Memories

LXXVIII

FRIEND OF A FRIEND

'When you walk right through that door
You see my eyes, I see yours
Maybe this could be our dance'

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Um, this one's a little graphic towards the end. Just letting you know in advance :)
Also, I've wanted to do this kind of scene for a while. I originally had it for when Thalia found out about Neil being her brother n being from Evermore n stuff, but I changed it. So here it is now :)
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Neil was woken by his name being spoken angrily and a hand gently on his shoulder. He blinked and sat up. Andrew was standing above him, eyebrows drawn into a hard line. Neil stood, knowing something was wrong. Andrew often looked bored, not worried and slightly murderous.

"What?" Neil asked the one word question. He looked around. Matt was nowhere to be found. Something was definitely wrong. "What is it?"

"Thalia," was all Andrew said before Neil was out of the room and down the hall, no matter that he was still in his pyjamas. He burst through the girl's door and saw the rest of the team crowding around the bathroom door. Neil had an idea of what had happened, but he refused to believe.

Kevin was right by the door, banging on it and crying. He was calling for Thalia to open the door. Demanding it, even. Neil pushed his way to Kevin's side and then grabbed him, pushing him against the door.

"What the fuck is happening?" Neil asked in a deadly tone. There were tears on Kevin's cheeks, but Neil didn't care.

"Thalia locked herself in the bathroom," Dan explained from behind Neil. He let go of Kevin and turned to look at her while he was listening. "I don't know, maybe around six thirty? I heard the water cut on at about quarter to seven. I assumed she was just having a shower, so I tried to go back to sleep, but the water didn't stop. It hasn't stopped since." then Neil looked down and realised water was flooding out of the bathroom.

"No, she wouldn't," Neil muttered, turning back to the door. "Not again."

"Again?" Nicky asked, unsure of himself. Neil didn't answer his question.

"We've sent Aaron and Matt to get help. She's barricaded the door, or we would just take out the hinges." Allison said. Neil was thinking of everything that could be happening. She might already be dead, but his mind refused to believe it. Neil's eyes flicked to a clock on the wall. Ten past seven. It had been twenty five minutes. It was a possibility Neil didn't think on any longer.

"Move out of the way!" a voice yelled. Neil and the others did, and a fireman, followed by another, barged into the room. They didn't ask what had happened, and Neil figured Matt and Aaron had filled them in on the way up. The two discussed the best way to get Thalia out of the bathroom when she'd barricaded the door, while a firewoman herded the Foxes out of the dorm room.

A lot of other athletes were crowding the hallway, wanting to see what had happened and why there were fire trucks parked outside in the carpark.

Abby rushed out of the elevator and headed straight for the team, closely followed by Wymack. "What happened?" Wymack asked Neil, who explained what Thalia had done. Abby headed straight for Kevin, who was still a mess on the floor of the hall. "Fucking damnit," Wymack cursed and looked around. "Well, what are you looking at?" he yelled to the athletes, who scattered. "This is exactly what we need - another Janie."

"This is nothing like Janie," Neil said, though he hadn't been around back then, just like Thalia hadn't been around when Seth had been alive. He knew enough about the incident, though, to know his sister wasn't attempting suicide. She never had been. It had always been about punishment, never death. "She wasn't trying to kill herself, she never was when she did that. It was a punishment to herself. She told me, once, when we were on the run. She'd done it a few times already," Neil said. "And told me it was a way to escape. To feel adequate, were her words. She thought she wasn't strong enough. It's what our mother told her the second we got her out of Evermore."

Wymack was silent at that and ran a hand down his face. Not long after, the firemen emerged, victorious. They carried an unconscious and mostly naked Thalia past the team and down the stairs. Kevin made a choking sound and Neil turned to look at him. He had his hand clamped over his mouth and was staring at where the firemen had disappeared with Thalia in their arms.

From the short glance Neil had gotten of her, there was blood on Thalia's inner thighs and arms, like she'd picked the scabs there. She probably had. Neil knew it would have bled a lot.

It took him a moment to gather himself, but then Neil was running after them, down the stairs. Despite Wymack's call for him, Neil kept going. The ambulance and two fire engines were still there when he made it downstairs, and Neil headed for the packed ambulance.

"Is she alive?" he asked desperately. One of the paramedics turned to Neil.

"Yes, son, she's alive," he said. "But barely. We need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible." He paused. "Are you a boyfriend? Or a relative?"

"I'm her brother," Neil said. The man nodded.

"Come on, do you want to ride with us?" he asked. Neil turned back to the tower where the other Foxes were just coming out of the building, and then back to the man.

"Yes." Neil said and climbed in. They closed the doors behind him and Neil sat down where the paramedic said he could. Neil looked at Thalia's unconscious form and tried not to stare at the fresh wounds. There were three straight lines on each thigh, and all the scabs on her arms had been picked, and, Neil thought, likely stretched open in order to bleed more. She had a tube in her mouth removing water, and another pumping in oxygen. Neil took her cold, pruned hand and held it tightly in his. There was a weak pulse under his finger, and Neil prayed to a God he didn't believe in to let her survive this.