Unseen | ✔

35 | SILENCE

"Time doesn't heal anything...it just teaches us how to live with the pain..."

[35]

EVERYTHING IS SILENT and tense. The air is slowing by the second and so is the crappy Justin Bieber song playing on the radio. Besides the fact that my heart is still beating, no muscles move. The rapid thoughts of how this is my fault are the only thing pulsing my mind.

I didn't think that I would ever be saved by my demons, yet, my family proved that wrong and saved me.

Lily. Adam. Nolan.

We're not blood-related but that doesn't matter. We love each other nonetheless and that's okay because they're the closest family I'll ever have ever again.

To lose one of them though would be like someone snapping my body multiple times. Each crunch is one memory, one memory is for every minute I cry for them, and every minute I cry for them is my life slowly slipping away.

Now, finally, the minute I've been waiting for has arrived. I can't think straight. I even couldn't manage to put my seatbelt in the buckle with how freaked out I am. My palms are full of sweat, a bead of the sour liquid drips down the side of my face every so often

I never sweat.

I'm sitting in the car with Adam by my side, his own face scrunched up in anger and stress, yet I still see the panic in his eyes as we draw closer and closer to our destination.

My stomach does flips and it is only now when I realise that my arms that are wrapped around my stomach are now pinching the precious flesh underneath my shirt on my hip. I quickly unravel my arms from each other and release the clasp my hands have on each other. I fidget uncomfortably in my seat not knowing what to do with my hands.

I sigh in frustration and turn to Adam whose jaw is clenched tightly.

Dread is filling my stomach, the muscles tightening, not letting anything in or out. The dread is like a chilling breeze, numbing my brain as it slowly washes over my head.

Dread is the worst thing in the world.

"It's not your fault, Isabelle..." Adam says breaking me from my thoughts.

I nod my head and lean my head on the headrest, watching as the tree's flash by me in a blur. They're beautiful branches reach up towards the sky.

How I would love to touch the sky...

"We're here..." Adam whispers quietly. He stops the engine and the both of us sit in silence, looking at the surroundings around us.

"You know where to go from here, right?" Adam murmurs quietly. I nod my head and slowly open the car door. Adam does the same and we both hop out the car.

The trees grow so big and wide that you can't see past the canopy that reaches the sky above our heads. The familiar scent of pine fills our nostrils as we walk to the clearing where the old barn stands.

A sudden wave of sadness crashes on top of me as old memories flash through my head. Adam senses this and grabs hold of my hand. I look back at him and he smiles faintly, a sadness too. filling his eyes, only for a different reason.

In the distance, I see the old burnt trees that are the colour of black charcoal, crisps of it swaying in the air. Some trees are almost gone, the only thing remaining is the trunks that still spiral deep within the soil.

Slowly, we find ourselves coming to the clearing in where the final path to the barn lies. I close my eyes briskly for a short while enjoying the tangy scent of roses mixed with pine.