One Step Behind

Chapter 10~ Kyle

Everything is happening too fast. First, they found some of Alexis' stuff, then they think they found her blood, and now Shay is having problems. There's so much going on and I don't know how to deal with it all. 

I'm on my way to Dani's house. She had called me about Shay, and I knew I could help her. 

Ten minutes or so after I leave my house, I'm there. I get nervous as I walk up to the door, but I take a deep breath, and then knock. 

"Come in, she's in the kitchen" Dani says as she opens the door. I follow her through her living room. I look around at all the photos, there has to be about a hundred in there. There's a few of Dani's step sister and her step mom, a lot of her step mom and dad, some of her step mom, dad, and sister, but there are only two I notice with Dani in it. One is of Dani and her dad. The other one is Dani, her brother Jimmy, and her sister Ari. 

We get into the kitchen, and I see Shay sitting on a bar stool. Her long hair is wet and is blocking the view of her face as she looks down at the ground.

"Shay?" I say her name in a soft voice, but loud enough that it makes her look up at me. 

"Shay, can you stand up so I can show Kyle what you did to yourself?" Dani asks, and Shay does as Dani tells her to.

Dani shows me the cuts on her arms, which I'm guessing Shay did after the bruises, which I have no idea how she got and I'm pretty sure it wasn't from someone else. Then, she shows me the burns which Dani says Shay told her that Shay turned on a pan and placed her wrists on it once it was hot. 

After Dani shows me all the injuries, I hold Shay in my arms. She sniffles a little, but doens't cry.

"Where'd you get the bruises?" I ask her, still holding onto her.

"My mom" she answers.

"Mom, I'm heading out!" Shay says, walking out of her bedroom, and into the kitchen. She sees her mom and some guy whose lips were synced together. 

"What are you doing here?" She snaps, and points at her. Shay can tell she's drunk, so she runs to her bedroom, but her mom tackles her.

"Oww" Shay cries in pain, and then her mom tries to slap her face but ends up hitting her arm. Shay laughs on accident, and her mom begins hitting her arms and legs, probably thinking it is her stomach or face. 

Shay began to cry on the floor. Her mother and the guy leave the house. Once they're gone, she crawls to the kitchen, grabs a knife, and begins to cut herself. Shay begins to cry again. Once she finally has enough strength she burns her wrists. After cleaning up her wounds as much as possible, she heads to Dani's.

Shay tells me all about it, and it's weird how she tells it. She doesn't seem sad, or angry, she tells it emotionless, almost like it didn't happen.

"Shay, I'm going to try to find a group therapy you can go to and I will go there with you the first time or the first couple times if you would like, okay?" I say, but Shay doesn't say anything else.

"Woah, what happened to her?" A hoarse voice says, coughing, and laughing at the same time.

"Lilian shut up and go away" Dani says, not even looking at Lillian. 

"Oooh she looks rough. Did you and daddy get into a fight? You sure made him mad" Lillian jokes.

"Shut up, and go back to your room" Dani snaps.

"My dad's gone" Shay whispers.

"Oooh, he hit you so bad he disappeared? Yikes" Lillian says.

"LILLIAN!" Dani shouts. Shay, Dani, and I are all still facing the opposite way. 

"He left awhile ago" Shay mumbles.

"So who hit you? Was it your boyfriend? Did you cheat on Kyle?" Lillian asks.

"We're not dating" Shay answers.

"Shay you don't have to reply to her" I mumble.

"Well, who was it then?" Lillian asks.

"My mom" she answers.

"LILLIAN LEAVE NOW!" Dani shouts. We all turn around, and behind Lillian, we see three police officers, and then a minute later, they're heading towards their cars, probably to go get Shay's mom.