The Moon and His Stars

Introduction

Elliot.

Pain. Love. Death. All of these things lurk inside of my deep and hollow soul. I hear them. They whisper to me, telling me how much they loathe me. How I caused their deaths. My brain wishes it had lips, so it could scream in agony and sorrow. The mental hauntings never end. My sweet nightmare called 'life' never ends. I'm drowning in my own thoughts. I can't breathe. Someone please, save me from myself.

×××

3 AM. My mind refuses to rest, and I am left to wait. Waiting for the screaming thoughts to turn to soft whispers. Waiting for my lips to stop quivering. I can't take it anymore.

I sit up in my bed, sweat slowly dripping off of my face and bare torso. It's been two months since the accident, and yet, all I ever dream about is that horrid day. All I ever see anymore is my sister's face as the car began to violently flip down a hill. I see the way her hair would fly into my face, and whip back over to her side of the vehicle. She never screamed as we were crashing. Her necked had snapped as soon as the car began rolling.

I turn towards the nightstand, and grab my phone. The bright glow from the screen caused me to cringe, and wince as if the glow had wounded my retinas. I call my sister's phone, knowing I wouldn't get a response. I needed to hear her voice. The phone dials for a few seconds, and then I am transferred to her voicemail.

"Hey! It's Beatrice! Sorry, I'm currently unable to answer the phone. Leave me a message, and I promise to return your call asap! Love ya!"

I close my eyes, and hold the phone to my ear for a few seconds after the beep to leave a message. "Bea, I- I miss you. God, you have no idea how much I miss your voice, and your smile, and--", I start tearing up as I attempt to leave her a message. My soft tears soon turn into violent sobs as I throw my phone across the bedroom, which makes a loud crashing sound as it makes contact with the wall.

Almost immediately, my aunt darts into my bedroom, a frantic look on her face.
"Elliot? What happened? Are you--", she begins to ask before she notices my tear-ridden face. "Oh, Elliot," she says in a soothing voice as she makes her way towards my side of the bed. Once she sits on the bed, she pulls me into a tight embrace, her arms cradling my back. "I know you're hurting, baby. But, you've gotta get out of your head every once and awhile, and sleep". Her hands had made their way towards my hair, and she soon began running her fingers through my wet hair. I return her embrace, and lightly sob into her shoulder.

"I can't stop thinking about the accident, Beth. My head won't let me," I tell her. She mumbles 'I know, baby, I know' into my ear, and we remain on the bed, silently embracing one another. I was grateful for my aunt. If she hadn't gotten legal custody over me, I would've more than likely ended up dead, just like my family.

After a few more minutes of silence, Beth slowly separates herself from me, and pats my knee as she makes her way towards my bedroom door. "Please try and get some sleep, Elliot. You need it," she says, trying to be nice about how terrible I look.

"I can't make any promises, but I can try," I tell her. But, we both know that I will remain awake for the rest of the night. There was no way I was going to be able to force myself to sleep, not after this.

"Just remember, you start attending your new school in two days!" Beth says with a large smile on her face in an attempt to cheer me up. In response, I return her smile and wave goodnight to her. She exits my room, closing the door behind her. I let my body fall onto the bed, and lie there, thinking.

×××

Authors Note:
Hey, loves ! Thanks so much for deciding to read the introduction to my story. I do apologize, it isn't the longest introduction in the world, but I promise that the chapters will begin to pick up in pace.

Again, thanks so much for the support & feedback! I really appreciate anything you lovely people leave me to read and consider.

<3, k.j. roethle.