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smoke signals
The world began to crumble. Shards of hopes and dreams crumbled slowly to the ground. And she stood watching it all. Frozen in place as time stood still. The clock was coming to its last tick and she didn't know what to do about that.
Nova looked at the bright, cloudless sky with disdain in her eyes. It taunted her. The warmth of the sun that reflected off the glass doors did nothing for the cold, melancholy grey that folded over her like a wave. She was lost. Pulled to the center of the sea by a riptide — she was alone. Left to fight the storm all on her own.
She breathed in. Nova hadn't realized but she'd been holding her breath for some time now. Her ribs would still ache when she'd breathe.
The marks on her skin, though not as bad as she thought they'd be, still appeared fresh on her clean face. Only mediocrely covered by her poor makeup skills. Even from the distorted reflection of the patio doors, Nova could see the spots on her face. Bruises had started to form around the bumps, cuts, and scrapes. At the far right of her forehead, just at her hairline a knot had finally gone down but her skin was now discolored ─ dark purple and blue. The corner of her lips was still a little swollen but the once open and bleeding cut had scabbed over during the night. Another bruise and long scratch lay across her cheekbone where Rafe had taken his hand across her, and his class ring caught on her skin.
It all still hurt. No matter how many painkillers she washed down with mouth fulls of apple juice. Her ribs ached and it felt like her brain was going to explode against her skull. The little cuts and splinters still stung like tiny bee stings.
Nova hated it ─ she hated that there were small remnants of Rafe Cameron left behind on her face. She hated it and she hated him.
A sharp and sudden pain shot through her hand. Wincing, Nova looked down to see her fist clutching her car keys. And appearing right before her eyes was a welt, the imprint left by her key, running along her ring finger. Slowly, she released her hold and allowed the keys to drop, now dangling safely from her finger.
Nova sighed. Her ribs ached. Finally, she walked through the glass doors.
The heat engulfed her instantly. Her skin sizzled beneath the radiation cast down by the burning sun. Though Nova didn't take notice of the feeling she once indulged in. She was still cold ─ cold from the inside out. She didn't stop the relish the warm summer day or allowing the seaside breeze to blow through her hair. Instead, she slide inside her car and drove away from the empty home.
She knew that Nolan was going to be pissed. She'd promised him that she'd be at the house when he returned from wherever he was taking Sarah this morning. He didn't even want to leave her then, but Nova had fought with him until he relented.
