Glass [ENG]

8. The glass

Tons of dense mass around slowed all my movements. As if out of spite, everything else moved faster, more agile, and I, locked in an element stronger than me, was left on my own.

There was no air. Nowhere. I could see everything through the rough glass, distinguishing only the bright, eye-scratching colors. One in particular was flashing before my eyes.

Red.

A blatantly chaotic red.

"Let's go!" someone shouted in the distance, his voice bumping into the others.

A hand fell on my shoulder a moment later.

"We need to get out, Glass..." Britt started to pull on my arm, but then she stopped. She gasped in shock. "What happened here?!"

Although I was shaking involuntarily, and my breath was swirling unsteadily in my lungs, I was returning to the world around me. With my head stiff, as after a hundred years of stillness, I stared at the scarlet chaos. I felt my wandering eyes betrayed my inhuman confusion and dissociation. Too much evidence. Too much damage.

Too much of everything at once.

"Valentia, Yvette, get Tristan and Chucks out of here!" Kendrick's voice suddenly got closer and louder. "Britt, get some towels, anything," he added already with a normal tone, standing somewhere nearby.

"But-"

"Quick!"

He interrupted her, at which the girl abandoned the unnecessary discussion and quickly got away, letting go of my shoulder. That move made me swing slightly in the spot. I was slowly keeping up with what was going on. And there wasn't much time for that.

Kendrick's last words, spoken slowly and clearly, were probably directed at me.

"Keep your hands over the sink," and he reassured me by moving my body with his hand to the right of the sink so he could quickly pick up the pieces of glass on the left.

Then the nerves in my hands finally began to connect with consciousness, informing me of the pain. Harder and harder. The wounds stung, like millions of small needle pokes. The view in front of my eyes had thinned enough to make the long cuts with the blood spatter sicken me to the core. Just like the flow of red that was mixing with the water. I looked away.

Then I got dangerously dizzy. Time was ticking in my skull, blasting it with hated stress.

"There are towels!" Britt came running with the items.

"Give me one, wrap the other around her hands."

She did what the boy said when he wiped out any remaining stuff left of our presence. I was clenching my teeth when a girl accidentally pulled a piece of cloth. Everyone was nervous, and I still didn't understand why they were taking the risk anyway. Why were the police there? Why did everyone run like they were guilty of murder at the very least?

When Britt finished the makeshift bandage, and the blood had already seeped in some places, I heard a beeping sound already present in the background for a few minutes. They could have gotten there at any time. It was only a matter of seconds.

Britt, holding her beanie in place, ran first to the exit opposite to that leading into the hands of the police. Next was Kendrick, who, with a nervous sigh, pushed me forward.

"Try not to fall over." And he started running, with his hand locked on my back.

That was all it took for me to fight off the sticky lids and run along with him. The view swayed dangerously. Seconds were falling through fingers. Feet were hitting the blades of grass. Lungs were chasing the panic. The setting sun was dimly illuminating the precarious path. When we ran into the woods, we only managed to catch the fading sound of a police car. Any branches on the ground did not help in running. I was just straining my senses to keep my body from crashing to the ground at the speed I was forced to.

And it wasn't until another street appeared in front of us that we slowed down, but only a little bit, to apparently get into a green car with Britt behind the wheel. I was seated in the back while Kendrick sat in the passenger seat.

The car moved with a screech of tires, and whatever threat was hanging over us, it began to melt into thin air.

We escaped.

Britt laughed nervously.

"My before party went to-"

"Where are we going?" I asked blankly, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings. If it weren't for getting tired and running from the police, I would have thought before getting into a car with complete strangers.

And as you can see, it was not always possible to have a moment of contemplation between bleeding out and jumping through the branches.

"To my place," Britt replied, and then I noticed the traces of my dried blood on her hands holding the steering wheel. "I live within shouting distance, so we'll have time to freshen up just in time! No suspicion!" She smiled to me through the car mirror.

Then I raised my hands, wrapped in bloodstained material, raising a brow, and the girl lost her ardor, sighing.

"Right. That could be a problem." And she focused on the road, but when she got a message, at the first red light, she threw herself at the device. She decided to share. " 'Due to unforeseen circumstances, today's outdoor party will not be taking place!' Wonderful."

And by that time very little separated us from the girl's house or apartment. My eyelids drooped for a moment, but after a while I lifted them again, looking heavily out the window. I felt like I owed them something.

"Thank you. For what you're doing." My eyes closed again. "You don't have to..."

And I completely stopped, not remembering what I was supposed to say. I was sleepy. The seat was comfortable. Very. I didn't mind the heavy, wet mass on my thighs. I wanted to lie down along the backseat. I didn't know if it was a second or an hour. I could feel the car swinging. Or was it me? I was confused. My heart seemed to beat faster for no reason.

"Glass?" Kendrick's voice rang like a bell in the car, and it managed to open my eyes halfway. The car stopped. The boy looked at me with a frown, and then he looked at my hands. Then something washed his doubts away. "We got a bigger problem."

"What are you talking ab-" the girl turned in her chair and looked where he did, momentarily going stiff. "Oh, shoot."

I frowned, trying to shift my gaze from one person to the other, which was made impossible by the occasional dark spots popping before my eyes. My ears were ringing. What did they talk about? I didn't understand. I closed my eyes, beginning to worry about the darkness surrounding me. My head was stuck in an endless spiral.

"I'll go with her. You get to the others and explain everything. I'll be back soon," Kendrick said, accompanied by the sound of car doors opening.

After some time, the door opened again, someone got in and the car started moving again. Everything was spinning yet again. This time the speed was different.

"Answer my questions, okay?"

I murmured lazily, agreeing. The car was drifting again. The seat melted into my body. The air seemed to thicken.

"Can you breathe freely?"

I felt the exact opposite. I was wondering if someone had put something on my chest while I wasn't paying attention.

"Not really..."

"Are you cold?"


"It's ten degrees outside! And that's all you're wearing! You must be cold, wait... I grabbed you a blanket."


"You were a great actress," I said, lost in thought.


"I still can't believe what happened! You must feel terrible! I hope your parents understand."


"And that's all you were..."

"Glass?"

I corrected him.

"Georgia."

And then I was completely gone.