Scars We Hide

Chapter 2

Mom was in the kitchen baking peanut butter cookies like she did every weekend. Asher was in the living room with a couple of his friends playing video games and Dad was in the kitchen 'trying' to help mom. Key word 'trying'. And as always I was in the attic reading a book I had read a dozen times before.

"Cameron come downstairs and take your father out of the kitchen. If he stays in here any longer we won't have any plates to eat lunch in." Mom exclaimed clearly annoyed that Dad was breaking everything.

"I only broke 2." Dad made a feeble attempt to defend himself.

"4. You broke 4 plates!!" I could tell at this point Mom was furious.

A small smile crept it's way on to my face. It was a normal Saturday evening. I book marked my place in the book and climbed down the stairs that lead to the kitchen.

But I wasn't ready for what I saw. Mom was in the kitchen covered in blood. Dad was sitting in a corner ripping out his hair and mumbling something I couldn't make out, and Asher was gone.

"Asher... He's gone. It took him. IT TOOK HIM!!" Mom screamed

I didn't understand. It was all ok. It was a normal Saturday. Things like this weren't supposed to happen on a normal Saturday.
This isn't right. No. Please. No.

And that was when I finally understood what Dad was trying to say. "It should have been me." He wanted to die in Mom's place.

I woke up with a start. My breathing was ragged as if I had just ran a marathon, and my heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour. I was soaked in sweat and my hands were shaking. I couldn't move. I was frozen.

' It's ok. It's ok. It was just a dream. A really dreadful dream. But just a dream.' I told my self a hundred times over but I didn't believe the words.

But it wasn't. It was real, Asher was gone, Mom was gone and Dad was as good as gone. They were all gone. I was alone. Tears threatened to pour out and I let them. I no longer had the strength to stop them. A constant stream of tears flowed down my face and a series of sobs escaped my mouth. The horrifying nightmare played in my head over and over again.

I brought my knees up to my chest and put my head down and cried till my eyes were dry and I had no tears left. When I finally stopped crying after a good 30 minutes I became more aware of my surroundings and realized the car had stopped.

I slowly and cautiously raised my head and met two sets of bright green concerned eyes, both full of worry.

Ren and Carson stared at me, both their eyebrows furrowed as if trying to decide what they should do. After a minute Ren finally spoke up.

"C.J honey do you need something? Anything at all please tell me ok?" She seemed hesitant at first but I didn't blame her. It's not everyday you meet an 17 year old who lost almost all of her family.

I appreciated that she was trying. I really did. So I nodded to make the situation less awkward.

"Could I have some water please?"
I really did need water. After all that crying my throat was sore and my eyes hurt.

Ren smiled a small smile and nodded.

"Of course. There is a gas station only a little while away we can get it there."

Taking that as his que Carson started the car and drove towards the gas station.

Ren was right, it was only a few minutes later that we reached the gas station where Carson got out to buy me a bottle of water. When he came back he handed me the water with a small sad smile. I thanked him and greatfully gulped the water down.

Then we stared to drive the rest of the way to the Taylor's house.