Damn, too important to forget you and it's hard not to miss you
'Cause all I see is flashbacks in my bed, pillow cases, traces of your smell
This thing's going nowhere, you said you needed space but now the coast's clear
Oh, we could have had this so good, oh
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Chris
"Get away from my husband and get the fuck out of my house." I heard that voice that I knew too well.
Afraid to face what I've been running from for the past year, I closed my eyes tightly, praying that this bad dream would end. Yet, it wasn't a dream.
I turned around slowly, and there she was. Bloody, bruised. It was the girl I once knew, still loved, but she wasn't the same.
Her eyes were dull, lifeless, unlike how they used to twinkle every now and then. Her famine was obvious, looking as if she was too tired to stand. She was damaged, and didn't try to hide it.
Teaira was frozen in her stance just as I was. The dead had resurrected. If it was ever the dead. With no words, she grabbed her things and scurried out of the house.
"Where's my daughter?" India didn't even glance at me. She began to limp towards the hallway.
"India-"
"Is she here? Royalty? Baby?" She ignored me, looking as if she were about to fall out. I hurriedly ran over to her, stepping in front of her.
"Chris, move. Let me see her." She tried to get past me, but I wouldn't budge.
"India, we need to get you cleaned up." I tried to calm her down.
"Please, I just want to see her. Please." Her voice cracked.
"India-"
"Let me see my baby. Please, I need to see my daughter." India broke down crying as she fell to her knees. I got down on the floor and held her as the tears continued to fall down her bruised face. Shedding a few tears of my own, I held her as tight as her now tiny body would allow me to.
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Blessing
"What's the emergency? I got over here as quick as I could." I said as I barged into Chris's house. He was sitting on the couch, contemplating something. He looked as if he had been crying.
"She's here." He said in a low tone.
"Who's here? Chris, what's wrong?" I came closer to him. He shook his head and stood up, going to Royalty's bedroom. He motioned towards the room.
I walked into the doorframe and to my biggest surprise, there was my sister. Holding Royalty in her arms. Her figure was much more slender, her hair was short, but I knew it was her.
"Precious?" I spoke in a soft voice. She whipped her head around and gave me a soft smile.
"Hi, Blessing." She said almost in a whisper. I clamped a hand over my mouth, struggling to process everything that was happening. India placed Royalty down in her crib, and turned around slowly.
I approached my sister, softly encasing her in my arms, letting the built up tears cloud my vision as I sobbed on her shoulder. She rubbed my back repeatedly, the exposed skin feeling the coolness of her hands.
Once my nerves calmed themselves, I released her from my grasp to take a look at her. She had a cut underneath her lip and large bags underneath her eyes.
"I thought you were gone." I croaked.
"I wouldn't do that to you guys. Terrell was crazy for thinking that." She chuckled a little.
"Terrell did this shit to you? I'm gonna fucking kill that nigga." Chris fumed as he began to storm out of the room.
"Chris." India said in a firm tone. He immediately stopped in his tracks and turned back around to face her.
"One, watch your mouth. Two, don't worry about him. I've done what I needed to do."
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Teaira
The minute I saw India walk through that door, I knew my life was getting to take a huge turn. Did I think it would be of this magnitude? No.
"Shit!" I clamped my hand over my mouth and stumbled back slightly seeing Jay's bloody, lifeless carcass spread out across the floor. I clenched my stomach, trying to process the sight in front of me.
"What did she do to you?" I kneeled down to look at his face.
I stepped over him and went further into the cellar, discovering Terrell's body next. He was naked and had gunshot wounds in his forehead, chest, and some other unmentionable areas.
Without hesitation, I immediately dialed Kianna's number. After a few rings she picked up.
"Hello?" She popped her gum in my ear.
"You gotta get over here. Quickly." I told her before hanging up.
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Chris
"Do you think you can explain to me exactly what's going on? Like why you're still here, or why you were gone in the first place?" I spoke up after a very long moment of silence between the two of us.
"You don't sound too happy to see me." India frowned.
"It's not that. I don't know how to feel, honestly." I shrugged.
"How do you feel?" She asked me while staring at the ground.
"Confused, hurt, angry, grateful, lachrymose." (It means on the verge of tears.) I told her honestly.
"Go deeper than just a few adjectives, Chris."
"You were dead. That was all I knew, that was what I was forced to believe. I hurt for you for a year. Then you show up at my door with no sort of explanation. It's eating me alive to know why? Where? How?" I shook my head and blinked away tears that dared to form.
