Always Be There

Prologue

"I can't believe her! Why?" A girl cried into her hands, her palms brushing against her cheeks to wipe the tears away. Red marks formed as she scratched at her skin, hoping to stop the pain that was bubbling in her heart. The girl froze up, looking around through a teary film to see that she was lost. The girl sighed, gripping her shirt right over where her heart was. The girl looked around for some sign to guide her while simultaneously trying to push down the feelings of guilt and sorrow. The emotions were colliding together, rolling into one massive ball that slammed against her organs like a pinball. The girl gripped her stomach with a light groan, the tears sliding down her face without the girl's consent.

"I need to get home," The girl whispered, doing a full spin. She could go back the way she came, but she didn't have any clue which direction to go in after that. The tears clouded her vision when she was running away, and they still were as she sat there, pondering where to go and what to do. The girl observed her environment, seeing that she was standing on the sidewalk, right by the railing that lead to the river. One or two cars passed by, but since it was late at night, most shops were closed. The girl couldn't ask for directions since no one was around, but maybe she could find a nearby sign since she was on a bridge. Surely, a nameplate would be around there somewhere, perhaps even a payphone or an open shop.

"Hey, lookie, lookie, here!" A voice broke the near silence of the night. The girl looked around to see that a group of older kids were approaching her, a malicious tint in their eyes. The girl backed up, adrenaline pumping through her veins in the face of opposition. Of course, she should have realized that running away from home in the middle of the night while crying wasn't the best idea, that it made her look like a defenseless child. While she had yet to reach middle school, the girl was in no way 'defenseless'. She could run away, getting herself further lost but getting her away from these wannabe rapists or kidnappers. The girl's face turned to stone as she turned on her heel, trying to run off before they could react.

"Like I'll let you get away," One of the guys said, grabbing onto her arm. What they both didn't expect was for the girl to launch herself forwards. With her balance disrupted, and the man losing his grip, the girl felt her body hit the metal railing, pain blossoming in her side. She grit her teeth as the guy was thrown off balance, his shoulder ramming into the girl's neck and chest. Sputtering a choked breath, the girl lost support, her body sliding over the railing, headfirst into the water.

Bubbles came out of her mouth and nose as she fought upwards. The street lamps became glimmered underneath the water, the choppy waves creating patches of blackish blue and pure white. The girl clawed at the liquid, trying to climb some invisible ladder to the surface, to air. Her lungs burned with a fire, begging for water to put out the flames. The girl was tempted to give in, allowing the water to quench the embers of her life. Her arms fell to her sides, brushing against the ice crystals forming the freezing water. Her eyes fluttered shut, the cold seeping deep into her bones, wrapping around her heart like a snarling beast's jaw. Her entire body felt the frightening chill except her lungs, where the fire rose up, raising all the way through her throat like vomit.

It's so cold...

I'm alone...

I'm going to die...

I love you, Shisutā...

I'm sorry about our fight... It's my fault...

The girl opened her mouth, the freezing waters rushing in to fill the empty space. Bubbles of air floated towards the surface, mocking the girl because she couldn't do the same. The fires of her life flared in protest, the heat in her heart pushing past the first wave of the icy water, but eventually, the cold swallowed up the last of her embers becoming ashen rocks. The girl let gravity tug at her limbs, the last of her hopes and dreams for a better life fading into whispers of ghosts, phantoms of the past that could no longer reach her ears. When the body hit the dirt of the riverbed, the girl was dead, eyes closed and lungs filled with water, skin pale and lips blue from the cold. 

The soul wasn't completely gone. The girl, vaguely aware a force was pulling her down a dark night sky, starlight reaching in every directions in golden points. The girl kept her eyes half closed, soaking in the serenity of the afterlife. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, maybe she wouldn't hate this. The girl felt her lips twitch in gratitude, pushing away thoughts of the fight she had with her sister earlier. The girl whispered an apology, the memory fading into blobs of colors and blurs of sounds that seemed familiar but were so distorted it was hard to comprehend the nostalgia. The girl drew closer to one of the stars, the glowing points becoming duller as she was drawn towards the all consuming light. The girl didn't question it when the light overtook her vision, her mind.