My Schizophrenic Lover (Under Slight Construction)

Chapter Two

Chapter 2

The four letter word

I must have slept through that entire day and a few hours into the night. Because when I finally woke upthere was a slew of high school kids laughing and yelling. The bonfire… I thought quietly to myself. All I could do was sit in the shadows and pray to whatever God was out there that no one would be crazy enough to actually find a way in here.

About two hours had passed before my heart rate had tranquilized.  I was just beginning to ease back into the comfort of my cot as I heard an unmistakable pound. Someone was climbing the boxes I had stacked to the window.

My brain began flying in every direction as I well as my eyes.  I had to find a hiding spot in a matter of seconds. I couldn’t go to any of the obvious places like behind a nearby crate or in any dark corner. No. Assuming whoever was coming in here would be looking for a hiding place too, to partake in whatever things their scatterbrained mind would come up with. No, I had to be quick, and smart about my hiding place.

My elaborate plan of vanishing, quickly went down the tubes when I panicked. Diving straight into a box with no lid I flipped over, creating a shell around me. As I was in desperate attempt to calm my breathing I took in the dank, dusty smell which I hadn’t noticed before now. It was strong, making it almost impossible to breathe without hacking and coughing. 

I got comfortable laying on the ground for a moment. I lay in complete silence, not even allowing my own air to disrupt the secrecy.I was waiting calmly to see if I could still hear the intruder.After what felt like forever without oxygen, I heard an outward gasp, most likely from pain or surprise, and then a muffed thud finished with a whispered cuss word.

“Brecken?” I heard a whisper from the voice. A voice that I was familiar with but could not yet pinpoint. “Oh my god you really left me?” The person was speaking louder now, and I was certain as to who it was.

Echo Minder.

I peeked out from under my box to be absolutely sure before revealing myself. When I could see that she was alone I felt a little better and crept from the shade.

She hadn’t noticed me yet and I didn’t want to startle her. She was bleeding down the thigh. The scarlet blood soaking her jeans. She was holding the wound tightly as she rested against one of the shelves.  

           I wasn’t just going to watch her sit there and bleed out; so I swallowed my fear and I stepped out into a pillar of light nearby her and asked if she was okay. As if the pain seized instantly her eyes shot open and her teeth glistening in the light. “You came?!?” Elated and sharp, she looked back at her leg and then up to me again. “I would hug you but I’m kind of a bloody mess.”

My mind was swelling and spinning at the thought that she would actually be thinking of hugging me. But pushing the thought of Echo in my arms I handed her a clean black shirt out of my bag. Securing it tightly above the gash cutting off the circulation in her leg. “I have a pair of shorts you could wear,” I offered up a pair of my basketball shorts.“You know, to get to the hospital in.”

“I’m not going to the hospital.” Shaking her head she looked down. “But thank you, I’ll be fine.”

“You cut your leg pretty good…” I sighed as I set the shorts back in my bag. “I would really consider getting stitches if I were you.”

She looked up at me and smiled as I boosted myself on a box across from her. “You finally said more than five words to me.”

“Well you’re bleeding everywhere. I don’t really have a choice.” I tried lightening the mood and she smiled laughing very softly. Her laugh made my stomach twist and turn with nerves and my chest tighten.