#muffled cries

Whether overcome by unendurable pain so they can't help but moan; gritting their teeth against a scream that forces its way past clenched lips while enduring painful wound-tending; too concussed or drugged to retain awareness of the need for stealth despite frequent reminders; or so lost in feverish delirium they mumble and whimper and cry out at things that aren't even there;

Forcing their companions to desperately try to quiet them, clapping a hand over their mouth, pressing their face to their chest and muffling their cries against their shirt, frantically shushing and soothing them with hands made clumsy by panic, whispering urgently into their ear in a fervent attempt to calm them,

The water was freezing, and yet, Summer was there. Her name meant something warm, a place in time when people feel  hot, and with an urge to enjoy things faster than the usual slow pace of routine. Summer made Stella’s blood boil, and her lips were so well shaped she looked like a painting they saw on art class that day.

She woke up.

The room was cold. Her warm teenage memories at the beach fade out with the aggressive chilling colors of the room. She had the instinct to look for her diary but she remembered that Paul violated even her memories. The ocean was blood red now.

“There’s a room where you can sleep here. This sofa is quite uncomfortable” Reed said looking over the computer. Guilty hovering her eyes. She called Stella. Again.

“I’m fine…” Stella answered sitting down and rubbing her face. “I’ve slept in the office for days…”

“I’m almost done” She answered anyway. “We can have a drink somewhere…”

Stella simply nodded to Reed’s uncertain eyes. She was tired of leading. She wanted the path to present itself.

So much blue in a room. Her eyes were still yellow. 

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Stella was waiting on the parking lot. Ever since she saw that footage of Paul in her bedroom she had the impression she was being watched. She looked up at the sky and wished for a cigarette. The smoke always manage to hide fugitive things and stars.

Reed stood by her side and watched the sky too.

“My youngest one told me today she wants to be an astronaut. She’s right about leaving this earth. I guess nobody as a child thinks about being a pathologist” she chuckled. Stella brushed aside smile.

“I wanted to be a mermaid” Stella answered and Reed couldn’t help of being surprised.

She got on her motorcycle and offered a helmet to Stella.

“I’m going to take you to your hotel” Reed said in a serious and determined way.

“I drove” Stella answered looking at the car.

“We can pick it up in the morming” she answered offering the helmet again.  Stella accepted and sat behind Reed in the motorcycle. Reed  pulled her legs a little closer and Stella could smell the scent of her hair.