Control

VI

My eyes slowly fluttered open. When I saw four shadowy figures gazing down from above me, I decided I'd had enough of this shit and tried to fall back into unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, that didn't work out.

"Oh no, missy," I heard a voice that I immediately recognized as one of my friends, Rain, say. She hit me on the forehead. "Enough beauty rest for you."

I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my forehead, glaring at Rain. "How long was I out?"

"7 hours," my other friend, Jules, said matter of factly. "Given the bruises we found on your neck and the amount of swelling, we—"

"7 hours?"

"—Thought you'd be out longer," he finished, crossing his arms. "I thought we've gone over this— no one interrupts—"

"Yeah," Ashton said, moving his hands like a puppet and trying to imitate Jules' voice— instead he sounded like he breathed in a whole bunch of helium. "No one interrupts my incredibly dull yet oddly entertaining speech about jackasses in chiffon skirts and dolphins drinking vodka— we've all heard it before, J."

"—Me," Jules groaned, placing his head in his hands. "I'm done."

"Ignoring those knuckleheads," my last friend, Izzy, said, earning him a slap on the back of the head. "What happened, A?"

I looked around in confusion. "You mean I've been unconscious for several fucking hours and you didn't even think to look around?"

They shifted uncomfortably. "Well," Rain started, looking at the others as to say 'any help?'. When everyone avoided eye contact and stayed silent, she continued. "We wanted to but we didn't really want to leave you alone..."

"Yeah!" Ashton smiled hugely. "That's totally what happened! 100%! Please don't murder us," he whispered at the end.

I rolled my eyes at their antics. Sighing, I said, "Well, if you guys want to know, follow me. The rest can stay here, if they would like to chicken."

I pushed myself off my bed and led them out the door and to where 'Mother' had fallen out of the house. Once we got there was the only time I really realized that I would be seeing the body of my Mother without any soul in it.

She looked the same, because she looked like she was dead while she was 'alive', even though she wasn't really alive those past few days. The body was harder to make out because the sun had gone down, but you could still see some key things clearly. You could see dried up blood making a trail from her mouth down the neck and to the ground. You could see the lifeless, opaque eyes staring into the distance. Although, the worst thing of them all was metal stick, which I don't know why it was there, sticking out of her chest.

"Oh," Ashton sighed, squinting a little at the sight. "She took a swan dive?"

"No— yes— maybe— urg, I don't know!" I said, shaking my head and tearing up at the sight. I tried to reason with myself that the real Mother had died when Father had died, and this body was the remnants of a confused and angry spirit.

Still...the body was my Mother's.

I explained what had happened, earning a couple gags from Rain, a couple huffs from Jules, an exited puppy look from Ashton and a worried look from Izzy.

I wasn't really mad at Ashton for treating the traumatic flashback like we were watching an acting class perform at Education. I would've probably acted the same way, if the tables were turned— even if I wasn't the proudest of that.

"Talk about insanity," Jules huffed, crossing his arms and fixing his posture a tiny bit. "It happens every time a loved one dies— the hormones and—"

"Are you okay?" Izzy and Rain said, at the exact same time.

"Come on!" Jules huffed and stomped.

"Two parents died in less than a month, it's no big deal," I said sarcastically. "I'm fine."

Rain smiled sadly. "You can come live with us if you want."

"Yeah!" Ashton smiled happily. "I mean, our fathers aren't the Division's big head-face, but..."

A thought crossed my mind. "Wait— who's gonna be our Division's official?"

Izzy frowned. "You're the only one left, so you, I guess?"

"I'm only 16, just lost my parents and all that shit. Do you really think they're not gonna think I'm gonna have a sudden insanity fit?"

Rain smiled warmly and pulled me into a hug. "You're not gonna go insane," she soothed.

"And, besides," Jules added. "There are a ton of insane and stupid Division officials so if you do happen to become insane—" he got cut off by Ashton stomping on his foot. I could tell it hurt because he bit his lip and tried not to hop up and down.

I looked down at my Mother. I wish she had never gone insane. We never really made up after the fight we had. 'What a silly fight,' I thought bitterly, kicking a small pebble. 'And I won't even be able to say I'm sorry.'