Disclaimer: This work is one of fiction, and is not meant to be taken as a true account. All events herein are fictional, and any resemblance to fact is mere coincidence.
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Ava got out of her Kia and walked towards the looming, imposing house that her best friend, Maya, had inherited from her parents. She jogged up the steps and went to the door. Somehwat annoyed, she knocked lightly on her best friend's door and listened. The knock seemed to linger in the cold, wet air, adding to the eerie feeling of emptiness. She shivered and looked around. "Maya?" She called out softly. Again, the sound hung in space, looming on the edge of memory.
She looked at the time. Nearly four thirty. This was the fifth time in a month that Maya hadn't shown up for their plans, and each time she had called in just minutes before and alerted Ava that she wouldn't be coming. But this time was different. There had been no phone call, no alert. Something was up.
Noticing the open windows, she briskly walked down the porch and looked inside of them. Not a thing stirred. The old house that Maya had inherited was really showing its age, with the classic too-big-to-be-of-use design encroaching upon Ava's visibility. She knocked on a window and waited. Maya was nowhere to be seen. She called out for her again. Still, nothing stirred. She began to get slightly angry.
"Fine. Have it your way," Ava thought as she walked back to the door and unlocked it using the key that Maya hid under a loose plank.
Inside, the house lay empty. Nothing moved, and the air was thick and uncharacteristically dry. It was only slightly warm, which was....odd. "Maya is cold-natured, she'd never willingly leave any place this cold for long..." Said Ava, who, though she was warm-natured, still enjoyed a warm room and shivered in the autumn chill. She looked to the dining room to the right, which was typically dominated by one or two house guests and a rather warm fire in the autumn...But now lay dormant and empty, the fire reduced to a few random coals.
The kitchen gave Ava no better luck; nothing was here, either. Not even the bread and jam, which Maya wholeheartedly loved, had been touched for a while. There was no sign of activity anywhere in the lower story. Ava began to feel quite unnerved, and walked to the stairs to check the upper story.
This story was dominated by its Victorian-style bedrooms and the one sunroom, which would typically be full of green plants and relaxing people but lay dead in the cold months. Ava knew well which bedroom Maya stayed in, so she walked towards it. As she climbed the stairs, however, the realization that she was alone in the house slowly began to dawn on her.
To attempt to shake the fear, Ava blinked hard and shook her head and walked faster. As she finally reached the top and looked out, she could see her car and the car of her friend in her driveway in the woods. She was at home...But where?
Ava continued walking down the hall and was startled by a creak in the floor. "Extra strain...?" Thought Ava, looking around for anything not properly stowed and balanced. She saw nothing, and so continued on to her friend's room. The door was shut and locked. No note or her favorite "Do not disturb" doorknob hanger hung upon the door. It was bare. Almost frighteningly so.
She knocked. No answer. She called out for Maya; still no answer came. "Maya," she said at length, "if you don't open up in ten seconds, I will not hesitate to break down this door." She said, her voice raising and heart pounding. Still no answer came from the emptiness about the house. Bracing herself for the oncoming impact, Ava turned to her side before ramming the door. It took several times before the door opened.
But what she saw inside horrified her.
The blood was the first thing she noticed. It stood in a puddle, having gone as far as it could into the carpet. "No.." Ava gasped as she began tracing the blood. Her heart pounded as she looked up and saw her best friend, her favorite person in the world, her soulmate, dead, with blood trails all over her shirt and leading exclusively away from her wrists. In one hand, there was a knife. In the other, painkillers.
She had killed herself.
The first thing Ava did was call 911. She reported her emergency in tears, half-yelling through most of the conversaion, and soon ran downstairs to fetch the police that were waiting below. She ran out of the house with tears rolling off of her face and fell to her knees, nearly tackling an officer. "Get in there, you have to help her, she can't be gone, she just can't...!" She pleaded with the young officer, who was both mortified and intrigued at the same time.
"M'aam, if she's already gone, like you said, there's--" the officer began, trying to calm Ava and kneeling down to half-hold, half-hug her, but she cut him short.
"She can't be! She just can't! She doesn't deserve it, she's a beautiful person, there's no reason she should be dead!" Ava cried, burying her face in the man's chest.
He turned around and looked towards his fellow officers, who stood in vague apprehension at what they were witnessing. "Get the hell in there, dammit!" Their chief growled when he noticed the young man's frightened and unsure glances. "Thank God for small favors," Thought the rookie officer. Ava finally looked up and tried to change her position, allowing herself to fall backwards and lean upon one arm. She wretched and sobbed on the cold dirt, thinking about her friend. About all the times they had shared together, about all their plans. About every moment she had absolutely loved spending with her.
"She's...She's gone. She's been pronounced dead--probably has been for about an hour now," A somewhat aged officer said. He had a very, very kind face and a gentle but stern voice. He kneeled towards Ava, who looked up hurtfully at him. "Trust me, young lady, it's probably much better for both of you that--that things happened like this. I...Well, I don't want to imagine what could have happened if she'd actually told you--or if you had walked in on her in the act," He was going to continue further, but Ava interrupted him.
"I could have stopped it!!" She shouted, anger and depression in her eyes. "If I had been here, maybe she wouldn't be dead!" Said Ava, punching the ground. The officer remained unphased.
"Young lady, may I have a name? I just feel like things could be easier if I didn't have to call you "Young lady" throughout the rest of our chat." He asked, in true gentleman fashion. "It's Ava," she replied somberly.
