One of Nine

CHAPTER 7

"Dear Mom and Dad," I began reading the letter out loud.

"Junius I swear to God stop reading that right now,"

"I haven't done this in a while but I figured giving the circumstances, it might help a bit."

"Junius!"

"With Junius being here- Aww I'm featured. How touching."

Juniper was gaining on me. "I am begging you. Please stop reading," she pleaded. She was almost able to grab it out of my hands, but I ducked under her arm, climbed up a chair and onto the table top. Juniper followed me up, but with some difficulty due to her leg. I turned my back on Juniper, holding her back as she's fighting to get the letter back.

"I feel like I have no choice but to tell him. He can't go on..." I stopped and she stopped fighting. She knew it was too late. "He can't go on without knowing you're both dead." I turn around, staring at her.

Her eyes were shut, she was biting her cheek and picking at her nails.

"That's funny," I said. My voice didn't sound like my voice at all. It was like I was hearing it through a fuzzy recording. "Juniper. Look at me. Now."

Her eyes met mine and I knew it was true.

I crumpled the paper and threw it to the side. "How long?"

"What?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.

"How long have they been dead?" I spoke slowly, taking a step closer.

She started to back away. "Junius please I can-"

"HOW LONG! Answer the fucking question!"

"Two years."

"This isn't funny. You need to stop lying because it's not funny."

"I'm not lying!" Juniper wailed. "They're dead. Mom and Dad are dead."

With that finality, a hot, fiery rage was building in my stomach and spreading across my entire body like a rogue wildfire. Every feeling that I had pushed down for the last four years was coming back to me at top speed. I couldn't be here anymore.

I jumped off the table, Juniper's pleas for me to come back sounded miles away. My head was buzzing as I walked out of the dining room, through a small hallway next to the kitchen, through a back door and into the courtyard outback.

I stood on the concrete platform that overlooked the courtyard. It was canopied and I was protected from the snow and the wind.

Large snowflakes blew around the house, the wind so strong that the snow looked like it was falling sideways. It was wrong. Snow is falling sideways, and everything in my life is wrong.

I grasped my head with my hands, the dread and the pain too much to handle. My nails dug into my scalp,and every muscle felt like it was straining, as if my own body was trying to break out of it's skin.

With a heave, I let out a yell. "FUCK." The sound didn't echo. It was swallowed by the storm and fell flat against the concrete walls. I couldn't even have the satisfaction of having a good scream.

I collapsed, my knees scraping on the cold concrete. As I tried to catch my breath, I felt strong, warm hands pull me up and try to bring me inside

"No! No, no, no, no!" I screamed, beating my fists against whoever was holding onto me. Then as if someone ripped out my vocal chords I shut up and froze. An image flashed into my head, and it felt like deja vu.