Heliophilia (camren)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25:
I hear mummers and hushed tones almost arguing before I even open my eyes. I'm not in a bed, I think to myself as the pain in my neck shoots down my back. My head feels like it's full of sand and the sounds are all blurred as I crack open my eyes to be met with the sight of a room I'd never seen before. It looked like a dormant warehouse as I took in the dusty crates and random furniture. When I tired to move around I noticed I was confined to the uncomfortable chair, my hands tied behind my back and ankles tied to the legs of wood. Panic starts to sink in and I struggle against the confines, desperation in my struggle. The noise stops the hushed voices and in return I stop too, feeling like a scared mouse as I hear footsteps.
"Ah! She's woken up" Grace says to another girl who I've never seen before and I feel my whole body start to tremble.
"Grace what are you doing?" I ask as she stands in front of me with the other girl.
"Well, I think it's time for a little chat, sí?" She asks with a sly grin that makes me wheezy.
"So, about six months ago I get a call from my cousin. I grew up in a house where family was everything, so I was very close to my cugino. He says to me "Grace, I'm ringing from my jail cell, I need to ask you a favour". And who am I to turn my back on family? famiglia è per sempre" she says with a smirk.
"Sí, of course agreed and he tells me about his ex fidanzata, how she got him and his best friend into jail, how he wanted to see them both suffer for disgracing our families name" she snarls out as if I'm supposed to understand what she was implying.
"And I promised on the phone to him that day I wouldn't stop until the girl who turned against her own brother for some runaway whore is dead. But then I got a better idea when he told me about his ex girl who ran off with her" she says, snaking her way closer to me and eventually standing right in font of me before leading down so her face was inches from mine.
"He tells me how they're apparently in love, how they were going to run away to be together and this Jauregui chick she was working with the police, the PLND. And lucky for me I get around so much; if I didn't I wouldn't have known my pal Brain who works with them who was more than happy with keeping an eye on Lauren, making sure you never got close enough to you. But the meat head fucked up, so I had to step in." She whispers as she drags her nail slowly but painfully down my cheek.
"And now, I'm going to take away something special from Lauren, just like she took away my cousin" she snarls and before I can even register what's happening next her hand swipes across my face, the sting of the impact making me whimper.
"Now, I introduce you to Luisa, who will be taking care of the dirty work because I'm too busy trying to find a place to dumb your body once we're finished" she chuckles out and my mouth flies open as my eyes dart from her to the girl behind her.
"Please don't do this, please-"
"Shh" she says and quickly puts some kind of cloth around my mouth and tied it at the back, causing me to almost gag as I couldn't talk.
Grace leaves and I'm left with this girl who looks like this isn't the first time she's done something like this.
"So the deal is, I rough you up and take some pictures, send them to this Lauren girl, let her worry for a bit...then we kill you, send more pictures and boom; job done" she smiles. "So don't shit your pants, you're not dying yet" she says sarcastically and I feel hot tears start to well in my eyes at the thought of Lauren having to sit at home, being toured over my whereabouts and not being able to do anything. Not being able to see her ever again. Not being able to kiss her properly for the last time.
"So lets get this started shall we?" She asks evilly and I start to whimper as she makes her way towards me.
In hindsight I'd rather not recall what I had to go through in the time I just put behind me. I don't want to think about the endless ways she left bruises and cuts over my body, and how I couldn't even see after she was finished since the wound over my eye got too swollen. But what I will always remember is how she took pictures of me, in my weakest possible state and made me watch her send them to Lauren. And in that moment I wasn't concerned about the horrible ache in my ribcage and the pounding of my head and stinging of the gashes left on my skin but the ache in Laurens heart I knew she'd be feeling miles away. I thought about how she thought I'd come home to her, and we could finally be happy and travel and everything she's been working for the last month would finally fall into place. Her dreams were probably filled with thoughts of us really star gazing and tumbling head first into a deeper love than we could both ever imagine. But that was all dream for us now as I lay on some disgusting bare mattress struggling to breath. All I could do was stare at the ceiling and try to imagine her wrapping her body around mine instead of giving my attention to the horrific pain from all over my body. The room was dark and damp, and since the mattress was bare and I didn't even have a pillow ripples of cold washed through me as I tried to get to sleep.
