Lauren Cimorelli Sick and Sad

You Know You Got Me, There's No Escaping

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Lisa's POV
It's the third day and the videos only show how things got worse. They hurt to watch and make my heart ache with each image that flashes across the screen. I can see the light dying out in Lauren's eyes each time. The videos play and I see Lauren fade from existence once again. I watch Lauren writhe on the ground clutching her ears as a sound only she can hear tears at her senses. I see the boy in the hotel room slice through Lauren's fingers. I see him walk right past us as we are oblivious to the torture he had just inflicted on our sister.

I see the studio again and all of us yelling about her. I see the affect it has on her as she runs out of the room, smiling through her tears as she realizes that everything she knows is a lie. My heart aches to go back in time and show her how much I love her. I see Lauren carried and placed in a metal mold of herself while unconscious and how scared she was when she was released. I see her body shiver and spasm and I see her cry for hours after reading the note. I see Tamara teach Lauren to dance as she is still suffering from being in the metal prison far to long. I see Lauren push herself to hard and I watch her break down for the first time after all of this has happened. Finally the videos stop and we just sit there silently. We have gotten through most of the videos from the tour, but I am most curious to watch the Only flash drive on the table. The one I know that Cynthia had taken before.

"Girls, there's only a few left. Which one do you want to watch first?" I hold up a CD and the flash drive, one in each hand and wait for the vote. Hesitantly, the others point to the older CD and I slide it into the slot. The video loads slowly before flashing across the screen. Lauren comes onto the screen and I can see she is at the beach in the early morning sitting on the pier and swinging her legs through the water. This video doesn't seem familiar. Is this one of the stories that she never got around to telling us? I watch more intensely, focused on learning what happens during this video.

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Lauren's POV (Past)
I had woken up early today. Scratch that, I had not been able to sleep at all the last few days. I was too scared. Those people, Rebellion, were coming for me soon. The concerts might be done but they weren't finished hurting me, no, trying to fix me. All of this was just for my own good. I rubbed my legs tiredly, trying to relieve some of the pain from the bite marks and scratches of the dogs. It had been difficult to hide that one but I had gotten better at coming up with excuses.

I looked out over the waves of the beach as they crested, before touching down again and sliding closer to my feet. I had walked down the the beach to watch the sunrise since I couldn't sleep and the best place to do that is the beach. I sat in our secret spot, alone and peaceful just staring at the water and thinking. I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice the footsteps behind me. I jumped violently when someone suddenly sat down next to me on the pier. On beach that I thought only me and my sisters knew about.

I turned to look at the person next to me and pulled in a shuddering breath. There was a girl sitting there, maybe in her mid twenties. She ran a towel over her face and I noticed that she was dressed in workout gear. She had a pixie cut and a sweet smile painted across her lips. I smiled weakly back and turned to look at the sunrise again. She pulled out a water bottle from her small backpack and went to take a sip when she saw me glance her way. She chuckled good naturally and held the bottle out to me.

"Want it? I have another bottle in my bag." I looked at her a bit surprised before taking the bottle hesitantly. She smiled wide before digging back into her bag for the other. She broke the seal and chugged half the bottle in one go. I took a few gulps of my water bottle so as not to be rude. We sit there for a few more minutes before my stomach started to ache. I held it tightly in pain. My vision started to blur and swim together and suddenly my balance gave way. I landed on the wood rolling on my back as my stomach started to burn and cramp. Through my blurred vision I was able to see the girl stand up and look out over the ocean.