Olivia

Contest: Go Crazy!!

     Her footsteps echoed on the marble hallway floor as she ran for her life. Breathing heavily, she ducked into the dark corner of her bedroom closet. Warm tears streaked down her face, though she shook with the effort of crying quietly. He couldn't find her....

     BAM!

     Her bedroom door was forced open and slammed against the wall. She heard the wood splinter and fall. The man's footsteps were getting dangerously close to her hiding spot. They stopped right in front of her closet. A beam of light revealed her as he opened the door. The furious man's face was hidden from her as he grabbed her hair and pulled. She screamed though she knew no one could hear...

 

     I woke up with a small shriek that was most unlike me. Dreams, or nightmares rather, never scared me enough to make me scream. But this one had been so real, I felt like I had been there with the girl, being hunted...

     A shudder ripped through me just thinking about it. It was only three in the morning but I wasn't about to reenter the nightmare. As an alternative, I decided to take a shower. My parents were deep sleepers and I never worried about waking them with my nocturnal activities. Truth was I'd been losing a lot of sleep lately over this nightmare.

     I spent a good hour letting steaming hot water pour over me, hoping it was washing away more than just any dirt that might have been on my body. I hoped it would wash away the nightmare, but I knew better than that. Once I was good and pruny, I put on some old sweats and a sports bra. School wasn't for another five hours anyways.

 

(*)

 

     "That sonds awful," Olivia consoled me. I had just told her about my nightmare, how it wasn't a one time thing. As my best friend she knew exactly how to listen and not interrupt until I was done. Anyone else would've jumped in during the middle to tell me about their own dreams. Not Olivia.

     "You have no idea."

     The warning bell rang, announcing to us lazy high schoolers that we had five minutes to get to class or else. Of course, eighty percent of the student body didn't so much as blink at these bells, preferring the thrill of almost being late to class. I was one of them. So was Olivia's boyfriend Jarvis, who came up to her now putting an arm around her shoulder and kissing her cheek.

     "Hey babe." He beamed at her. She had him wrapped around her finger, though she always assured me it was unintentional. Jarvis worshipped the ground she walked on irregardless. And why shouldn't he? Olivia was pretty amazing. Tall and slender, porcelain skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes. Not to mention her caring personality. Olivia was always last in Olivia's mind. Everyone else came first. I didn't think I deserved the privilege....or a friend like her.

     "Hi doll." She pecked his lips and it was one of the sweetest things I'd ever seen. Most couples made me want to gag with their outrageous PDA, but not them. He took her hand to walk her to class. I soon remembered my class was the opposite direction.

     "Gotta run. See you after school Liv."

     "Love you Chels."

     With my luck that day, you can imagine I wasn't surprised to arrive late to class and buy myself detention.

 

(*)

 

     I was more than relieved that it was Friday. After my extra hour at school, I drove home to find Olivia's car waiting in the driveway. She'd probably already let herself in with the spare she knew was under the fox statue in our front yard. It had been a regular occurence ever since we became friends in fifth grade. I grabbed my bag off the passenger seat and let myself in.

     My nose was accosted by the smell of brownies the second I walked in the door. Olivia greeted me with a smile when I got to the kitchen. I dropped my bag on a chair and fixed her with a stare that said Explain.

     "You had all the ingredients and I was craving some chocolate." She shrugged and laughed it off. It was just like her to bake brownies in someone else's house just because she wanted to. I loved her for it.

     "Well cool, I'm starving."

     For the rest of the afternoon, we baked. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies and even a sour cream coffee cake. We were unstoppable. As we baked, we reminisced about certain moments of our friendship and funny things we had done together. At one point, an argument over who actually finished reading Twilight first resulted in a flour fight. The kitchen was a mess and when my mom walked in she grabbed a cookie, kissed us both on the top of our heads, told us to clean up after ourselves and headed to her room.

     Cleaning was easier than we thought, and the kitchen was close to sparkling in less than an hour. We took our treats up to my room and listened to music as we gabbed.

     "Hey Chels? Do you ever think about what dying feels like?"

     "Not really, no. Why?"

     Olivia had always asked deep, thoughtful questions and I'd learned to expect them. But she'd never been one to discuss gloomy topics with anyone due to her generally cheery disposition. Her questions were always interesting, never glum. So this one had my radar up.

     "I don't know. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Actually, it's constantly on my mind, what with my mom and all... I wonder what it must have been like for her."

     When Liv was only eight years old, her mom had gotten stabbed to death in the downtown area where she worked. Some gang boys were bored that night, saw her beautiful mom walking by and decided to have some fun. I hadn't known Liv when it happened, but she'd told me all about it. She had been devestated at the time, and it only put more of a damper on her and her dad's already rocky relationship.

     "Liv, don't think about it. Please."

     "Well, okay. Hey! You want to hear the new mix Jarvis made me? I brought it."

     "Definitely!"

     We had fun all night, and Liv ended up staying over like on most weekends. The last thing I remember before I passed out was Olivia laughing at some show we were watching. Then all I knew was my nightmare.

