A Heart Caught In Crime

Chapter 15 - New Addition?

It has been 6 weeks since I have came home from the hospital and I think I'm ready to talk about what happened. I pull a small card out of my wallet that the hospital has given me for therapy, they said that the were worried that the trauma could eventually turn into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I call the number and make an appointment. The woman on the phone is the first person I have talked to other than Christian and I haven't spoke with him very much at all. I haven't had the courage to leave my room, the house feels different it has a different atmosphere. It feels dark despite all the windows and natural light the place has.

I was sitting in the chair in my room when I heard the loud thud of heavy footsteps. As I get up to walk to my door I can hear the foot steps getting closer and closer. Opening the door it was Christian running down the hall to the stairs. Me being me I decided to follow him, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back. I'm guessing Christian heard me following him and he turned around.

"I'm sorry Tasha, you cant go. There was an incident at a restaurant I own and I have to go."

"I'm okay, really. I'd like to go. I just sit in my room and relive every moment and I cant do that anymore I have to get back to reality. Let me go with you." I practically pleaded with him before he very hesitantly let me. I know he is only trying to protect me especially after what happened and it's very much appreciated but I have to get my life back.

We both jump in his car and take off. The drive wasn't that long, as we get closer to the restaurant the louder the sirens grew. I knew then I was in for a ride.

The instant I stepped through the door of Christian's restaurant, a sickening dread washed over me. Just ten weeks ago I'd been rescued from unimaginable torture, the haunting memories still fresh. Now it felt like I was being plunged back into a nightmare.

The normally warm and stylish interior was in complete disarray. Tables were overturned, shattered plates and glasses littering the floor. But most chilling of all were the bodies - I counted at least eight sprawled out, unmoving.

My hands shook violently as I took in the ghastly scene, the air thick with the unmistakable tang of blood. For a fleeting moment, I was transported back to the dank room where I was held captive, mercilessly beaten with each defiant word.

Christian's anguished shout broke through my traumatic fog. He rushed in behind me, his footsteps faltering at the sight before us. "Oh god...no, no, no!" he hollered hoarsely, stumbling over to the nearest victim.

I watched numbly as he futilely searched for signs of life, tears leaving clean tracks down his ashen face. My legs finally unfroze and I moved almost in a trance toward the bussing station. There I found Hector, our kind-hearted 19-year-old busser, slumped over a garbage can. The back of his once youthful head was matted with dark blood.

A sob escaped my lips as the reality slammed into me full force. Our staff, our beloved restaurant family – all massacred in a cruel act of violence. In that moment, my mind couldn't process the "why." It only registered the immense, suffocating grief.

More flashes of that torturous room assaulted me, no matter how hard I squeezed my eyes shut. I desperately clung to Christian's strong embrace as we collapsed to the sticky floor, my anguished cries echoing off the walls.

While the visceral images would be forever seared into my memory, in that moment, I felt disconnected from this new reality. How could I process such senseless destruction and death? I looked down and see the front of my one light grey sweatpants now covered in blood, I think nothing of the unholy sight and I call Enzo.

"Tasha? Are you alright? Is that sirens? Where are you? I'm on my way stay there." he hung up the phone. After the incident 2 months ago we all decided to have the "find my iPhone" thing on everyone's phone so we can see where everyone is at all times just for cases like these.