"Zack pull over!" Thea shouted suddenly while they're driving back to his place. The dinner was a somewhat success, Zack's family loved Thea. Although there was the whole Zack's Mom thinking Thea was pregnant scare. Also his parents wanting to know every detail about her which caused alot of lying. Thea was still grateful; they had accepted her like their own.
Pulling over on the side of the road, Zack gave Thea a concerned look, he knew she couldn't see. It was dark out, dark enough to not to see your own feet. The wind was howling, shaking trees, and causing a bitter coldness what not even the car's heater could fix
Swinging the car door open, Thea clambered out. Not leaving Zack enough time to register what was happening. "Wait here." She muttered, wrapping her coat firmly around her body and disappearing into the dark.
"There is no way I'm waiting here." Zack muttered, before getting out of the car after her. He had a vague idea where they were. He had made the journey to and from his house to his parents many times. She had gotten Zack to pull over beside the graveyard, in the dark just for his enjoyment. Zack hated graveyards, for the obvious reasons;
You walk where 6 feet under someone's corpse is rotting
Creepy groundskeepers
Getting buried alive
Zombies.
"Thee." He called out, walking up the path trying to avoid tree branches and falling over. "Thee?" He repeated again, almost stumbling over a headstone. Apologizing under his breath to the owner of the grave he kept walking.
Zack had no idea where she had gone. He regretted not staying in the car, where it was warm, and had light. Walking up the graveyard path, he searched trying to find Thea. The search didn't go well, the darkness hid everything under a layer of black like the sky went through an Emo phase every night.
About to give up and return to the warmth of his car, Zack spotted a light in the distance. Hoping it was Thea using her phone light to see the headstones, Zack jogged up the path. Ignoring the cold wind tearing through his body, he searched for Thea.
He knew why they had stopped. It's a graveyard, the graveyard where her sister took her final resting place. He knew that the graveyard had to be somewhere near, but he never suspected here. The graveyard, he drove past almost everyday. He had always admire this graveyard, the tall evergreen trees that grew around it's borders, standing tall like protectors of the dead. It was a standard place, but it always seemed sunny.
Zack had asked Thea once why she hadn't moved across states. Somewhere where no one knew her name, where she could start again. She just smiled at him, shaking her head letting a brown veil of hair cover her face. "Because, I have promises to keep. Also it's for the same reason I didn't completely change my name, I can't let go."
It had taken him along time to learn what she meant. The reason she stayed was because she liked the pain. It wasn't so much keeping the promise to her dead sister. She thought she deserved the pain, the pain of her past and everyone it effected. The pain she inflicted on her parents, she inflicted on herself.
"Thee?" Zack called out again to the figure standing beside a headstone. The lady turned around at the sound of him calling out but it wasn't Thea. She was much older, dressed in warm clothes. She was only around the age of his own parents but age hadn't been well to her.
"Sorry, I'm not the person you're looking for." She says, giving him a sad smile. She must assume, I'm calling out to a dead person Zack thinks, returning a smile. He could of sworn the middle aged lady was Thea but that was most likely an effect of the dark.
"Who are you looking for?" He blurts out, curious to why she was in a graveyard in the dark. Especially for someone who looked so ill.
Shining her flashlight onto the headstone. She replies with a shaky voice "My daughters"
Looking at the engraving on the headstone, Zack holds back a gasp. Persephone Carlie, the name carved in stone with little flowers surrounding it. That's why he thought the lady was Thea because he had just found Thea's mother.
"What happened to them?" He asked, wanting her hear her side of the story.
Flicking a piece of grey and brown hair away from her face. She pauses, taking a deep breath before launching into the story. "Persephone, Persie, died because of an accident." Pausing, she shines the flash light to the grave next to her. "Athena, I don't even know if she's dead. The police declared her dead but never found a body. My Husband wanted her to have a grave, even through he refused to go to the funeral. She didn't take her sisters death well, it's my fault. God, I shouldn't have taken her to Therapy, that school social worker never helped. I don't actually thinks she's dead, maybe she's just afraid of coming home." She sniffed, wiping away a tear with her gloved hands.
"What about you? Nobody walks around a graveyard yelling out for someone for no reason." She asked, before breaking into coughing.
"My girlfriend, she ran off looking for a grave." Zack replies, leaving out the part of his girlfriend being that lady's daughter.
"I would love to hear your story but the cold isn't good for old lungs. I hope you find your girlfriend." She finally says through more fits of coughing. Walking down the stone path, she stops for moment before turning back to Zack. "Can you hear that?"
"No" he calls out.
"Sorry, I swore I could hear my daughter crying. It must just be my hearing going." She says. Shaking her head, she stares into the dark for a moment before walking down the path.
Watching her light, soon disappear into darkness . Zack finally calls out, "Thea you can come out from behind that headstone now."
Standing up from her hiding place. Thea looks like a mess, hair filled with sticks and leaves, clothes covered in mud. She's quick to walk up to Zack, embracing him tightly, sobbing into his jacket. Returning her hug, Zack holds her gently. "Thee it isn't your fault." he whispers.
Looking up at him, her face streaked with tears. "It is my fault Zack. I could of stopped hiding and talked to her." She says through messy sobs.
"Thea, look I promise we'll fix this mess. Donna isn't a threat anymore, we can fix this." He reassured.
Looking up at Zack's face, Thea just cried more. She still hadn't told Zack about Donna's letters, afraid of hurting him. He was trying to help but Donna was still a huge threat to everything.
