Depths of a River

Chapter 32- Cleone's Story

 "Please, I beg of you, don't go to the police!" She said and pulled my arm back towards the bed, still crying.

I sat down again.

"What else are we going to do? These guys are dangerous." I said to her.

"I want you to go to Rodrique and stay there; they will come and look for me here. I will try and sort this out." She said to me.

"I won't leave you." I said to her and shook her hands.

"Please Adelynn; you have to trust me to make this all go away. It's our only option, so nobody will get hurt." She begged me.

"I won't leave you." I demanded.

"I can't make you go, but all I'm asking is that you will stay safe. They won't hurt me but they won't think twice about killing you. Just be safe, please." She begged me again.

There were sadness and fear in her eyes. I haven't seen this kind of pain for a long time in somebody's eyes, since I looked into my own eyes in the mirror after my parents died. I knew this kind of pain.

I hugged Cleone and she hugged me back, tight. She was crying so much, and all I could do was just to hold her.

We sat there for a while, longer than an hour. She cried herself to sleep in my arms. I laid her head on the pillow and threw a blanket over her. I walked downstairs and locked every window and door. I went to sit by the kitchen counter and typed a message to Rodrique. I didn't tell him about Cleone because I was afraid he would go to the police; I only text him that I'm going to sleep early. I will tell him when I see him again so I could explain the situation to him. I wanted to ask Cleone so many questions. I walked back upstairs and got in the bed next to her. The pillows were soaked from our tears. I lay awake for almost an hour before I fell asleep...

I woke up at seven the following morning. Cleone wasn't next to me anymore. I rolled around to look at the door. I heard the shower running. I got up and walked downstairs to make us breakfast for when Cleone got out of the shower. I made omelettes and filled them with fried green beans and bacon. I poured two glasses of orange juice. The food was done already, and I still heard the shower running. I waited for her even though the food was getting cold. After half an hour after the food was done she still wasn't finished. I decided to go and check on her. I walked up stairs and stood in front of the bathroom door. It was dark in the corridor and the bright outline of the door indicated that the light was on. I knocked softly.

"Cleo? Are you almost done? I made us breakfast." I said after knocking.

There was no answer, so I knocked and called again. There was still no answer. All I could hear was the water of the shower running. I opened the door slowly, still calling out her name. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me again. The whole bathroom was filled with steam. I walked towards the bath, and the mirror caught my eye.

The mirror was covered in steam and there was a heart drawn on it with a hand print inside. I remembered how Cleone always did this as a child, I don't think she had every stop doing it as she got older.

"Cleone?" I called her again, still no reply as I walked towards the bath.

The curtain was closed and the water still running. I got to the bath and slowly opened the curtain. There was a lot of steam, and I struggled to see. I pushed my hand through the water to close the tap. The water burned my hand, but I managed to close the tap. After a few seconds the steam disappeared.

Cleone lied in the tub. Her eyes were closed, and she was wet all over. The red blood ran from her arms down the tub and into the drain. I picked her up and held her against my chest. "No! Cleone! No!" I screamed over and over. My shirt got soaked. She didn't wake up. I pressed my head against her chest and hugged her. Wishing this could go away. I saw two needles on the side of the bathtub against the wall. I let her go and ran down the stairs to find my phone and call for help. I called the ambulance and after I called Rodrique. I ran back upstairs to the bathroom and held Cleone to my chest.

It felt like hours before the paramedics arrived. They burst into the door dressed in blue and yellow.

"Please make way mam! It will be better if you leave the room." The one paramedic said.

I let go of her and stepped back. The other one pushed me gently out the door. I stood there in front of the door in the corridor. Rodrique came running up the stairs towards me. He grabbed me and held my head against his chest. That broke me. I cried and yelled and collapsed in his arms. He just held me tight in his arms. The one paramedic came out of the bathroom closing the door a behind him again. He stood in front of us for a few seconds, not saying anything.

"Mam, what is your relation to the person?" He asked me. "She's her sister." Rodrique answered for me.

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