Interference (Chapter 6)

May 1, 2089

Dear Diary,

You would not believe what happened today. I scarcely know where to begin. But I guess I should start with the fact that today was Alexander’s and my one-year anniversary. And what a day it was. I danced right through my classes, soaking in every moment I could with him today, and he even seemed to be a little lighter than usual. And easily, I was very excited for tonight, and the unidentified plans we had. Every idea ran through my mind, wondering what our night had in store. It might have been cheesy, but I thought it was sort of sweet.
Natalia was more openly enthusiastic than I thought she would be. Usually, she would say something about how I should pick out someplace to go, what to do, that we should talk it over instead of just having some sort of surprising thing, but she usually is happy for me, even when she gets caught up in the details. Yet, she was a little too happy, which made me suspicious.
I went over to her apartment to get ready for the date that night after classes were finished. Her unfortunate boyfriend had to listen to us go on and on about all this, as I applied makeup, and modeled various outfits, putting together different pieces of Natalia’s much more fashionable and bold wardrobe.
Finally, I selected a dress from the back of her closet, an elegant piece, night sky blue, made of a silky material. It was sleeveless, a v-neck with an empire waistline, which would cinch just below my chest and flow down to right at my knees. I picked a pair of black heels, and exited Natalia’s room.
When I stepped out, both Natalia and Patrik suddenly stared at me. I didn’t understand.
“Um, is something wrong? Is my hair messed up or...”
“You look amazing,” said Natalia, cutting me off. Patrik nodded in agreement, probably deciding against making any comments.
I didn’t know what to say in response. My best friend was always honest with me, didn’t hold back in correcting me sometimes, or giving her opinion, of which she had many, but when it came to this, she always told me I looked good, usually followed by that I shouldn’t care how I looked, because it was my mind that counted. I never really said anything about it, but I never thought she was right about how I looked. Natalia always had it together, she was the epitome of confidence, knowing when to care and when not to care about everything. Nothing got in her way.
Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I could hardly recognize this person staring back at me. She was beautiful, vibrant, a strange joy resounding in her eyes.
And then there were the knocks on the apartment door, the inside screen revealing that Alexander had arrived.
Natalia smiled, as she hurried me to the door. As she opened it, her words to us were “I hope you guys have a great night”, and she gave Alexander a questionable glance that I hadn’t noticed much then, but remembered now.
And now I knew why.
We went to a ridiculously expensive restaurant, where we talked and hardly ate, reliving every moment of this mostly blissful year together, the lightest we’d been in a long time, and I was so happy to be with him. After dinner, however, was the surprise. I hadn’t expected too much, though my imagination played through various scenarios.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered, as we got to the end of a block. I vaguely remembered this street, though I couldn’t place my finger on why. I did as I was told however, smiling as he led me to our secret location.
As we got closer, I heard soft guitar music and sweet lyrics winding throughout, growing the tiniest bit louder as we began to arrive.
“Now open them,” he said.
His arm left my shoulders, as he moved to be in front of me, and I realized where we were. It was the park, where we’d gone on our first date, with a band playing and the fountain lit brightly, golden lights strung through the trees, spelling out words that I did not even have to read.
He kneeled in front of me, hand outstretched with a sparkling ring in a velvet box, offering to me. He took my hand with the other.
“Michelle Elaine Nichol, I love you,” he started. I could not believe it. “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you... will you marry me?”
The trees seemed to glow even brighter. I was completely breathless at these words, though every part of me knew my response.
“Yes,” I whispered back to him, my eyes welling with joyful tears, as he slipped the ring onto my finger, standing to embrace me.
All of a sudden, another couple stepped from the shadows, as the band continued playing beautiful music for us. And though some might say it would ruin their night, I was so grateful to have my best friend there to share one of the most wonderful moments of my life with.
And I knew she’d known what would happen tonight all along. They’d helped Alexander plan this out, and it didn’t bother me at all. The lights, I found out later, were all fancy and solar, charged from the day before. And the band was led by a few of Patrik’s friends, who specialized in this sort of thing. But the mastermind of it all, had been my now-fiancé. I was impressed.
But these details were nearly trivial for how I was feeling overall. Completely overwhelmed with joy, and now I go to bed tonight with the thoughts of our life together soon to come fresh on my mind.

