Trauma

Chapter 7 (Mackenzie Rivers)

       Just like every other day, the sun shined brightly through the incredibly strong glass, waking all of us up. One by one we get up. I grabbed my bag and dug for a book to read.

"Hey bro, pass me those Cheetos you have in your bag" Brandon said from small kitchen.

"Oh yeah, sure." I grabbed the Cheetos from my bag and threw it to Brandon.

"Damn dude. You consider trying out for football?"

"It was a Cheetos bag, chill"

When I read, I zone out. I read the lines, line by line. And I have this thing where I cannot stop on a page that doesn't start a new sentence. I know I'm geeky and retarded but that's my thing. As I read my book, I completely became immersed in the universe the book was describing, completely blinded from what was really happening. But I do know what happened when I was reading. A phone began ringing. I had unplugged the phone on the wall, and we had all turned our phones in. Wait, Mackenzie. I snapped out of my book reading zone and turned to look at Mackenzie. She had already took her phone out of her pocket.

"Kenz, do not pick up the damn phone!"

She looked at me with a tear pushing its way out. "I can't help it. Something's making me."

Confused, I begged her. "Please don't. Kenz! NO!"

Mackenzie answered the call and put it to her ear. She looked around with the phone still to her ear. Her pupils grew smaller and smaller. And her smile faded as more tears flowed out. I ran to grab the phone from her but she already hung up. I held onto her and hugged her.

"Please don't listen to the voice!" I yelled, desperately.

"I have to."

She stood up and pushed me away. She inanimately walked to the kitchen and began to dig through the cabinets. She kept rambling through everything in the shack. I walked over to her and tried to calm her but she looked at me.

"I have to do this. I deserve this."

"What the hell do you mean?" I paused. "You don't deserve to kill yourself!"

She looked at me and another tear came out. "He told me I did." She slapped me across the face, sending me falling into the counter.

Brandon and Rylie ran over to her and tried to grab her. She kicked and pushed them away. I tried to get up but my head was pounding and I tried to stand but I couldn't. I laid there, incapable of saving her. She connected the rope to light fixture. I started to black out but I heard her say:

"Go hang yourself. You're not athletic." She jumped from the chair and struggled. She kicked and kicked and cried until her eyes closed shut, and her breathing stopped. My eyes shut, with a tear flowing out.

                                           ~

Light became scarce as the day began to fall. I pulled myself up from the ground and saw Mackenzie, hanging from the light fixture. I fell back down to my knees and started to cry. For once, I felt like someone loved me. But now they're gone. I pulled myself back up and looked around. I saw Brandon and Rylie asleep together on the floor. And once again, I felt lonely. Somewhat, back to normal.

"Guys." I said sounding pathetic. "She's gone."

Rylie jumped up and looked towards Mackenzie. "Oh my god."

       Brandon slowly sat up and stretched. He looked at me with a confused face. "What the hell happened bro?"

      I pointed at Mackenzie.

     "Holy shit." He said with his hand over his mouth. "Let's get her down."

      Together him and I grabbed Mackenzie and placed her in the bathroom. Seeing her body, made me incredibly upset and sick to my stomach. I actually loved her, but that's just my luck. Two down. Three to go. We sat her down underneath the pedestal sink. Her body sat up, making the illusion of her being alive. Her skin was already fading into a pale white. We closed the door, and finished another chapter of our life in this terrible shack.

Brandon, Rylie, and I sat around the table in silence. Not really knowing what to say. To be honest, I think we needed the silence. But it was almost eerie in a way. We stared at each other until it got awkward and we changed the direction of sight. I had an idea. A silly idea. Maybe even retarded but I had to share.

       "Mackenzie said she wasn't athletic, and that she needed to hang herself. What did Travis say?" I asked, breaking the silence.

       We sat there all pondering on what we heard coming from the room where Travis had killed himself. For once I actually saw Brandon put work and effort into something.

       "Wait! He said something like, I'm too fat, I should kill myself." Brandon randomly blurted out.

       "So, maybe whoever is doing this is someone who's been hurt by bullying? But why pick us to lock up and kill?" Rylie said from the corner.

       "I'm trying to think. Maybe, an adult, who was hurt in their past?"

       "I don't know." Brandon grabbed a bag of chips from my bag. "It seems a little excessive for someone who was bullied by not even us to start killing us."

       "Really?!" I started to raise my voice. "That seems excessive? Not the fact that TWO of us have been killed? BY THEMSELVES?!"

       "Dang, bro you needa chill."
       Rylie put her hands to forehead and closed her eyes.

      "What's wrong with you?"

      "Nothing Dylan. It's the fact that you keep arguing for me." She said with an evil, but lighthearted smile.

      It got quiet again. Although I'm not surprised. This is how it usually plays out. We have a meeting to try to collaborate but we eventually argue and return to our former silence. I looked over at the blanket Mackenzie and I had slept on. Her phone was laying there. Probably ready to ring and ready to kill somebody else. I stood up from the table and went for the phone. I grabbed it and was ready to smash it.

       "Don't break it!" Brandon yelled from the table.

       "Why the hell not?"

       "Because what if the service comes back and we can call the police?"

       "We have the phone line." I threw the phone onto the ground. I wrathfully stomped on the phone. I pressed all of my anger into destroying the phone.

       "Dude you need to chill, like for real." Rylie said.

       I stopped and looked at them. "Chill? The hell? I lost my brother and girlfriend within days!"

       "You act like you two would've been dating if we weren't locked up in this damn shack!" Brandon yelled, objecting himself into the conversation.

        I clenched my fists. "Both of you! Shut the hell up!" I stormed off into the bathroom, completely forgetting we placed Mackenzie in there. I bursted out into tears. Even though Brandon was right, that we wouldn't be dating if it weren't for this stupid shack, I still felt loved. And I loved. Rylie comes from behind me and places her hand on my shoulder.

       "I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "We need to get along. We don't know how long we'll be stuck in here."

       I looked up at her. "Thanks."

      "Oh and by the way, did you bring drinks?"

      I laughed. "They're in the medium-sized pouch."

      Rylie walked out and went through my bag, looking for a drink. "Hey Dyly, we still have some alcohol."