Paper Planes

XXVI

"I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head."
—Paula Hawkins

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Ember approached the familiar carob tinted door, her fingers lacing around the cool metal of her keys as she sucked in a staggered breath.

Nearly two months it's been. Two months since she'd stepped foot in the place she called home (used to call home, at least).

Lucky for her (and Noah), her adoptive parents had assisted them in paying off the price of the home, therefore she rightfully owned the single-story house.

It sat in a slow paced neighborhood, the neighboring homes several yards apart as Ember swiftly avoided any type of interaction with her neighbors. Surely they'd noticed her absence lately, and she wasn't sure of what kind of excuse to make.

The lock unlatched with a rather noisy click, her heart leaping into her throat when she shoved the wood door open with the toe of her shoe.

The womans chest tightened at the sight of her home, a pair of Noah's maroon Converse sneakers still sat snugly against the wall opposite the door. She didn't quite have the strength to move his things following the... incident.

The strap of her handbag slid down the length of her arm, toppling to the tile floor with a thump as she shuffled about. Her fingers traced the lining of the whitesmoke colored walls, lined with framed photographs of her deceased husband and herself.

A gasp tumbled from her cracked lips when she suddenly noticed something a bit—off—about the photographs.

With squinted eyes, Ember approached a nearby framed photo; hers and Noah's wedding photo. Her palm darted upward, covering her gaping mouth as she took in the sight of Noah.

Black, beady eyes glared back at her, accompanied by a bloody, jagged Glasgow grin, stretching up the length of his cheeks.

What the fuck...

Suddenly, a thought dawned upon her. Joker must've vandalised her pictures when he'd come to collect her articles of clothing...

Ember shakily circled the building, her eyes skimming over the clutter that littered the home. She was never one to keep a clean house, unfortunately. Her mother always scolded her for that.

Her mother was also dead, just like her Noah.

This little trip proved to be even more painful to the woman than she expected. Ember choked back thick tears, toying with the sleeve of her jacket as she collected several items, stuffing them into the jet black gym bag she'd brought with.

Just as she began to shuffle through the mess of items on her bedroom dresser, a familiar object caught her eye.

With shaking fingers, Ember retrieved the matted book from the surface, turning the faded cover over in her hands as her chest began to ache. Her manicured fingers gently pried the yellowed pages apart, her gaze grazing over the faded ink as she forgot how to breathe entirely.

Suddenly, the room began to spin. Her knees locked, legs beginning to wobble as her vision focused on a specific page.

"Here is the deepest secret nobody knows," Ember whispered, her voice emerging in a tremble as she collapsed onto the floor. Her bottom collided with the carpet, the small of her back coming into contact with the handles of the dresser drawers as the tears freely flowed. "Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide."