Rugged Lace

Chapter Twenty-Eight

*Blank stares at an open plea, who else can save you and me?*

She runs like fire, flickering and jagged, unable to stop even as her lungs cry out for forgiveness. Nothing is held back. Each street is a memory, lost and jagged and tearing at her. Their fight, so long ago, kills her.

"Alise! I need-I need-I need your help."

Her eyes sqeeze it away, but not before another pops up.

"Shh! Gosh, you'll wake up the neighborhood! You're lucky Dad's at Grandma's, and Mom's on the other side of the house and a heavy sleeper."

She hates thinking of it, of everything. The entire thing was selfish, rude, and neither of them were giving the other a fair shot. Yet, they both let it effect everything. Then, all she wanted was for Tyler to stand up for herself. Now...she just wants her alive.

"Sometimes I want to be like you, Tyler. Then I see you like this, and I'm not sure who I want to be. Or even who I could be." There was more to it, but she can't remember all the details. Only the bigger ones stand out, fighting for control.

"But do you know what it's like to love and hate someone at the same time? To never want to leave because you're so stuck in soemething, that leaving is near impossible." Alise still doesn't know why she didn't realize it before; both her and Tyler love who they hate.

What Tyler had said next nearly killed her, "So we're only friends because of my brother." They continued to fight, using words to kill the very person they wanted to help. "My entire life has been put together by him."

Even now, it hasn't really changed.

"Because, I mean, it's not like I care for you, Tyler! Oh yes, why would I care? God, Tyler, have you ever heard yourself?"

Alise stops just before she enters the place, catching her breath as she leans against the side of the door. "Please don't let that be what she remembers," Alise prays quietly, holding her hands close together like she used to when she was younger. Everything teeters, the world slowly slipping around her, before she snaps it into clarity. "Let me save her."

Without a second thought she enters the building with the big blue and red sign reading "Police" on it.

"My friend is in trouble."

***

Seconds are days are years. A moan falls from her lips, so quiet it's hardly there. She can't feel anything any longer. Her body doesn't exist, none of the pain matters. Only the cold numbness that slowly seeps through her does.

People touch her on the arm, the leg, moving her around, measuring her. Fingers taste the skin of her neck, holding her there, heartbeat slicing through her skull.

She wants to giggle, to scream, to cry and to breathe, yet she can't do any of that. Her body is thrown back onto the floor, useless.

Words play in her head. Whether or not they're real, she doesn't know, but they're clear and concise.

"We're leaving, now. Move her into the truck." Male, sturdy pitch, and definitely mad.

"The boy?" Also male, hesitant, almost cautious.

Small pause. "Leave him to rot."

Someone leaves the room, opening a door but never closing it. For some reason that bothers her, but in her confused state she can't remember why. Everything just plays out as if she's not even real.

Someone lifts her, carrying her outside as well. The air is cool against her skin.

"Quick, they'll be here any second."