And it all started with this meet & greet - Ondreaz Lopez

Chapter 25. "You have nothing to fear."

Ondreaz's POV: 

Why was I such a horrible idiot? All day long I've been asking myself that question and how to fix everything. But I couldn't think of much because Soph kept pretending like nothing happened. 

 I was glad that she didn't ignore me, but on the other hand I would have preferred that than that she behaved so normal towards me. Amy had already left an hour ago in Nick's room, but they were just talking - at least right now.

 "I don't want to sleep alone over there. Do you mind if I occupy your couch?", Soph asked when we were getting ready for bed. No one objected - of course not, everyone loved her. "Some more, some less," sighed Tony and I looked at a confused man. 

 "You were thinking out loud," he explained and I nodded. He was still angry with me and I couldn't blame him. I was just stupid. Tony threw an indistinct look at Soph. "Say, do you fancy her?" I asked him now.

 Laughing, he shook his head. "No, of course not. If you would just turn your brain on for a moment, you would know that this is totally out of the question. But I love her anyway. Like a sister, you know? And there's something that's bothering me right now, I just don't know what..." With these words he walked up to her, hugged her and then disappeared into his room. 

 --- 

I've been lying here in bed for ages, turning from one side to the other. Usually the rain always calmed me down, but just now the drops that were constantly drumming against the window pane drove me crazy. I also knew what that was due to. I was missing someone beside me. 

 But not only someone, no. I missed Soph. How could I have lived all these months without her by my side? I took a look at my alarm clock. 3:17. I could puke. Tired, I let myself fall back into the pillows. My eyes just started to get heavy when I heard a panicky scream. I immediately got up and opened my door. 

 Soph was sitting upright on the sofa and tears were streaming down her cheeks. Amy was already with her and I wondered how she had made it here so quickly. "'Which one?', she asked and I was confused. "Senna," she said silently and I was even more confused. 

 "The scars are already gone, Soph. That was ages ago and she's in a better place now. And you only brought her flowers three weeks ago," she said in a soothing tone and stroked her shoulder. 

 Tony appeared next to her and the others were standing in her doors as well. "What happened?" Chase asked when he saw how much she was shaking. "Nightmare," Amy explained and took her friend in her arms. Suddenly she began to pull at her bandage and tore it off her arm. Then she stared at the tattoo. Expecto Patronum. 

 "Amy, it hurts," she whimpered and buried her head in her friend's neck. "I know. But it's gonna be okay, Soph. You don't have to be afraid," she murmured. "I was lucky and they all weren't," she sobbed and the scene that took place in front of me was so touching that tears welled up in my eyes. 

Soph looked so endlessly sad. So finished. So destroyed. "You can talk to all of us about it," whispered Tony, but it was so quiet that we understood him anyway. "Maybe it would do you good to tell someone else for a change," Amy said, looking around her. 

Soph nodded and we all came to her. I sat down right in front of her. She looked me in the eyes and swallowed. Then she ran her finger over the tattoo and began. "You've already asked me what the writing means. And there's a longer and very serious story behind it." She sighed.

 "The first time it happened was when I was seven. My cousin and I were at the carnival together. We fought over who could take the horse on the merry-go-round and I gave in. The first lap we went on went smoothly. But when the second one started, the pole the horse was attached to broke through and she fell head first to the ground. 

I was sitting right behind her and I couldn't get off the thing I was sitting on. It wasn't until the merry-go-round stopped that I jumped down and called for help. There was blood everywhere and she was frozen stiff and wouldn't move. 

 The accident made her lose the feeling in her legs and she can't walk anymore. It could have happened to me, but I was lucky." She sighed again.

 "The next time, I was ten. We had a swing in the schoolyard and I showed my girlfriend at the time how high I could swing and that I could jump off from very high up. I landed normally on my feet and everything was fine. When she tried to follow me, she lost her footing and slid backwards off the swing. That was because the seat board had slipped out of its safety catch. She broke both her arms and not much was missing and her neck would have been through. 

 She was taken to hospital. She had lost her memory and her sight. I never saw her again after that because her parents had forbidden her to have contact with me. Those were two cases that ended quite happily." She swallowed again. It didn't sound good. 

 "I was 14 when I went on a school trip. "My parents couldn't pick me up because they were away on business. So I called a taxi. "There I sat in the back. It was already dark when I heard the tires squeal. A car rushed into the taxi. The windows shattered and the glass was raining down on me." She pulled down her sleeves of her T-shirt and exposed her shoulder - not surprised by the accident a few days ago - which was covered with countless scars, criss-crossed. They were fine cuts that shimmered almost silvery in the light of the lamp. 

 "The driver died at the scene of the accident. I tried to pull him out of the burning car, but by then he was already dead. I was able to see inside his ripped chest." Her voice was just a whisper towards the end.

 "But the worst experience I had at sixteen. Tony, you know my friends. There used to be eight of us. Although we weren't as connected at first as we are now, we still needed each other. I went for a walk with Senna. We walked through a park in New York, in the evening after a concert. We were a little drunk because someone had poured vodka into the punch bowl that was there. I was hiding something more, so I was even clearer in my head. 

 We were just in the darkest part, the lanterns didn't work anymore when we met a group of guys, three of them. One of them grabbed Senna, the other one got me. The third one grabbed our bags and disappeared with them. 

 I couldn't concentrate on them because I was busy with myself. My fighting experience was easily enough to knock the guy out, but when I looked around, she had disappeared. I searched for half an hour and finally found her. 

 She was lying on the floor and I was a little further away, but I saw that her skirt had slipped up. Out of the shadow the guy who had taken her with him stepped out and started kicking her. Senna screamed. He shouted at her that he would kill her if she opened her mouth again. 

 She didn't stop and called out for me. I ran towards her and with every sting he put in her stomach I got faster. I almost reached her when she stopped screaming. She didn't say another word. With my poured power I beat the guy up, while he cut me a few times with the knife. 

 Only when I knew that he couldn't hurt either of us anymore did I look at Senna. She was in her own blood. Her blond hair was soaked in it. She had closed her eyes. I felt her pulse and I knew she was dead. And I had watched her die."

  A teardrop rolled down her cheek and dripped onto her wrist. No one said a word. We were all deeply shocked. "I have just dreamed about this event. "Afterwards, several other things happened. I was standing next to her when someone threw himself in front of a train. I walked out of a small supermarket and only five minutes later hostages were taken inside, there were two dead. 

 I walked to my apartment in the evening and a woman approached me and said she was being followed. I accompanied her to her apartment and then walked on. When I turned the corner, two shots rang out. The woman was killed outside her front door. 

 Only a year ago I was crossing a street. I was just about to walk on top of you when two cars crashed into each other right in front of me. Both drivers were seriously injured." 

 I felt more than sorry for her at that moment. It was awful. "All the time something bad was happening around me, someone else was getting hurt. I was always spared. It was like someone was watching over me, protecting me. This tattoo is a spell from Harry Potter. It conjures up a patron saint. I know this tattoo can't save anyone." Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

  "But it is a symbol for me that I like to protect the people around me. I want someone to watch over them as they watch over me."