Mastery

Forever

Amanda

I didn't want to sound impatient but i was anxious. Rory was just standing there, gazing around him. Maybe he needed time to process the scenery: all his hard work in pieces and of course the man he grew up with, dead in front of him. I let him stare for a while but i was afraid the man from the front door would come upstairs to do a random checkup or something.

"Rory?"

It came out so quietly i was afraid he didn't hear me. But he looked up at me and i saw his eyes were full of tears.

"C'mon"

I dangled my legs for a second and then let gravity do it's work. Fraction of a second later i felt his arms wrap around my waist and his face against my belly. He slowly let me sink lower until i was on my toes and our eyes were on the same level. All i could see was pain. I wanted to kiss it all away but this wasn't the moment. And I was sure that I was the last person Rory wanted to kiss after today.

"I got you, let's go"

He whispered into my ear and let me go. I looked around the room to cover up my shame for even thinking about something like that. Everything was in pieces around us. There might as well had been a tornado. But that's when i realized, there was blood on the floor, but no body! His uncle wasn't here. 

Rory stepped over some broken glass and into the hallway without looking back to see if i was following. I hopped silently over the glass and tiptoed behind him. He reached the stairs and i noticed he didn't even turn to look inside his room. The drawings i had been looking through were scattered over a broken desk, a dresser and their emptied drawers.

The pictures that were on the walls of the stairway were smashed and scattered on the stairs. Rory maneuvered around the pieces of the frames and i stepped exactly where he had stepped. 

We were on the last step when Rory stopped. He slowly peeked around the corner, towards the front door. He walked off the last step and waited as i did the same. The floor in the hall was covered in ripped papers and glass. He pointed towards a door at the other far end of the hall. I nodded and started making my way towards it. One wrong step and the man could find us there, with nowhere to run off to.

 I put my hand on the handle of the door and took a deep breath. If the door made any squeaking sounds, we were dead. I softly pushed it open and we met darkness again. I went down the stairs, feeling my way through an unknown room. My head still hurt and i felt like i could throw up any moment. That was a hangover combined with insane levels of anxiety. Rory closed the door behind him and turned on a little light in the middle of the basement. The window was in the far right corner and we had a lot of things to get around without making any sound.

We finally reached the window and Rory fidgeted with the handle, which seemed to be stuck.

"Here, let me help"

I put my index finger on the metal where the lock was connected to the wooden frame and focused on it. I slowly felt warmth build up in my hand and in no time i had melted through the lock. Rory pushed the window open and pulled himself through it. I placed my hands far apart and started pushing myself up. I heard voices upstairs and panicked.

"Rory they're coming!"

He pulled me up by my elbows and practically dragged me through some thick bush behind his house. We were running, well actually Rory was running and i was being pulled along while branches slapped me painfully in my face.

We ran until we reached the backyard of another house. We walked around it and nobody seemed to be home. Rory was panting and put his arms above his head. I sat down in the grass on my knees.

"Amanda?"

I looked up at his sweaty, tired face. His voice sounded pretty concerned.

"Yes Rory?"

"Do you want to say goodbye?"

My heart broke. He was asking me that because he didn't get to say goodbye. He was just unexpectedly assaulted and now he has no idea if his uncle and aunt are alive.

"Do you think we're going away for a long time?"

I sounded so childish. He shrugged and sat down in the grass too.

"We might as well"

And i puked.