#flashback: 003

“The night goes on as I’m fading away.”

Everything had gone pitch black suddenly. Every light in the arena had turned off and all she could hear were the yelps and screams of people around her running here and there or something.

It was then that she felt it. The cool press against her neck like the blade of a skate or something had clipped her. A second later she knew something like that had happened when a moist wetness hit her fingertips. It had been only a second later that the blood had begun to pour over her fingers and her breathing had become more and more difficult. She couldn’t scream, she couldn’t talk… it was sheer terror.

Her hands shook as she clasped her hands to her neck, trying everything to stop the blood in the dark. This was it, this was going to be the end of all of it, at the skating rink that she hadn’t wanted to be at to begin with.

“Oh shit”

          The voice. Hearing Eliot’s voice as a bright light, a cell phone light, splashed into her face she blinked a couple of times. Focusing on him and the sheet white he’d become the second he’d spotted her.

          It hadn’t taken long for him to take off the white sweatshirt he’d had on and to press it to her, applying as much pressure to her throat without cutting off her air supply as he could manage as he dropped his phone onto the cold ice, the flashlight splaying her surroundings with light.

“Come on Bruiser, stay awake for me”

          He whispered to her as she clutched onto his arm.

          It was only then that she’d noticed it, the way the crimson danced against the ice. There was blood draining from her in droves. Her hazel eyes locked with his bright blue, holding a silent conversation that she was not to fall asleep, she wasn’t to slip away, she wasn’t to anything that even remotely seemed as if she were giving up on him.

“Someone called 911 Atlee, they’re on their way, just stay with me okay?”

          He held her tight, the white sweatshirt now damp with the likes of her blood. It wasn’t the first time he’d walked in on her a bloody mess, though it had never been from an inflicted wound in her throat before.

          It was only then that she’d noticed that other cell phone lights were popping on, or they’d already been on, she wasn’t sure, she couldn’t remember or focus well enough to recount anything. But there were others awake and tending to people, there were others hurt. What the hell had happened? Why didn’t she know what had gone on?

          Her eyes were getting heavy, oh so heavy.

“Come on my love, do not close those eyes on me Atlee. Don’t you dare do that, do you understand me?”

          His voice growled into her ear as she felt him apply a little more pressure, jarring her to open her eyes more.

          She attempted to focus then, to look around. Where were their friends? Where was Evelyn in all of this and why wasn’t he with her? She was probably shaking from shock in a corner and here he was taking care of an old ex girlfriend instead.

          Only, when she looked around she saw it. Evelyn wasn’t too far away, her hand was outreached in Eliot’s direction, her eyes wide while the blood pooled her lower body, an artery had to have been slashed in her leg from whatever had gotten Atlee herself.

“Eliot... Eliot… help”

          Her ears zeroed in on Evelyn’s begging from only a few feet away. She needed to block it out, she needed to focus on what was going on in front of her, no matter how awful that may have made her sound. She didn’t want to die, she wasn’t ready for that just yet.

“I’m not leaving you”

          Eliot whispered into her ear, he’d heard it too, he’d seen it and yet Atlee could tell that he had no intention of letting up on his grip of stopping the blood in her neck to go and take care of his fiancé. He’d made a decision and that was final.

          She knew what this meant, what this was going to mean once the EMTs and cops arrived.  Eliot’s relationship was going to be over and she was going to have a load of explaining to do to Abby and Noah about all of it. That would mean drudging up histories and everything else that neither she nor Eliot were going to want to go.

          The thoughts were making her more tired and her eyes were daring to shut again. Blinking slowly she fought it, trying her best to stay awake as sleep tried so hard to overtake her. All she wanted to do was close her eyes, it was becoming harder and harder to find the will to stay awake.

“You did not take my daughter’s life to die on me, do you hear me Atlee? Fuck you and wake up right now.”