Kainni

When we got back to the house, I was in a daze. This was so much worse than Romeo and Juliet. Even if we had known each other, this was very fast. The logical part of my brain kept on telling me this. Yet it had felt so good, everything... being with him, him holding me there, absolutely everything had felt wonderful. Even kissing him felt right, nothing like I had ever experienced before.
We sat down on stools by the counter, barely eating as we both thought about the blissful moments in the park. I had never felt like this before. It was impossible to name the feeling right now, but I knew it was the best, most confusing, most conflicting set of emotions I had ever felt before. And it was the best I’d felt in a long time, especially in light of yesterday.
I slowly finished my food, its taste somehow turned amazing simply for what had just happened, and followed Troy, each of us putting our plates gently in the sink.
Just having our arms brush as we did this sent chills throughout me.
Terra and Shane had resumed their places on the couch after lunch, the volume of the TV a little lower than earlier, their voices murmuring to each other, even quieter than that of the television. I wasn’t able to make out their words, but with the way they spoke, it created a privacy that signaled that they did not desire for us to listen.
And at the moment, I really didn’t care.
The hours passed by, as we alternatively crashed in the guest room, or walked around the neighborhood, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting there, reflectively, as we caught up on the past 12 years. I noticed how we had gone back to our old pattern of conversation, me talking most of the time, and him listening. I tried to get him to say more, but mostly, he kept quiet. I guess I understood why, especially now.
Skimming over those journal pages earlier had told me a lot. Not only had it been a glimpse into his mother’s life, but into his. Words and phrases stood out with intensity, just like the ones in Let it Out. They described, sometimes subtly, other times not so much, what kind of life this character, or this person had.
We’d ended up in the guest room again around 5:30, and when we decided to read some more of the book.
“Why do people read things like this anyway?” Troy said, abruptly interrupting my reading aloud, tearing his gaze from the page he was reading with me, as I got to another violent segment of the book. It was difficult to even see the words, let alone speak them. He seemed a little uneasy again, and I didn’t blame him.
“Well... I don’t know. Maybe to understand something better, or maybe to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense...”
“Or to feel like they’re not alone?” he added.
I nodded, though I still hadn’t entirely wrapped my mind around how he could ever relate to this book. I knew what had probably happened to him. And with that thought, my anger swelled at this man who’d been successful at ruining the world. He had ruined his family as well.
“I... I think we should stop reading for now. Sorry,” he said, staring at the floor now. I was grateful for his suggestion, delicately folding the corner of the page to mark where we’d ended up, and closing the book with quite obvious enthusiasm. It was a good time to take a break. I set it aside and moved toward the door when I heard Terra’s and Shane’s arguing voices begin to inevitably escalate higher than they had this whole hour.
I couldn’t tell what they were fighting about, but all I knew was that it was getting a little too loud to be good for either of them. I warily made my way into the hallway, Troy following with easily detectable reluctance.
I still couldn’t figure out why they were arguing when we get close enough to see them, and it almost seemed like they’d forgotten as well, getting caught up in throwing insults and criticisms at one another. A small disagreement had skyrocketed into this seemingly pointless fight, and I didn’t understand why anyone would do that. But it seemed both of them were easily upset by the other.
Outside, a door shut, and the two of them still couldn’t quit shouting, when Terra’s mother walked inside, right as Shane had raised his hand. Immediately, the two of them tensed as she closed the door silently behind her. Terra glanced at Shane again, and shoved him with all of her might, forcing him backward to the floor due to his previous injuries, and stalked back to her bedroom, either ignoring Troy and I or not noticing us at all.
“Get out,” said Mrs. Sawyer, her voice shaky with a mixture of anger and terror in her voice. “Get out right now.”
Shane pulled himself off the floor, and made his way to the door slowly, his earlier anger subsiding.
“I don’t want to see you in this place ever again. And you leave my daughter alone!” she shouted after him, as soon as he was out of the house.
I reached out for Troy, but noticed he had disappeared. I checked the guest room and didn’t see him there. Trying to look like I had been in there throughout the whole ordeal, I moved somewhat slowly through the hall, trying to portray that I was checking if it was alright to get out. Terra’s mother had made her way into the hall, acknowledging me for a moment before knocking her daughter’s door, as I edged toward the back door again.

