Chapter 5

The loss of her friend is unbearable.

Chapter Five

Dreaming Reality

 

            Severin shuffled through the pictures from the package once more, smiling wildly. A knock came from the oak door.
            “Yes?”
            Maura entered, looking very lovely wearing a tight red dress that hugged her curves; red curls tumbled down her shoulders as she sauntered over to his desk. Severin looked her up and down, his eyes resting on her chest.
            “Is it done?”
            “Yes,” Maura said in a sultry voice, sitting on his desk. “The girl is dead. Our secret is safe…for now.”
            “Good. I knew that I could rely on you, Maura. You have always been�"” He paused a moment; he arched an eyebrow. “�"so reliable.”
            Maura stretched her arms and crossed her slender legs. Severin glanced at her hungrily as a smile of pleasure crossed his usually solemn face.
            “Yes, well, the girl is gone. What are your orders, sir?”
            “Come here,” he said, motioning her to sit in his lap. Maura walked over without any hesitation and sat down. He smiled once more and began to softly kiss her neck. Maura moaned in pleasure and took his face in her hands, kissing him passionately. His hands slid down the bare skin of her back. She giggled and kissed him even deeper. Maura suddenly stopped and pulled away, guilt spread across her face. She pushed him away and stood, smoothing the front of her dress.
            “I can’t. I feel…I don’t know,” she whispered, bending her head.
            Severin got up, concern on his face. He cupped her chin in his hand. “What’s wrong?”
            She sighed. “Thing feel troublesome already. Are things really...? ”
            “Soon we’ll be together with our lovely daughter. It’s all right.” He hugged her to him. He kissed her head and whispered into her hair, “I love you.”
            Maura, with her head on his shoulder, pulled away from the embrace and crossed her arms over her chest. “You keep saying that. When? I killed a girl for you! When will this all be over?”
            “Just as soon as I get what I want,” he said, kissing her on the head again. His wife smiled and kissed Severin on the neck.

_____

            Everything was a dream, or at least it seemed like one. All the things, all the events that had just taken place flashed through Willow’s mind so fast that she couldn’t catch even a single glimpse of any one of them. It was all just a blur to her; both a dream and a nightmare strung together all on the same string. Willow somehow knew it was reality, but it still felt like a dream. She finally realized something: she was dreaming reality. Yes, this dream was in fact real. It had taken her seconds to realize it.
            She was clutching Viola’s body to her. The rain had stopped and all that remained of it was a heavy mist that surrounded everything. Willow didn’t move an inch, not even to pat down her wet hair. Willow was soaking wet, but she didn’t give a damn. All she cared about was being with Viola.
            Is it possible to go crazy after your best friend dies? Willow wondered, raising her blood-stained hands to eye-level.              She couldn’t believe it; wouldn’t. Yet she had to, sooner or later. Her eyes felt swollen from all the crying she had done. Mike and Aggie--no make that Aggie--were probably worried sick about her. She’d probably get grounded.   It didn’t matter as long as she was close to her best friend. She hugged the corpse to her own body. She was cold, so cold. Willow felt the sudden urge to cry all over again, but no tears came, just the sharp pain in her heart. She wanted to scream out in loneliness, in anger, in frustration. Willow kept quiet and felt herself become colder inside. Another wall had been placed around her heart to barricade it. The pain was too much. Willow couldn’t hold it in much longer.
            “Aah!”
            Willow screamed like she never had before. She felt hot tears escaped her eyes and burned her cheeks. She sobbed and wailed into the morning. An overwhelming pang of loneliness deep within surged through her entire body, mind, and soul. Willow finally collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the lack of sleep, but mostly from the overwhelming emotions she held.

_____

            Oh, God, where is she?                     Agatha paced pack and forth in the kitchen. It was already morning, one hour before school started and Willow was nowhere to be found.                                              Shouldn’t I be used to this by now?                                       Willow had run off thousands of times before, but nothing this serious had ever occurred. Willow was usually back within a couple of hours. That was what worried her.
            “Aggie, come sit down! You’re gonna wear out that floor faster,” Mike yelled from the couch. Aggie had to admit that he was right.
            “Oh, Michael, what am I gonna do about Willow? I’m so worried!”
            Mike waved his hand in the air. “Psh-shaw! She’ll be back before we know it! Try to relax.”
            “You’re right,” she said, sitting down.
            The TV was at a fine hum, but still loud enough to be heard in the room. It was on the News network; pictures of important people flashed by on the screen. Agatha suddenly heard three words that caught her attention immediately:

“…murder…alley…shot…”

            Her eyes widened instantly.
            “Mike, turn it up!” she said, shaking him. The volume was increased and the full report was heard:

            “Last night in Crescent City, a murder was committed. A girl of sixteen named Viola Whitmore was killed by a fatal gunshot wound to the chest, killing her almost instantly. We have here a girl who claims to be her closet friend. Young lady, can you care to tell us anything about this tragic event?”

