There's Always Dark Before A Sunrise

Chapter Six

Shane looks out across the metropolitan night sky of Queens. He lets out another puff of smoke as he kicks his legs back and forth on the edge of the roof of his apartment building that rises ten floors into the night sky. Cars honk either frantically or frustratedly far below. For a minute he thinks how easy it would be to just push himself forward just a little bit. A few inches is all it would take, and everything would be over. His wasted and godforsaken life would come to an insignificant close.

Shane shakes his head tiredly and hauls himself to his feet. He turns, pacing towards the stairwell door. Brecken Northman gets released from prison tomorrow. Shane doesn't really know how to feel about this. He has no recollection of that day still, but the fact that his father beat him till he died still looms. Shane reaches a hand to his head and rubs it gently. Although it is a miracle he survived, Shane often gets intense migraines and back pain.

Shane grabs the door handle, pulls it open and descends the five flights of stairs to his apartment.

Where is it? It's here somewhere. That hidden stash he always tried to forget about but never had the strength to get rid of. Is it in the walls? The floor? Wait. No. It's in the bathroom above the ceiling panels. Shane stumbles into the tiny apartment bathroom and stands on the toilet. He pushes one of the white textured panels up and feels around the edges of the opening.

A-ha! Yes. Dammit, it's still here. Part of Shane wished it had magically disappeared. Hallelujah, it didn't. Shane takes out of the gallon bag the cut off bottom of a soda can, a lighter, a needle, and a smaller plastic bag that contains what can only be salvation.

After several minutes Shane has his mixture nearly ready. The bottoms of soda cans work surprisingly well for things like this. He takes the lighter out from underneath the can and sets it on his mattress below. Quickly he takes the needle and fills the syringe to the desired mark. With his teeth, Shane tries to pull the tourniquet around his left arm a little tighter but fails to do so. Eh, probably doesn't matter. With a sigh he presses the needle against his arm and pushes the plunger completely down. He barely removes the needle before collapsing back on his bed.

"Shane?" a young voice says distantly. "Shane, where are you? Why don't you help me?" terror rises within the voice.

Shane opens his eyes suddenly. What was that?

"Mariah?" Shane says drowsily. "Mariah!"

Darkness surrounds Shane, but he doesn't notice. All he sees is the long soft blond hair of his younger sister and her small frame off in the distance. She is wearing her pink long-sleeve shirt with a purple t-shirt over it and yellow tights. Shane smiles slightly; the clothes clash terribly. His smile fades though as her figure gets smaller still in the distance.

"Wait!" He exclaims. "Mariah..."

Shane gets to his feet and runs. His head and lungs ache with sharp pain. Suddenly Mariah stops and turns to him. There is no delighted smile on her lips. Her face is expressionless, emotionless, joyless.

"To think you could protect me and to think I died protecting you," she says harshly.

Shane stills. Suddenly his legs stop working, his heart stops beating.

"Mariah I..." he doesn't know what to say. What is there to say? "Please. Don't leave me...I'm not ready."

Mariah looks at her brother coldly and steps closer to him. She looks down at her pitiful older brother kneeling in front of her.

"I sacrificed myself for you. I sacrificed myself for you! I sacrificed myself for you, brother! For you...It was all for you..."

The tears are blinding, and Shane doesn't know how to respond. He simply stares up at his sister. He clutches the ends of her yellow long-sleeve tightly and pulls her closer as he sobs. Seconds pass by and then a minute, then another. Shane feels a soft hand press itself comfortingly against his shoulder and then another against his back. Mariah kneels, leveling her head against Shane's.

"I gave you a second chance, brother. I won't let you throw it away."