Troy

I couldn’t stand being around people when they were fighting. Now that I could actually avoid it, I took the opportunity automatically. There was no substance to that one, and yet they were both so angry... how could anyone live like that, with all of these problems, causing them and just sticking with it? They never seemed to work things out. I could already easily see the pattern of their relationship.
Things I’d witnessed before had never been like this, however. At least Terra had a chance in this backwards relationship. I continued down the block, watching as the sun began to disappear again, the sky’s color changing to be much more fiery, clouds blending into it while they were surrounded by golden light.
SCREEECH!
Tires screamed against pavement as someone narrowly avoided running me over.
What was with me and nearly getting hit by cars?
The driver yelled a swear out the window, followed by
“Can’t you walk faster?!”
That voice was familiar. I glared as Shane drove past me at a ridiculous speed, one that seemed to fast for the old, beat-up looking vehicle, and swerved to narrowly avoid hitting the curb as he sped down the block. I would never in a million years dare to be in an automobile with him driving. How could Kainni have stood it last night?
“Hey,” she called, startling me with her arrival.
“Oh... h-hi... sorry I left the house. I just... didn’t want to be in there during all that...”
“That’s understandable,” she replied, coming up beside me, and taking my hand. I made a weak attempt at a smile for her, as she leaned into my chest, her eyes going from me to the sky. Here we were, watching the sunset, like the sunrise this morning. How much had changed since the beginning of the day. I slid my arm around her shoulders, and I saw her smiling as we watched the sunset. It was a beautiful thing. Once again, the cares and worries I had only moments ago, seemed to diminish once again.
When night had finally come, I kissed the top of her head, reluctant to go back, yet at the same time, knowing it may be in our best interests to be inside during the night. It was different to navigate to Terra’s house in the dark, yet not all that difficult. I had memorized this neighborhood from our inconsistent walks earlier today. This had been one of the best days of my life, excluding a few rather significant moments.
The fence in their backyard was easy to get through, even climb over, which we to do, since it was now locked. Yet the back door into the house, we found was locked. I knocked on the door gingerly. It was answered by Terra’s mother, who looked a lot less angry than earlier, instead, she looked somewhat distraught.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, as she let Kainni and I inside. We walked in, both of us stricken by the silence of this house that still held all the tension from earlier, but had been reduced and increased like pollution thick in the air.
Terra’s cell phone lay on the kitchen counter, possibly surrendered for violating the rule or requirement of her mother about her boyfriend.
“You guys hungry? I could make something,” she said, her voice holding some sort of eternal weariness to it.
“Oh no, I think we’re good,” Kainni said, speaking for the both of us.
“Alright then. I’ll be... in here, if you guys need anything,” Terra’s mother replied, yawning slightly, as she made her way into her bedroom.
This kind of quiet was not the comfortable kind. It was tense, dense, where we wanted to say things but could not bring ourselves to do it. I walked back over to the couch, into the living room where the more alarming events of today had occurred. I pulled the blanket up off the floor, and turned on the TV. Kainni sat down next to me, this time not afraid to close the distance between us. It still amazed me, how quickly things had changed between us.
Unfortunately, as I turned on the news, there was a story about a local man being shot after standing in front of another person, right outside of a bar, and about an accident on 9th avenue, and I changed the channel. This world certainly didn’t cover things up much, did they? Well, I supposed that was a good thing. I hated having to see all of this, though, all this pain. All of these people going through so much. I knew I wasn’t alone in the pain that I felt, in the experiences I had, and I wished I could do more. Kainni moved closer to me again, as I aimlessly flipped through the channels.
There was no way to run from your problems, not without them coming back to haunt you, to consume you, until you either faced them, or succumbed to their power. And I realized now, nobody could do that alone...
She reminded me that I was not alone. And in this not so foreign land, we were all we had to remind us of who we once were. We gave each other the power to become someone different.
Positively, for once.
Kainni placed her hand over mine on the remote, turning off the television.
“We don’t need this,” she whispered.
“Yeah, we don’t,” I replied, just as quietly.
The house seemed a little mellower at that moment, less tense than earlier, with the TV off, and only the dimmed kitchen light on. She was staring into my eyes, asking me something again. I didn’t know what she wanted, but then she moved closer. Still, I did not know how to respond, or, I didn’t want to respond the way she wanted me to. Quickly, a blush on her cheeks, she pulled away again.