"It's a long discussion to have. I understand your oblivion. I'll tell you, I promise. Just not right now, not at this moment. I don't want you to be upset, Chris." India intertwined her cold hand with mine.
"What do you want me to do then, India?" My voice cracked slightly.
"To hold me. Tell me that you'll never let me go. Make me feel at home. It's not asking for too much, is it?"
"Of course not." I released her hand and pulled her into my lap, holding her by her small, curved in waist. India rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes, her breath soft upon my skin.
"I missed this feeling. Comfort." She said just above a whisper.
"You won't have to miss it anymore. I promise."
"Don't promise me anything. Tomorrow isn't promised for either of us."
"I would never break a promise, nor your trust." I defended myself.
"Intentionally, Chris. You wouldn't hurt me intentionally. I wasn't trying to hurt you intentionally. Do you feel like I did?" She looked up at me.
"No. I blamed everybody. God, life, myself, but never you." I declined the idea.
"Sometimes I feel like it was my fault. I didn't have to take that job. Everything would have been fine if I stayed here with you and Royalty. I was selfish." India took blame.
"You followed your heart."
"My heart led me to suicide." Her tone was cold.
"Yet here you are in my arms. Was it really suicide?" I made her question her own assumptions.
"Attempted. Unfulfilled, but attempted."
"You didn't kidnap yourself, India. Nobody's to blame, but the person who did this to you." I shook my head.
"But I let him-"
"You didn't let anybody do anything to you. It was against your will. You were vulnerable."
"I could've stopped it."
"I'm not neglecting your ability to fend for yourself, but not everything is always in your hands. Can you stop a bullet from hitting an open target?"
"That's a bad comparison to make."
"It's not much different. Life throws curveballs everyday. Some are too fast to catch. Learn it, accept it, embrace it." I got the last word.
"Did it hurt?" She referred to my absence.
"Like hell." I chuckled slightly.
"Does it still hurt?" India traced circles on my chest.
"Somewhere deep down it always will." I told her the truth.
"Why?"
"It's just knowing that I let you go twice. I'll never forgive myself for letting you slip away from me." I pulled my lips into my mouth.
"Twice?"
"This time and the first being when I stopped trying to get you back."
"That was my fault. I overreacted." She blamed herself once again.
"You went based off of what you saw. What you saw wasn't what it appeared to be, but you had no way of knowing that."
"I could've waited."
"You didn't owe it to me to wait. In your eyes, I was a cheater. Anybody who saw that video would've said the same."
"But-" I cut her off before she could testify any longer.
"How about we leave that part of us behind? Right now is what matters." I suggested. After contemplating, India nodded.
"Can you call my mother over here?" India requested. I nodded and pulled my phone out, dialing her number.
Karin
"Funny seeing you here, Teaira." I startled her as she walked in the door of her apartment. She stumbled back and placed a hand on her chest, exhaling deeply.
"Shit! Karin, you scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?" She said as she closed her door, leaving it unlocked.
"I could honestly ask you the same thing."
"What are you getting at?" Teaira raised an eyebrow as she stepped closer up me.
"You've been spending an awful lot of time with Chris, haven't you?" I folded my arms.
"That's came to an end. India is back." She muttered, causing me to freeze up.
"She's back? What do you mean she's back?"
"Apparently, she was never gone to begin with. Resurrection isn't exactly common." Teaira placed her bag down on the kitchen table.
"I bet that bursted your bubble, didn't it?" I tilted my head with a sly smirk tugging on my lips.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Teaira squinted at me while pouring herself a glass of liquor.
"You just couldn't wait till she was gone, could you? So you could get your filthy little hands on everything that was hers." I stood up.
"That's ridiculous. I loved her dearly. What happened to her was unfortunate, but it had nothing to do with me." She wagged her finger while shaking her head.
"You let yourself into her home, you flirted with her boyfriend, you tried to treat her baby as your own even though that child clearly didn't like you. The question is, how did you do it?"
"How did I do what, Karin?" She brought the glass to her lips, taking a sip.
"Kill her, obviously." I said while chuckling, causing her to stop in her tracks.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She lowered her tone.
"How long was it premeditated? How long did you have to stalk her to be able to commit attempted murder?" I asked.
"You sound crazy. Get out before I call the cops." She waved me off.
"Alright, I'll leave," I threw my hands up in defeat and made my way to the front door. "Just know, I'm on to you. Whatever you're hiding won't stay shrouded for long."
"Is that a threat?" She challenged.
"No," I chuckled. "It's a promise."