The Churning Wake

Chapter Ten - Then

I was back where I was the minute Miss Winter fell. Everyone around me faded out and I reached for Cole's hand, but it was gone. The shooter's eyes locked with mine and he raised his gun. I screamed and fell. My vision was flickering between two images, like a broken television screen. One second I would see the shooter standing there, with Miss Winter at his feet; and the next I'd see the detective, my vision adding Miss Winter's body.

Leo's hand found mine, and I tried to stand, but my legs felt like jelly, squishing beneath me and making it absolutely impossible to stand. Mom was there, her strong arms wrapped around my torso, lifting me to my feet. She held me up and I put my hand on a desk for support. She removed Beanie from my chest and held her close. Protecting her from me?

I looked to my hand and I saw Derik, slumped forward on the desk, blood draining from his face and dripping from the desktop onto the floor. I screamed again and withdrew my hand, as if burned. My hand was covered in fresh red blood, and I could feel it sliding down my wrist and into my shirt sleeve.

"What's wrong? Honey, Brianna, what's wrong? I can't help you unless you tell me!" Mom repeated as I shook my hand, trying to shake Derik's blood from my hands. I waved them around increasingly quickly, because the blood stuck. My mom grabbed my hands, holding them firmly, "Brianna!"

Leo pushed her aside and grabbed my hand again. "No!" I yelled, as the blood spread to his hands. He didn't seem to notice, but he dropped my hand anyway. "Let go!" I whimpered. "Please."

"Okay," Leo whispered. "Manita, you have to calm down. You're safe. You're okay."

"I'm not okay!" I held my hand in front of his face, "Do you see this?" Then my voice dropped and became softer, "I don't want it to get on you."

"There's nothing there." Leo's brow furrowed. "Bri, there's absolutely nothing on your hands."

"No, there is!" I swiped my finger across his cheek, leaving behind a fresh smear of Derik's blood. "Can't you see it?!"

Leo shook his head, "It's not real."

"She's crazy!" The detective shouted. "She's not sane!"

"It's right here!" I cried out, falling again. "It's real, it's real." Tears were running down my face, and I didn't want to stop them. I got up and ran from the room, the tears leaving a sporadic trail on the floor behind me. I ran to the bathroom and slammed myself into the handicap stall. I sat against the wall, crying. I heard the bathroom door open, and close, then two hushed voices.

"In here?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Calla answered. "I'm pretty sure."

I heard stall doors slamming as Calla opened them, checking for me. Leo opened my door and poked his head in. "Go away!"

He sighed, "Brianna..."

"I'm not crazy!" I moaned.

"I know you're not crazy, Bri." He slipped inside the stall, leaving the door ajar. "I never said you were." He slid down the wall beside me, resting his cane against the railing above our heads. "Can you tell me about your hands?"

I looked down at where the blood was turning brown on my already-brown hands. "Can't you see it? The blood? It's all over my hands, Leo. It's going down my sleeves. It's all over my arms."

"No," Leo answered quietly. The bathroom door swung shut as Calla went into the hallway. He exhaled, "Can I help you get it off? Do you even want it off?"

Did I want it off? "I don't know. It doesn't usually go away for a long time."

"It's happened before?" Leo seemed surprised. "Bri, you gotta tell me so I can help you. You can't do this alone. I can't. We all can't do this alone."