Angels & Shadows

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (Final Edit)

Elizabeth Robinson stood in her Uncle's hallway in front of the magnificent full-length mirror. She examined herself closely as she had done so many times over the last four years. She had an athletic build, perhaps a bit lacking in curves but at last Elizabeth decided with some pride that she was growing up well. She was nearly eighteen now and the girl in her was all but gone.

Elizabeth had missed out on the last four years of her childhood, circumstances had dictated that. But who could have foreseen such a tragic accident? In just one moment all that joy and happiness was taken away from her. A cold chill went down her spine at the thought of just how devastating a single telephone call can be and she had dreaded the phone ringing ever since.

Of course she had to grow up immediately there was her younger brother to consider.

"It's time for you to be a big girl now." They had told her and she had never questioned it. Elizabeth recalled with regret that she hadn't properly grieved her parents' death, nor in truth accepted it. Everything was all bottled up inside her and it was growing like a cancer.

Elizabeth tousled her shock of curly blonde hair and pulled it back harshly so that she could examine her face more closely. Large green eyes shone like cut emeralds from her tanned face and her features were full and prominent. At last she concluded that she had something of her mother's beauty.

The truth was that she had inherited that and more. She was charismatic and coupled with her father's focus and determination, Elizabeth was a force to contend with. But of course the accident had changed everything and she needed to be all those things, if not for her then for Ben.

Benjamin was her younger brother by two years and although nearly sixteen now, he was still very young for his age and Elizabeth had done her best to keep him so. The accident had affected him so badly that she protected him like a lioness does her cub. He hadn't yet come to terms with his loss and Elizabeth was determined to fill the gap left behind. After all she was now the only one he could really turn to.

"And I will be there" she vowed out loud to her reflection.

Elizabeth remembered the first weeks after the accident, how Ben wouldn't leave her side for fear of losing her too. Night after night she soothed and reassured him that everything would be alright and she never allowed herself to cry so as not to show how hopeless it all really was. Elizabeth remembered how her Aunt and Uncle and their friends used to praise her courage.

"Isn't Lizzie coping well? She's such a strong little thing and so good with Ben, you must be really proud of her."

None of them could see the emptiness in her soul, the desperate loneliness and despair that she was suffering in silence. Even before her parents had died Elizabeth had the reoccurring nightmares but these had increased in regularity and severity since then. Now she couldn't even find solace in her sleep.

Then there was school. Nobody seemed to know what to say or do but then how could they? At first everybody tried but it became too much trouble and they got bored of it, all except Laura that is, lovely Laura, her only true friend.

She could feel that everybody was just waiting for her to get on with it, so she did. But that wasn't possible for Ben, Elizabeth reflected. The two years difference in their ages was monumental. Ben just went into himself and took refuge in his own thoughts and memories, safe from any more pain and suffering, or so he thought.

Elizabeth's jaw hardened and a scowl took the beauty from her face. She recalled how the other children had seen his weakness and cruelly exploited it making his already wretched life even more unbearable. She had even resorted to fighting the bullies in the playground but they just did it when her back was turned and Ben regressed still further into the emptiness of his own world. The pain of it all was just too much for Elizabeth to bear. Sleep deprivation from the constant nightmares had weakened Elizabeth and her strength suddenly dissolved into fits of sobbing and she questioned her image in the mirror.