Santuary of love

(B1: Cristopher) Chapter 6

It couldn't be, she didn't even know how she had gotten to the place, the tears were choking her. The pain in her chest was a mixture of shortness of breath from everything she had run, by the words written on Cristopher's journal and the pain of three people injured by a rotten society that forced her to run. It was useless, you could never escape your mind, your memory, your injuries, but that logical thought could not stop the despair in her chest. Despair for Laura who had tried to save him even from herself, for Paul who never received help, never learned to care, protect without obsession, but who had a soul as wounded as Laura's, had given all of himself to keep her safe for years.

The balance had been very precarious... the cry was stifled by the boy's words that danced in her brain without stopping, where it was clear that he wanted to protect them and love them to the end, even with the monster that society had created, even the woman wound him with the hidden illness created by a sick 

January 5, 2014

The house is very nice, I have my own room for the first time. Paul went with us to buy all the art things that we would be needing. He even surprised Laura with a visit to the gallery who is interested in exhibiting some of her works. She accepted, only if they made a space for one of my paintings. That one wouldn't be for sale, it was so we could all be together.

January 2014After several days we have already visited some schools that may be interesting. I miss my friends, but the truth is that the art classes offered here, I could not have taken elsewhere. Today something strange happened. Laura took me to eat at a family restaurant and a man who was entering stopped her before leaving the place. The strange thing was that he followed us to the house. Laura began to cry as he knocked on the door. Paul came and kicked him off the property and helped Laura take a bath. I made chicken soup and brought her a glass of milk. Paul made me promise that we would protect Laura from anyone who came near her. I nodded without understanding.

The next day Laura's eyes were without light, she didn't want to leave the house, but she was leaning out of the windows. She was calling Paul to tell him that they were there, that they had not left. On several occasions, Laura began to cry as if she were Anita, at the age of five.

February 2014Paul stopped eating at the house, was late twice in a row, and exhausted. It looked like he was looking for something. When I asked him what was going on he refused to tell me. I left them alone, what could I do. Nothing at that time. I do not understand! Veronica how I wish you were here; I know you could help us...

February 2014

Today I woke up when it was still night with Laura's screams. Paul was with her, but she kept screaming. She is afraid that she is going crazy, she is afraid that everyone will find out that she is not well and they will take me away from her. Paul just hugged her and nodded, but occasionally looked at the window with something dark. In the afternoon Laura was lying on the sofa, exhausted from crying, looking at the ceiling. When Paul arrived at the house with a group of papers they went to the room to talk. After a few minutes what was heard were Laura's screams asking him to return to the Sanctuary. Let them return to the home they had previously had. I don't know what to do, Veronica would surely have called everyone to help. But what can I do when everyone is so far away?

March 2014Today Laura got up late, it was my first day of class at the art school, which we chose. Paul took me to school. But I did not feel well and asked permission to return. At school, nobody knows who I am, so I told the teacher that I would go to the infirmary and I left the school without anyone stopping me. When I got home, Laura was locked in the room, knocking, and asking to be let out. When I opened the latch, I was surprised to see her face swollen from crying and a few blows. I couldn't do much, as soon after Paul came and locked her up again. He told me that Laura was losing her sanity, that she could be a danger to herself.

March 2014Laura told me that we would be visiting the Sanctuary, that she could not stay in that house. When I arrived in the afternoon, Paul closed in on her again. I don't know what happened, but when I got to the room Paul came out screaming that she wanted to leave him alone and that he wasn't going to allow it. That she couldn't break his promise.

I entered the room and Laura was lying on the bed with her body full of blows. Quickly I went to the bathroom and with several wet towels, I tried to clean the skin. Just like Mommy Luz did. I dare not say what happened. But Laura only apologized after it was all over. It wasn't my first kiss, but everything else was… not what I expected. She screamed that she was crazy, that she should never have touched me like that. she asked for forgiveness many times... I just kept quiet without knowing what to say. We need our home.

May 2014Today at night we return to the Sanctuary, Laura is determined not to “hurt me”. So she hopes to speak to Veronica so they can get help for what happened. I am not going to leave Laura and Paul, no matter what happens, because of what they have yelled at each other and said… they, like my brothers at Mammy Luz's house, are all broken. Laura and Paul, they may not be my parents, but I love them the same and I want them to heal. As Vero says: The only way to grow, learn, and laugh again is to fall, cry and get up again with scraped knees next to a battered ego. My parents are going to be fine. I know it, we only need to go back to the Sanctuary.

Veronica felt that Cristopher's words had caused more than one blow to her chest. In desperation, she kept running as if she were being chased by the hounds of hell. She felt long after she was moving aimlessly in the forest, that her feet lost ground, her body fell into the void with several blows, then she stopped. She tried to hold on to anything, but she couldn't see anything because of the tears in her eyes. She could only feel a deep pain in her wrist that held her in the air, whatever was stopping her fall had her trapped with great force.

She didn't know what it was, it had her trapped and possibly safe, but she could feel a wet, dog-like mouth, trapping her skin between sharp teeth, the animal's growls were a good clue. She looked up, but to see she would have to wipe her tear-filled eyes or not have them so swollen, which was impossible since with her free hand she was holding on to everything she could while that mouth sustained her in middle air. She managed to finish propelling herself with her knees and lay down on the damp earth. At that time she used her shirt to clean up all traces of crying. Even with the pain on her wrist from the bite, she could feel pain in other parts of her body, where she had received blows when falling. She turned at the sound of human-like grunts.

There in the shadows was a wolf with white-gray fur, walking away slowly, walking decisively towards a small child, a boy about five years old, waiting for him, he fallow growling in the direction the wolf was moving away, she was undoubtedly was crazy, she could never think of a child growling at the place where she was. Veronica wishes she could go after them, but as she tried to get up, her legs trembled, and she fell back onto the ground. Where the darkness swallowed her mind and the body lost all its strength.