The Other Side

Forgiveness

I press the towel down on my arm and bite my lip as the pain increases, the blood stains through the towel but I wrap it around my arm tighter. I open my door and quickly run into the bathroom, locking the door after me. I take off the towel and view the damage, thankfully I didn't make a large wound, however it is quite deep and I am beginning to feel sick. Blood runs down my arm and before it can hit the floor I quickly walk over to the sink and switch on the tap. I gingerly cup the water in my hand and slowly let it fall over my arm to wash away the blood smears.

"Mum!" I shout, hoping with every ounce of energy in me that she will listen to me.

I hear mum walking quickly up the stairs, two at a time, she must have heard the panic in my voice. "What's wrong Ava?" She asks, her voice strained and emotional against the door.

I take a deep breath before unlocking the door and standing back, the door slowly opens and mum stands in the doorway, immediately her eyes fall down on my arm, tears fill her eyes. "What did you do to yourself?" She whimpers, disappointment evident in her tense expression.

"I'm sorry." I say, tears falling down my cheeks. "I didn't mean to, please don't tell dad."

Mum slowly walks in and closes the door behind her, eyes wide, she unsteadily sits down on the side of the bath. "I don't know what to do anymore." She looks up at me but turns away again almost instantly. "With you..or anything." 

"Listen I'm really sorry about everything." Mum shakes her head in protest, about to argue but I speak before she can. "I am mum, you have to believe me. I don't want you to be afraid, I need to know that you still love me." I watch her, with hope in my heart, wanting so badly the relationship we used to have. 

"Your arm Ava." Her eyes glaze over my bloody skin in horror, she slowly stands and takes my arm gently in her hands. No longer tears in her eyes, she walks over to the cabinet and takes out some needle and thread. "Let's hope I still remember how to do my old job.." She mumbles, gently planting me down on top of the closed toilet seat.

"Do you miss being a nurse?" I ask, quietly, un-able to hold back the tiny smile I have, watching her do what she loves.

"Sometimes." Mum sighs, taking some cotton buds and dabbing disinfectant around my cut. 

"Are you going to tell dad?" I whisper, hating myself inside for being so stupid in the first place.

"No, I'm not." Mum says, swallowing on her last word as she carefully puts the thread through the needle. "However this is your last and final chance, I do love you Ava but if you do something like this again you will have to go back. I want my baby to be happy.." A tear slides down mum's cheek, she wipes it away angrily with the back of her hand. "but I've realised I can't look after you if you are a danger to yourself." 

"Go on lie to her." James sneers, leaning against the door, looking down at mum with his eyes tight. "tell her you are going to change your life around." 

"I promise you mum, I'm so sorry about what I did to dad and myself. I'm going to be better, I swear." I look into mum's eyes, for a second she wavers but then I see trust in her features, she smiles and gently kisses the top of my head. It seems like all I have done is cry recently but I can't help it, tears run down my face as I know I will betray her trust and cause her so much pain.

"I believe you honey." Mum smiles, revealing her teeth, genuinely making me feel loved once again.

"Listen mum, I really hurt my friend Abbie whilst I was at..you know, I was wondering if you could take me back so I could apologise to her. I want to show her that I'm sorry." I ask, forcing a smile across my face whilst inside my chest fills hollow and cold.

"Are you sure?" Mum asks, her eyebrows push together and I know she's thinking if it's a good idea or not.

"She really helped me mum, she made me feel better and I want her to know that she's not alone." I flinch as mum slides the needle through my skin, I deserve the pain.

"Ok sweetheart." 

Once mum finishes sewing my arm, she tells me that she will clean my room and the bathroom up and not to worry. Before I walk into my bedroom, I watch as she looks at me with such sudden hope and pride. 

"You think you are doing them a favour?" James laughs, sitting down on the swivel chair next to my desk. "You should have killed yourself when you did, saving them the extra heart break." 

I know James is right, he has been from the start but I'm honestly too exhausted, both physically and mentally to reply so I simply lie down on my bed, still fully clothed and fall asleep almost instantly.

"James no!" I scream, collapsing to the floor as he pushes me back, holding a butcher's knife to mum's throat. 

"I'm doing you a favour Ava, you will thank me one day." James snarls, pushing his head down onto mum's neck, she cries and tries to break free but he only holds onto her tighter.

The paint begins to peel away from the walls, whilst blood circles around our feet on the floor around us. The walls fall away revealing lines of corpses, glaring down at me with pure black hate on the floor, all standing in lines. The smell of rotting flesh is pungent and I choke on the stench.

"Ava how could you do this?" Mum screams, tears streaming down her face, her body shaking in fear as James pulls her closer.

"It's not me mum!" I cry, the decaying corpses all step forward advancing on me, I watch in horror as I see that it's not James holding a knife to mum's throat but me. 

In a single, fluid motion I slit mum's throat and blood spurts from her, spraying all over me. I only have time to scream once more before the corpses descend onto me, ripping me limb from limb.

I bolt upright, body drenched with sweat, my heart hammering against my chest with tears streaming down my cheeks. 

"Good morning Ava." James grins, sitting at the bottom of my bed. "So we are going to take a trip to see dear Abbie are we?" 

Authors Note:

I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! :D Please tell me what you think by commenting and remember to vote! Thank you so much for reading.