The Neighbor

Chapter 30

Elodie's POV

When I was a kid, I never enjoyed nighttime, it was always too dark, and far too quiet. There was no light, only the moon and a few stars, and all the animals had gone to sleep. The mornings though, they were my favorite. You got to watch the sun wake the world up, all the sleeping animals, young children, adults, the elderly. The sun was the earth's cheerleader, reminding everyone that they made it to another day, that they lived. I craved the warmth of the sun more than anything right now. I wanted it to blind me with its bright orange and pinky hues, light up the sky, and remind me I had lived to see another day, that I was surviving,

But that was not the case.

The reality was that I was laying in the middle of an intersection, with multiple broken bones, an incessant ringing in my ears that was growing louder by the minute, with god knows what kind of pills that had been forcefully shoved down my throat. Next to me laid the mother of my psycho ex stalker/ex lover, Arden. She had already bled out and was dead. I had no idea what time it was, where I was, if Malcom was alive or dead, and whether or not help would be coming. 

The worst part of it all, was that I didn't know if this would be where I died. That was the reality of my situation, and it fucking sucked. I was unable to move, I feared my legs were both broken, and the pavement was ice cold against my head, too cold. Almost as if I had been bleeding from the back of my head. The nights in Washington got cold, so I had options to think about. 

The first option, I'd bleed to death or die from lack of medical attention. This would be a slow and painful death, an option I wasn't particularly fond of.

The second option was that help was on the way and I was waiting to be saved, again, but part of me knew that this wasn't true. There would be no help, as Jolene had run us off the road.

The third option was that Malcom called for help, and he was trying to get to me somehow. 

The rest of the options get fairly dark, and I wanted to keep my thoughts as positive as I could. I blinked slowly as I stared at the moon, I never really noticed all the craters and divots it had. It was a perfect circle, yet the surface was imperfect. The stars surrounded the moon, keeping it company so it wasn't alone. It would always have a family, a gazillion stars for years and years to come. 

At this moment, I had wanted to be the moon, or even a star for that matter. I'd never have to worry about running away, because my one job would be to light up the sky at night, and watch everyone sleep. 

Death had surrounded me everywhere I went in life, yet now that there was a chance I might be facing it, on one hand I was terrified but on the other, I felt comforted. Comforted knowing that Arden would rot in a prison cell, and I'd be free of him. Free of this world. I would see my mother and father again, maybe even Florence. She could meet my daughter. 

Wait. 

My daughter. 

I was pregnant. If I died, then she would die. She wouldn't get a chance at life, to live it authentically as herself. To experience love, heartbreak, marriage, girlhood and womanhood. Those would all be taken away from her. 

"Fight Elodie, for her. Fight so she has a chance of survival." 

I blinked and looked around realizing I had gone unconscious.

"Come on, get up." 

I looked around and saw a familiar face as I gasped. Long amber hair, ocean blue eyes, and pale freckled skin stood in front of me with her hands on her hips.

"Florence? What- how-" 

She shook her head in disbelief.

"You do not get to die like this. Get up."