Broken

Chapter 21

Everyone went to bed that night nervous for the morning. I slept in a room by myself, curtesy of Hank and Carrie, who understood what I was going through. I curled into a ball and squeezed my eyes shut. I fell to sleep quickly, but nightmares consumed me. Memories of my past came to attack, bringing back the horror of what has happened and what has happened long ago.

"Bethy! Bethy! IT HURTS!" screamed Cassie as she held her bleeding knee.

I knelt beside her and poured some hydrogen peroxide on a washcloth. Cassie scooted away from me.

"NO Bethy, that makes it hurt worse!"

I pulled her closer. "That means its working. Come on, it'll only hurt for a second."

I dabbed her knee with the cloth. Every time the cloth touched her knee, a hole appeared in her stomach, gushing with blood. I realized this after the third dab. Cassie was screaming so loud it made my hands rattle. I backed away from her. Cassie reached out to me and tried to stop the bleeding.

"Make it stop, Bethy! Make it stooooop!"

I looked away, crying. "It'll be okay, Cassie."

She coughed and sputtered, sending streams of blood from her mouth. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my chest and I cried out. I looked down there and saw a knife impaling my heart. I fell to my knees, shocked. I looked up and saw I was back in the science lab place. Cassie was lying a few feet away, bleeding out. I managed to crawl over to her.

"Cassie! Cassie! Don't die!"

She raised her eyes and looked into my eyes. "Did I save you?"

I tried to cover my wound, which felt like it was on fire.

"Of course, Cassie. You always saved me."

She smiled at me and made me choke on my tears.

She suddenly convulsed and laid still. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she said no more. I felt the knife in my heart twist and I screamed in more pain. I screamed and screamed.

I was jolted awake by someone shaking me. I sat up quickly, holding my left shoulder. I saw Seth, Charles, and Hank standing over me. Seth was still gripping my shoulders. I shook him off and checked my left shoulder. There was no wound physically. But mentally, there was a gaping hole in my heart. Seth sat on the bed and looked into my eyes.

"What's wrong, Beth?"

I felt tears squeeze out of my eyes. "She was so real in my dream. She was... so real."

Seth swatted at Charles and Hank to leave, and they did. He looked back at me.

"Tell me."

I told him my dream, and he listened patiently. Seth held my hands.

"I'm sorry, Beth. I would take the pain away if I could. I swear I would. But, it's like we talked about. You have to fight the pain. You have to crush it under your heel. Show it no mercy."

"I'll try," I whispered.

He stood. "I know you will. Now go to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow."

I watched him as he shut the door behind him. I listened to him walk down the hallway to his room and shut that door. I stood up, crept over to my backpack, and pulled out the fire safe. I unlocked it and gagged. A putrid smell wafted from the safe. I held my nose and looked inside. I knew Cassie's blood was the cause of the smell. It was all dried and crusty on the knife, making the smell and sight more disgusting. I took the knife out of the safe and used the sheets on the bed to clean it.