Until morning comes

[32] Penitent

Nick had heard it too many times.

"I'm sorry."

It was getting old.

"I'm so sorry."

"Stop."

Tommy looked up from his tear soaked hands. Nick stared at him with a numb expression.

"Cory chose to save you, it's not your fault."

"B-but uni-"

"Unis death isn't your fault either, there was no way you knew the killer would come back, you were in shock, so was he. You couldn't of known." Nicks voice cracked. The young male could feel the tears burning in his eyes. How many had they lost? 5- 6? How much more pain can they go through before they finally snap.

The group never got to go through the 5  stages of grief. It was like they were stuck in limbo, between denial and anger. Nick craved the feeling of acceptance, the final stage to the sick cycle of grievance. Although, he knew he'd never make it there.

_____

Ashlie dashed through the hospital. The buzzing in her ears was bothering her to the point of irritation. She was paranoid beyond belief.

Not only had she lost two close friends, she lost another piece of herself she can never get back.

She was terrified. She had almost lost herself once. She knew she has to keep herself together but how could she do that if she lost what was important to her.

Two support beams can't keep a roof from falling for long.

The fear of falling in between the cracks of what's real and what isn't invades her fragile mind every step she takes.

The fear of not knowing what's reality and what's fiction.

It has always been assumed that the quiet before the storm is the most terrifying part of any accident. The silence of unforgiving death that surrounds them.

She had been there when uni as stabbed, dragged off. She watched him being taken to a hell that nobody should have to witness and yet she stood there. Gripping the railing of a house, hard enough to break it. She had been there and she had leaned over that railing and she had screamed.

She had screamed until she couldn't anymore, until her voice gave out,

Until Nick dragged her away to the exit.

And now she was here. Fighting the same battle she had been for what felt like years. The battle with the killer and her own mind.

She could feel herself slowly losing it.

_____

Nowhere and nothing.

They seem to have a lot of relation for completely different words.

The same thing brought everyone to the old Macmillan estate.

The overwhelming feeling of adventure. The urge to uncover the lost. Their feet ached to explore and their curiosity got the best of them.

You could say curiosity killed the cat, because they were all meant with the nowhere and nothing of pain.