He stopped the car in front of a house I didn’t recognize. It looked like a party was in full swing inside. I hesitated. I had never gone to a party before. I mean the “drink ‘till you throw up” kind. I was nervous.
“What if we get caught?” I asked.He rolled his eyes at me. “We won’t, trust me, we won’t.”
I got out of the car. I had a bad feeling about this, like something was about to happen that would change the course of my whole life. I shook my head; I was being paranoid. Like I had been for the whole time I’d been with Caleb, nothing bad had happened yet.
He opened the big door for me, the music that greeted me was deafening. The smell of weed, beer, and other substances was thick in the air. Some people were dancing, others were passed out on the floor, and some were on the couches making out.
“Hey! It’s Christy!” someone cried from behind me. I turned to see Lindsay, one of my former lunch crowd friends, running my way. “I never thought I’d see you at a party like this!” she shouted over the blaring music.
“Me neither!” I replied.
“What?” she hollered over the noise.
“Nothing!” I shouted. Then some guy behind us barfed on the rug. Shrieks of grossed out girls and nauseated guys drowned out the music for a minute, then someone came and threw out the rug and the party returned to its former chaos.
“And I’m supposed to enjoy this?” I practically yelled at Caleb.
“Not this part in particular, once things die down a little, it gets interesting.” He answered.
Something about this statement didn’t seem right to me. Nevertheless I didn’t have time to think it over before someone shoved me to the floor. I quickly got back up before dancing teenagers could trample me.
Caleb towed me away from the crowd, up the stairs, and into a room. I couldn’t tell whether it was a library, a bedroom, or an office.
“Christy…” he started walking towards me. A look in his eyes that took me a split second to read. I decided to play dumb.
“What?” I asked.
He touched my face. I cringed; I don’t know why I did. Gut reaction I guess.
“I want more from you than what you’ve been giving me.” He grabbed my waist, I twisted away from him.
“Don’t you love me?” he asked.
“If that’s all you want from me then, no.” I replied with sudden courage, and began to make my way for the door.
He blocked my way.
“You will not leave me.” He said. Anger could be heard in his quiet tone.
“Actually, that’s exactly what I had in mind.” I held my head high.
He then grabbed my arms. I was going to have a bruise from how tight he was holding them. “Hey! Let me go!” I cried. My prior courage was suddenly over taken by fear. He grabbed my shirt and began to pull at it with one hand while the other was occupied by trying to hold me still.
“Help! Help!” I screamed over and over again, no one heard me. I began kicking and squirming to get out of his grasp. Then finally a brief moment of victory. I was free. I bolted to the door, and threw myself out of the room. The party downstairs was still going strong. I franticly shoved my way through the partying crowd. I hardly heard the complaints about spilled beer and toes stepped on.
I finally was outside. It was really dark out and it was a new moon. So you could hardly see anything ten feet away from the house. I had no ride home but I didn’t care. I ran, it didn’t matter how fast, far or hard I had to run. I just had to get away as fast as possible.
The woods that surrounded the house were thick and foreboding, but it was the only way home. Besides, I’d rather face a rabid wolf than have to go back to Caleb and the possibility of being raped.
I pushed my legs as fast as they could go, and after awhile I stopped and listened. I heard footsteps behind me. I began running again.
“Christy!” I heard Caleb call, “If I EVER cross you again I swear, I will kill you!”
Then, just my luck, I tripped. I looked up and Caleb was standing over me. “No one ever rejects me,” he snarled, “and if they do, they don’t live to see another day”
I spit on his feet at these words, then he picked me up by the collar of my shirt and looked me square in the eyes. “And then, I’m going to go kill Spencer.”
“No” I choked. That was the one thing I didn’t want. Spencer meant more to me than anyone else in the whole world.
Caleb slammed me against the ground. I hit my head on a rock and I could feel blood pouring down the side of my head. I began to feel light headed. The world seemed to be spinning. Caleb then kicked me in the ribs, I heard a sickening CRACK!!! as one of my ribs broke. Caleb then picked me up again, this time by my hair. I screamed bloody murder, though it was made difficult by how sore my lungs were. I couldn’t breathe. Somehow, through the pain I had the strength to say one last thing.
“You will not hurt Spencer... Even if it costs me my life.” I wheezed.
“Well, you’re about to loose yours anyway.” he growled at me. Then I saw it. In his other hand he was holding a knife. he held it to my throat.
“CALEB!!! What the hell are you doing man!” I heard Nick, one of Caleb’s former friends say.
The last things I heard was the sound of Caleb getting wrestled to the ground and someone scream “CALL 911!!!”
* * * * * * *
I knew I was dead, I had to be. Life couldn’t have been this uncomfortable. My head hurt, my ribs hurt so bad I couldn’t breathe. I could feel something pushing air into my lungs, it was annoying. I wanted to breathe at my own pace.
What made me know I was dead was probably the never-ending blackness. No matter how hard I tried, I could not open my eyes. I felt as though I was suffocating under the heavy weight of the darkness. Though I was breathing, I was not at the same time. I felt cold. I felt alone. I could remember how I’d gotten here, and that was all I could think about. I hoped Caleb had gotten what he deserved. I was getting what I deserved for my stupidity. I began to worry about Spencer. I hoped he was alright and that Caleb had never gotten anywhere near him.
Suddenly I gasped for air and I was thrown from the darkness to a room with bright lights. I couldn’t see anything clearly. I heard people yelling “She’s coming out of it!” and “She’s alive!” and tears of joy. So apparently I wasn’t dead. Just passed out.
I looked around me, but I still couldn’t see. “Where am I?” I breathed.
“You’re in the hospital, hun.” said one voice I didn’t know.
I reached out “Where’s Spencer?” I asked, my words were slurred.
Pause. “We’ll find out.” I heard hurried footsteps leaving the room.
I blinked, and my vision cleared a little. I was in the hospital, that was for certain.
“What happened?” I heard my mom’s frantic voice.
Suddenly everything went dark again. I was drowning under that darkness. I heard frantic voices fade as I faded. I wasn’t going to make it through this was I? I wanted to cry, but couldn’t remember how. I just knew death was quickly drawing near, and I never got to say good-bye to anyone.
“Christy! Come back!” I heard the echo of Spencer’s voice, calling me back. I wanted to obey his warm, lovely voice; but I was tied down under the weight of the darkness. I wanted to scream to him “I’ll come, I want to come” but I couldn’t feel my lips, or anything else for that matter.
I felt heavy rhythmic shoves on my chest. “Her heart’s stopped!” someone shouted. Someone screamed in agony. I realized it was Spencer. Spencer. That was all I could think about. I realized then that I loved him, not in the way that I had previously thought love was. It was a different kind of love. The kind of love that you would do anything for that one person, and how that love was returned. The kind of love when you don’t need to physically flaunt your love to prove to yourself that it’s there, you just know that it is there, and that it would not fade. My death would do him no justice.
I suddenly found myself fighting the darkness, and I surfaced again. I was greeted by overwhelming pain. Like pure burning agony. I screamed. Everyone around me was hurrying, trying to get what needed to be done, done.
This whole time I was screaming, “NOOO! AGH! IT HURTS!” This was the first time my voice had come clear, ringing with the agony I bore. I felt something sharp in my arm.
I faded again.
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