Blank Space

Arthur was sitting next to the window, his knife out in his lap and his eyes focused on the thing outside. Too focused, since he didn’t even hear me approach. When I said his name, he just about jumped out of his skin. He looked at me in confusion before turning back to the window. “Hi.”

“Does the name Blank Space mean anything to you?”

He tensed, his eyes instinctively looking down at the ground.

“It should. You wrote it.”

We were both silent for a few moments, he looking down at his shoes while I waited for an answer. Finally, he whispered a reply. “Yes.”

My anger started to rise to the surface. “Do… do you even know what you’ve done? You and your friend?” Tears started rolling down my cheek.

“You think I meant to have all of this happen?” He looked up at me, surprised. He was about to say something else, but he saw the expression on my face and recoiled. “Sarah, I-”

“I remember now,” I told him, turning towards the window and looking out at the thing. “I remember you coming to the hospital, comforting me after dad’s… giving me a shoulder to cry on… And you were responsible for it the entire time.”

“Responsible for it?” Arthur stood up, his face contorting in anger. “Oh, yes, because I intentionally made a monster wreck my life and then come after your family. Yes, you got me! That was my entire plan!”

Martin started to wake up on the couch, his dazed voice being lost to the both of us.

“How much of my blog did you actually read, Sarah? Huh? How much? Because it sure wasn’t my damn fault!” Arthur advanced towards me, his knife pointed at me… “You don’t know what it’s like. You haven’t had to watch your best friend die again and again, right before your eyes, and each time different than the last!” He tapped his head, even started to cry. “I have to see that every night! And… And you think you have it bad? At least you still have one of your parents. Mine? They forgot I existed, right before they were gutted by my own personal demon! So don’t you dare say it’s my fault!”

I was backed up against the wall, Arthur a few feet in front of me. He looked ready to attack me when Martin slammed into him, knocking the knife out of his hand. Arthur tried to pry Martin’s arms off of him, but gave up after his efforts proved fruitless.

“Let me go, Martin.”

Martin paused for a few seconds and then released him. Arthur retrieved his knife and gave me a look before going over to the bathroom. Before the door closed, I saw him rolling up his sleeve to reveal a large bandage underneath.

Mom and Will had come out of their respective rooms to see what was going on and Martin explained it to them. I sat in one of the armchairs, looking down at my lap. When everything was cleared up, Martin came over and sat on the sofa. We didn’t speak for a long time, until finally I turned to look at him.

“I didn’t know…”

He nodded. “We’ve all lost someone, Sarah.”

Martin wanted to take over Arthur’s shift, but I decided it was better if I did it. He was reluctant, but eventually went back to sleep. Arthur came out of the bathroom after a few more minutes and went into my room, locking the door behind him. Even though it was dark, I could still see the red around his eyes, where he had been crying.

I shook my head and turned to the window.

Though I couldn’t see their eyes – which is probably a good thing, all things considered – I felt as though the grinning demons’ attention was focused on me. And their smiles looked almost like they knew what had happened, and found it funny.