The Dead Crime (Draft)

Chapter#12

Emily kept banging on the door with her clenched fists, water started to flow down her already teary eyes as she kept calling her mom to stop. She could hear the crashing of things inside the room with Camille groaning in pain preventing herself from crying out loud and Diana who had completely lost control of herself was shouting and cursing at her while breaking everything that came in her hand over her body. During all this ruckus Kevin stood there enjoying the show. He had a pleased expression on his face.

"Mom!! Please stop!! I beg you, please stop." Emily cried, her voice echoing in the whole house. She crouched down along the door, trembling like a leaf shaking in the wind. She turned her face towards Kevin without looking at his face, tears stained over her cheeks, her eyes were swollen and her snort was crossing down her lips,

"Do something...please." she spoke slowly with stones stuck in her throat and heart beating fast due to fear as she tried hard not to look at his face.

Emily slipped away from the door as Kevin advanced forward towards the door and kicked it below the knob breaking it open. As the door fell on the floor, Diana who was not in her senses didn't react at all and was about to continue to hit Camille with a chair she had held in her hands.

"That's enough honey."

"No! It's not enough." She swinged the chair towards her and halted right before it was about to hit Emily who rushed in front of Camille to stop her mom,

"Let her go this time mom, please." She sobbed.

"That's right honey, she looks worse than Emily so let's count it even now." Kevin held Diana's arms gently and lowered the chair she was holding. She gave Camille a long glare and then stomped out of the room dragging Emily with her.
The room was a mess and so was Camille. There was a cut on her forehead that bled painfully and her arms were filled with bruises. Her ribs must have been fractured badly, looking at the difficulty she was having in breathing only through her nostrils. So she was breathing heavily with her mouth open with soft painful sounds leaving her throat.

"Why did you do that. You should have held yourself back." He spoke to Camille making her stare at him with her eyes wide open and filled with resentment. "tch tch tch, look what jealousy has done to you." He said mockingly and went out of the room. Camille scoffed as he left, tears fell down her eyes as she felt betrayed and heart broken. She curled on the cold floor and weeped in pain all night long.

                              *   *   *

All the children walked towards the school building some walking, some running and some danced their way to the classes. The school yard was filled with chatter and laughter. Inside a class, Ethan sat on his seat fidgeting his legs and biting onto the pencil he held in his hands while looking at Camille's empty seat in front.

"What are you so nervous about?" Joseph inquired knowing the answer to his own question.

"I'm just nervous about the test."

"Oh come on, we don't have any test today. Seriously what the hell happened that you're nervously waiting for her."

"Waiting for who? I'm not waiting for anyone." He denied it plainly causing Joseph to give him a scornful look. He sighed as if saying there's nothing he can do about him now.
A while later Ethan's anxious face glowed up as he saw Camille walk inside the classroom towards her seat. But then the glow dimmed when he saw her wrecked face. It was so clear that she was beaten despite her effort of trying to hide it with base cream. 'did something happen?' he wondered. Everyone in the class started whispering to each other about her, "What's with her face? Did she fight with someone." "Maybe her father hit her?" "This bad?" "She must have a messed up family." "Could it be an outside enemy?"
Ethan's brows furrowed, he felt curious and worried about her. The class bell rang and everyone started departing the class one by one. They had their physical education period first and they all were heading towards the gym.

"Aren't you coming?" Joseph asked Ethan whose eyes were still on Camille.

"You go ahead first. I'll come later."

When everyone had left the class, Camille rised from her chair moving towards the classroom door when Ethan came behind and held her arm tightly,

"What happened to you!?" He asked anxiously. She groaned in pain due to her bruised arm that he had nearly squeezed and pulled it away. Ethan noticed the bruise on her arm as she moved it away. His pupils dilated.

"Were you abused?"

"That's none of your business, get lost." This time her furious stare didn't scare Ethan. He held her arm gently taking her towards the door,

"Let's first get some medicine from the infirmary."
Camille pulled her arm free of his grip and scowled,
"Who are you to do that. Why are you showing your generosity to me, I told you to mind your own business."

"Because I like you, this is my business. I can't look at you like this, it makes me angry at whoever did this to you." Ethan's eyes filled up with tears. Camille became motionless, there was a long silence in which she looked at him in surprise. Ethan looked away from her trying to control his tears from falling.

"Bullshit....it's all just bullshit." She spoke after a while, "This is all just a lie. A lie!! You're lying!!!" She snapped, looking directly into his foggy eyes that looked like grey haze, breathing heavily.

"I'm not lying. How can I lie about my feelings."

"How can you not? I've been lied to so many times in life, I'm not getting fooled again. No one has showed me real affection ever. It's all a lie. A fucking lie."

"It's not. I really like you a lot and I wanna know more about you and help you."

This reminded Camille of the time when she was a little girl laying in Diana's lap while she passed her fingers smoothly through her hair and spoke, "oh god you poor girl. You lost your mom at such a young age. Don't worry, I'll love you more and help you."

It grossed her to remember such a thing and she scoffed and said,

"I don't need your fake love and your help. Get away from me because you're disgustingly annoying." She walked past him bumping her shoulder into his and went out of the classroom leaving him shocked and sad. He wasn't sad about being called 'disgustinhly annoying' but because she had misunderstood his sincere feelings for her. 'How much was she wounded to think my love for her wasn't real?' he thought looking at her leave the classroom.

Camille stopped in the corridor, pressing her hand on her hurting ribs. She coughed on her handkerchief covering it with blood. She shoved the bloody handkerchief inside her pocket and walked forward but suddenly lost balance feeling dizzy. She gasped in pain as everything in front of her became blurred and she fell on the floor losing consciousness.
Behind her Ethan came out of the class and ran towards her, seeing her pale on the floor. He pulled her arms around his neck and lifted her running across the corridor towards the infirmary that was in the end of the corridor.