Saving Hope

X. Digging Deep

The ringing in her ears got stronger.

Her knees gave up on her even before she had a good look of what lay inside that room.

The door banged against the adjacent wall, creaked and stopped.

Hope was on the floor, the tears falling down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop them anymore.

A whimper escaped her lips as they trembled.

“Shut up, Hope.”

Another whimper escaped as she bit down on her lower lip.

“What have you done?” she demanded, looking at Patty’s body on the floor. She was sprawled on the floor, facing away from the door. One arm was above her head, the other at her back, palm upward.

“She did it to herself, the bitch,” Carl’s voice said above Hope. “Get the fuck up, Hope.”

But Hope was not hearing him. The ringing in her ears prevailed. Her eyes were fixed on the pool of blood around Patty’s hand.

“Don’t!” she cried out when Carl switched the lights. He just looked down at her with a sneer.

Hope’s eyes widened. The light clothed Patty’s lifeless body now, showing every mark on her skin. Her red hair was almost black.

“Get the fuck up, Hope,” Carl repeated, leaning down to grab her by the arm. He pulled her with him and she stumbled against the frame of the door. “We have to start cleaning.”

She shook her head, looking away from the body.

Carl grabbed her chin, his fingers digging against her cheek. “You can’t say no, Hope. You have to help.”

“No,” she shook her head against his hand.

His other hand grabbed her hair, pulling her away from the safety of the doorframe. He dragged her to where Patty lay swimming in her own blood. Carl turned her face down, forcing her to look. “This is you if you don’t listen to me. Compose yourself and let’s start cleaning,” he rasped, his cigarette-tinged breath brushing against her face. He let go of her face none to gently and sent her down to the body on the floor.

Hope struggled to get away, smearing her arms and knees with Patty’s blood. She wanted to cry out for help. But no voice came out of her throat, her cry a silent scream as she desperately tried to scramble away from the body and the blood. She wiped the blood away from her arms as if they were going to creep right through her pores and into her own system.

Carl rushed toward her and pulled her right back on her wobbling legs. He bunched his hand in her hair and forced her to look at him.

“Calm the fuck down. Now. Or you’re dead.”

She nodded, her nose flaring in her struggle to breath normally.

“Good. Now help me.” He let her go, turned and walked to Patty’s body on the floor.

He circled around it with a frown. Then he shook his head.

“What have you done, Patty?” he asked before he kicked the body until Patty was on her back.

Hope looked away. She didn’t want to see her friend’s face. She didn’t think she could stomach it.

“Look at her, Hope. She looks like she finally had a good night’s sleep.”

Despite herself, Hope’s eyes flickered to Patty’s face and she caught her breath.

Patty! She silently cried as another wave of tears streamed down her face.