The Chapter We Closed

11. Shadows of the Past

Nash

She sat in front of me in her signature black clothes. Her dark hair shone in the sunlight and her eyes were deadly and blank. Her neck was tilted as her eyes bore into mine. I hated her for deceiving me, for using me. Most of all, I despised her for all the happiness she had taken away from my once bright life. I was just a pawn in her game, a pawn she refused to use further, who knows why. I wanted to laugh again and lay in Mom and Nora's arms. I wanted all the love and care back which I wasn't getting because I no longer spent with them.

I had build a cocoon for myself because of my increasing depressing episodes. I needed to know the truth so the last amount of mixed feelings I had for her would finally just turn into spite. I raised an eyebrow at her and she returned the gesture with a little fake smile. I looked away, unable to control all the energy radiating from her. The smell of sin and fog enveloped our surrounding as my eyes went to her purple lips which were drawn into a thin line.

"Well sunshine, you called me here just to stare at me?" She chuckled as my cheeks blushed and I pulled my eyes away from her. "Oh, you can look, sunshine." She said amidst her low laughing. I rolled my eyes and looked down at the table in front of me. We were at the café, the only place I felt safe with her around. She was casually sipping her black coffee while my chocolate shake lay untouched in front of me. I had no idea how to begin this conversation.

"How did your Dad die?" was the only question my mind could form. Her face immediately became serious and a thin line formed on her forehead. She tapped her chin with her free hand and began her story.

Ashtyn
8 years

Uncle Liam had come to visit Father suddenly on one rainy night. I hadn't seen him but Mother informed me. Disappointment filled me when I heard that Nash was not there. Father was very happy as he went to meet Uncle. Mother was making Taryn go to bed as I laid on the sofa, reading silently. An hour passed and Mother and Taryn were asleep. I was restless and it seemed that sleep had ran away from me. Tired, I got up and walked in the darkness towards Father's office where he and Uncle were talking.

Half way there, I heard a gunshot and I felt as if it had gone through my heart. My whole body shivered as I ran to the door and abruptly opened it. My legs gave up at the sight and fell down shivering ever so strongly. The strong scent of blood reached my nose and made my heart tear and crack. Father lay there on the ground, lifeless, blood pooling from his forehead as his eyes sparkled. Uncle stood next to him, a gun in his hand, still pointing towards my Father. His eyes were fixed at me and I sensed immediate danger. Gulping and restraining tears, I got up in a flash and ran with all the power I had left upstairs.

No sound left my throat as I heard Uncle screaming my name downstairs at the top of his lungs. Tears were pooling down my eyes as I ran into Mother and Taryn who was standing behind. Mother looked at me with dread and questioning glances but I just buried my head in her lap and sobbed my broken heart out. Uncle stood behind me but I couldn't see his face. Mother shook me off and dashed towards him. My whole face was wet with tears as Taryn rushed towards me, wiping my uncontrolled tears and trying to soothe me. I heard Uncle's voice behind me, "Rowyn killed himself." Mother broke down behind me as my eyes darted towards Liam's blue ones who stared at me with an unreadable expression.

Nash
The Present

I stared into her eyes, and I felt myself getting lost with each step I took in. Hearing how my uncle died shook me, but I still couldn't digest the fact that my own father had killed his brother. Ashtyn seemed off and far away, as her eyes were focused on me. Her expressions tell worse happened ahead in her story. The story that held so much truth that I couldn't bring myself to deny it any longer.

"We came to stay at your house then." She said. "You wouldn't know beacuse your parents got divorced." I nodded at her statement, urging her to speak further. "Mother accepted what Liam told her and life some what went on. Liam tried to be dotting and caring. My eyes gave away the true emotions I held for him. I could not bring myself to tell Mother what had really happened. I just distanced myself from everyone." She sighed slightly as my memories started coming back.

"It was almost an year to Father's demise. I had become even more distant and hyper towards Liam and he sensed danger. So one day he decided to get rid of me. I was in my usual bad mood and he suggested that he took me out for a ride. I immediately refused but Taryn got excited and forced Liam to take her out. Oh, how much I regret that day." Ashtyn said silently, as she remained stiff in her place. Her eyes were lost in a place I so badly wanted to save them from. I waited as she told me the fate of my little cousin.

"It was a lesson to shut me up as Liam later said me that I'll meet the same fate soon if I didnt keep my mouth in control. Taryn went out with Liam happily and came back in the worst state possible. Liam told an accident occured and a drunk car driver had hit her accidentally while they were walking on the road. She looked so bad. Blood oozed out from every pore of her body as she lay lifeless in the hospital. Glass was stuck into her skin and her face was dishevelled. Many bones were broken and her organs were damaged."

I flinched as she told her sister's condition, unaffected by what she was saying. Yet in the darkest depths of her black eyes was a flicker of true emotion and pain. I wanted to go hug her and soothe her and tell her that I was there for her. All I could do was gulp and keep staring at her. "That was it. The end of everything. It's a miracle Taryn is still breathing. She's in coma since then, with no hope of ever returning to this world. She's stuck halfway; not rushing towards Father yet not leaving me too. Mother internally died too; her soul went back to Father while her body haunts me here."

And I couldn't have kept it any longer. I got up, pushed her coffee away and sat on the table in front of her. Her eyes flickered to mine as her body was on high alert. I crashed my arms around her, holding her as tightly as I could in my soft embrace. Sin and fog flared in my nostrils as she sat frozen, not hugging me back but I didn't care. I held her tight, forgetting everything, leaving all my feelings for her behind except for the care and ache I felt for her. She shuddered against my strong grip and I just tightened it.

I knew for sure that she wasn't lying but it could have been an understanding. I was going to find the truth and crush ny father if what ever she said proved to be right. The hell with how much I hated her, she was vulnerable right now and I had to help my childhood best friend. I had to do this for Uncle and Taryn and the unsaid hurt in every inch of her body. And I didn't know how long I kept her against my chest, with her leaning into me after every minute as she released the feelings she had been holding for so long. I buried my head into her hair and we sat in silence, with Ashtyn still not reciprocating the hug but showing her ease with me.