 

(*)

 

     The girl cried out in agony as the man pulled her up and out of the closet by her hair. She felt each strand that was being torn from her head. The man threw her down on the floor after he dragged her out. He spit on her and screamed.

     "It's all your fault! You're the reason!"

     "Please," she whimpered. Her tears ran a rough course down her face, into her mouth and down the sides of her jaw. Her gut wrenching sobs were no longer being held back, messing up her breathing. "It wasn't me. Please don't hurt me."

     The man paused, unsure what to do. The girl used the momentary distraction to leap up and run. As soon as the man saw this, he chased her. He overpowered her quickly, tripping her. She landed on her face, nose cracking, brown hair getting stuck in the blood. He started pulling her back by her ankles and her jeans rose up a bit, revealing the cut marks.

     "You'll pay! You'll pay for what you did to this family. You little..."

     "Please!"

     He dragged her further, down the steps, out the door...

 

     "Stop!"

     I woke up panting again. Sweat covered my face, and I felt gross. I coughed a little, calming myself. The dream had never gone that far...

     My cell phone rang on the bedside table. I took a deep breath so whoever it was didn't ask me any questions. I looked at the caller ID and flipped my phone open.

     "Jarvis? What's up?"

     "Can I talk to Olivia? I think her phone died or something."

     "Sure, one sec."

     "Olivia, it's-"

     But Olivia was not in bed where she was when I'd fallen asleep. That girl was always getting midnight cravings, and it was two in the morning.

     "Why you up so late Jarv?"

     "I was at Dane's party. Just got home a little while ago. Did I wake you?"

     "No, I was up. I'm just looking for Liv. She must be in the kitchen or something."

     After making sure she wasn't in the bathroom, I ventured downstairs, still on the line with Jarvis. To my surprise, she wasn't in the kitchen or watching TV in the parlor. Sceptic, I checked the basement, but the only thing there was my dryer full of whites.

     "Olivia's never been one for an early morning run has she?"

     "No, why?" He sounded panicked. I didn't blame him.

     "I...sort of can't...find her."

     "I'm coming over." The line went dead and I went to check the entire house again, to be safe. But Liv was nowhere to be seen. I found her cell, but it was dead. I heard Jarvis pull up outside. I left a note for my parents in case they happened to wake up and ran outside. I got into Jarvis's car. He started to drive the second I closed the door. 

     "Where could she have gone Chelsea?"

     "I don't know. This isn't like her."

     "Aren't you supposed to be her best friend?" He snapped.

     "Hey, watch it! I'm freaked too, so don't take it out on me!"

     "I'm sorry."

     We checked the park, the school, her house, but she was nowhere. Then I had an idea.

     "Go downtown, to the hospital."

     "What?"

     "Just do it!"

     It took him ten minutes to drive there since there was no traffic on the road. I hopped out and started screaming Olivia's name. Jarvis helped, though he didn't have the slightest clue why we were there. Olivia had never told him the whole story about her mom. I started checking alleyways, but it was hard to see in the dark. Jarvis had a flashlight in his car and we searched with that.

     Just as I was giving up, I heard a small crash in one the alleys we hadn't checked.

     "Olivia?!"

     I turned into the right alley and screamed. Before I knew what was happening, I fell backwards. Jarvis caught me and we both slipped to the gravel. My body was producing sobs more than I could release them, and I started to hyperventilate. The repeated thump, thump was driving me further into hysterics.

     Olivia's body was swinging back and forth, her feet hitting the dumpster beneath her everytime she swung back. Her arms hung limp at her side, their porcelain color looking more like death. I dared to look up at her face. It was empty. But her eyes were open, her piercing blues looking at nothing as she continued to hit the dumpster. She had fashioned a noose out of old cables that were tied to one of the apartment fire escapes above her. I couldn't look anymore. I curled up in Jarvis's arms as he cried into my hair.

     Thump, thump, thump, thump....

 

(*)

 

     Every face passed by in a blur. Every apology went unheard. The only thing I knew was the hole in my chest, the hole she had left. I'd tried to convince my parents that going to school was the best thing for me, but I knew now how stupid that had been. Everyone stared. So I left.

     I sat in my car and tried not to remember...unsuccessfully. Tried not to remember how the police car lights lit up my distorted vision, tried not to remember the cut marks I'd seen on her ankles as she swung, tried not to recall the sound her body made on the dumpster when they cut her down. I tried my hardest not to relive the look on Jarvis's face when I could see again, how I saw his heart break right in front of me. I failed to block the image of my best friend in that body bag, devoid of air and life.

     Everything I had known before bled together like ink and was washed away...

 

(*)

 

     "Chelsea?"

     I forced down another bite of cereal. Since when did Cocoa Puffs taste like old rotting milk? Was that my imagination? The milk looked and smelled fine to me...

     "Chelsea!"

     "Huh?"

     "It's time to go sweetie."

     I came back to reality. My parents were staring at me, all dressed nice with their coats on ready to go. I glanced down at myself. Black skirt, blue blouse and a black sweater. Was it time already? Did I pick out this outfit? I got up from the table and followed my parents out the door and into the car. We pulled up to the church five minutes later. I barely noticed all the people who stopped to stare at me as we took our seats up front. The only person I saw was Jarvis, dressed solemnly and looking at me with eyes I could understand. Lost and lacking shine...my own eyes probably looked the same.

