The Major Decision

The Major Decision By: Jordan Rumsey

Judith walked upstairs to gather some clothes do fold a load of laundry before they all watched the cherry drop on the television for New Year’s. She was heading to her room to get the laundry basket when she heard the argument in Paul’s room.

           Sarah at this moment was so frustrated that she couldn’t help but cry. “I just wish I hadn’t killed them,” her voice trembled as she spoke.

           Judith was confused. Were they really having a conversation about something that happened back at their old house? She thought they weren’t going to speak of that anymore. She slightly put her ear up to the bedroom door and listened in on the conversation, knowing it was wrong to listen in, but felt the need to do so as well.

           “I wish I could just be like everyone else, Paul. I really do,” Sarah reacted. “I don’t want to kill people! I just want to be normal and live a normal life,” her desperation to for once be sane grew.

           He sighed longingly and tried to keep calm. “I know, Sarah. I know. But that chip in your head is the only thing that can make you live. If I knew this would happen, I could have tried to program it better. The plan wasn’t for you to start killing again. It was for you to come back to life,” he raised his voice a little. “You were supposed to be normal when I did the procedure again. But that’s just not the way it turned out!”

           Sarah looked at him frightened. “I’m just scared that someone will find out… that I killed Mimi and Denise.” She had it all figured out. “They could find my fingerprints when they do the investigation. Something could slip out! It worries me more than anything. Please, you have to know how awful I feel. It scares me so much.”

           Her criticisms seemed fair to Paul, thinking about it himself. He sighed and looked at her. “But nothing will slip out if we don’t bring it up or tell anyone anything.”

           Sarah was stressed out. “But I have to live with the fact that I murder people… for the rest of my life! The guilt is unbearable. You don’t know the pressure when you’re the murderer and you don’t even know that you do it! How can something I do be so awful, and I can’t even remember it? It’s a lot of stress… especially if it just happened a few days ago.” At this point, all she wanted to do was crawl under a rock and die. If I’m going to kill people, I mine as well kill myself in the process, she considered saying out loud. She felt too awful, not being able to control her actions and getting blamed for things she didn’t even remember doing.

           Paul walked around his room in silence. “I know it must be difficult for you, but you know we can’t tell anyone. I know that’s wrong too, but that’s just how it has to be.”

           Judith had heard enough. She couldn’t believe anything she had just witnessed. She was both scared and confused but she knew what they meant. Sarah was the one who killed Mimi and Denise. She backed away from the door, startled. She honestly thought Sarah had stopped the rampages. Many thoughts ran through her mind of what to do next. Her hands started to shake nervously. For all she knew, she could be next to die. She had an instinct, but she wasn’t sure whether to go through with it or not. She favorited Sarah, but she knew what the right thing to do was. She hated the thought of turning on her. She just knew she couldn’t live with a killer. She mostly felt bad for Paul. She knew he would never forget her for what she was going to do, but she was the adult here. She was the one in charge. She was the one who had to make the decisions. She had to do the moral thing.

           The voices of the two teenagers lessened as she made her way down the staircase. She walked into the kitchen and took the telephone off of its stand on the wall. She put it up to her ear as her fingers lingered for a minute. She found herself procrastinating to dial the three-digit number. She took in a deep breath and dialed the number, knowing there was no turning back now. She twirled her fingers around the black cord that was connected to the phone until the operator answered.

           “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?"

           “Hello… umm,” Judith gulped as she started to feel bile arise in her throat. She started sweating and felt a bit lightheaded doing what she was about to do. “I… I believe that there is a, umm… killer in my home. I… I don’t know what to do.”

           “Okay, what’s your location?” the operator spoke.

           It took a moment while Judith slowly but clearly gave the address.

           There was a brief moment of silence on the other end. “Okay, there are officers on their way. Is this person in your home currently at the moment?”

           Y… yes,” Judith voice trembled.

           The operator hummed a quick, “Okay, they should arrive in about ten minutes. Do you think you’ll be fine until then?”

           “Uh… yes. Thank you,” she nervously replied, picking at her shirt. She ended the phone call by placing the telephone back on its stand on the wall.

Sarah, who was just coming down the stairs to get a late night snack heard who Judith had just called on the telephone. Sarah started crying again with disbelief in what she had just heard. Her body started shaking uncontrollably and shivers went down her spine knowing she was done for. She knew she couldn’t get out of this mess. She knew she was better off dead. Part of her blamed Paul for doing this… bringing her back to life. But she knew he meant no harm in doing that. He was just trying to help. She had to tell him. She had to tell him it was all over.