“Um... why don’t we talk some more?” she said, her voice back at its typical volume.
“Sure,” I replied. I put my arm around her waist, and faced her. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Anything, really... why don’t you talk, Troy? You’ve hardly spoken all day...”
I swallowed. What was there to say from me? I wasn’t very interesting. And no one in their right mind would actually want to hear my life story, nor did I want to tell it now. I hoped I wouldn’t have to. How did one have a normal conversation? It was awkward for me, trying to talk. I’d always been this way.
As if it were her cue, Kainni picked up for me.
“Why don’t I ask you some questions or something? And you have to give honest answers.”
Maybe not what I was looking for, having always been the listener, and the silenced, but I had to start somewhere.
“Alright,” I said, attempting to sound confident.
“Hmmm...” Kainni tapped her chin as she thought of what she’d like to inquire of me. I was beginning to get nervous.
“I’ll start easy. What’s your favorite color?”
Oddly enough, I’d never really given much thought to this question. I couldn’t say black, or blue, and especially not red...
“White,” I replied.
“Why is that?” she asked me.
This was slightly frustrating.
“How do you answer ‘why’ to your favorite color?”
“I don’t know, you must have a reason for it...”
“I don’t like the other colors. So therefore, I like white.”
Kainni rolled her eyes. “Alright then. What was your favorite book series when you were younger?”
“I’m not sure. I read a lot of things...”
“What did you like the best?”
“I can’t pick a favorite. So, what was your favorite book series when you were younger?” I retorted.
“Hey, I’M asking the questions, not you.”
There was an aggressive, strange noise coming from the counter, Terra’s cellular phone moving around with each injection of noise.
Hurriedly, Terra emerged from her room, picking up the phone in a loud whisper. “Hello?”
Kainni and I were forced into quiet, as we leaned down, each of us eavesdropping.
“Dangit Shane, then why don’t you call frickin’ 911, not my frickin’ phone?!... I’m sorry... no, you can’t come over here... Shane, what is wrong with you?!... Yeah, I noticed... you ditched the place cuz you didn’t want to get talked to by the police?... if you were a witness, you can’t avoid them, that’s a big situation, even if you’re... Shane? Shane, what’s that noise?... Shane?... no, no, no, d***it, no...”
She hung up the phone, digging in her mother’s purse until she pulled out a pair of jingly keys, glancing at us as she passed by.
“Get up, I know you two were listening, get up, we’ve gotta go somewhere.”
We nodded, pulling ourselves off of the couch and complying, pulling on our shoes and following her to her mother’s car. She strapped herself in, and we both climbed into the back, doing the same. As Terra pulled out of the driveway, her cell phone came out again, and she dialed that old emergency number.
“Y-Yeah... hi... my... my friend just called me; he was driving out on the highway, just past 9th avenue, a little ways from that bar... I think he was drunk... his phone got cut off, and it sounded really bad, I think he got into an accident... Oh... yeah... okay, thanks, bye...”
Terra hung up, swallowing, looking a lot less tough than she had been trying to be earlier. Her breathing was shaky, raspy as she drove to where she’d been looking for. There had been so much going on tonight, and now we were intrinsically part of it. And I wanted nothing to do with it. I could see all the terror, pain, and fear running through Terra’s face as she drove.
She was either driving too fast or too slow, as she made her way to the highway, passing by the other accident scene of the night, which had already been cleared, leaving all but the shells of damaged cars and orange cones.
A witness. He’d been a little bit closer to the bar... he had been there during that shooting. And he’d been running, so the police wouldn’t question him, because he was too young to be there and consuming.
When she got onto the highway, there were flashing lights, red, blue, red blue, easily capable of temporarily blinding someone. Terra had already almost lost control herself, as tears had began to stream, uncontrolled, down her cheeks, as we came upon the scene.
She was shaking as she left the car, her door remaining ajar as she made her way toward everyone.
The car was a mess, the windshield cracked, the windows all broken, the doors had their metal smashed in a little, the top even a slight bit crumpled. It appeared that they'd already removed the passenger from the vehicle, because he was not to be seen among it.
Another car was against the barrier separating the middle of the highway from the other segment, looking a little bent up, but somehow, nowhere near as bad as this one.
