The Chronicles of Mel-Luo (Book One: The Search)

Chapter Five

Here goes nothing.

"I was in grade two, and I had just transferred into public school. Before that I was home schooled." I worried the inside of my cheek with my teeth.

"I liked to sing, and at the time there were tryouts for a special choir group, and I thought that it would be a fun thing to get into. There were different groups based on age, and you kind of graduated from each one as you got older. It was this super exclusive club that I really wanted to be a part of. That's when I first met Hailey."

Her name sent an unpleasant shiver down my spine. I wanted to stop telling the story, but I simply couldn't. Despite the fact that I desperately wanted to avoid this story, there was a sort of tickle in my head that pushed and yearned for me to share more, and I wasn't in the state to fight it.

"You're doing good, keep going." He frowned, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Unless you need to take a break. Feel free to take a break, okay?" I nodded.

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "She was mean right from the start. Telling me how I shouldn't even try out, because if I did I would make a fool of myself. But I did anyways, and they all told me I sucked. For some reason I kept on going back," I looked away from him as I pushed down my emotions. I hated feeling like this so much. Sensing my discomfort, Luke gently squeezed my shoulder in reassurance. I smiled at his kindness.

"They kept on saying the same things. Over and over. And after each day, like a routine, I would go home, and cry into my...b-brother's shoulder—" I stopped, and covered my mouth with my hand.

The tears started running down my face, and I could feel myself shaking. I frowned. I couldn't even get past his name without losing it. Luke's eyes widened in panic, and he quickly wrapped his arms around me, his hand drawing soothing circles on my back.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. I promise you'll be okay. Nothing can hurt you here." Curling into the gesture, I found myself desperately clinging to him; like a little girl clinging to her safety blanket. I suppose, in a way, that's exactly what he was.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you." He reassured, resting his chin on top of my head. I greedily swallowed the air around me, like it was threatening to run out.

Get a grip, girl. Deep breaths.

Shakily, I exhaled slowly. Once I felt somewhat stable again, I disentangled myself from Luke's arms, adjusting myself back to my original spot on the couch. Without thinking about it, I grabbed Luke's hand. I knew I would need it.

"I would go home and cry into my—" I inhaled sharply. "Brother, K-Kenneth's shoulder, and he would always tell me i-it would be okay, and that he would always be there for me, no m-matter what." I tightened my grip on Luke's hand, and tried my hardest to maintain what little composure I had left.

"Um, so one day, Hailey had asked me to meet her behind the school. Her parents were going to pick her up there, and she wanted me to go over to her house and play." I said slowly.

"I was ecstatic. I thought I was finally making a friend. But my brother said he was suspicious, so I agreed to let him follow me. If anything went wrong, he said he'd s-step in." More tears found their way down my cheek, and Luke squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"I thought he was being ridiculous, but I let him come anyways. I walked up to Hailey, but there was no sign of her parents. I should have turned back then, but I wasn't paying enough attention." The scene unfolded in my mind as if it was happening before my eyes, and I quickly squeezed them shut.

No, no, no, no, no. Words. Focus on the words.

"I walked up to her and asked where her parents were, but she just gave me a really wicked looking half smile." I grimaced at the vivid memory.

"The look of it...it was so unnerving. I started to back away, to get ready to run. But before I could, someone grabbed my arm really roughly." My free hand automatically reached for the place the bruise once was. Luke frowned, his eyes filled with what could only be described as cold, blazing rage. I sent him an apologetic glance. The story didn't get any better from here.

"I turned to see who it was. Two of the older club members—Hailey's brothers—John and Will, and both of them had the same eerie smiles on their faces as she did...it was like they were possessed."

I looked down at the floor. Luke ran gentle circles over the back of my hand with his thumb, and gave me a reassuring look. I scrunched my nose. There it was again, that odd tickle...it caressed my mind, willing it to remember more of what I kept locked tightly under lock and key.

"One of the brothers held me by my arms while the other came charging at me, and I was terrified. I honestly didn't know what would happen to me at that point. I was so sure he was going to hit me, but he never did. He stopped right in front of my face, and whispered to me." I frowned at the memory.

"He said; 'better luck next time—' but, before he could finish what he was gonna say, my brother rushed in and p-punched him out of the way." I said, my breaths purposefully deep and even.

"Hailey had made her escape by then, and I was stuck there watching her two brothers beat on mine. He had n-no chance. Two against one, with two older boys who were clearly out of their minds." Luke's angry face paled, and I felt my walls cracking. That infernal little tickle chipping ever so diligently at my resolve, willing it to fall apart bit by bit into the pool of tears I had left unattended for so long.

"I-I...I couldn't do a-anything, I couldn't save him from what they w-were...what they were doing...I had to sit and w-watch...th-they...my brother..." I clenched my shaking fist.

"They killed him."

As soon as those three little words escaped my mouth, my beautiful wall that I built around my memories, the wall I worked so hard and carefully on to perfect—my personal Jericho—came crumbling down.