Love Save the Empty

Eight

Bella, once again, woke from another nightmare that was more of the same. The once happy family screaming in pain as blood trickled down their helpless bodies. No matter how many times Bella has seen it, that image would forever and always terrify her.

She looked at the clock at the bedside table that read 6:04. Surprisingly, she had almost gotten a full night’s sleep. However, she did end up going to bed late considering her and Harry stayed up until 1:30 am watching movies and goofing around. In fact, the last thing that Bella remembered was watching Transformers 3.

Little did she know that Harry carried her to her room along with her rose and her stuffed animal. He placed the single rose in a glass next to her bed while placing Bella and her gorilla softly onto her bed. He left a small kiss on her forehead before he reluctantly left to go home.

Reminiscing last night’s events, Bella soon remembered that she had been hospitalized yesterday, and tried to remember the doctor’s orders. Once they came to mind, she got up from bed and strutted into the kitchen to fetch some breakfast.

Before she went to the kitchen, Bella decided to poke her head into Aunt Kelly’s room, only to find the room a complete mess with no Aunt Kelly in it. Sighing, she proceeded to her primary destination.

Bella had to practically force her breakfast down her throat. Two little pieces of peanut butter toast caused Bella to practically throw it all back up. But once it was washed down with some orange juice, the uneasiness in her stomach had decreased.

As she was cleaning her dishes, Bella heard the front door open and slam shut while Aunt Kelly stumbled through the living room. As Bella’s eyes connected with hers, she could see the redness from her eyes due to the drugs she had taken, and the glossiness over them from the alcohol.

Bella felt a slight pain in her stomach as she stood in front of her mess of an aunt. Instead of coming home after work to take care of Bella, Aunt Kelly had decided to go out and get fucked up while her niece was in pain.

No words were exchanged between the two, but Aunt Kelly felt the pain, sadness, and disappointment that Bella felt at that moment as Bella turned her head and stormed into her room.

Due to the amount of drugs and alcohol Aunt Kelly consumed, her vision became blurry as she collapsed onto the couch into a deep sleep, just like she usually does.

Tears and anger built up inside Bella. As she collapsed onto her bed, everything spilled out. She quietly sobbed into her pillow, feeling solitude all around her. No matter what she will never feel that completeness that her family once gave Bella.

She missed how her mother’s beautiful voice, each word coming out of her mouth forming a perfect harmony. She missed her mother’s beautiful singing voice while her dad’s skillful hands worked the guitar and sang along with her. How they would sing as much as they could because it was what brought everyone happiness.

She missed her brother’s protective instinct. How she knew no harm would come her way as long as Channing was around. How he would always complain how tight or short her clothes were and try to pull her dresses and skirts down.

Most importantly, she missed being loved.

Before she could cry anymore, Bella changed into warm workout clothing and went on another run in attempt to clear her mind. This was the first time she had actually thought about her family since the accident, and it was becoming a little too much.

But as she ran down the streets in the cool brisk air, she still couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

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