I tried to look away from this, tried to bury it away in my head, as it matched up images of how horrible this world used to be, and was, right now. And still was, in the future. Kainni looked just as horrified I was, and she took my hand, coming closer to me, as if for protection, and pressed herself against me, trembling. I put my arms around her, holding her closely, never wanting this to happen to her...
Somehow, I felt moved, as I did this, to whisper in my head, to say that those affected would be safe, a prayer, hoping the God my mother always thought was listening truly did, that everyone would be okay. I don't know why I did this, but it seemed like a desperate enough time.
"Ma'am, you're going to have to return to your vehicle right now... come along now," came a voice with a strange drawl, who didn't seem to be panicking, perhaps toughened by seeing such things a lot. Too much.
"N-No, no... I... I... I have t-to go w-with him... he..."
"You can drive to the hospital, miss. It's alright. Calm down now, everything's going to be okay."
Terra shook her head, her body now racked with sobs. I couldn't have seen Shane as they'd put him onto the ambulance, I saw the stretcher, but I couldn't see anything well.
Except for the red, even the tiny specks. That alone was worth concern.
"Come on, now..."
The officer led Terra to the car, not questioning her at all, before returning to the sight, and his own vehicle, as a tow truck arrived for the beat-up cars on the highway.
As the scene was cleared, they asked Terra to leave. She could hardly breathe at that moment, when they'd asked one of us if we could take her home, or something. Why they were not questioning us, was probably a matter of their distractions. Tonight was a busy, miserable night.
Kainni stepped up, though all she could drive was a hover-car, and this was not at all like the vehicles we were used to. Yet she managed, pulling herself into the driver's seat, as Terra moved to the passenger side, and as she started down the highway, she spoke.
"D-Don't go... h-home... go to the hospital."
"Terra, I think..."
"Go to the d*** hospital, d***it!" she shouted through her tears. Kainni took in a deep breath and drove as well as she could in the direction of the hospital, following the instructions that were road signs, and a few mumbled directions that Terra could manage to give.
We eventually arrived, the ambulance having pulled in only minutes before us. Parking had been a difficulty, yet impressively, Kainni had managed.
I had no idea how she could keep a clear head in a situation like this. Terra stumbled from the car, running blindly through the parking lot into the doors of the ER, as we feebly followed.
"H-How did you do that, Kainni?" I whispered, my voice slightly scratchy from the silence and the tension.
"I don't know... I really don't know," she said. Her hand was grasping mine again, tighter than ever, as we entered the waiting room.
Terra was shouting at the attendant.
"I have to see him, right now! Let me in there!"
"I'm sorry, but he just got here and you're not family and..."
"Let me in. Please!" she begged now.
"I... I can't do that right now..."
"He's going to die, isn't he? Isn't he?! Let me in! Let me in..."
At this point, she broke down again. She couldn't speak any louder again, sobbing uncontrollably. We stood there, not knowing what to do, as the woman at the desk did the same.
Kainni came to her side, enveloping her in an embrace, and I followed. This was all we could do for now...
"Terra! Oh dear Lord, Terra, we thought... Terra..."
Her mother, and another figure, presumably her father, entered the room. We pulled away from her, letting her parents have their turn.
"Don't ever do that again... don't EVER do that again... you scared us so much..." she said, holding her tightly, not giving much room for her father to do the same, though he managed.
I shakily sat down, Kainni following suit, and we stayed close to one another. I couldn't believe how much had happened today.
How terribly today was ending.
Eventually, Terra calmed down, her father speaking to her quietly, as her mother sat with her arm around her, having run out of words to say. It was as calm as it could be in this situation, silence consuming more as time when along.
However, at one point, he'd taken her out of the main room, taking her around the corner to speak to her. And we heard Terra's voice rise.
"After all I've been through tonight, and you ask me if I want to go to church with you tomorrow?! How can YOU even do that?!"
"Terra..." he said quietly. "I was just wondering, and it could help..."
"No, no, it couldn't help. It never helps, God never helps, if He really loved me, He wouldn't be screwing up my life like this."
Her anger faded with her next sentence, her voice changing like she had begun to cry again.
"You don't know what it's like, Dad... I lost two of my best friends, may as well have lost the third. He's all I have left. We're all we have left, I can't... I can't live... without..."
