The Tears Devourer

XXII

     Skittles thundered on the lucid, plastic wooden floor. The dashboard lights would not stop flashing, with bombastic sounds announcing a total collapse of the pyramid of cones. The heavy pink ball returned down the mechanical path of nuts to Julie's little hands. The little girl picked her up delicately and carried her to her padded red wine seat.

     "Nice shot, love!" Her mother encouraged the little girl.

     "Thanks, mommy." A huge smile fell on the girl's angelic face. "It's Chely's turn."

     "Oh, sure."

     Rachel got up heavily from her seat. She was comfortable in it for sure but, she had to keep the thread of the day. Her mother had asked for time off to spend with the two of them, and she couldn't ruin it just because, at that moment, she doubted even the very shadow that was chasing her everywhere.

     A single piece of news was enough to knock her out mentally, to bombard her self-esteem, and lose her sight in the void whenever she got the chance.

     She approached the dance floor, amid those high-pitched, needle-sharp melodies, but happy enough to keep the crowd who chose that sport to pass the time entertained.

     She took the plump purple ball between her pale, wimpy fingers, lifted it to her lips, sped slowly down the floor, clattering the polished floor with her heels, and hurled it hard toward the pitched pyramid. Rachel was so distracted from her life that her launch landed at the bottom of the track without knocking down a single skittle.

     "It'll be better next time, Chely..." her little sister tried to comfort Rachel, getting off the seat and hugging her left arm.

     "Thank you, Juls."

     "Honey, are you okay?" Her mother, Hallie, placed a hand on her little eldest's brown hair, caressing it tenderly.

     "Yes, mom, everything's fine." She raised both eyebrows and faked a smile.

     "Mommy! Mommy!" Julie screamed, pulling Hallie's sleeve. "Your turn! It's your turn! It's your turn!"

     "Could you pitch for me, darling?" She brought her free hand to her cheek and repeated the caress. "Yes?"

     "Okay!" Julie shot towards the track, carrying as if it were a backpack, to that little, but a solid pink ball.

     "Honey," Hallie immediately turned to Rachel, once Julie was out of the background. "You know... It occurred to me that maybe you should go back to do some sport. You know, entertain yourself with something and make new friends along the way. I don't like that you walk around... Well, that you stay so much time alone in the house while I'm gone. That way, you could accompany Julie to a workshop that interests her."

     "I don't know, mom... It's just that..."

     "I could pick you up later," she promised, with a clear ring of hope in that plea, "I can go out a little before work and make up hours on some weekends. That way we would spend more time together every day, instead of just one or two days a week."

     A great explosion of glee leaped from the scoreboard. Another strike for Julie, which added up to her mother's points, but she didn't care much, the little girl also jumped with her fists clenched and her arms fully stretched towards the ceiling. Her joy was emanating from every end of her blond hair.

     "Just think about it, okay sweetheart?" Hallie cut the chatter, noticing all the fuss her minor was causing.

     "Ok, mom, maybe... I don't know, if I get up early tomorrow, maybe I'll go out for a minute," she replied. Part of Rachel meant it, but a different part just wanted to make her mother's day.

     "Did you see mom?! You saw it! You saw it! You saw it!" Julie arrived shouting.

     "Yes, my love. You are the best at bowling!"

     The three of them smiled in unison, perfectly in sync. But only a smile was genuine and innocent. Hallie tried to protect her daughters from what she still didn't know about the place. Protect them from sick people who can take them by force and outrage them in a thousand and one ways, while Rachel didn't remove that news from her head.

     She still thought that she could have been very close to that body found near the bridge. Still thought that in Ariana Torres' place could have been any other girl she has recently met at school. Things like that were not seen so often in France, much less in little Saint Gregory. Rachel Sweet wanted to go back to that place. She fervently wanted to return to her friends, her family, her life back in San Gregory.

     Not everything was perfect, but at least it was much safer. She didn't have enough ties to Dells like staying longer than his mother told them. The idea of having that conversation with her hurt, but she was determined to do it the next time she saw her happy. Not this moment, she wouldn't ruin her sister's smile on a whim.

     During the hours of meditation, nothing occurred to her at all, but her mother's words gave her the perfect idea. Seeing her that morning with new energy, trying to fit in with Dells for at least one damn time since they moved in, maybe open her mother's mind and soften her up, maybe give Rachel herself enough courage to face her, maybe she'll accept the idea of getting out of there if something happens.

     That was her hope. That something bad happened again that forces them to move suddenly, but first, she had to implant that idea in her mother. And that was why the next morning she would get up on French time, that f*****g schedule that starts before six in the morning and forces her to run for at least two hours straight. To balance the scales, Rachel would give her a cheer and a tantrum later. Something similar to what Juls did before leaving home when Mom explained to her that we couldn't keep a pet, only that Rachel's bad mood wouldn't last so short.

     'It'll work,' thought the brunette, keeping the smile still on her face. The idea of leaving suddenly put another image in her head. 'Michael,' said a voice inside the back of his neck, and that smile slowly bent, disappearing into a narrow horizon formed by his lips.

     Michael had just asked her that afternoon, while she was playing lunch, to come with him to the dance. Rachel accepted because she really likes that boy. Because she feels that deep down, he is very much like her. She feels a special vibe, something that she has no idea what it is that draws her to him.

     That trip to the woods sounded very strange to her, but what did she know about him... Well, nothing. Rachel had just met him less than two weeks ago, and much less time to treat him. It was weird, yes, but what person who is interesting in some way is not? She was hooked on the idea of sharing those oddities in her personality, with those that existed in herself. And the very idea of suddenly leaving him hurts. But it was for the best. She couldn't risk her Julie for a selfish complex. 'Sorry Michael.'