Shattered

Chapter 16

I was right. The next morning when I was forced to wake up, I saw the bathroom mirror again. It was as normal as it had always been. Not a speck of paint anywhere to be seen. It's as if last night hadn't existed. The giant splat of paint that landed in the sink was gone. The stained rug was clean as well. Everything was back to the way it was before. The money was back in the wallet, the random stuff we bought back in the store, and my clothes that I went to bed last night are now the pajamas that Emma went to bed in. The black paint streaks that covered my face were gone without a trace. It was as I suspected but I was glad I tried. One less thing to try but now we're out of ideas again.

Throughout the day, I talked to Harmony, telling her what I can in whatever short time we had. I told her about the mirror and how it didn't work. She consoled me by saying it was a good plan and one that we no longer will have to do in the future. That still doesn't solve the problem, however. "How about we talk about something else? There's nothing we can do as of right now." She shrugs with a smile and I can tell she's just trying to ease my mind. I guess talking about something else would be better. Unfortunately, within the next second, I suddenly teleport somewhere else before we could suddenly talk about something else.

***

As I was in the kitchen cooking something quick for Willow and me to enjoy together, I suddenly hear my phone's ringtone singing next to me. I glance towards it to see Harmony's name pop up. I quickly snatch my phone and answer before focusing on cooking again. "Hello?"

"Hey, Brooke! How are you?" I smile when I hear her cheerful voice. "I'm good. I'm just cooking something for Willow and me." I see Willow's head pop into the kitchen before she walks in and stares up at me as I talk to Harmony. "Oh, that sounds good." I turn off the stove and pull our food aside to prevent it from burning. "Yeah, so what's up? Is everything okay?" That's when I hear a sniffling sound coming from her end. "Harmony? Are you okay?" I glance down to Willow and I see her curious gaze staring up at me and I start getting a bad feeling. A horrible feeling even.

"Harmony?" I can hear my panic rising as my heartbeat picks up. "I'm fine. I was just calling to tell you I'm so glad we became friends. You really are great." My eyes widen as I hear her voice tremble through the phone and I prayed it was just the call breaking up or something. "Are you sure you're okay? Harmony? You better tell me the truth!" I can hear my voice becoming more worried and panicked. I can't stop the bad feeling from getting worse. Something is definitely wrong. I hear her giggle and I freeze. "I'm fine. I just had a nightmare. I just wanted to make sure you know how much you impacted me. In such a short amount of time, I've already gotten so close to you. You truly are a great friend. Thank you for everything. Really." I felt so touched by her words. I softly smiled and sighed. Though, I still felt an itch at the back of my head that something was still wrong.

"You should go back to bed." I hear her sigh before she talks. "Okay." She pauses for a moment before speaking up again. "Bye, Brooke. I'm so glad we met and became friends." I nod with a small smile of my own. "Me too. Goodnight." She bids me farewell and hangs up. I continue to serve our food but the itch remained and I can't help but think about how I felt there was more she wanted to say or needed to share, but she couldn't.

"Are you okay, Mommy?" I turn to Willow and nod. "Yeah, I'm fine, baby." I hand her a plate and we sit at the table to eat. We talk about our days and what we did. It wasn't until about an hour or so that I receive another call. I answer the call without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" I hear panicked panting and gasping from the other side and my smile suddenly drops. "Hello?" I immediately grow cautious and my panic returns.

I stand up and step away from the living room into the kitchen. "Brooke." I perk up at the sound of Connor's voice. "Connor?"

"Brooke. I'm so sorry. I-I." He suddenly breaks down into sobs and I immediately grow worried. "Are you okay?" I hear him sniffling and taking deep breaths. The bad feeling from earlier suddenly grows again, only it's stronger this time. I grow anxious and my body starts to tremble. I can't even hold the phone still next to my ear. "Connor, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Brooke, it's Harmony. It wasn't you. It was Harmony." I slowly shake my head as the worst suddenly springs into my head. My heart drops as her words ring throughout my mind and I wanted to fall to the ground. My hand starts to shake and I feel my lungs and heart constrict. "I'm sorry, Brooke."

"Where are you?!" I hear my voice start to grow louder but weaker. "I can't tell you."

"Don't give me that! Where are you? What happened?" I'm shouting into the phone now. I scream now as Harmony's voice echos in my mind. Her trembling voice. What she told me. With each memory, my cries worsen as I feel the pain of losing a friend. Someone I cared about.

That's when it struck me. The memory of when I saw Connor and thought I was next. When we both did. Harmony was behind me. He wasn't looking at me. If he did, it wasn't me he was targeting. It was Harmony. It's only been a few days though! How is that possible? He said two weeks! That was the shortest time! "Brooke?"

"I'm going to let you go." I hear him call out to me as I hang up and stayed on the floor. I drop my hands, putting my phone down as I start to sob. "Mommy?" I feel my daughter's arms wrap around me and I return her embrace. "Are you okay, mommy?" I don't say anything. I just hug her and cry. "I'm sorry, mommy." I shake my head and I wanted to say it's not her fault. That she doesn't need to say sorry, but no words came out. She pulls away and just sits there in front of me as I sit on the kitchen floor in shock. It doesn't even feel real. It can't be real. We had just hung out last night. How can she be gone?

I don't know how much time passed before I heard a knock on the door. I don't even move from my spot when I hear it. I hear tiny footsteps as Willow walks away. I hear her voice as she talks and muffled voices come afterward. Next, I hear more knocking only it's in a rhythmic pattern. I pull my legs up and wrap my arms around them. I just want to be in bed. I don't want to do anything. I want to fall asleep and wake up and see her again at work or hang out again.

"Brooke." I feel a soft touch and I flinch in surprise. I look up to see Connor and a wave of anger washes over me. I know it's not his fault. I've seen him so broken up about this before but I couldn't stop it. I just stood up and started to yell at him. I don't even know what I was saying. I just yelled at him. I screamed at him, letting out my frustration. He just stood there, watching me as I let out my emotions. I didn't look at him or his expression. I didn't see if he was angry at me for yelling or if he was upset or saddened by my words. The tears that had temporarily stopped returned to my eyes. They spill over as I continue to scream at him.

Eventually, I couldn't scream anymore. I suddenly feel exhausted as I cried yet again. The thought of Harmony being gone seems too surreal. I finally look up to face him to see his expression. He looks so regretful. He looks devastated and heartbroken. "I'm sorry," seems to be the only thing he could say before he hugged me. I welcomed it though. I wondered how he could possibly want to hug me after all of my shoutings. I sobbed and melted into his warmth. "Sorry won't fix anything," I muttered. He slowly nods as I cry. "I know."