"Terra... shhh, Terra... it's alright. You still have us, Terra... you're not alone," he murmured, seeming to leave out the point he knew she wouldn't listen to, though it was like he was praying it the whole time I knew he was holding her.
I could hear her crying again, and I could feel tears developing in my own eyes. I'd tried to keep them back this entire night, but it was like emotional overload had come swept through our day today. And that pain, the so tangible pain that was eminating from this family and maybe even Shane and his family, the others in this anxious, depressing waiting room, had cracked my heart a bit.
Kainni put her arms around my shoulders, keeping me nearer to her.
"It's going to be alright," she whispered. "It's okay... d-don't worry about crying... it's okay..."
I could hear the tears coming to her voice as well. I held her as well. "I'm s-sorry..." I whispered back to her, releasing the tears from my eyes, as she did the same. I never liked to cry. I was always told it was weak, pathetic, girlish, stupid, pointless... but I could never harden myself enough to make it stop from happening. Especially at times like this.
Terra's mother sat silent, her head in her hands, tears running down her face that she simply would not show to anyone. It looked, however, like she was used to feeling, looking like this.
As a nurse started into the waiting room, another person stepped in. He had shaggy, yet short, brownish hair that looked to be slightly graying, and very unkempt man entered before she arrived. He looked distinctly like someone we'd met, and Kainni seemed to recognize him as he came inside.
She immediately came to our group, as Terra and her father filed back in after the man. Terra’s father shot a glance at the man that I didn't understand, and then I knew.
"Hello. Nice of you to show up," he said to him, with acidity. Terra glared at him through her puffy eyes, seeming to tense up more, but not in the way of hysterics; rather, in anger, a blossoming rage.
"Is this the Trenton family?" the nurse asked.
Terra nodded, and Kainni and I did the same. Her parents looked undecided.
"I'm Mitch Trenton, Shane's father," the man said, his low voice ragged, as he cleared his throat. The nurse eyed us strangely, probably wondering who the other adults were if they were not relatives, but it didn’t seem to register as much of a problem.
“Well, it seems Shane’s condition is stabilized, but he won’t be able to take any visitors right now, although the police are speaking to him_”
“Wait, the police? Why are they talking to him, what’s going on?” said Mitch, looking one more level displeased and slightly defensive.
“Calm down, Mr. Trenton, everything’s going to be alright... Shane was a witness of... a crime... tonight, and they’d like to see if he could give them any information,” the nurse attempted to explain, without going into great detail, seemingly surprised that he hadn’t heard about this event yet. I felt a slight pang within me, remembering the news, and how we’d all been just before this man had come in. How he’d suddenly changed the demeanor of the ones around me.

Kainni

The moment he stepped in, my first thought was similar to the venomous tone of the words Terra’s father had uttered. I didn’t like him at all. How dare he even show up. And he may be Shane’s father, but it didn’t seem he acted like it. It could have been him in there, easily. Part of me wished it had been. He certainly had contributed to this situation, whether it had been acknowledged or not.
A pair of officers, a male and a female, walked out of the hall, looking serious like the ones that had been out at the accident. The nurse came over to them, and they spoke in low voices as she nodded, before making their exit.
These officers were nothing like the ones in the future, the ones who sometimes roamed cities, with mechanically changing expressions, sometimes too happy, other times blank, as they followed the commands of the one who sent them to destroy the public rather than help.
I shuddered as I shoved the thought away, when the nurse returned to us.
“May I speak with you, Mr. Trenton, for a moment?” she said, suggesting that they would speak in private, once again, not far enough for us not to hear. We were the only ones listening, as the other distraught families and individuals thought over the ones they were there for.
I noticed a couple of sleeping children and their mother sitting there, staring at the floor, trying to stay strong for her little boy and his younger sister. She held them close, rubbing their backs, as they shared a chair, leaning against her in half-sleep.
“Yeah, and...? What am I supposed to do about it?”
The nurse turned her back from him, walking out of the hall a ways, trying to get away from Mr. Trenton, pulling out her strange radio-item, calling for someone to come to her assistance. The officers soon returned to Mr. Trenton.
She approached us once more.
“You are also Shane’s family, correct?” she said.
I swallowed. Terra nodded, vehemently.
Her mother shook her head.
