Broken Silence

Chapter 9: There's only so much I can take.

Morning rose before I knew it and I stared at the product of my restless night. My eyes burned from the lack of sleep and my fingers hurt so much I could barely move them. But, they trembled on their own; trying to get blood to them I supposed.

It was quiet.

The only thing I could hear was my own jagged, raw breath and the soft whining noise of the bed as I moved to sit on the edge. I gripped the edges of my sketch notebook and stared into those eyes. The eyes I was once scared of forgetting. The eyes I had stared at right to the very end.

The eyes of my parents.

My mother's beautiful, curly hair was loose in the drawing. Her big eyes, as soft as ever, were framed by long, curved lashes. Her upper lip didn't have a "cupid's bow" making it seem as if her lips continued around, and it had a scar through it, the result of being born with a cleft palate. She had high, proud cheekbones. And yet, the only thing I got from her was her slightly-tilted-to-the-top nose. Everything else was my dad's, or so people had once told him.

My dad had been a handsome man. His dark hair had always been slicked back in a professional looking manner. His almond eyes always looked determined; determined to do what? I never found out. I had drawn his mulish chin a little raised, to show that if he got mad he would take over anything. But, he would never act like that because of the thin-lipped smile he always had on.

I then, traced the shape of my mother's face with my finger fixing the shading. She had always said that her mouth was too big for her face and she always complained about the scar from the surgery, but every time she did it my father would kiss the scar and say,

"Cassandra, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. Scar or no scar. I don't care if your mouth is big or small. I don't care if you're tall or short, skinny or chubby. I love you for who you are, not what you look like." And my mother always answered,

"Well...I never said anything about small or chubby." Her lower lip would be pulled into a pout. She had been so stubborn. Maybe that's another thing I got from her.

I always believed my mother tried to find problems just so dad had to compliment her. Well, compliment her more seeing as he always told her how beautiful she was and he didn't have to lie.

Both of them were beautiful. Inside and out, they were all around nice, honest people. They never had any problems with the neighbors, they went to church, they gave to charity, they volunteered in the town, and most importantly they loved me. They took care of me and helped me and they never let anything hurt me.

So...why did such a fate touch them? Was it really their destiny to die like that? Did they have to be ripped away from me like that? Was I supposed to be left alone? Ruined?

The twist in my chest came back and my hand began to work again. The grip on my pencil was so strong my knuckles turned white and I ignored the pain shooting up my arm. Tears streamed down my face. They were hot against my cold skin, quick to go down my cheeks and drip on my hand and they made the burning in my eyes more intense. I was soon blinded by them and yet, my hand never stopped.

All of the sudden, a knock on the door broke me out of my spell. My head snapped to the door so fast it hurt a little. I wiped my face, but soon stopped when I noticed the black traces of graphite on my fingers and used the shirt I had on to wipe the tears.

"Noelle?" Gabriel Edward's voice came behind the door with another soft knock. "Are you awake?" I heard a small whisper and the doorknob began to open. I closed my notebook as his face slowly peeked inside.

"Oh, good, you're awake. Have you taken a shower?" he asked and I shook my head 'no'. He continued, "Then, I'll be waiting downstairs. It's pretty early, I'll make you something." He said smiling and then he slowly closed the door. He was really something.

Gabriel Edwards was a lot like my father. It surprised me a little. He was kind, always wanting to help ... even a little naïve, but he stopped at nothing to get what he wanted. Suddenly, my mind flickered to yesterday.

Had I really smiled? Or had it just been a dream? Did the muscle really still work? I lightly touched my cheeks and pulled the corners of my mouth up. I sighed feeling beaten and lowered my hands.

'Just a dream, Noelle. It was just a dream. You can't smile anymore. You know that.' A voice snickered in the back of my mind. And behind it a sound, that I had been trying to ignore, echoed. It was there and now I couldn't get it out of my head.

It was beginning to grow louder, louder, louder and louder. Soon, it was the only thing I could hear, the only thing I could think about. I covered my ears and I still could hear it.

'Go away. Please, go away. Not again.' I tried to think, but it was louder than my own thoughts. I jumped up and headed for the shower. A cold shower would make it go away. It always made it go away.

I stomped to the shower and, basically, ripped the clothing off of me. I turned the water on the coldest dial it could go and stepped underneath. The water hit my skin like small knifes making me flinch. Soon enough, I began to shiver. I stayed under the freezing spray letting the cold drown out the agonizing noise. And although it was beginning to quiet down, the sound of the holes ripping through my parents by own pencil still echoed in my mind like the Killer's gunshots.

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Short, but straight to the point. VOTE/COMMENT if you liked it! Having to edit your own story is hard guys... Hugs and Machine guns, U-niike101