The Last Breath

Chapter 1

She cried a lot.

And dad didn't come back.

It took me about three weeks to finally realize they broke up for good and he wasn't coming back.

Most of his belongings were gone, only a few old shirts of his left at the bottom of his closet. I took one and I wore it every now and then to remember him. It still smelled like him. Or at least like the washing powder my mother used to wash his clothes.

I didn't even know what happened. They were happy before the fight, they rarely even disagreed about anything.

We were almost like a picture perfect family. My parents looked happy, they acted like young people in love and they never yelled at me for anything. Everything was perfect.

And then, he just left, without even saying goodbye to me. He never called me or wrote to me or reached out to me on social media I knew he used.

I ended up with a single mother, who needed me to take care of her more then I needed her to take care of me.

And after a few months, it seemed like she had her shit together again. She was going to work again and I was happy for her. She often came home late or didn't even come home until the next morning, but I assumed she was busy and had to stay at the office.

Soon, there were different men in our house everyday. If I went downstairs and unintentionally caught her with one, she'd innocently introduce him to me as a friend for work.

Yeah, right.

I wasn't stupid. I never bought it. I knew she was hooking up with them.

About half a year ago, she settled with one. She went out with him often, he'd sleep over at our place and take her away for the weekends. I never officially met him or talked to him. I saw him a few times when I went to get some cereal or have something to drink. I assume they were dating.

Goddamnit, I didn't even know his name.

My mom still drank quite a lot even though she had a man. She was drunk most of the time, I doubt that she sobered up even for work. She did everything under influence, she even drove.

One thing led to another and one day, while I was home alone as usual, someone rang at our door.

I was in my room, sketching something into my old math notebook and I wasn't thrilled I had to get up and open the door.

I looked through my bedroom window that faced our front door and I saw two police officers - a younger male and a middle aged woman. Her grey, chest-length hair was flowing down her back under her cap.

Their car was parked in our driveway, no sirens, no noise.

My heart skipped a beat. Why were they here? Why the hell were police officers knocking at our door?

I crawled out of bed and ran downstairs as they rang again. The sound of our doorbell rang through our whole house and I had to cover my ears at how unpleasant it sounded.

I fixed my shirt, put on a fake but probably convincing smile and opened the door. The officers on the other side looked sad, their faces weren't cheerful like I wanted them to be. They were cold, but the woman still tried to smile at me.

"Hello, I'm officer Jennifer Smith and this is my partner, officer William Gardner. Are you Alyssa Moore?"

Her voice was soft, motherly. It was pleasant.

I nodded, trying to smile back.

The man looked into my eyes, sympathetic.

"Can we come in? We have something we'd like to talk to you about something."

My heart was beating even louder as he spoke. I nodded and let them in. We sat down at our kitchen table, the officers across from me.

They exchanged looks, looking worried. I was worried too, for God's sake.

"Look, Alyssa, there is no easy way to say this. We have some bad news for you and before we even begin, we're very sorry."

I started shaking as the woman said that. She exchanged glances with the younger officer again and he continued with the explanation.

"You're mother had a car accident today. She ran into a tree by the highway. Her injuries were too severe, she didn't make it."

That was it.

I broke down. I cried. I was hysterical. No matter how fucked up my mother was since our dad left for unknown reasons, I still loved her. She was my mom. She was going through a rough time and I just stood there, watching her drink. I could've helped her but I failed once again.

I stood up from the table and I walked to the living room. I was still sobbing and my vision was blurry. I held onto the couch and collapsed onto it.

It was soft and cozy unlike the news I just received. I dug my nails into the soft foam the couch was filled with.

I heard the chairs move and soon, there were footsteps approaching me.

I felt a warm hand touch my shoulder and I jumped a bit. I looked up to see the officers standing besides me and the woman's hand was resting on my shoulder.

"We were ordered to take you to your aunts house now. I know this is hard for you, but you have to go. Please pack all of your belongings, since we were notified you're moving out of state to live with your father after the funeral."

This time, the male officer spoke. His voice was deep and not even nearly as calming as the woman's.

I nodded, standing up. I ran upstairs as they said they will wait for me here and then escort me to my aunt's house.

I packed all of my crucial clothes in a suitcase and threw other things I found important in another. I was still crying, beginning to get dizzy from all the tears.

I changed into a black plain T-shirt I left aside and a pair of comfortable black shorts, brushed my hair and put them in a ponytail. I walked downstairs, struggling with carrying two suitcases.

Then my normal life was over. It was time to lock the house and leave it, forever.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading! If you liked it, please vote and/or comment, I'll read them all and it would mean the world to me to get some feedback and opinions.