Hopeless Place

Chapter 4

"Eva, let me out." Valentina screamed at her sister while trying to pry the car door open.

"Vale, you need help. Trust me, this hurts me as much as it hurts you but I need to do something. And Guille agrees, this is what's best for you." The older sister replied.

"I don't need help. I'm fine. Now let me out." Tears were welling up in her eyes. "Eva, please, let me go."

"I can't do that, Vale. This is for your own good, you will see."

"Eva, let me go, Eva!! Let me out, I need to get out of this car. Eva, let me get out of this car!!" Valentina continued to scream. Tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheek. The landscapes were passing by the car in a rapid succession. The destination getting closer by the second. Her possibility of escape growing smaller and smaller. Valentina continued to yell at her sister until the car stopped in front of a large and very boring building.

Eva turned towards her little sister. "Vale, I want you to know how much I love you. Everything that is going to happen is because I want you to feel better, I want you to feel safe and happy. Everything I'm doing I do with love." She also had tears in her eyes, resembling the ones in Valentina's.

"This is not what I need." The younger one spoke.

Eva opened her car door and walked towards the building. At the door she stopped, waiting for her sister to catch up with her. Said girl waited in the car. As much as she wanted to get out of the car earlier, she now wanted to stay. If she got out there was no way she would be able to sleep in her own bed tonight. Her head fell into her hands as she softly sobbed.

Her car door was pulled open and Eva dragged her out of the car. "No, Eva, please. Don't make me do this."

The older woman placed her hands on Valentina's cheeks. "Vale, this is going to be good for you. I promise. Now let's go." She pulled the young girl across the parking lot and into the building.

Valentina's eyes scanned the hall she was in. There were a few seats at the right of her, most empty but here and there sat someone. People waiting for their family to come out or perhaps go in. People who did the same to the people they loved as Eva was now doing to her. On one of the chairs sat a young woman with a magazine on her lap, attentively reading an article. A few seats further said an old woman with grey hair.

"I called a few days ago, it's about Valentina Carvajal." Eva's voice pulled Valentina away from her stalking gaze. The woman behind the desk nodded and handed over a piece of paper. It seemed like mere minutes later Valentina was escorted through the different hallways. Each painted perfectly white with blue doors every so often. Eva was walking in front of her chatting with the people who worked there. Probably making demands about how Valentina should be treated. But she couldn't pay attention, all she could hear was her own heartbeat. Her vision was blurry from the tears. She didn't want this, she wanted to be at home, under her covers. One of the blue doors opened and...

Valentina woke up panting and sweating. She jumped up wanting to escape the memory as fast as possible. Although she wouldn't be able to escape the reality of it all. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, trying her best to calm down. "Did you have nightmares too when you first got here, Juliana?" The girl asked and turned to look at the other girl. But the bed was empty. Did she imagine what happened last night? Didn't she crawl into her bed late last night? She looked at the clock on her nightstand. It turned out she didn't wake up a minute to early, more like half an hour too late. It was her second morning here and she had already missed breakfast once. No wonder Juliana was already gone, the girl had probably gone to breakfast. Well, she could have woken her up first.

She sighed and fell back on the bed. Today was going to be terrible, she could just feel it in her bones. She dragged herself out of bed. The shower awaited her. The water hit her body and a soft scream escaped her throat. It felt like ice. She jumped out from under it, deciding to just get dressed. Her feeling seemed to be right.

Let the countdown begin. Only 12 more hours till she could hide away in her bed again.

At her first activity of the day a familiar face was waiting. "Good morning, Valentina." Juliana greeted with a smile.

"This morning is anything but good." She replied. Juliana held out a protein bar. Valentina looked at it with longing eyes. "You are an angel, my own lord and savior. Thank you." She spoke as she took the bar and took a large bite.

"I was kind of hoping to see you at breakfast but you weren't there. I really hope you weren't trying to avoid me."

"You? Never! I would die without you." She answered with her mouth full. It had slipped before she realized it.

Juliana laughed. "Good to know."

Valentina thought about asking the other girl about last night but decided against it. If her mind had made it up to comfort her things would get awkward real fast and Juliana was the only person she knew here. She needed her. Most of the other people there was about 20 years older than her and had ruined their marriage by drinking too much or doing too much drugs or something else. A new old question crept into her mind. "Juls, why are you here?"

"Because I need to be, otherwise they'll take away my mini fridge." Juliana answered without looking up at the girl next to her.

"No, I don't mean here here, I mean here. In this place." Valentina clarified.

Juliana opened her mouth to answer when the man Valentina was starting to hate entered the room. "I'll tell you another time." The girl said instead.

Valentina sighed again and leaned back in her chair. Today was in fact terrible. But as she looked at the sight of Juliana's head she got a little bit of hope. This place was pretty bad but it could have been worse. The feeling seemed to lift a weight of her chest and for the first time in a long while she felt a smile form on her face.