Years ago tragedy struck the Calloway's causing the family to fall apart. Lucariah Augustine St. Francis Calloway was left in the ruins of it all with a mother who couldn't bother and a father who disappeared one night with his older brothers. For...
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I hear them now.
Calling for me. Urging me to join them in their wretched lives. The living, I mean. The dead have been awfully quiet since my run in with Darla. A clear statement that they don't want me yet. But...if the dead don't want me and I don't want the living- where does that leave me?
It leaves me dancing on a fine line of consciousness. I'm more aware than ever, but my surroundings are a mystery. A missing piece of a bigger puzzle.
Where does my body lay at this very moment, as my mind takes a break from the world? How bad was the damage from the accident? Was it an accident at all?
A question that's been floating in front of me for quite some time. How can I be sure what happened to me really was an accident? I never repaid my debt the last time I used my connections at the spot after all.
It's a wonder I can still feel my heart pounding against my chest. Filling the vast void with its steady rhythm. ThumpThumpThumpThump. I should be dead. But I'm not.
"-it's been so lonely without you," a soft voice filled my mind- forcing me to be alert enough to listen. Juliet. "Two whole weekends, dealing with the mess you've made. I-"
Has it really been so long?
She spoke some more, but it sounded as though she were underwater. Or maybe I was sinking further. Drifting away.
I'm sorry, Juliet. I wanted to say. Clean up the mess while I'm gone so it doesn't seem so bad when I return.
Could I really be selfish enough to leave her like that? What mess could I have possibly caused?
When I resurfaced, I heard two voices. Atticus and Cairo. They were arguing.
"-don't know what's best for him! I was there when you weren't! Where were you anyway?! Oh, that's right- raising his sister. You couldn't even be bothered to stick around to protect Luca!"
"I was protecting my daughter!"
"And leaving Luca at the brunt end of it?! Do you know what you did to that little boy!"
"What I did?! If it wasn't for-"
I didn't have the energy to listen any longer. On and on it went. Waking with a new voice in my ear, some familiar, some not so much.
Others were something my mind made up, a trick to get me out of the dark, they were the voices of my estranged family. My father, my brothers; Ezekiel, Jericho, Christophen.
The mind really could be a cruel place when it wanted to be. There was no way they were actually here. It was next to impossible; a feat they couldn't even begin to accomplish.
I heard him now. Ezekiel. He's the reason everyone left me. If it hadn't been for him convincing our brothers it was my fault Darla died, at least one of them would have stayed with me.
It's what I like to think at least.
"-and Lith thinks you look like dad. They seem to like you, Lucariah."
And there it is again. The use of my full name. It made the darkness swirl, latching onto it, repeating it over, and over, and over. Like a chant.
Lucariah. Lucariah. Lucariah.
In the same whispery voice as before. You can't hurt me while I'm here, I wanted- needed- to shout. My panic swelled as flashes of a tortured past spurred in my head. My tortured past. Panic turned to fear turned to pain.
An agony I longed to escape. Snips of memories poured in like a waterfall, his face looming over me, the knife in his hands, hands and fists everywhere; some armed, others not. And blood. So. Much. Blood. A sea of red.
"-LUCA! WAKE UP LUCA!" Atticus' voice filled my ears, a hysteria in his tone. Could he too feel my panic? Was he bearing the burden of my sorrows so I could rest a little longer? Just a little longer.
"DOCTER, PLEASE! SOMEBODY HEL-" And suddenly the sound of the living world cut off. I was swallowed up once again, except this felt different. Colder. Narrowed down to one path. Up or down.
I turned my head up and saw hands reaching for me. Dozens of them, big and small. The opposite side had...Darla? Again? But- another version of her.
Her under eyes and cheeks sagged, her hair wired and thin. Her clothes were tattered and worn. She looked ghastly- terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
"Luca!" She called her voice mimicked the whispery one that haunted my mind. "I'll get you."
I turned back towards the hands, recognizing the smallest arm and the freckled arm. They belonged to my sisters. With a jolt, I rushed towards their flailing arms, latching onto one.
Light flooded all around me as I took a breath. And another. And another. Each one hurting worse than the last. I hacked and coughed, forcing my eyes open and regretting it the moment I did. It may have been too bright.
"LUCA!" Juliet shoved through the team of doctors surrounding my cot. Without a care in the world, she threw her arms around me, her tears soaking through my gown, "you died. You- your heart stopped and-" she trailed off into a sob.
"I- it's alright," I rasped, my throat dry, I patted her head. Flinching when she jerked back and slapped me.
"It's not fine!" She argued, "you made me promise to be there for you over the weekend. Now I need you to promise you'll be there for me... always."
"That's-" I coughed, clutching my chest, gratefully accepting a cup from Atticus as he looked on at us, wide eyed and ashen. "That's not possible, Julie."
She crossed her arms, not bothering to wipe away the tears as she glared at me, "promise me anyway! I can't- I need my brother, Luca," my heart ached at the confession.
I always wondered if she truly felt like we were siblings. It would break me apart if she didn't.
"I promise," I whispered, watching her shoulders slump. It was a shame to see her shadowed under eyes, the worry lines on her face. I caused that. If I'd just controlled my anger; took a deep breath to stabilize my mood, I wouldn't have been hit with that car and Juliet wouldn't have had to suffer.
"I'm sorry," I whimpered, reaching for another hug, but one of the doctors pulled me back, forcing me to lay down.
"I need you two to get out so we can run some tests," he informed Atticus and Juliet, ushering them out of the room.
My panic returned, forcing my lungs to rise and fall in short huffs. Which increased with every test, every question, every movement.
Stop. Stop. Stop. Just leave me alone.
"One more question, hunny," the closest nurse cooed, placing a gentle hand on my arm, "what is your home life like?"
