there! You've got nowhere to go Braxton."

Braxton turned to look right at her. Hollow black eyes stirring. Blood-soaked hands shaking. Cracked lips softly muttering imperceptible words. Usually when someone was caught you would see worry or regret cross their face. This was different. This was unnerving. He looked ready to sprint again at any moment. She couldn't let him get away.

"N-n-nowherrre tooooo g-g-go," Braxton said with a wide, devilish smile.

Lynn's sidearm was pointed right at his chest. "Don't make me do it."

A low, bellowing sound filled the alleyway. Braxton's eyes softened for a moment. His sickening smile retreated. For a moment he was himself again. He stared hauntingly at his hands, covered in his girlfriend's fresh blood and bits of Sam Clancy's skin. His eyes and mouth wide in shock, "O-o-officer, don't let it take me again."

Lynn, still pointing to the sidearm, calmed her voice, "It'll be okay Braxton. Stay still."

"There's so much blood! So much of ... her blood. Oh god!" he lurched forward, "Oh my go--"

The rumbling sound intensified. The alleyway seemed to shake. Fire escapes and dumpsters rattled around the terrified officer and the even more terrified teen. Braxton's eyes met Lynn's and he pointed to the gun in her hand, with a whimper he cried out, "Do it! Please! Please do i--"

Lynn fired. Braxton's body jerked and contorted in response. Two rounds missed wide, but one managed to strike the boy's right leg sending him crashing to the alleyway pavement. Lynn reeled as the sound became an oppressive thunder in her ears. "What's going on Braxton?!"

The wall of sound built to a deafening climax as Braxton writhed on his knees screaming into the sky above. Lynn covered her ears, trying to avoid the unrelenting barrage. With a sudden atmospheric exhale, the roaring sound ceased. Lynn looked up cautiously. Braxton's eyes, cavernous and hollow, and his smile, sliver-like and wide, were back. The innocent boy was gone once more.

A guttural undertone came from his throat as his cracked lips opened, "I-I-It ccccuts bot-t-th waaaays."

Without warning the bullet in the teen's leg flew back towards her. The bullet whistled through the stale alleyway air and impacted with violent force right into Lynn's right leg. She screamed in pure agony. Gasping and panting for air like her next breath would be her last.

Braxton rose from his knees, covered in blood but no longer bothered by it. The bullet wounds in his chest and leg suspiciously closed. The bloody right hand that he had used to rip Sam Clancy's neck out with. The hand he had used to tear Kennedy Rose's head off with. Lynn scrambled on the ground, desperately clamouring away from Braxton when she heard voices from the streetside of the alleyway, "Stop right there!"

The backup officers approached Lynn, shouting their demands for Braxton to stop over and over. Braxton did not look away from Lynn, he just backed up slowly. As the shouts of the other officers got louder, his gaze became more fixed on her. The downed officer turned and pleaded with her backup, "Don't shoot him! Whatever you do! Don't shoot him!"

In the time it took her to relay her suspicion that shooting him would only backfire on her fellow officers in some unnatural way, Braxton ran to the locked garage door and tore the lock off. Inside, all anyone could see was pitch darkness. Braxton turned one more time to flash his grim, haunting smile. Lynn's heart sank as the teen sprinted into the darkness.