"Sorry Thea, I'm not good at talking or cheering people up." He admitted, feeling stupid that he couldn't even cheer his girlfriend up.
"Zack it's okay, let's just go home." Thea spoke as she pulled away from the hug. Not realizing that she had referred to Zack's house as home. She felt more at comfort wedged between Zack and his friends on a couch more than anywhere in her apartment.
Holding Thea's hand and using his phone light to navigate the way out of the graveyard. Zack successfully found the road where his car was parked waiting for his returned. Unlocking the doors, the pair climbed in the car.
The drive back to Zack's house was silence, both Thea and Zack were exhausted. They were turning into his drive when Zack finally spoke up. "Hey Thea, Donna isn't a threat right. You haven't heard from her in years?" He asked, still unsure of the beautiful mess he got himself into.
"Yeah, don't worry Zack I haven't heard from Donna since I was in that place." Thea lied, shuddering at the thought of the old farm house Donna had kept her and others in. Nodding, happy with her lie, Zack opened the car door happy to be home after a awful day.
Unlocking the front door, He made sure to stand in front of Thea shielding her on the chance Jack was walking around naked. To Zack's relief Jack wore clothes for once in his life and was sitting on the couch fiddling with his guitar. "Zack, Thea" He acknowledged them as they walked into the lounge.
"Dude go to bed, you look like shit." Zack informed Jack before collapsing on the couch beside him. Jack did in fact look terrible but that was the result of yesterdays late night and today's hangover.
"I may look like shit but you'd still bang me." Jack smiled before adding in. "No offense Thea"
"None taken, I always thought it was Merrickat was real not Jalex" She joked. Still standing in the living room, Thea kept blinking to keep herself awake.
"Oh Thea, I almost forgot. This real creepy middle aged lady came up to the door asking for you. She told me to give you this letter but dude, she looked like someone shoved a broomstick up her ass." Jack added, setting his guitar aside and grabbing a letter from the coffee table.
"Thee, that look's like that letter that was in you're apartment ages ago." Zack pointed out, grabbing the letter from Jack's hands and inspecting it carefully.
Feeling the colour drain from her face, Thea stared at the letter that Zack was holding carelessly between his fingers. How did Donna know she would be here? Thousands of thoughts buzzed through Thea's mind. Today just wasn't her day, first Zack's parents, second her own parent, and now this. Holding her breathe, Thea silently prayed to anyone who was listening that Zack didn't make the connection.
"Jack what did the lady even look like?" Zack asked curious of why anyone who leave Thea a letter at his house of all places.
"Um... She was definitely a cougar, middle age, she also had these gross pointy fingers." Jack continued, before getting up off the couch to put his guitar away.
" Fuck" Thea suddenly swore out loud, causing both guys to turn and stare at her. Running both her hands through her hair, she looked back at them, not knowing what to say. She knew by the expression on Zack's face he had put the pieces together.
"Thea how long has she been sending you letters?" Zack asked not hiding the betrayal in his voice. Bawling up his fists tightly, he tried not being angry but he thought Thea trusted him. Thinking about it, he was an idiot not to realize it was Donna sending those letters to Thea.
"She's only send a couple before Zack" Thea defended herself.
"Why didn't you tell me, Thea, I thought Donna was in the past. I thought you could trust me with your secrets." Zack lashed out, raising his voice above it's normal hushed tone.
"I didn't tell you because maybe Zack I didn't want you to know. Donna's my problem not yours you don't have to impose yourself into all my problems" Thea yelled back. The pair were exhausted and angry enough to forget about Jack who was in the other room.
"Yeah well maybe Thea I want to help. Stop pushing people away that's all you ever do" Zack argued his anger controlling his tongue.
"Don't you get it! Zack don't you think that I know that. I didn't mean to push my parents away I was protecting them like I was protecting you from Donna." Thea kept yelling, more tears threading to spill.
"I don't need protecting Thea!" He shouted.
"Yes you do. Zack you don't know Donna like I do" Thea yelled.
"Well it looks like Donna knows you better than I do" Zack blurted out, wondering why his girlfriend was being so stupid. He wanted to help her but how could he when was keeping secrets from him.
"You know what? Fuck you Zack." Thea cut in, before walking out the room slamming the door. It was when he heard the front door slam shut, did he realize the full extend of what he's done. Looking at the empty room, Zack felt stupid for letting his anger take over. His eyes burnt but he refused to cry, he might have just lost her because of his own words.
"Zack normally this would be the cliche moment to tell you to go after her but I suggest not." Jack advised, after standing on the sidelines of their argument.
"It's my fault" Zack groaned, dropping down back onto the couch. Putting his head in his hands, he stared blankly at the floor wondering if he could turn back time.
"I suck at commitment dude, but trust me on this one relationship advice. It's both yours ad Thea's fault." Jack continued before grabbing a bottle of wine of the bench, pouring them both a drink.
"I should go get her." Zack concluded, looking up at Jack holding both glasses of wine.
"Wait what? Dude weren't you listening to me." Jack interjected.
"It's dark and freezing. She's outside alone, I can't just leave her alone." Zack continued, getting back off the couch.
"Zack, this isn't a chick flick. If you go after Thea, I guarantee she will punch you in the face." Jack advised, thinking back to the time where he jumped out to scare her and almost got kicked in the crotch.
"Then what do I do?" He asked.
"Zack your not doing anything, I'll go get her and drop her off at her apartment. I don't think she wants to see you again that argument was pretty intense..." Jack continued, unsure of what was the best option for both of his friends.