            Aggie practically jumped out of her seat when she saw Willow on the TV screen. Her normally pale face was flushed and tear-stained. Her eyes were swollen and wet hair stuck to her face. She was hugging Viola to her. Willow looked up slowly, seeming as if she just noticed the TV crew.
            “Young lady, at least tell us your name.”
            She lowered her head a bit, and whispered, “Willow.”
            “Willow, what happened?”
            “My best friend was murdered! Can’t you people see that? MURDERED!”
            “What happened?”
            “I was just trying to protect her.”
            She buried her head into Viola’s chest. “I was just trying to protect her.”
            “Did you have any intention of killing her?”
            “SHE WAS MY BEST FRIEND! I would never try to kill her!”
            The paramedics tried to snatch Vi’s body from her, but Willow wouldn’t allow it. She pulled at Vi.
            “No! No! Noooo! NO! NO! Noooo…!” She was crying into the chest of a paramedic. Vi’s body had been taken from her. Aggie had never seen Willow look so…weak, so sensitive.
            “Noooo…”
            “Come on, Mike. Get the car! We’re going down there!”

_____

            Pierce thought about Willow’s haunting face, surrounded completely in the shadows. Her face glowed eerily. Pictures ran through his head: Willow was totally focused in kicking the crap out of a student from the Academy. Another was of her staring into his eyes. Those hauntingly beautiful eyes. A shout from the TV in the kitchen caught his attention. He was immediately pulled from his reverie.
            “Noooo…”
            Pierce turned and saw Willow as he was making breakfast. His eyes widened. He had never seen her so…weak. Ever. She had always seemed so strong to him. On TV, she was crying her heart out, tears streaming down those pale cheeks of hers. For once, her face was flushed and her eyes swollen from tears. She looked so lonely, so lost. He wanted to comfort her.

But what if she doesn’t want to be bothered? What if she just wants to be alone?

Pierce’s face clouded over in thought. He knew what he was going to do, and he was going to do it know. Before he knew it, Pierce was in his car driving off in search of Willow.

I’m coming, Willow, I’m coming.

_____

            Willow was alone. She didn’t know what to do. She was breaking down without Viola. The paramedic she was holding onto patted her back uncertainly and left her in the alley. Camera crews surrounded the entire area, grilling her when she just wanted to be left alone.

Why can’t they leave me be?
            “Willow!” called a voice. She turned to it and saw Aggie rushing towards her. “Willow, we heard what happened! Are you alright?”
            Willow curled up into the shadows, hugging her knees to her chest. She felt like a little girl once more.
            “Willow, are you alright?”
            “Willow! What happened?” called out another voice. She looked up. There above her was Pierce. “Willow,” he almost whispered, “tell me. What happened?”
            “Viola…my best friend…she was murdered…and it was all my fault!” She hugged herself to the wall, sobbing into her arms.
            “Willow, you couldn’t have known. It wasn’t your fault.”
            “I saw her die before my very eyes…I SAW HER DIE! It was all my FAULT! Can’t you see that? She died because of ME!”
            Pierce tried to place his hand on her shoulder, but she shoved it away.
            “Just leave me ALONE!” Willow shouted, getting up and running away.
            “Willow! Come back!” he screamed.
            “NO!”
            Willow looked over her shoulder as she ran. Pierce was following her.
            Couldn’t he see that she just wanted to be left alone?
            “Willow! Stop! STOP!”
            She kept running until she collapsed of exhaustion. Pierce caught up with her.
            “Willow…please…just l-let me…talk to y-you… ” Pierce came up right to her face. “Willow…please…talk to me,” he begged, lifting her chin with a hand to look at her face. “Please?”
            His voice was soothing.
            He looked into her eyes, searching them with his own. He could almost kiss her but it wasn’t the time. Her eyes were beautiful, even better in real life than in his dreams.
            Willow looked into his own chocolate eyes, soothed and calmed. She suddenly flung herself into his arms, sobbing hysterically. Pierce was at first surprised but then embraced her warmly. He hugged her as hard as he could, trying his best to comfort her.
            Willow was safe in his arms, warmed by his body. She wanted to go on doing this, even though it was totally against what she believed in. She gave in to her desire to touch him, to finally hold him. They were one. Willow cried, expelling her inner demons to some other horrible place. Her soul was almost cleansed, but she knew the shadows still consumed her heart. She pulled away. Pierce had been holding her waist and she now clasped her arms around his neck.

