I keep staring at his features, the clock hanging on the wall above us ticking slowly. I roll to my back and heave a sigh, interlocking my fingers together over my bare stomach, free of covers.
"Hey..." a raspy voice whispers next to me. I smile in the darkness, turning my face to see Grayson's eyes closed still. He had a light smile curled up on his pink lips. I shift around to face him and rest my head against my hand, pushing my body upwards.
"Hey." is all I manage to say. It's 4 AM, I didn't want to blow out a full conversation, especially since I just woke him up.
"What are you doing here?" he brings his hand up to his eyes to rub them tiredly as a strained yawn escapes his mouth. I chuckle softly before looking down at my shaking fingers.
"I couldn't sleep." I finally look at him and this time, his eyes are opened. They stare back at mines with their spark of hazel, almost shining in the dark. My gaze swerves between his two eyes, contemplating the differences and similarities.
"When did you get here?"
"2 AM. I didn't want to wake you-"
"Baby you can wake me up at any hour. Day or night. If you need me, I'll be there for you. Okay?" his hand cups my cheek softly, his thumb brushing against my skin. I press my cheek harder in his hands and nod, earning a smile from his tired face. I carefully take his hand away from me cheek to play with his fingers, my eyebrows instantly falling closer to my eyes as I'm focusing on his hand. A strand of hair falls down onto my face and before I even have time to replace it, Grayson brings his free hand up to my face and tucks the lock behind my ear, making me look down into his eyes since his head is still resting on the pile of pillows.
He flashes me one of his warm smiles, the cheeky ones that indent his dimples. I return the gesture before leaning in and pecking the edge of his lips. I put my head down on the pillows and turn around to glue my back against Grayson's bare abs. He wraps his muscular arms around my body and pulls me closer, placing a soft kiss on my cheek before we both close our eyes and go back to sleep.
The sleep I never even found in the first place.
-----
"Where are we going, Gray?" I whine as he tugs on my arm, pulling me towards him so I can reach his pace. I walk lazily behind him, tired of walking for so long. I blow air up onto my forehead to push some strands of hair away, making him turn his head to me as he keeps walking. He grins widely, his lips showing an almost malicious smile. I roll my eyes and groan, knowing damn well he won't tell me where he's taking me.
"Just trust me." is what he's been repeating for the past 30 minutes.
"I don't fucking trust your creepy ass." I look away in the distance, fighting the smile creeping its way to my mouth. He turns around once more, glaring at me with the same grin as before.
"You like my ass, shut up." he looks in front of him and I open my mouth in surprise and disbelief. I decide to give him a hard slap on the butt, making the both of us erupt in laughter. A comfortable silence settles over us as we keep walking for what seems like forever.
We finally reach a beautiful lake surrounded by what seems to be a million pine trees. My mouth falls open in awe, my eyes widening a bit to take in the breathtaking scenery in front of us. I turn my head to Grayson, looking him up and down. The moonlight reflects onto his face, illuminating his features as he stares down at the calm water. He finally looks back at me and my lips seal shut to show him a toothless smile. He smiles back and slides his hand down mine to intertwine our fingers together.
We both begin to walk towards the lake when I suddenly trip onto something, making me fall to the ground and bringing Grayson down as well. I roll to my side and I stare at what I stumbled onto. My face becomes blank, my eyes draining out of color, my skin turning white, my heart skipping a beat. Breathing seems impossible at the moment as I try to comprehend what I'm staring at.
Everything finally settles in, crashing me like a ton of bricks. A long and sharp scream escapes my mouth, pushing the note until my lungs are left with no air. Tears instantly begin to stream down my face, my hands trying to cover my mouth to prevent my own self from screaming, but I unfortunately end up screaming louder and louder by the second.
Grayson stands up in a heartbeat and turns around to face me. His mouth falls open and his eyes broaden in terror.
"Carrie!" I holler at the top of my lungs, backing away from her dead body as fast as I can, then bumping against Grayson's stiff legs. He falls down to his knees and wraps his arms around my quivering body, turning my head away to keep me from staring. His gaze remains on her, on her face drained out of life.
Her brown eyes are opened wide, staring down at the lake. Her whole body is naked, blood stained and exposed at the moonlight. My whole body trembles at every loud sobs escaping my mouth as Grayson desperately tries to pull me closer to him.
-----
Sirens.
Ear-piercing sirens that can be heard from miles away.
Lights.
Red and blue lights everywhere I look, almost blinding me every time I dare to look up from the ground.
Four men lift up her body, now covered by a white drape, and carefully put her down on a stretcher before leading it to the ambulance next to me. Grayson's hands keep rubbing my arm up and down, his low voice vibrating in my ear as he tries to to comfort me. As he tries to ease the pain.
My dry eyes look down at the ground in front of me, the flashes of the red and blue lights reflecting in a puddle.
I want to cry, to scream, to hit, to kill.
But no tears are able to come out anymore, I already cried all the water I had in my body.
No sounds are able to escape my mouth, I already screamed all the voice left inside of me.
My limbs are unable to move, my body just keeps shaking uncontrollably.
My gaze slowly moves up and everything seems to be in slow motion.
The stretcher is being pushed into the ambulance, all four men then climbing aboard as soon as my sister's body is loaded. The doors slam shut and the ambulance take off, ringing their loud sirens again.
But I can't hear them anymore.
"Skylar!!" a voice screams from miles away. My eyes shoot up and my gaze falls upon Ethan, Cameron, Enora and Caleb. All four running towards us. Ethan up in front, tears running down his cheeks as he keeps screaming my name.
