The Runaway Dreamers

Chapter 13

I waited for hours for Carlos to come home. I sat on my window ledge for the whole day, watching cars go by and dog walkers casually stroll past. Denise would come in to check on me every now and then, but I would refuse anything she offered me. I felt so rude treating her so ignorantly but I didn't care abut anything unless he was with me. He was my ghost boy, the one I want to be with through life and death.

By the time 8:34pm came around, there was no sign of him. There was a knock at my door. Helen submerged from the other side of the door, almost trying to hide herself behind the wooden framework. "Saffron..." I turned to look at her. Her face was year stained and lines of mascara streaked down her cheeks. She had been crying for a long time, it looked like.

"Oh, hey..." I said, slipping down off of the window ledge and perching on the edge of my bed.

"Look, I know we're not exactly close but I'm so sorry about Carlos." She said looking at the floor. She played with her fingers for a while before looking at me, concerned.

"Hm, don't be funny." I said with a fake chuckle. "No one will tell me what happened exactly."

"Wait! So you don't know!?" She said, shocked. Her face went suddenly pale and I knew I was about to know something I didn't want to know.

I shook my head vigorously, silently begging her to explain what had happened to him. She ran out of the room, I swiftly followed behind.

After about 10 minutes of continuous running, we reached a graveyard. I felt sick, like I was about to empty my stomach entirely. I had to keep it down, I had to know what Denise was hiding. Helen slowly walked over to 3 gravestones. One was Tevisha's, it was decorated with colourful flowers of all types. It was gorgeous and it stood out from the darkness seeping through the yard like a mist of sadness. The second was my aunts. I read her head stone aloud.

'Here lies Alicia Rose, loving mother to Jennifer Rose and much adored aunt. Rest In Peace'

Jennifer Rose? Could I go to her for answers? We were cousins after all and we have never met, maybe she could help with my plan, as gruesome as it was.

The third grave will haunt me forever. I stepped backwards slowly in awe, tripping over a huge tree root and falling flat on my back. I was in pain, but I couldn't move. I had no motivation for anything anymore, and worse still, I knew who had done this.

He was no longer considered my father, but a stranger who used I used to know. He killed the only people that meant anything to me, and the thought of him made me sick. Helen stood over me, the worried look on her face confused me. We had never been friends before, I had never even dreamed of it. But she helped me realised that I needed Carlos to survive, so I knew that it was over for me.

I struggled for breath. "Th-thank y-you."

I blacked out.