     "Could we all take our seats? We're about to begin."

     The priest announced this from the pulpit. I took a seat next to Jarvis, leaning against him. He was the only one who understood. 

     After a long speech, the priest said it was time to say our goodbyes to Olivia. Just hearing her name started a round of soft weeping I couldn't contain. I felt Jarvis shake too. Her dad was up at her open casket, saying goodbye. He didn't stay long, but turned around to motion to Jarvis and I. We got up and joined him. Her father hugged me in tears and handed me a piece of paper with my name on it. Olivia's writing. 

     "They found it in her pocket. No one's read it."

     "Thank you."

     I opened the note.

 

Dear Chelsea,

 I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I don't think I could've ever put you through the additional pain of waiting for me to do something like this had I told you I'd been thinking of it. I never told you, but my dad started hitting me after my mom died, blaming me for her death and calling me names. I cut myself sometimes. I never told you that either. I'm sorry I've been such a horrible friend, you were always so good to me. Tell Jarvis I love him and that he'll find someone worth it. Most likely you'll only tell him the first part. That's okay. But please don't show him this. I love you as if you were my own sister Chels. I hope you can forgive me one day.

Love,

Olivia

 

     I folded it up and held it in my hand. I didn't turn to look at her body, and neither did Jarvis. We walked right out of the church together, knowing we had each other. It was a comfort I guess. I would always remember her. I would never forgive myself for not realizing the girl in my dream was Olivia. I would never forgive myself for not finding her in time.

 

     The only thing I could do was hope the nightmares would finally disappear, and hope Olivia was finally happy. Because I knew I wasn't.

 

    

Reviews

[Lauren Marie]

I loved this story.
And it made me cry.
Your characters were very believable and real, and the plot twist was excellent.
The first sentence of Liv's letter; "I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I don't think I could've ever put you through the additional pain of waiting for me to do something like this had I told you I'd been thinking of it."
It was very confusing. I understood the meaning and all, but I think that maybe if you broke this up in to two sentences, that would save no room for confusion.
Again, excellent read.
One of my favorites!
~Lauren

[Nicole]

You're very talented. the plot runs smooth with interesting twists and unexpected turns. You're foreshadowing worked well too in my opinion, "The last thing I remember before I passed out was Olivia laughing at some show we were watching. Then all I knew was my nightmare." This is flawless, bc we immediately assume she's talking about her nightmare, but it was ambiguous. Perfect. It was hard to read, but written so well. I also appreciated how you hid Olivia's pain with Chelsea's all throughout the story, and finally revealed that it wasnt her who needed help. We were just as confused as she was, and that's what made it so relatable. Thank you for writing this, looking forward to reading your other pieces.

[MadasonBlue]

This made me cry relatively quickly. It was really amazing. I know someone like Olivia, I have dreams about them all the time like this, I'm always afraid.
This hits home. I can really relate to Chelsea. Your characters are flawless.

[H]

Mmm. Very thought provoking. There's a certain energy about your writing that is very enjoyable. Heck, I wish I had it.

[Taylor H]

This was a really good story. The only thing I could see that I would change is possibly explaining earlier in the story how old they all are. I got a little confused when you said they were driving to school. And I got confused on how to picture Olivia when she was hung. "Olivia's body was swinging back and forth, her feet hitting the dumpster beneath her every time she swung back."---how was she hitting something underneath her if she was swinging back and forth? I didn't get it.

Other then that. Great story and thank you for submitting it to the "ice breaker" contest.

[Jean P. Prudhomme]

I like.

"The last thing I remember before I passed out was Olivia laughing at some show we were watching. Then all I knew was my nightmare."

know the feeling all too well.

[barricade]

Am speechless...! left with slight numbness and goosebumps! had that whole spine chilling feel to it...dark and grave...loved the way you've penned this one...so realistic...could feel everything...the thumping as she hit the dumpster...as if i was right there..a part of it...a witness...
such a powerful story...highly intriguing...the nightmares adding a completely different angle...
i loved this! sad...but brilliant work!
had me gripped from start to finish...still can't believe am through with it...my mind still shadowed...

an amazing write altogether! keep it up!

regards
Barricade....

[Flo_writer]

This is a powerful story. It's funny how everyone was always venting to Olivia and she would always listen but there was no one to listen to her. Everything written here is amazing and on key to certain aspects of reality. A touching tale that foreshadows a tragic and heartfelt death. Well done.

[Grey]

This is an amazing story. The dream foreshadows her death, and for a second you can see where it's going, but you don't want to believe it, until you're forced to... Even for it's relative short length, the characters are real.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

That was pretty chilling... the fact that she had the nightmare that corresponded to what happen to her friend though she never knew... I think we all have a bit of sixth sense... this also shows that we may now know everything bout the ones we are closest too... and most importantly it captures just how suicide effects our loved ones... your story gives a lot to think about.