I remain immobile, my arms hanging on each side of my body, my lips parted open and my eyes bloodshot. Grayson is taken aback when I stumble backwards because of Ethan who practically ran into me, swinging his arms around me as fast as he can before hiding his face in my neck. My eyes fix the dark lake over his shoulder, my body incapable of moving an inch.
Ethan cries in the depth of my neck, his arms tightening their grasp around my weak body every moment passing by. I can't hear him cry, but I know he does when his shoulders jump up and down as he chokes back each sob.
I see Enora hiding her face in her palms in the corner of my eyes before Grayson walks up to her and wraps his arms around her neck, pulling her into his chest.
Grayson didn't cry one bit. He is the only one in the group who stayed strong. He stood up, pulled out his phone and called the police. He hugged me tight, gingerly caressing each part of my body that was trembling in fear until the police arrived. When they finally arrived, he dialed Ethan's number, who then called Caleb, who then called Enora.
Which leads us to this very moment.
Ethan bawling on my shoulder, his tight grip unfortunately not loosening one bit.
Enora crying in Grayson's arms, feeling sorry for myself and for Carrie.
Caleb gingerly holding Cameron as he looks over at the ambulance driving far away in the distance, tears running down his red cheeks.
I swallow the heavy lump in the back of my throat as I watch the ambulance driving away as well, knowing that my dead sister is inside it. A tear finally manages to slip out of my eye and spill onto my cheek, running along my skin down to my jaw. I sniffle silently, or at least that's what I thought since Ethan pulls away and stares at me, his hands not leaving my shoulders.
I jump lightly when his fingers runs across my cheek to wipe the tear away, I snap my head up to him, my bottom lip threatening to shake. His glossy eyes stare in the depth of mines before he finally speaks up.
"I know that it hurts. I know it breaks you in ways I could probably never understand; she was closer to you then she was to me. But I still loved her. With all my heart. So if you ever need someone..."
I know he's referring to Grayson not being able to feel what I feel.
"...I'll always be here for you. Day or night. I'm just a call away." his fingers tighten their grip on my shoulders and this time I don't stop myself from crying. I press my forehead against his chest and fist the material of his shirt as I cry harder than ever. I squeeze my eyes shut, my loud yet rare sobs piercing through the silence.
I scream at times, hitting his chest with all the force left inside of me. He stays still, eyes closed, but tears still manage to fall down his cheeks.
-----
Grayson's POV
She was awfully quiet that night. She kept remembering the eyes of her dead sister staring straight back into hers. When we got back home she locked herself up in her bedroom. I stayed outside her door all night, eventually sleeping against the door.
I would sometimes wake up to the sound of her cries. Standing up, I would beg for her to open up, but she wouldn't listen. I was so scared she was going to do something stupid; such as cutting her wrists open; but very happily she didn't.
She just cried. She was broken.
Around 4 AM, the door finally opened, making me stumble back and immediately stand up in surprise. There she was standing, small and fragile in front of me, her gaze wandering somewhere around my stomach. I knew she wanted to keep everything inside, but I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She had to say something. It scared the shit out of me. She kept staring blankly at the ground, tears on the verge of showing.
Since not a single word escaped her mouth, I decided to break the silence.
"Sky..." I murmured, walking her back in her bedroom and carefully closing the door behind me. I sat at the edge of her bed, my hands resting on each side of my body.
She turned around and stood all by herself in the darkness. Only a thin stray of light crept through the shutters of her window, making the moonlight strike different angles on her face.
"You need to talk to me, baby." I whispered calmly, motioning for her to come forward. She took a few steps closer until our knees bumped together. She kept looking down, her eyes drained out of colour. I gently took her hands in mine, caressing her soft skin with my thumbs.
"I know that what we saw tonight is probably going to stay in our heads for the rest of our lives. And I know how much you loved your sister, but I need to know, Sky. I need to know what's going on in there." I gently tapped her forehead with the tip of my index. She sat down next to me, almost in a robotic kind of way. Emotionless. Lifeless.
It felt like her voice was not the only thing she lost that night. She lost her soul.
It died. Slowly. Just like her sister...
My hand met her back, where I started to rub her skin in up and down motions, to ease the pain, I guess. My fingers trailed up to her shoulder and I gently pulled her towards me. She fell into my arms, her tiny hands instinctively gripping around my neck and her cold nose bumping on my collarbone. It's only then that I could feel her tears dripping down on my bare skin.
I closed my eyes and swallowed the heavy gulp at the back of my throat.
It hurt me to see her like this. I just wanted to hug her for the rest of my life, or at least until the pain washed away... to tell her that everything will be okay, that she won't eternally live in the darkness.
Maybe that was all she was seeing.
Darkness. Black. Heavy. Dripping black paint surrounding her. As dark as the walls she built up around her to protect herself from ever caring for someone again.
Scarlett. Red. Thick. Dripping blood on her sister's body. Printing her memory.
Blood on her hands. Blood on her arms.
As she held her sister's body hopelessly.
As she screamed. And as the darkness consumed her a little more by the minute until the police arrived.
I kept rewinding the scene. When she looked down at the blood on her hands, her eyes broadened and her mouth fell open in horror, but no scream escaped her mouth. Instead, she fell to her knees, her gaze fixated on the blood dripping down her forearms. Tears have stopped running down her face. Her eyes dried out. She was too scared to cry. She was too scared to scream.
She wanted her sister back.
But deep down, she knew it was impossible, and that's what broke her the most.
Please don't forget to tap the ☆ and vote for my story! Thank you guys for reading and as always, I'll see you in the next one ♡
bye! ☻
published on : March 15th, 2018.