Pierce was so close to her that he could see the crystalline tears hanging from her long lashes. Willow pulled him close and rested her chin on his right shoulder, burying her face into his neck.
            “I will always be here for you,” whispered Pierce into her ear, his breath tickling her skin.      

He pulled away from her and stared for what seemed hours into her amaranthine eyes. And then, he bent his head and kissed her cheek. Willow’s heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened as she held a hand to her cheek.
            “Always”
            Willow did the last thing he expected her to do. She smiled a grateful, yet kind smile, her entire face glowing in the morning sun.
            “Thank you,” she whispered, hugging him once more.

_____

            “Willow, are you sure that you don’t want to stay home? You can if you want to.”
            “Aggie, I’m fine. School will be fine. Just quit fussing over me!” Willow said, trying to shake the petite woman off her arm.
            “Oh, all right, if you’re sure…”
            “I’m sure!” she exclaimed, grabbing her worn puke-green backpack off the couch.
            “Willow…,” Aggie protested.
            Willow waved good-bye over her shoulder. “Bye!” she called.
            Willow let out a sigh of relief as she turned the corner.

Sometimes Aggie can be so annoying.

Willow smoothed the ragged grey sweater she had on along with torn black jeans and a torn black jean jacket. Maybe I should’ve worn something heavier than this. She shrugged. Oh, well, my choice.
            “Willow, wait up. Willow!” came Al’s voice from behind her.
            She rolled her eyes. Great. Just when I want to be alone, he comes up and ruins it.
Willow turned around, her straight black hair whipping around her shoulders. Thank goodness it didn’t get in her eyes because a grey fabric headband she found kept it back.
            Irritated, Willow uttered a, “Hey, Al.”
            “Hey,” he said quite mournfully, looking at his feet. His shaggy light brown covered his eyes. Willow had to admit that he looked kind of…cute. Her heart jumped at the thought, and she immediately dismissed it. “Have you heard about what happened to Viola?”
            “Yeah…I was there.”
            “Really? What really happened?”
            “I…don’t wanna talk about it…”
            “Oh,” Al said, disappointed. “Well, I can understand that. If you ever…you know…need a shoulder to cry on, you know you can always come to me.”
            “Thanks, Al. I appreciate it,” she said, a small smile playing on her lips. But when the image of Vi lying there in her arms, dead, she instantly wiped it from her face. Willow continued on with Allister to school in silence. It seemed that the tragedy had affected both of them, even though Allister wasn’t there to witness Viola die. At that, a tear ran from Willow’s face, staining her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, hoping that Allister wouldn’t notice.

____

            Pierce gathered up the equipment at the Academy, thinking only about Willow. He sighed and stood up. Ever since he was sixteen, he worked here long and hard.

Now that he was seventeen he didn’t know what to do with his life. Pierce had vowed to himself never to go back to school because he would just get kicked out like all those other times his parents had tried. He had just run away with all his money he had been saving up for most of his life and rented himself out a home. He got a job here at the Academy, working and training with a lot of the other kids and teens. Pierce felt that he didn’t have the need to go to a real college because all the education would just be wasted on him. He suddenly had a thought about going to the Crescent City Community College.
            He thought about Willow and how hard it would be to leave her. The image of her flashed through his mind. He went back to that moment when she was in his arms, when she hugged him, when he kissed her on the cheek.           

“Hey, Pierce! You finished yet?” called a voice from behind him, breaking his thoughts. Roy, one his best friends, came over to him.
            “Yeah, almost. I just have to clean up the gloves.”
            “Okay. Hey, if you ever get a chance one night, bring some friends over to that new club in town. Then, we can have one hell of a party.”
            “Okay, thanks!”
            Then, an idea struck him and Pierce smiled. Gathering up the last of the boxing gloves, he shoved them into a box and closed the lid. He would invite Willow over to the Crescent Moon. That would cheer her up.
            As he walked out the door, his face was lit with a smile.
            She’s going to be so happy.

_____

            Allister couldn’t help but notice that Willow seemed to be crying. He couldn’t blame her. After what happened to Viola, well…crying was the best way to get it out. Al wanted to know more about Viola’s death, but he knew not to push Willow on the subject. It would probably only make her more upset. Al didn’t want to see her cry, especially a tough girl like Willow. He knew that she could still be very sensitive, tough exterior or not, she was still a girl. Allister had to resist the temptation to wrap his arm around her and hug her.      