"Well, Ava, I'm Mason Ervin, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. And I am very, very sorry about your friend. Would you like to see her again?" Mason asked Ava, kind eyes glinting. She nodded her head and got up. Mason walked her towards the stretcher.
"You all slow down for a minute. This lady here was that person's best friend, and I think she deserves to see her again if she chooses." Mason said to the paramedics who were loading the stretcher. Ava walked to her friend and looked at her for what seemed to be an ice age. A tear fell on her and Ava turned away. She forced a very grievous smile and walked towards her car. As she walked past Mason, she stopped and turned. She hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered and walked away.
She got into her car and quickly fled the scene. She utilized one hand to steer, and with the other, wiped her eyes of tears as they came. The quiet car hummed gently along while Ava cried and drove herself to her single apartment. She got out and looked up. If it weren't for the cold and rain, the building would have looked more appealing. The apartment building in which she dwelled was occupied primarily by people who couldn't get a house for lack of housing, but could afford to if they wanted to. The rent was high, but so was the quality.
The steps were many, but she gave it no thought as she trod up them solemnly. Her best friend in the world, whose voice had talked so passionately about the future in times past, was gone forever. As she crested the top of the steps, her eyes wandered as she leisurely turned and walked down the platform towards her apartment.
In the distance, a black storm brewed. The breeze was picking up. To the east, Ava saw that the lights of the town were beginning to shine. So many lights, so many happy people, so many whose lives went on without a single care in the world. So many, and no matter how torn and horrible Ava felt, they all had no idea.
They were totally oblivious to everything going on... They didn't lose their best friend. So much happiness...And here she stood, looking on that place, practically glowing with glee, while her heart sank in the deepest pits. She wiped a tear and turned around, walking into her apartment.
Inside, she closed the door and locked it, and let her purse fall to the floor. She then sank to the floor, leaning against the door. "Maya...why..." She whimpered, crying into her breasts as she thought of her life.
Just yesterday, she had lost a patient to a fatal case of pneumonia. She couldn't save her...She could only ease her passing. Two months before that, her father had died due to a freak accident at his workplace; he worked at a meat packing plant, using a rather large saw, and due to a wet floor, slipped and fatally cut himself on it. He only lasted two days.
Her mother had grown to be bitter and depressed. She barely spoke, unless to angrily growl at Ava or her sisters when they had particularly irked her. Ava was now wholly alone. She cried and remembered beautiful days she had shared with Maya. She had been in love with her... and now all that was gone, replaced by an entry in the coroner's logs.
Ava wiped her eyes with a tissue and got up. She walked slowly to the window at the other end of the somewhat large main room. In her saddest times, for some reason, she had always felt that looking outside helped her cope. Without thinking about it, she instinctively picked up the picture of her and Maya that she had always kept on the small table by the window. As she realized what she had picked up, she burst into tears anew and dropped the beloved framed photo. The glass cracked and she wiped her eyes before kneeling to pick up the frame and place it back on the table--this time, facing away from the light.
She took off her coat and jacket, throwing it on an adjacent chair and walking into the bathroom. She took off the rest of her clothes and put them in the hamper, and then brushed her teeth while waiting for the water to reach its best temperature.
While she showered, she couldn't help but think about her best friend. All the times they had shared together...all the memories they had made..."I thought she loved me...." Ava thought to herself, an occasional tear making itself known in the streaming water.
As finally she went to bed, she was still thinking about her mom and her friend. "How will I ever find someone who will be like her...how will I ever forgive myself for not being there for her sooner...How..." She thought to herself darkly. Outside her bedroom window, the town lights were brighter than ever. In about 2 months, it will be Christmas. So much darkness at what should have been such a happy time.
Nearly a week later, on a Sunday, the day after Maya's funeral, she ate breakfast solemnly, alone in her apartment. In her life, Maya would have never knowingly let Ava be alone. But that time was gone now. Ava could barely eat, and the happy sounds outside weren't helping.
In a particularly silent moment, she got a call from her mother. She was reluctant to answer it, given her mother's capacity for grudges and making fun of people, but she decided to answer it finally. After all, she was truly alone, and hearing someone else say that it wasn't the end of the world would have been nice.
Despite Ava's best wishes, her mother asked her to come over. Again, she was reluctant to comply with her mother's request, as the last time they had seen each other had ended in anger and sadness for months, for both of them. After much self-debate and an insecure coin flipping, she decided that it was best to continue on to her mother's house. After she put the phone down, she grimly thought calmly to herself and began cleaning up.
She was never one to leave a mess, and order was very important to her. If someone or something just didn't fit, she didn't enjoy it; she had lost a good many friends to micromanaging and nit-picking, and her father and Maya were the only two people she had ever known that didn't mind it. Thankfully, she wasn't a bad leader and she could keep and achieve order quickly and easily... as was shown by her ten minute cleaning sessions each weekend, which somehow magically perfected the apartment again.
With a heavy heart and low expectations, Ava finally set out for her mother's house, armed with her purse, house, and car keys, so she could make a hasty retreat at need. She grimly sighed, and headed out the door. She locked it behind her, sensing a hint of finality in its shut, and walked briskly down the steps to the parking lot.
Ava got in her car, and without a sound, left the apartment complex headed towards her mother's place on the other side of town.