Locked Away

Prologue

The screaming continued as we stared at her body on the floor in front of us. I didn't need this not now, the day had already been long enough and yet here I was over a dying corpse. I pleaded for her to wake up but the pool of blood around my legs told me the situation was more dire and that yelling wouldn't be the thing that saved her. She wouldn't be waking up, she might never wake up ever again and I think the two of us knew that. However the screaming and praying never stopped, I tried performing CPR but nothing was working all while the boy beside me continued to look at the woman with horrified eyes.

"You have to wake up mom. Please. Mom you can't leave us."

The words echoed in my head as I continued attempting to restart her heart, but nothing was happening. Please hold on, the ambulance is almost here. Just don't die on me, I'm so sorry. I yelled in my head as the front door of the house swung open and a team of paramedics came storming in as if they were a SWAT team. The one individual pushed me away as I grabbed the young boy and held him close.

"Don't worry we'll take it from here." The paramedic said confidently, but I knew the situation and that was only false confidence and if they saved her it would be a miracle.

I didn't have any other choice though at the time to debate what I should do, so I took the boy and ran to my room, closing the door behind me. I had never seen him this upset, as he cried against the wall. His clothes soaked in the blood of his mother while porcelain shards and dust were mixed in with it. He was the first to see the body, and I knew that image would live with him forever. We we're both living in a hell and didn't know what was going to happen next. I didn't know if he'd resent me or grow closer to me, either way I myself was a lost cause, I just wished that I could have said goodbye.

That's when my emotions started to take possession of my body and I slid down the closed door of the room and curled up in a ball just like he did. Together we cried side by side as our clothes continued to drip with blood every motion we made a squishing sound and the full narration of the emergency team came through the door. The way the Paramedics would yell Clear which was then followed by the sound of electricity discharging and the body flopping which was then followed by a shouted again. Over and over and over again we had to listen to that until I no longer had any more tears to cry and rested my head against the wall. My vision blurry as I felt a set of arms wrap around me, and I placed my arm around the boys neck to hold him close. That's when we heard it outside.

"She's nearly gone, sir. We have to move her now to the hospital or else she's a lost cause."

Just like I had thought. I didn't have any more tears but to hear those words, made my body find an extra reserve and my face was once again covered in water. She was next to gone, and I couldn't help but feel that it was my fault. Worst of all I had just seen a dead body and it just so happened to be my mothers. A few moments passed until we heard one of the paramedics walk up the hallway to the room, and gently knocked on the door as I tried to fight back the tears.

"Come in." I managed to stutter as the doorknob turned and I watched the opening get larger until I saw the man's pants and then looked up only to meet his stare.

"We need to-"

"Did my mom make it?" The younger half of me blurted out and I couldn't stop him, why should I, I was thinking the same question after all.

"Yes, but she's barely hanging on we have to get her to the hospital, I'm sorry but you might want to be there as soon as you can. It's not looking good." The paramedic quietly said with a bowed head and I knew that this must have been the hardest part of the job especially when it was two children without a father and now a nearly dead mother.

I could only imagine the man's feelings when he said the words, since the two of us were already emotional wrecks and now he was becoming one to, as my younger brother and I stood up and we walked out of the bedroom. Three other paramedics had all moved our mom's body onto a stretcher and were rushing her out of the house as streaks of blood under the tires made their way to the door. It all continued to look like a horror movie, but I kept my little brother close, he didn't need to see all of the scarlet liquid again.

When we finally stepped outside, the ambulance was already driving away. I pulled out my phone while my brother sat down on the stairs, retreating into a ball again he continued to cry and I couldn't dial the numbers fast enough of the one other individual in our lives that would have actually cared about what was happening. My mother's sister and our Aunt. The phone rang over and over again until finally she picked up with a calm Hello but that quickly changed when she heard the panic in my voice.

"WE NEED YOU TO PICK US UP, IT'S AN EMERGENCY. MOM'S BEEN HURT," I forced myself to take a breathe and calm down slightly before I spoke again not realizing that tears were filling my eyes once more. "They say that she isn't going to make it and to call any relatives...we just need to get there soon, Aunt Ginnie, please."

I didn't hear anything on the other side except for the sound of crying and then a bang, and the sobbing got distant, as foot steps disappeared into the distance and I could hear our Aunt yelling. "My Sister's dead Greg, we have to get the kids."

While I continued to listen I could hear doors opening and slamming and I knew they were on their way as I hung up the phone and took my place beside my brother and wrapped an arm around his neck to hold him closer to me again. The two of us were both in tears as I looked out at our neighbourhood one last time and savoured the sight knowing the next time we came to this house it would be bitter sweet, since I knew deep down in my heart that our mother wasn't going to survive.

This broken house would be the place the word family would be left behind and it would simply just become us. Oh how I wished my father could have seen this, and how his two kids had to watch their mother die in their arms, but he probably wouldn't even care since he abandoned us all those years ago once he found out, our mom was pregnant with Ryan. He just couldn't be there for us, not even once and know we were homeless and soon to be fighting for our lives, and the worst part about is we couldn't leave this reality. No scratch that we can't leave.

However with most of my positivity destroyed I still held onto a little bit of hope. What we had just experienced might have been one of the worst things anyone could ever experience, which meant we paid our dues right, what else could any higher power or fate throw at us now...but I guess only time would tell.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, here is the preview chapter of my upcoming story Can't Leave. If you've seen me around in the threads you know how much I've talked about this and the effort I've put into it. I hope that what you read here interests you and you come back for the full story in two weeks, when chapters are uploaded daily Monday - Friday. Thank you all and please share this around or give it a like/comment or whatever if you enjoy it...or hate it, it would really mean a lot either way. Thank you everyone that has heard about this, up to this point now hopefully I didn't/don't disappoint you.

Also the music video that's at the top is called Youth by Daughter and I think it beautifully captures the feelings and emotions that I was trying to make present in the story. That being said, hopefully I'll see all of you here again in two weeks. 

-Li. A. Wake