Ride Or Die

Bruised and Bloody

Bruised and Bloody



Within the next several days, Paisley had visited the work out room countless times. The pain was still there, no doubt. She was reminded every day of her younger brother by something as simple as a bedside picture frame. Good memories of the two of them flooded back to her and it took all the courage she could muster just to let them replay again and again in her mind. Like a never ending movie, only one problem-- That movie did eventually end and those sweet reminders of the boy she basically raised finished with the imprinted picture of him, dead.
- Paisley's Point of View -

I think about him. All the time. Every day. I could never forget him. I'm working on myself, though, becoming a better person and living for me--And Branson. Jesus, I missed him. Every moment I was reminded of that horrific picture. It was in my dreams-- I mean nightmares. It was plastered upon the white walls of my shower as I stood in the steaming room, often breaking down in his presence. He was even in the mirror when I woke up in the morning, bruised and bloody as always. The thought of my baby brother stayed with me all the time, but not in the way I wanted him to.
The room was still, and the dark coffee walls seemed to be pulling closer together, suffocating me in the process. There was minor shines of light that peaked into the room even through my drawn together curtains. Silence remained as I laid in my king size bed and pondered life. Seducing myself into deep thoughts had become a habit lately. What is life? What's after death? Is there a heaven? If so, is that where Branson is? I knew already if there was such thing, Jonathan wouldn't be there. Silently, I cringed at the name, Jonathan. Bad memories flooded back to me as I pulled the white comforter over my head like a scared little girl who hid from the monsters under her bed.

-
"Ready to go, Pay?" Sam smiled warmly in my direction, I just nodded and made my way towards the door. "Be safe," Jason begged before kissing the top of my head and releasing me from his grip so I could go out with my friends. I hadn't done this much since... the accident but I was becoming better. "Where do you wanna go?" Kami piped up from the back seat, beside me. We all sat in Sam's 2013 rose red Eclipse, of course she was driving. "Ice cream?" Haley suggested from the passenger side causing me to cringe and immediately be consumed into a flashback of going to get ice-cream with Branson, right before we were kidnapped.
There it was, another reminder. There he was, bruised and bloody, standing emotionless in front of Sam's car.
I squinted my eyes, looking further ahead, but still the body of the boy didn't disappear or even fade at the slightest. Blink once. Blink twice. Still there. My eyes traveled then around the car only to realize no one else was even acknowledging dead Branson. Chills shot through every bone in my body, my heart froze over, and my veins became icy rivers. I was seeing my own dead brother.
Again.