Instead, he simply grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She looked up at him. Willow had been crying because he could see how wet her face was, but he thought it best not to mention it. She smiled thankfully at his encouragement and he smiled back. She kept holding onto his hand until they got to school.
            From there, they went to their own lockers. Kids swarmed the halls, chattering about makeup and fashion or football and sports. Most of them stared at Willow. No wonder. She was on TV this morning. They knew that Willow was good friends with Viola. Let’s just hope that�"
            Al’s thoughts were interrupted by a bitchy voice, which could only belong to one person. Teagan Forrester.

_____

            While Willow was packing up, she kept thinking about Viola’s tragic death. She kept blaming herself because she knew that it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t told Viola her secret. Willow heard the tapping of heels behind her and couldn’t resist looking around to see who it was. She had a pretty good idea though.
            There stood Teagan Forrester, as bitchy as ever, with her stupid platinum blonde hair, perfectly tanned skin, and caked on makeup. Willow just couldn’t understand how a pretty yet mean girl could be so well liked. Willow suspected it was because that she intimidated everyone she met. But Willow wasn’t scared at all. To her, Teagan was just another little runt to beat up.
            “Well, well, well, look who it is,” taunted Teagan. “So, how’s Viola?”
            Willow kept a straight face, but a tear ran down her cheek. Teagan smirked. Willow was not going to let her get away with this. She felt so weak though, so delicate.
            She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “I forgot. She’s dead, isn’t she? I’m so sorry.”
            Willow’s fist was clenched; teeth bared together in rage. That does it. Nobody insults Vi, even if she is dead. She’s not getting away with this. Willow widened her legs in battle stance.
            Teagan noticed. “What’re you gonna do? Punch me?”
And that was exactly what Willow did. Willow raised her clenched fist and punched Teagan straight in the eye. By this time, people were gathering to stare at the fight. Teagan whimpered and got up. Willow smirked in satisfaction, seeing that she had left a bruise like before, only this time it was her eye that was swollen and not her nose.              “Oh, you b***h! I hope Viola goes to hell!”
            She ran off just as Al came over. Willow collapsed on her knees, her face in her hands. She was crying. She didn’t know what came over her. She couldn’t let Teagan’s harsh words get to her, but they did.
            “Willow, what happened?” Al asked, concerned, bending over to her. He removed her hands from her face. “What happened?”
            Willow ran off, backpack and all. Reaching an empty closet, she stepped inside. She could hear Al running after her and calling her name. She fell down and sobbed as quietly as she could, but Al found her, opening the door slowly and silently.
            “Willow? Are you okay?”
            She looked up at him. “No, I’m not. I don’t know! I don’t know…”
            She buried her face in her hands. Allister clasped her hands and raised her off her feet.
            “I know I shouldn’t have let Teagan’s words get to me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
            “Willow, look at me. Please?”
            Al cupped his hand under her chin and tilted her face towards his. He crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Willow laughed. She could always count on Al cheering her up.
            At seeing Willow’s smile and hearing her laugh, he grinned.
            “That’s better. Tell me, what’s wrong?”
            Willow looked up at him. He’s so cute…what am I thinking? I like Pierce not Al…do I?
            “I-it’s just that…well…I don’t know. I think Vi’s death has gotten me all messed up. I�"”
            “Shh…It’s okay…I’m here.”
            He took her into an embrace, hugging her close to him. Willow somehow felt safe. She could literally feel her heart racing. Al pulled away, looking deeply into Willow’s amaranthine eyes. He caressed her cheek gently; she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling, letting herself succumb to him. She half-opened her eyes as he moved both his hands to cup her face. She closed her eyes, feeling full and happy. But then she opened them, realizing what she was doing, Willow put a finger up to stop Allister from kissing her. He opened his eyes, looking very confused and disappointed.
            “I can’t…,” she admitted meekly, lowering her head.
            “Why?”
            “I just can’t. I-I…I have to get to class,” she stammered, grabbing her backpack off the floor.
            “You’re in love with someone else, aren’t you?”
            “I have to go…”
            “Willow…”
            “I am,” Willow confessed. “I’m sorry, Al, but it…it just doesn’t feel right to me. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
            Willow left with guilt in her heart. She was once again feeling lonely and depressed, her heart empty and full of doubt. Allister stood there disappointed and confused as Willow ran off, tears of bitterness clouding her vision.

Author's Note

Need I say anything for this chapter? Again, I tried my best at the time I wrote this to delve deep into my own unselfish emotions. Please enjoy, dear readers. :)