SPASE

SPASE: CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Maddie hears the sirens blazing on their morning run. The air is cold, burning their nose with every inhale and the corn in the nearby fields is ready to be harvested. The sirens are distant, but turn louder and louder until their eardrums are in danger of bursting and the ambulances fly past them. The ambulances start to slow as they make a sharp left down Earley Street. Her street. Melissa's street. That's when their heart sinks into their chest. Melissa's house is the only house on that end of the street, and it is a dead end. There is nowhere else for the emergency vehicles to go but to her.

Maddie's bones turn to lead. They can't seem to run in her direction fast enough. Their town is small but spread out thin along the miles of corn and soybean fields. One or two houses reside within a four-mile distance of one another. Maddie comes to know the country of the town well. Maddie is on the cross country team at school, despite coming in last at just about every meet. They didn't call them "the sloth" for nothing. Maddie is always bullied, and constantly being torn in two by some joke or someone sticking pictures of hippos in their locker. Hell, they think cross will help them with that, but Maddie still appears with the same big tits and hanging belly. It doesn't matter if Maddie binds them. Everything turns to lead, heavy. It is taking them forever to get there.

As Maddie runs up to Melissa's house drenched in sweat, spit, and searching for a breath, their mind shifts to her.

Maddie thinks, "Did her drunk-ass dad pass out again? OD? What was it this time?"

But, Maddie doesn't see her anywhere.

Maddie's eyes dart back and forth, searching for her among the chaos of policemen, EMTs, sirens, and red and blue lights. Even though Maddie recently chopped off her long hair a while ago and traded it in for a pixie cut, their frizz-ball of a haircut plasters to their face. Maddie takes their hands and tries to wipe the little bangs they have away, but it doesn't do any good.

Maddie panics. "Fuck it. Where was she? I needed to see her!" Maddie attempts to press past the slew of emergency personnel outside of Melissa's house. Finally, they see a way to get in.

"Miss, I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but this is a crime scene! You can't go in there!" shouts a police officer, who stands there with his outstretched hand attempting to grab Maddie's shoulder.

Neglecting what the police officer says, Maddie swats the hand of the police officer off of their shoulder and pushes the EMT to the side to make a B-line for the front door.

"Mel! Melissa, where are you! Fuck, answer me!" Maddie screams. "Where are you?"

Stammering through Melissa's house, Maddie doesn't see her and the breath leaves them as if it is punched out of them. Their heart races when Maddie hears the jiggling of handcuffs and they turn around. Mel's dad, Jerry, holds his head low, staring at the ground, as the police escort him through the living room and out the front door. They continue to read him his Miranda rights. The house reeks of scotch and cigarettes. Maddie feels all of the blood rush to their head and flush their face. If he doesn't need the ambulance, who did?

Maddie runs to Melissa's room. Red stained the charcoal gray carpets and Maddie falls to their knees at the sight of it. Maddie wonders about the pink carpet in Melissa's closet.

"Did he find her there?" Maddie thinks. "Did he find her hiding place?"

Maddie's world spins. Police officers and EMTs crowd the house, taking samples and writing on documents, especially at the foot of her closet where she normally tries to hide when her dad becomes too drunk to reason. The paramedics are covered head to toe in blood. Fresh blood. Her blood. Maddie freezes in their tracks, cold. Their hands and feet tingle. Two men are pounding something. Counting off. Taking turns. Maddie stands in witness of it all, mouth open and tears streaming down their face. They can't make a sound.

"She's gone," a paramedic says out of breath.

Something from Maddie's gut surges up into their throat. Maddie runs and pushes back the cops and the EMTs, who back off of Melissa and collapses at her side. Maddie takes Melissa's face in their hands, pressing their forehead against hers. Blood continues to gush from Melissa's side from bullet wounds. Maddie presses their full body weight against hers to try to make it stop. The EMTs and the police officers stare, knowing there isn't anything to be done. Maddie's breath is gone. Melissa is gone. Maddie's heart is gone.

Without saying a word, a policeman grabs Maddie from behind their torso, making them come to a standing position, while they place Melissa's body on the stretcher. Maddie witnesses a male paramedic place the white sheet over her face as the officer holds them back. The policeman hushes Maddie to try to comfort them as he holds on to Maddie's squirming body for dear life. As they lifted Melissa's body, Maddie falls to the ground and their world becomes black again.