The Deceased

Chapter Thirty Two - Counting the minutes

Tap tap tap.

Three lights knocks at my door startle me from my thoughts. Dad enters, looking sharper than ive ever seen him in a suit. He actually shaved for the occasion, and long, patterned strokes in his hair suggest he even combed.

"Are you almost ready sweetie?" He asks, "the limo is here."

I turn to him for a moment. "Almost. You go ahead. I think i want to take my car."

My car was recovered before i was, and was waiting for me as soon as i got home. I had missed my car, and tried to appear grateful, but the emotions wouldnt show on my face.

Dads frown was one of concern, im surprised he even obliges and closes my door.

Gazing back at my mirror, i touch the bruises on my face. The moment i got home Dad had proceeded to throw blankets over every mirror and window in my room. He wanted me completely under lockdown, until i had healed at least.

Its been a week since i had to rope them out of his palms, and i still have fistmark indents in my cheeks.

Concealer was doing a pretty good job at hiding it, but it didn't stop the pain, or the visions, or the dreams...

It felt odd, to be able to move freely about the world again. I half expected someone to jump out of the shadows and pull my hair.

Ive tried everything to get back into my old routine? But i felt dirty. Maybe it was a little dirt underneath my fingernails, but it reminded me of digging my nails into those grimey brick walls.

Ive even lost weight. Dad had bought this dress with my previous size in mind. Its not his fault. He didnt know. He had been excited for me to try it on, only to be disappointed when he saw it hung off me like a trench coat.
"Its perfect," i told him.

I still think it is. My mum would have loved it...

Mum lied to everyone she knew, and thats why i didnt feel as bothered as i should be by her arrest.
"Dangerous," they had called her, or so dad tells me. After she escaped the Asylum, my house was the first place Police looked. Of course, she was there, worried along with my dad.

I push it from my mind. Its a thought for another day, when it can fit inside my head.

Today is for Jane.

The drive to the church felt familiar. My new phone, pepper spray dad had given me, my asthma inhaler, and my purse were all secured in my black bag, that I kept over my shoulder at all times.

The pepper spray I wasn't too sure about. All day everyday Vlad was on my mind. Driving past the forest felt like a sting. The dots on my arms from Vlad's injections flushed heat waves up my cheeks. 

He was never found. As soon as I saw Lynx, my body had decided to give up on me. Vlad must have thought I would be no use to him in that state, so he left. 

He had taken Sara with him.

Since learning that, Lynx has been somewhat preoccupied with his feelings, which only tore us that much more apart than we already are. I guess he still likes Sara, so there's nothing I can do about that. Strange enough, it doesn't seem to stop the constant texts and calls I get from him each day.

In some way i feel betrayed. We hadn't discussed a relationship or any of that touchy-feely business, but I thought... It doesn't matter now, does it? Because it's over

I saw the limo, and watched as dad stepped out. Jane's family were in a separate limo that hadn't arrived yet. My plan was to stay seated in the car park until the ceremony started. I could watch the whole thing from my car if I wanted to, really, I would make it work.