Falling for a Cloud

Chapter 8

I fall apart.  I just can't hold myself together anymore.  Sam's house is trashed,  everythings broke and the TV's gone.  Someone was armed and broke in.  Sh*t.   My dog has three clearly defined holes in his stomach.  This dog was my life.  I bury my face in JC's chest.  His arms wrap around my frail and broken body.  My jeans are covered in blood and I can't breathe.  I can't keep inflating my chest.  When my heart has collapsed, what's the point.  My makeup is smeared all over my face.

"I know it's not okay now, but it'll be okay one day." I love how he doesn't try to make me stop crying.  I look up at him and he's crying as well.

"You would've loved him." I sob and bury my face in his sweatshirt once more.  He holds me tight and I feel strangly safe in his arms.  

"Do you want me to call Sam?" JC mentions and wipe my tears and quickly fumble with my phone to call Sam. 

"Get here now Sam. Someone was armed and broke in."  I skip all the hello's and blabber my information into the phone. 

"Are you alright? Are they there now? How do you know they were armed?" Why so many questions?

"Yes. No.  Because, they killed someone very dear to me." I break down.  I had stayed stong until that moment.  JC takes the phone from my hands and I collapse to the floor.  JC talks into the phone while helping me up.  

"Just get here now." JC snaps into the phone and I take fistfulls of JC's sweatshirts and bury my makeup smeared face into his comforting chest.  

Sam quickly arrives and rushes to my side.

"Are you," His eyes widen at the sight of the collapsed dog and his eyes dart back to mine.  I stare at my lifeless Charles and almost faint at the sight.

"No." I cut him off and run to the sink and grab about 20 paper towels and wet them down.  

I wipe my eyes and face first before kneeling down to my once-beautiful dog.  I dap at the wounds, I clean the fur around the holes in his middle.  Wincing at every touch I make, I finish the task.  I take his huge head in my hands, and kiss the top of his nose.  Who would've done this?  This person must've had a death wish.  

"You have security cameras correct?" I bring up the mention of camera's in our other conversatiion.

"Ya.  I think I know where you're going with this." Thank god. 

Sam goes to his computer and pulls up an application.  The screen pulls up and there's a picture of Charles's body in the living room.  I look away and Sam goes back to the time we left the house.  About a half hour later,  a girl breaks in through the window.  I swallow the lump in my throat,  she begins unhooking the TV from the wall and Charles trots up to her.  He doesn't seem alarming.

"No." I mutter and cover my mouth.

The woman seems alarmed by the happy, harmless dog.  He lets out one bark and I know what comes next.   The first shot is fired, but the woman misses.  He goes into full attack mode and lunges at this woman, pulling at her sweatshirt.  The hood comes off and I begin to loose it.  She fires two shots,  killing my perfect dog.  Then, this woman walks up to Charles, and fires the third shot.  She shot him, while he was down.  I go into full on mom mode and push myself up out of the chair.  

"I'm going to kill her.  I'm going to flipping kill her.  I don't care if I go to jail for the rest of my life.  She is going to die.  I swear." Anger takes over my body and my heart burns with hatred for this woman.  

"Lia,"

"If you won't help me find her, I'll have JC help me." I scream at Sam and rush down the stairs to JC.  

"I need your help. I'm going to find her.  That...." I cut myself off and grab JC's wrist.  

"What about...." Sam begins but I raise my hand to silence him and he seems to get the point.

"I will take him to the vet to get cremated." I tell JC to meet me in my car.  I take Charles's blanket and wrap the tortured, humongous dog in it. I then carry him out to my car and place him in the back seat.  JC is sitting in the passenger's seat.

"You're driving. I'm not okay to." I honestly admit.  I will either speed or crash into another car in sadness.   JC shrugs and walks around to the driver's side and climbs in.  We drive to the veterinary office first and I have JC check in while I carry in Charles.

"Why didn't you have me carry him?"

"Sorry, I thought you wouldn't want to carry my dead dog.  And it would be rude to ask." I snap and I know he's only trying to help.  But really? I think I can carry my own dog.  The vet calls me in immediately and I tell her every detail of what happened.  JC seems very uncomfortable.  I honestly don't blame him.

"I'm terribly sorry.  Would you like to cremate him?" I nod and Dr. Davis takes me into the cremation room.  I place my best friend in the steel machine's box. I can't bear to watch this happen.  I leave the room in tears and go sit in the car, leaving JC alone.