“No, no, I’m sorry... we... we aren’t really related to him...” she started, her voice still timid and wispy as she spoke, recovering from her earlier tears and never from her constant fatigue.
“But we’re very close to him,” her father stepped in, glancing at his wife questioningly. “If there’s anything going on right now...”
“Do you know of any other relatives of his? His mother, a grandparent, any aunts, uncles, cousins?” she asked us. They had to shake their heads, collectively.
In the corner of my eye, I saw the mother glance over at us, as another nurse approached her, giving the prognosis of whom she was waiting for.
A teenage daughter, her father, both injured in a car accident on the highway. The other car, slammed into the middle barrier.
I tried to bring my attention back to our side, as Terra told the story of his mother.
“She left, almost ten years ago,” she said, her gaze not leaving the officers by the door, as the officers struggled to keep him from physically acting out his defenses.
The nurse nodded, sighing, beginning to see the probable near-futility of this situation. A doctor then approached us, looking a little worn out from a most likely long day of work.
“Trenton family, right?” he said.
“No, just... friends,” the nurse replied, though he’d been aiming his words at us.
“But yeah, we’re Shane’s family,” Terra defended. Her mother seemed to protest, but her father kept silent.
“We may not be related, but we still are,” she said, doing something most might consider ruining her earlier statement, though still seemed to fit.
Knowing what I did of her, I could see she was desperate, I could see she was not at all satisfied with her life, and her family seemed not to be so well-kept either, but they were still somehow glued together. And I could see, that when Shane’s family failed him, Terra was there. Though they often failed each other, and sometimes tried to make it up, they still came back together, even when it wasn’t the same. Like their torn photograph in her bedroom. No matter how many times it got torn apart, scarred, ripped, broken, it still managed to hold together.
Though not all they did was good for them, or even right, that was somewhat admirable. One day, they would be able to come together right again, I somehow knew that it would come.
“Alright... well, I suppose he could have one visitor for now. But he needs to be getting his rest, if he’s going to make a full recovery.”
And again, Terra stood without a word. The doctor and the nurse led her past Shane’s excuse of a dad and down the hall.
“Where is she going? Where is she_, d---it, he’s my son, at least let me see him!” he shouted, tearing himself from the officers, who trailed after him. Terra shot a glare at him as he passed her and the doctor by.
“Sir, if you would just calm down, we’ll take you there, alright? Sorry miss,” said the male officer as they led him into Shane’s room, forcing Terra to stand aside, as the pair and the doctor followed Shane’s father inside. She stared at the floor, sulking, glaring, and fearing all at the same time.
I would never, never, want this to happen to anyone, especially Troy. Troy. I don’t know what I’d do if this ever happened to him. I squeezed his hand, as I noticed motions out of the corner of my eye again.
The mother received some news of those she was waiting on. The doctor speaking to her did not seem horribly grim, though it still didn’t look like things were as good as they would have hoped. Gently, she woke her children, and the trio followed the doctor to the rest of their family.
“Cori, I could take them for a few days... I’m sure Terra will want to stay closer to the hospital for a while. It’s alright with me,” I heard Terra’s father say, having begun to hear their conversation. I guess it wasn’t going too well for her mom, having us there. It seemed we were a burden on this already well-stressed woman. And it didn’t even seem like Terra had told her our supposed reason why were there. It must have been a lot for her to let us stay one night without knowing why, to let us stay at all.
“No, Matt, you don’t have to... I... I can handle them a couple more days, at least until they need to go home,” she replied.
“Honey, you seem tired. Have you been sleeping well the past few nights?”
They paused, as she shook her head, still leaning over like she had been earlier, almost half-asleep already.
“Don’t worry about it, I can take them,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and then rubbing her back gently, as she sat up, leaning into him. I wondered why they weren’t... together... anymore, but I would never ask. We may be a burden, I thought, though it was a little out of taste to talk about us while we were sitting right there and acting as if we couldn’t hear them...
“Do you two mind staying over somewhere else for tonight or so? We’re sorry to uproot you again,” said Mr. Sawyer, who, although he’d been just communicating with his wife over us, seemed to be more sympathetic. He wanted to take us in. I knew her mother probably hadn’t wanted us there. Though, last night and today, it had seemed like Terra was caring for us the most. She’d been the one to open up the house, the one who’d rescued Troy from the ditch, and the one who gave in to taking another guest.
