By the time the police pull up, Jake's mom is gone and her pink blouse is soaked red with blood. His agony overwhelms him. To have found out that his girlfriend was alive all this time just to die before graduation and to find his mom dying in the road in such a short amount of time, is something I can't even begin to fathom. I feel for him, I really do, but he doesn't want anything to do with me.
He won't even look at me. No matter how many times I tell him I didn't do it, no matter how many times I say I'm his friend, that we've been going through this together. He pushes me away. He calls me a bitch. He tells me to get. the. hell. away. from. him. I struggle to understand. How could anyone think I actually did this? When I was in my house? The whole time?
A neighbor makes a move to grab my wrists. He isn't gentle.
"Hey!" My dad is furious and running towards me. Towards the scene. "Get your goddamn hands off my daughter!"
The neighbor scowls at him and shakes his head, "Your kid's wanted, she can't get away."
My dad reaches us just as the police do, the red and blue lights are reflecting on his face. Confusion, pain, sorrow plastered across his face, seeping from his eyes.
"Come on, Derek. Just let her go. The cops are here anyway."
"Police!" Right on time. They exit the squad car. Officers push back the crowd and create a perimeter. The chief instructs his team to gather witnesses and to seal off the general public. They construct a tent around Jake's mom's body. I see blurry flashes, hear muffled yells. I feel the panic take over.
It clouds me so much that I don't hear my dad's words, trying to reason with the police. Blue. Flash. Red. Flash. Camera Flash. Someone shines a light in my eyes, I pull away. They raise my eyelid.
"...okay?"
Huh?
What did you say?
"...the station."
I feel anger. I feel tension thicken around me, threatening to swallow me whole. Threatening to drag me under, to make me a prisoner.
No. I have to focus. Pay attention to the real world. I squint and try to listen. Flash. Red. Flash. Blood.
I swallow hard and feel my body as it's consumed by my racing heart. My head feels light.
So light.
Flash. My brain goes blank. Flash. I press my eyes closed. Flash. I force them open. When I open them, all I see is black. And then I'm falling. Falling. Falling. I hit something hard, I open my eyes. All I see is nothing. All I feel is nothing. All I am is nothing.
- - - - - -
Young girl. Yellow dress. Blonde hair. Lots of blood.
Older woman. Pink blouse. Turned red. Lots of blood.
The images swarm and swarm and swarm. Over and over. A pit in the woods. A wooden shovel. Digging, digging, digging. A mouth gag. Screaming.
Blood.
So much.
Blood.
And then there's a beep. Somewhere above me. Somewhere above the screams. And then the screams harmonize, creating an awfully bone chilling, skin crawling melody. The screams fade. The beeps increase. I feel like I'm coming out of the ocean for air, water rushes in around me. Where am I? The current rocks me. Which way is up? The waves toss me.
I'm close to the surface, but I'm running out of oxygen, I push and kick towards the surface. The beeping is louder. And louder. And louder.
I bolt up in a bed. I gasp for air. I SCREAM. And then I fall back against the pillows. My eyes start to adjust as best they can. My fears are gone. My anxiety has left. I can breathe. I'm safe. I'm not drowning. I can't explain how it happens but I forget the dream instantly and return to a groggy state. My eyes aren't quite clear yet and my hearing goes in and out.
