Reflections of Light

Mother

Jocelyn's washing machine was on the blink; the grinding metallic noise it was making sounded anything but healthy, causing her to stop the current load that was in the machine, in fear it was about to vomit foamy soap suds all over the floor.

Leaning down to peer inside, she slammed a hand uselessly against the top of the machine, making frustrated noises under her breath.
Standing up with an annoyed sigh, she went to turn away- only to be greeted with the sound of shattering as something heavy flew through the window at her with deadly precision, showering her in shattered glass as she dove to the floor.

*

Maddie picked up her phone on the third ring. "Travis? What's up? Something wrong?"

"Oh good, you picked up. Hey, is Nyx with you?"

"No... Why?"

"Well... We can't seem to get ahold of her. Nobody knows where she is."

Maddie's blood chilled in her veins. "Fuck, seriously? How long has she been gone?"

"I haven't seen her since yesterday morning. She was out all night. I don't know when she left the house."

"Okay." Maddie said, keeping her voice level as suspicion seeped into her mind, setting firm like cement. "I'm on my way, and I want the full story. Then going to look for her. I already have some ideas."

Travis started to say something, most likely either to ask what she meant or to express his gratitude, but she hung up on him; fury bubbling quietly in her stomach, fueling the fire of her determination.

It was not irrational to assume the worst, not when the situation was so that it was the most obvious. She knew who she suspected, she knew who she was looking for. If Maddie had her way, her friend would be found, rescued, or if necessary, avenged.

Throwing together everything she needed, Maddie crept out of her room, striding purposefully out of the building and into the city streets.

*

Jocelyn groaned, flicking shards of glass out of her hair as she eased herself up off the floor; blinking in shock as she lifted her head to focus on her surroundings.

There was a silhouette in the doorway.

"Hello, Mother."

*

Maddie felt a strange twisting in her gut as she approached the building. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but the broken window confirmed her instinct.

Sneaking around the side, she found the door, hanging open.

Her stomach twisted once more.

*

It was like seeing a ghost.

Seeing him standing there, in the doorway, shrouded in shadows. It felt like a dream, a vision, an illusion.

He stepped forwards, to the edge of the light, just being brushed by the sunshine trickling in through the broken window; serene almost.

And then he stumbled.

She was up on her feet before she'd even realised it, as if jumping up to help him even despite everything.

He seemed to wave off her help anyway, raising a hand to halt her as he leant heavily against the doorframe, clutching at the wood with white knuckles, breathing hard.

He did not look well.

He looked starved, hollow; like he could fade away at any second.

His voice came out in a strained whisper. "Help. Me."

Everything seemed to still; like a moment caught in time, every heartbeat seeming to echo in the space.

"Hey!" Maddie strode up the hall, stopping short of the doorway. "Everyone alright here?"

"Um..." Jocelyn started, fishing for words to explain.

A snarl cut her off, directed venomously at Maddie. "Nobody was talking to you."

Maddie raised her hands a little, trying to steady the situation. "Hey, I'm just here on behalf of my friend. Who is missing. And you were last seen at her house."

"Wait, what?" Jocelyn exclaimed, eyes wide, looking confused.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" He roared suddenly, rounding aggressively on Maddie.

"Didn't do WHAT?" Jocelyn said sternly.

"She ran AWAY!"

"And why did she RUN AWAY?"  Maddie shrieked. "What did you DO?"

"I... Scared her." He said quietly, his fury quickly shattered to uncover a strange fragility. "I... Got into a fight, and... I went to her. It wasn't a good idea. She... Got upset. So she's gone."

He turned back to Jocelyn, looking intensely at her. "Please. Mother. Help me."

Her jaw went slack as for the first time, she saw his mismatch eyes.

Maddie scoffed. "She just got upset and ran off? No contact for two days? Bullshit."

"SHUT UP!" He screamed, lashing out at her suddenly.

Maddie went flying, crashing into the wall of the confined space, her head smacking against it sickeningly loud.

Someone cried out, she wasn't sure who; her vision went blurry and she felt something wet on her face.

Lifting her hand to her face, she dabbed at her nose, squinting at the warm liquid staining her finger.

Red.

Blood.

She was bleeding.

Her vision clouded over, and she blacked out.

So, finally got the chapter done! Love it, hope you do too.

Please comment your thoughts!

I've started to separate out the perspective shifts with asterisks, as usually I just created a page break them by going down three lines, but I discovered the moment I exited the page or published it, the lines were often automatically shortened down to one.
Fair, I can see why it'd do this to neaten up the text, but I realised it perhaps lost the seperation of the perspectives I was going for.
So I'm experimenting with this layout. :)