The Elites

12 | last straw

Chapter XII: Last Straw

Candace, why aren't you replying to my messages? I haven't spoken to you at all during the winter holidays. You didn't even message me during Christmas, our favourite festive event. What's going on? It's not like you to ignore me for so long.

What happened?

Hello?

Candace?

Sent by Scarlett at 2:00 A.M.

***

SOMETIMES, NUMB WASN'T the right word to use to describe how one was feeling. The winter was especially chilly this year; snow leisurely blanketing the New York roads and skyscrapers until it looked like a scene out from Winter Wonderland. Yet, I felt no joy towards the winter festivities.

I felt nothing.

Everything moved around me slowly like time had stopped, like the world had come to a standstill and I was the only one breathing. Although, it didn't feel like I was breathing. My mind raced with thousands of thoughts, my emotions trapped and caged far within me but, my body was running in slow motion. The grief and sadness weighed heavily on my shoulders, I constantly felt tired and spent most of my time hidden under the comfort of my bed sheets. Everything hurt. It hurt so much.

I just wanted it to go away.

I didn't realise how quickly time went, not that I cared. Christmas came and went, and soon did the New Year, entering us into a new season, another fresh start, yet, it felt as if I was reliving the same days over and over again. My heart cried in agony, telling me to stop, to stop hurting myself but I refused to listen, to understand, to stop letting myself be in pain.

I used that anger and pain to fuel my urge to complete what I came to do. Every day, every moment, every second, I spent thoroughly calculating my plan out and, not for one second did I forget who I was doing this for. Some days, I would catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I wouldn't recognise the person staring back at me.

She looked so hollow, so lost. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them, her eyes were so distant, they blurred with tears, her face pale like a ghost and her body slugged with sorrow. Everything was nothing and nothing was everything.

"Candace," A soft whisper caressed my cheeks. "Sweetie."

I refused to open my eyes, to see the concern in my mother's eyes, to see the damage I had caused. So, I kept my eyes closed, holding back the tears that threatened to expose my innermost feelings, clenching my jaw when I heard her sigh sadly, her gentle fingertips brushing the lone hair strand away from my face before she lightly kissed the top of my head.

She hovered around for a few more minutes before deciding to leave, the doors closing behind her just as the waterworks started. Blinking my eyes open, the sun blinded me as it peaked through the cracks of the curtain, a shiver crawling up my spine as I was greeted with a cold presence sitting at the end of my bed.

Her hair was particularly red today, especially as the sun spotlighted her, accentuating her radiance. Her grey, almond shaped eyes stared into the distance as she silently sat, her lips painted in the iconic red, dressed in black dress that stopped just above her knees and her lucky heels finalising the look.