But as I closed my eyes one sentence echoed through my mind that scared me more than anything;
I was going to die tomorrow
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I woke up after a overwhelming pain sliced through my side as I let out a pained groan.
"Wake up" someone gruffs as me and I open my sore eyes to see Grace standing over me. I try to sit up but the pains too much and I can't hold in the desperate whimpers as they fall from my mouth.
"You need to make a phone call" she says pulling me up roughly causing bitter tears to rim my eyes.
"To who?" I croak out as she pushes me down into the wooden chair I was almost beaten to death on yesterday.
"Your ciccino" she says out sarcastically. "And you're going to do exactly as I tell you eh?" She barks and I quickly nod my head.
"Sí, ill ring but I won't speak. You tell me how much it hurts, and how much you miss her. Don't tell her where you are, who your with, but tell her you're going to die soon. And if you step out of line it will be the worst decision you'll ever make" she snarls as she punches in the number written on a scrap of paper onto the phone. She presses dial and holds it up to my ear, my stomach in knots over hearing Laurens voice one last time. What will I say? Ill probably only get a few short minutes to pour out my heart to her, which wouldn't nearly be enough time. Forever wouldn't be enough time to tell her how much I love her, but I knew I'd just have to do my best.
"Hello?" A voice husks through the receiver, making my heart jump to my throat. It was obvious she'd been crying all night, she sounded so weak and small.
"Laur? Baby it's me" I say, my voice cracking but maintaining a soft tone.
"I-I don't have much time, so you have to listen okay?" I say calmly and I hear her mummer a soft 'okay' in agreement.
"Im not in the best shape at the moment, and I'm probably going to die in the next 24 hours. I've got bruises and cuts all over my skin, but that doesn't even compare to how much it hurts knowing ill never see you again. I'm sorry, so fucking sorry for not letting myself just forgive you, so we could be happy and I could have shown you how much I adore you, and I do. I adore you so much it aches in my chest and my head and my fingertips. Loving you was better than anything I've ever known, and ill never stop loving you. My lips will turn blue and my veins will stop being used, but ill always love you, forever. You'll always be my girl Lauren, and I want what's best for you. Please keep reading, go on that road trip, sing and dance and smile, it's okay to cry and be weak sometimes too. Go to festivals and sleep in late, draw and see and touch the world because life's too short and I know you'll find happiness in these things. Don't give up on yourself, because I never did and I never will. You're different, you're one in a million and the best gift life gave me was the privilege of loving you. Don't let anything hold you back, you can have the world if you want. And ill always be with you; when that sunlight comes through the window in the morning, that'll be me kissing your skin good morning. And when the snow starts to fall in your front garden, that's me wishing you a Merry Christmas. I'm sorry that our time together was short, but now, with the knowledge that what we shared was something most people spend lifetimes trying to find, I can die happy." I spill out, my voice shaky and cracking ever so often.
"Please don't forget me" I beg finally, letting the sobs take control of my body, rippling through me like bullets.
"I love you so much, you're my forever Camila. Wait for me, ill find my way back to you baby" she says down the phone and a warm glow starts to spread in my chest but at the same time my heart starts to ache.
"I love you" I finally whisper before Grace pulls the phone away and hangs up abruptly while chuckling.
"That was the sappiest thing I've ever heard, you two are a joke" she laughs as she walks away to put the phone on the table. "and I thought that stuff only happened in shitty chick flicks" she finishes with a sicking smile.
"Now, what do you want to do with your last hours eh?" She asks cheekily as she walks back over to me.
"We could..." She trails off and walks slowly towards me. "...have some fun?" She says cheekily and plants herself in my lap.
"Get off me" I growl harshly and she she shoves my shoulders roughly against the back of the chair making me whimper.
"Suit yourself" she says getting off me. "Have fun alone"
And with that she just left, left me in some damp room with a mattress and a chair, alone to replay the sound of Laurens voice over and over in my head.