Never Let Me Go

Chapter 1. Doe Eyed Girl

Lucy chen a doe eyed girl, the soft smile on her face telling a story. Her lush brunette locks cascading over her shoulders. Lucy chen exuded an air of quiet elegance. Her eyes held a undeniable spark of determination, her fierce nature forcing her to fight against the challenges her way, including dealing with her training officer. Tim Bradford. This annoyed Tim on another level, he was so used to his rookies cowering down to him, but she was.. different?

Monday morning, 7am. Lucy smashed her palm onto her alarm clock, desperate to get rid of that deafening sound disrupting the silence of early morning hours. she groaned as she rolled around her bed. She lay motionless beneath the covers, her body heavy with exhastion and an overwhelming feeling of dread. She wasn't feeling her best today. She felt as though she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, she was so incredibly tired and irritable and she knew Tim was going to make her day a whole lot worse.

With a groan she forced herself upright, gravity pulled at her limbs like leaden weights. Even the simplest of tasks felt like a chore, but she pushed forward nonetheless, driven by some invisible force that urged her to face the day ahead. She looked at the time realising if she didn't hurry she'd be late.

Lucy stepped into the steamy bathroom, her skin had goosebumps due to the musky air. She turned on the hot water letting the hot stream casade over her, washing away the lingering traces of sleep and fatigue. Tims words echoed in her mind as she ran the soap through her hair. "incompetence?" she repeated again and again. His accusations taunted her yet she tried focusing on the present. Steam rose around her life a soft blanket, and in this moment of peace Lucy found herself gathering the strength she needed ready to face whatever awaited her outside the confines of the place she called home. She threw her hair into a bun, pulling her uniform on. She was going to get in trouble for this but she didn't have time to change when she got there.

As Lucy raced against the clock, she found herself caught in a seemingly endless trail of traffic. "Los Angeles.." she muttered to herself leaning against the steering wheel. By the time she made it to the station she was a sweaty mess, she wore her anxiety like a peice of clothing on her face. She hurried into rollcall just as Sargent Grey began his speech about tardiness and the importance of time management. His gaze landed on her as she slid into the door and into the front row, seated between Jackson and John.
"Officer Chen!" Grey barked, fixing her with a stern gaze, the anger was evident on his face. "care to explain why you're running late?." Lucy flinched under his glare, feeling a wave of shame consume her. She tried to stammer out somewhat of an excuse but her words got caught in her throat. Sargent Grey sighed, clearly unimpressed, before sending Tim a look as if to say "sort your rookie out." He looked at Lucy before speaking "Be more punctual in the future or we will have a problem." he bellowed. Lucy nodded timidly stuttering out a "yes sir. I apologise." With that, he turned back to the rest of the group, leaving Lucy feeling small and insignificant.

As roll call came to an end Tim Bradford stormed out of the room, his face a mask of anger as he marched straight towards Lucy, who stood frozen in place, waiting for her fate to be sealed. He started walking towards the shop, making it clear that he wanted her to follow. As they made there way there the silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. She wanted the ground to swallow her, Tim was not someone she wanted to anger.

As Lucy sat in the passenger seat of the shop Tim got into the drivers seat- slamming the door shut behind him, with so much force the whole car shook. Lucy jumped in her seat, terrified. Tim glared at her, his eyes flashing with deep rage and hatred.
"what part of 'being on time' didn't you understand? did you need it tatooed onto you? you're supposed to be training to be a cop, yet you can't even manage to show up when you're supposed to! how am I supposed to trust you on the job and help you better your skills if you can't even follow simple instructions or take basic responsibilties seriously!" his voice rose with every word, echoing off the walls of the car. Lucy winced, unable to meet his gaze. She knew he was right, she couldn't afford to be making mistakes - especially as a rookie. She couldn't help but wonder how she could ever live up to his expectations, she'd been here three months and she still couldn't do anything right.

Lucy didn't reply and they just went on with there shift, silence filling the atmosphere. Until suddenly they were put on route for a gang fight. Upon arriving Lucy could see the chaos unfolding before her. Emergency vehicles crowded the street, their lights casting a surreal glow over the area. Bodies lay scattered admist pools of blood and broken glass. Victims of what seemed to be a vicious gang shootout. This is the kind of violence that Lucy had grown used to, especially being as she was raised around it growing up, but being in a cops perspective and seeing it was not something she had prepared for. She stood tall, knowing that she needed to focus on the job at hand if she hoped to regain any semblance of respect from Tim.

Throughout the day, Lucy had worked alongside Jackson gathering evidence and interviewing any possible witnesses who could have seen what happened there. Despite Tim's initial hostility, he was somewhat proud of his rookie who hadn't complained once all day and just put herself out there trying to get to the bottom of what had happened. As dawn broke over the city it was the end of shift, Lucy and Tim made there way back to the shop. The whole way back to the station Lucy was lost in thought. Meanwhile, Tim struggled to reconcile his feelings of pride in Lucys performance today with his own insecurities. Deep down, he knew she deserved better than his constant criticisms but old habits died hard. As they clocked out both went in seperate directions and into the changing rooms, changing out of there uniform. Lucy pulled on her sundress, which hugged her figure in all the right places. Tim pulled on his shirt and cargo's. As they emerged from the changing rooms, their paths crossed once again. Tim's gaze drifted involuntarily towards lucy's form, taking in the curve of her hips and the gentle slope of her breasts. she was a goddess. Despite his best efforts to maintain his proffesional distance, he couldn't deny the physical attraction he felt towards her. Meanwhile, Lucy was oblivious to his thoughts, lost in her own world of self-doubt and anxiety. Their encounter was brief but charged with an underlying tension that neither dared acknowledging. Muttering a quick apology, Tim hurried past her, leaving Lucy alone with her troubling thoughts.

After a long day on shift, and many questionable thoughts Lucy could only think of one release. Lucy trudged wearily towards her apartment. Once inside she kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the couch, staring blankly at the tv. Despite the exhastion coursing through her veins, sleep eluded her. Restless energy kept her awake, tormenting her with dark thoughts and dark images. In desperation, she retreated to the safety of her bathroom locking the door behind her. There under the harsh light of the bulb, she reached for a razor blade hidden within her medicine cabinet. Gripping onto the cold metal she raised it above her trembling thighs, ready to inflict pain upon herself in hopes of finding relief from the emotional turmoil consuming her soul.

A cold shiver ran down Lucys spine as the razor blade made contact with her warm flesh. Blood trickled slowly down her inner thighs; mingling with the salty tears full of sympathy that streamed down her cheeks. Each cut brought with it a sense of relief, a temporary respite from the suffocating darkness that threatened to swallow her whole. Her breath came in ragged gasps, mirroring the rhythm of her tortured heartbeats. Sorrounding her was the familiar sounds of the city that was slowly fading into nothingness, having been replaced by the deafening roar of her own internal chaos. Yet, she still continued to slice into her skin, seeking solace in the bitter sweet agony that coursed through her. It wasn't until she saw the crimson pool forming beneath her feet that reality came crashing in. Sobbing uncontrollably she dropped the bloody razor onto the tiled white floor and wrapped her wounded legs in towels, hoping and praying that maybe tomorrow would bring a brighter dawn.

1500 words. I'm not sure if i'm any good at this - please leave comments/ your opinion on this chapter. Vote if you can :) Sorry it got dark so quick, but it needed too for a reason! thankyou for reading -E