          His daughter. Her eyes fluttered open again and if she could have managed it her hazel eyes probably would have lowered to a glare at him for even bringing that day up. It was bad enough he’d named his bar that date, something he’d been cryptic to everyone about why, stating that it had been the numbers of his first bank account or something along those lines. She’d been to angry with him to care about the bullshit story he fed everyone.  

“That got to you didn’t it? Good”

          He pressed a kiss to her forehead, proud of himself for making her angry enough to stay awake for him.

          She dared to glance over in Evelyn’s direction but as she turned her eyes that way the darkness crept up and took a hold of her before she could even hear another word uttered, Eliot’s grip was suddenly gone and all she could feel was the light darkness that had enveloped her.

“Did you ever know that you’re my hero”

She’d been gone for two weeks now.

Allison Rochester hadn’t even said goodbye this time. Instead, in the middle of the night while Waverly had been fast asleep her mother had simply left. There was no other way to put it. The woman had taken off without saying goodbye leaving her seven year old and fourteen year older wondering where she’d gone this time.

Quincy was used to it. She could tell in his every movement that he didn’t mind it when mother disappeared in the wind. It was freeing to him not to have to deal with her screaming at Langston.

Waverly on the other hand couldn’t help but wondering what she’d done wrong, why once again their mother had taken off. She tried not to fight with her, to remember to brush her teeth and to always find her way to bed on time. She’d vowed after the last time mother had left that she’d do all of those things. Hoping that she’d stay was something that Waverly had hoped for every night.

Her canopy bed seemed to be eating her alive tonight. There were shadows on the wall that could have been monsters for all she knew. The only thing that Wave wanted was to be able to cuddle up to her mother, for the woman to tell her that everything was all right and that there wasn’t anything to worry about. But that, as usual, wasn’t anything that the tiny child could depend on.

A knock sounded at her door, making Waverly jump.

“W—who’s there?”

           She called into the darkness, hoping that it wasn’t one of the monsters coming in. She had nothing to bargain if it were.

“I had a feeling you were awake.”

           Quincy’s voice broke through her fears and she pulled the heavy down blanket away from her face. Her brother’s tall figure stood in the doorway. Finally, she let out the breath she’d been holding, she was saved from the monster this time.

“You’re thinking about mama aren’t you?”

           Waverly nodded her head, a sad ping filling her eyes.

           Quincy made his way further into the pink room and Waverly scooted over for her older brother as the mattress caved to his weight. He was the kind of big brother that any kid probably would have dreamed for. Despite their seven-year age gap, Quincy was her best friend.  He was both her protector and her defender – her idol.

“Do you think she’s going to come back Q?”

           Quiet filled the room. She knew she shouldn’t have asked.

“I’m sure she’s going to come back Wave, she couldn’t leave you.”

           Silence filled the room then. They both knew that wasn’t exactly true, but Quincy always tried to make things sound so much better than they were. He’d always been doing that.

           Nestling closer to her brother, Waverly put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. At least even with her mother gone she had her brother and Langston to take care of her. They always made sure she was tucked in at night and that her nanny Lucinda made her PB&Js the right way. There wasn’t much more that she could ask of them.

“Can you stay till I fall asleep?”

           Quincy gave out a laugh and Waverly knew what he was going to say before he’d even opened his mouth to say it.

“You really think I would leave you? The monsters might eat you if I did”

           Waverly straightened herself up then, she flicked her big eyes up at her big brother and mustered up the strongest voice that she could find within her to respond to him.

“Don’t be silly Quincy, I know there’s no such thing as monsters. Those are just stories you tell babies so that they don’t get out of their beds in the middle of the night.”

           Not that she believed that. She saw the shadows that lurked in the corners, she listened to the sounds that came from behind the shut doors. Monsters were everywhere! She was lucky they hadn’t made their bid to eat her yet. She just couldn’t let on that she knew they were there or they’d be sure to eat her up faster.

“Go to sleep princess. I’ll make sure to watch out and keep them all away from you.”

           And that promise from Q was something she knew she could believe. Waverly believed everything that Quincy or B told her.