Flowers of Despair

Chapter 1

I star into the darkness, not quite sure why I woke up. I just snuggled deeper into bed in hopes of falling asleep again tonight, which is highly unlikely. Something's off. Something's not right. What woke m-that's when I heard it. Pounding. But from where? It sounds like it's from down stairs. Maybe someone's at the door.

Freaking out, I through off my blankets and went over to the window. As I opened the curtains, I see it. The red, white, and blue lights illuminate my room. I look over at the clock to find that it's 2:59 AM.

"What the--," I'm interrupted by the pounding again. As I race down the stairs, I trip and fall over half-way down. I quickly get up and limp/run the rest of the way to the door. As I'm opening it, I look over my body. There's rug burn all over my left side and a nice bruise already blooming on my leg. Nice.

"Yes?" I ask as I look up for the first time. Time seems to slow down. Do you ever remember those things your parents would tell you as a kid? Well, this is one of those times. I remember every time my parents left me at the house with Sam, they would always say, "Don't open the door for anyone. Even if you know them." Right now, I really wish I didn't open the door.

Standing in front of me are two police officers. The first one has his hand raised with a look of surprise on his face. The seconded one slowly lowers his as, almost as if he was expecting someone older.

"Can I help you?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Yes, is there someone older that we could talk to?" the first officer asks. I look next to the door where we always keep our shoes, but mine are the only ones there. That's weird. I shake my head no. They both look at each other, having one of those silent conversations I hate.

Finally, they look back down at me. The seconded officer introduces himself, "I'm Detective Reynolds. What's your name?"

I hesitate, almost as if I forgot my name. "Maya," I say after a pause.

"How old are you Maya?" Detective Reynolds asks me.

"I'm sixteen." What is this, 20 questions?

"Maya, what are your parents' names?" the first one asks. "I'm Officer Smith, by the way."

Okay...weird. "My mom's name is Jannet and my dad's name is Dale." I am met with silence. They look at each other again.

"May we come in and sit down?" Detective Reynolds asks.

I make a weird face, "Umm...sure." I step back and open the door wider, motioning toward the couch and chairs in the living room. As they walk through the door, they both take off their hats and look around at the photos of my family.

"Can I ask what this is about?" I ask, still not sure why there is two cops in my home.

"Take a seat," Smith says. As I slowly sit down, I look at their faces. Now that we are inside and the police lights aren't shinning behind them, I can tell that Reynolds is much older than Smith.

"It's about your parents," Reynolds says.

"What about them?"

"Well," Reynolds starts, but pauses, choosing his words carefully. "Well," he starts again, "there's been an accident."

What was he talking about? This makes no sense. What could he possibly mean by-"No. That can't be possible."

The look on his face said I was wrong. "We're sorry to have to tell you like this, but there's no better way," Reynolds say. Smith opens his mouth like he's going to say something, but before he can, Reynolds cuts him off. "As I assume, you've noticed it's a stormy night," he waits for a reply but I give none. "Well, it was raining and snowing, you could barely see. Your parents were crossing a railroad when a deer jumped out in front of them." He pauses and as this sinks in my stomach bottoms out and a horrible image comes to mind. "They swerved to avoid it while the car behind them hit a patch of ice and slid into them. They got pushed into the other lane were a semi was slamming his brakes. The semi couldn't stop in time." The officers just looked at me, waiting.

I began to shake, feeling like I was going to puke. "No. there's been a mistake. My parents are fine. They're just down the street, over at a friend's. I just fell asleep while doing my homework. They should be home any minute now." I looked out the window, hoping to see them pulling into the drive.

"Maya," Smith said. I looked at him, blurry eyed and not really focused. "They aren't coming home. Your mother, Jannet, she died on impact, felt no pain, and your father, Dale, died do to sever blood lose on the way to the hospital. We tried the best we could to save him. And even if we did, he would have had severe brain damage and be paralyzed from the neck down."

I sat shaking, yet frozen, in my spot as the tears started to roll like water falls. My chin began to tremble as I thought of the worst. "What about Sam?" I whispered. "And John. And Avery? They were with my parents, too."

They wouldn't look at me. Smith looked down at his hands so I looked to Reynolds, silently pleading that they were okay. "Sam's at the hospital. He's in a coma." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. He's still alive. I still have family. I'm not alone. "But," Reynolds continued, "he might never wake up."

"Oh, God." A sob ripped through my chest. How could this be? I'm scared to ask, but I have to know. "And the Adams?" I've had my eyes squeezed shut since I heard about Sam. Now I open them and look up into his eyes. They didn't have to say anything. It was written all over their faces. They're gone, too. Max. "Max. Does he know?"

They just nodded, not able to form the words. Max would understand. He'd be there for me, just like when I needed help on homework. We would help each other get through this. He would take me under his wing and protect me. I know he will. "I need to talk to him," I stood.

"You can't," Reynolds says.

"Why can't I?" I snap back. This is getting old. I push passed Reynolds only to find myself face to face with Smith. Well, more like face to chest.

"He left. He drove off before we even finished telling him."

He left me? How could he do that? He's all I have left; except for my comatose brother. Now, there's no one. I fall to me knees and cry. That's all I can do now. As shutters and sobs rip through my body, jerking me without consent, I realize something.

Everyone's left me.

No one cares about me.

I am utterly and completely alone...