Man Down

Chapter Eight. Crash and Burn

Chapter Eight

Crash and Burn

Kristen ran, her breath heavy. Her chest ached, her throat dryly sore. Her sobs were hard to muffle now. She flew into the house, she dashed down the hallway as fast as she could slamming her door behind her. She could hear her mother calling her and approaching the door. she knocked lightly.

“Can I come in?” her mother asked.

“No, go away.” She responded covering her face with her blanket.

“Please, it will help.” She pleaded.

Kristen said nothing. The door creaked open, and her mom carefully sat herself on the edge of her bed.

“Talk to me,” she began “is it about dad?”

Kristen sat up; she wiped her tears.

“it’s everything” she sniffled “this place is cursed.”

Her mom looked down and shook her head.

“I know this move was hard for you, especially with everything unfolding so quickly.”

Kristen felt horrible, she could tell her mom had felt guilty. That wasn’t her intention, maybe she should not have said that.

“If you need a few days to be by yourself that’s ok.” Her mom finished, patting her leg that was under the covers.

She walked out, quietly shutting the door behind her. Kristen laid back down and enveloped herself in the warmth of the blankets. Her eyes were puffy and heavy from all the crying, she began drifting into a sleep. She welcomed it gladly, she needed an escape from this horrible nightmare that was her life. Her body relaxed, her breathing slowed, and her mind began to dream.

The sky was blue and laced in fluffy white clouds. The sun was bright, and she was laying on the fluffiest grass she had ever felt. She extended her arms and massaged the grass in-between her fingers. Someone had walked into view, creating shade over her where the warm sun was hugging her. she squinted and saw a tall boy standing in front her. he smelled heavenly; it was Sky. He grinned at her; his gaze was loving. She tried to speak; no words escaped her mouth. She could not move. He got down over her, he pressed his nose to hers. They stared into each other’s eyes, that was all she could do. He smirked and leant in closer, their lips met. Kristen’s eyes remained open while his closed, her heart warm. They broke apart, Kristen got to her feet. The expression on his face changed, it was no longer loving. It was now cold, it was chilling. He turned his back and began walking away, Kristen attempted to stop him, but he could no longer see her. there were tall trees all around them, there was a clearing ahead of them. A female figure made way into the light and Sky embraced her. it was Elise, Kristen fell to her knees. She began sobbing uncontrollably, it echoed through her dream. The grass around her began to turn brown, it was prickly, and the sky went dark around her. she was alone.

Kristen shot up in her bed, sweat drenched in her hair. Her clothes stuck to her body. Outside her window was dark, she turned to her nightstand and grabbed her phone. She had multiple missed calls from Dawn. She scrolled down and found a text message from Sky.

Kristen, I am sorry, but I am with Elise… I do like you, maybe more than I should. But I want to be loyal to her. I hope we can still be friends, if not I’ll understand… but please don’t take it out on Dawn and Patty. They really like you. Also, I’m sorry about your dad, I’ve never been good at timing.

She really could not escape this mess. Not even in her dreams. She cleared the message from her notifications. She wasn’t going to respond to him. She wanted to talk to Dawn, but it was two in the morning, she will call her in the morning if she felt up to it. She went into her closet and grabbed a fresh pair of pajamas. She creaked open her door and tip toed down the hall towards the bathroom. At the end of the hallway, she saw her mom quietly shutting the basement door. she turned and when she saw Kristen, she jumped and gasped. Her face was pale and her eyes wide.

“Sorry mom, I’m going to take a bath.” Kristen raised an eyebrow at her mother, “what were you doing?”

“Oh nothing,” she said avoiding eye contact with Kristen. “Was just putting a few things into storage that your father left behind.”

“At two in the morning?” Kristen asked.

“I could say the same to you.” Her mom sneered, she walked away into her bedroom shutting the door behind her.

That was odd Kristen thought. Although, they all had reasons to be on edge lately. She shrugged it off and headed into the bathroom. She turned the water on and sank into it. She hoped the water would comfort her so she could go back to sleep. All she wanted to do was sleep the remainder of her life away. She had been rejected and abandoned all in the same day. This place really was cursed. Her whole life had crashed and burned in the few weeks she had been here. The warmth from the water comforted her, she felt her eyes get heavy. She drained the water and stepped out of the tub wrapping herself in the same towel that she used previously in the day. It was not that comforting anymore, instead of a warm fuzzy towel it was cold and damp. She quickly dried herself off and got dressed and walked out of the bathroom. She saw Zoe sniffing the door leading to the basement, she decided she wanted Zoe to join her tonight as she used to do when she was younger. She grabbed Zoe by the collar and led her to her room and shut the door behind her. Zoe gladly climbed up onto the bed and paced a few circles before laying down. Kristen climbed into bed next to her, covering both with the blanket. She nuzzled close to the big black ball of fur; she fell into a deep sleep as Zoe comforted her throughout the night.