Another two guests. I felt my stomach tie in knots at the thought of the other. I hadn’t liked him at first, I had found him quite annoying, but as soon as we arrived at Terra’s, I knew I was going to have to find some amount of tolerance for him. I hated how he acted, and I couldn’t ignore his behavior, but after I’d seen his own home, the tiny glimpse I’d had, I knew there was more to him than I’d first given him credit.
His father walked down the hall as the doctor let Terra inside, looking thoroughly sobered from his earlier mood, his lips pressed together thoughtfully, as he allowed himself to leave with the officers. He’d been found out, and somehow that brief meeting with Shane had made him willing to own up, at least a little bit.
I leaned back, closing my eyes for a moment, yawning. It was another late night for us, and I knew all the rest I’d gotten were those five and half hours this morning.
“Cori,” Terra’s father whispered to Terra’s mother. “Maybe you should head home now... you can talk to Terra in the morning.”
She nodded, tiredly, and he came to her side, helping her stand. It looked like she was tired, much more than even earlier that day. Her husband or ex-husband aided her to the door, his expression for a moment just as tired as hers, and a look of helplessness in his eyes as she trudged away lethargically.
Terra soon returned to the waiting room, wiping tears from her face again as she arrived. She didn’t take a seat, sniffling, as she stared at the floor, thinking. “He...he’s going to be okay,” she announced hoarsely. Her father nodded, putting his arm around her shoulders.
“I guess we should be heading back now,” he said, directing his words at the three of us. Troy and I stood, almost simultaneously, and followed father and daughter to the car.
The ride to Terra’s father’s house was a blur, with Troy and me dozing off, in and out of consciousness. I heard Troy whisper as we finally got there.
“We’re here,” he murmured, rubbing circles with his thumb in the palm of my hand. I opened my eyes slowly, and sighed, letting go of his hand for the moments it took for us to exit the car.
I couldn’t pay much attention to the house as I tiredly walked inside, next to Troy, being led absently by Terra to the guest bedroom. She mentioned something about going back tomorrow to get our stuff from her house, but I hardly heard her as I crashed onto the new guest bed, ready and willing to put away tonight and sleep dreamlessly, yet preferring to get lost in wherever my mind would take me over this grim reality...
My hooded enemy suddenly stood up from the ground, the blood on his clothes suddenly dispersing, disappearing. The hood came down, and revealing who he was. I stood there, shocked in this nightmare, the surroundings spinning rapidly again, with us hanging in the balance, completely unaffected. The force behind me shoved me to the ground where my weapon and the dagger now lay, demanding me to pick up my sword...
“Pick up the sword,” it said into my ear, a voice so easy to follow, and so easy to hate. Yet I followed his command, and Troy mirrored my actions, picking up his sword as well.
As we began to duel again, another layer came into the strange dimension, shouts and screams and scenes reflected where the world had been spinning. We were moving in slow motion, slashing and lunging in circles, as I saw images of people he knew, people I knew, flashing on the world around us, fading and blurring as new images appeared.
My mother, my father. Alexander and Troy’s mother. Friends I hadn’t seen in years, people I vaguely remembered knowing. They jumped out of the surroundings and formed a crowd around us, shouting and stealing my attention. I did not have the time to react, when I heard the force’s voice scream at Troy, who came forward, slashing my cheek. I felt a sharp, sudden pain, and I reflectively touched my cheek. That pain lasted only a moment, before I felt an unbelievable rage as my blood dripped through my fingers. I fought like a madwoman, no longer using a strategy, moving swiftly and wildly, only attempting to bring my opponent back to the ground.
He fought back, still managing to win, before pressing his sword up against mine, and as they were pressed against each other, I was sure one of us would lose grip, as we stared. The crowd shouted louder, but the voices were drowned out, and we stood there, frozen in this position, as the force’s dark voice told us to strike.
Someone else in the crowd yelled for us not to. Told us to drop our weapons and make our peace. This voice, soft, yet clear, and melodic, belonged to a woman. We breathed harder, as our weapons slid across each other, and the crowd’s collective voice shrieked out again. The sound of them grew in and out with our every move. The woman’s voice remained in my head, however, matching the conscience inside of me. But I ignored it, once again working with a strategy, one goal in my mind—to win.