You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.
~Anne Lamott
Her silence told him enough, so he didn’t ask further. He just held her, letting her know that he was here. That she was safe. Sure, he felt some guilt because of what he used to be. He even felt like he was lying to her right now by being here. He used to be part of the group that had attacked her. Twice if you count the whole… nose incident. He felt her jump when the door fell closed, and he held her even tighter to his chest when she started t sniffle. After she spoke and pulled away from him, he didn’t stop her. He didn’t speak. What could he say? He’d never seen Beth cry. She wasn’t one to cry easily, so that she was clearly heavily shaken by this. He moved after her when she went over to her bed, taking a seat next to her. He didn’t think things over when he just wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. ”You’re safe Beth.. I’m here, okay?” He finally spoke softly. ”You don’t have to tell me what happened. Just know that I’m here for you.”
David pulled her close and Beth leaned against him. She did feel safe around him, but not even he could stop the dark memories that were clouding her mind. Beth wiped her tears away as they fell, and slowly they begin to subside. They sat in silence for a few moments longer before Beth finally sighed. She knew she had to tell him. He needed to know that she wasn't just freaked out by what had happened, but by what had happened before. Beth leaned away a bit, but she was still close to him. She looked over at him and started to speak, but she didn't know how to start. Beth looked down at the floor as she thought of a way to begin. "It's not what happened today that..." She motioned with her hand in a sad attempt to elaborate her feelings. "When I was fourteen, I was out hunting and the Pures kidnapped me." Beth looked back up at David, trying to watch his reaction. "I escaped last October."
David didn’t even bother replying to her last text. He was up and out his door within seconds. Pures. Again. And this time is seemed like it was worse than it had been with Beth’s last attack. David was beyond frustrated by all this. Just as things had been extra confusing for him with his link to the Pures, this kinda shit happened. The odds. But right now, it was all about Bethany for him. He wanted to see her, and make sure she was alright. Show her he was there for her, cause even in those few texts, he had noticed she was really upset about what had happened. The moment he got to her door and knocked, he glanced around. Taking in his surroundings. With all the recent attacks, he wondered whether they kept close to their targets if they survived. When he heard movement inside Beth’s home he shook his head. He was being paranoid. Completely. It wasn’t Pure ammo to stick around shortly after an attack.To risky. When the door opened, he took in Beth’s form in a few seconds. Dark eyes. Nose a little blue, looking… like she went through hell and back. He instantly stepped inside, wrapping his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. He kept her in that embrace for a moment before he spoke softly. ”Are you okay?”
Beth looked at him for a moment before he stepped inside and pulled her into a tight hug. She turned her face so her cheek was against his chest and she closed her eyes. It felt safe, he felt safe. Beth wrapped her arms, blanket and all, around is waist and sighed. He asked her if she was okay and she didn't respond. David had known the confident, cocky Beth. But that wasn't her, not anymore. She wasn't strong, she wasn't confident and she wasn't prepared for any battles she had to fight. Beth was scared. She was the scared teenager she was never allowed to be around people. The door fell shut behind him and she jumped. Beth sniffled and shook her head. "No, no I'm not." Before she could stop them, the tears had come. She pulled away from him and turned back to her bed. Sitting down cross legged, she hid her face in her hands and tried to control herself.
Beth sat on her bed still, the blankets wrapped around her tightly. The little TV she'd gotten for Christmas was on, but she wasn't paying attention. It felt as if every time she moved, the memories of that cell came back to her. Beth shivered again and pulled the blankets around her tighter, wincing a bit as she hit her bruised nose. Her eyes were a little dark underneath as well, but it wasn't a big deal. Her phone was sitting on one of the shelves on her headboard and every once in a while she would look at it, waiting for David it text back. Beth didn't want him to worry about her, and she should've just lied. It was too late, and she was just waiting for him to get there. When the knock came, Beth jumped, but she knew it was just him. She got up off her bed, dragging the blankets with her, and checked the peep hole to make sure it was David. When she'd confirmed it was him, she pulled the door open and gave him a little flash of a smile. "Hi."
In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination. Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore. -Ravi Zacharias, Recapture The Wonder
Bethany Turner used to be a sweet, innocent little girl. She never thought of swearing, and she always had a smile on her face. Her family meant the world to her, but there was always that dark side to her family. The blood on their hands that had to be washed away. It was for a good cause, Beth had always told herself that, but even then she felt numb after a hunt, because she knew that she was no better than the people he was hunting.
Ever since she'd returned to the world, she'd gotten in one fight. That was it. Sure, her sweet interior had all but drained out of her system, but she'd been doing relatively well. Beth had managed to avoid Pures and she was staying with her studies. She had a potty mouth and her drinking habits were less than legal, but she wasn't in trouble.
But every once in a while, her real nightmares would return. She would wake up to find herself wrapped in her blankets and covered in sweat. Beth was lucky she lived alone, otherwise she might be in a psych ward of some sort.
Her classes had ended for the day and Beth was on her way back to her dorm. She had taken a shortcut trough the alley that all of the students used, but it was oddly vacant that afternoon. The sun was disappearing behind the buildings and the streetlights were slowly coming on. For some reason, this was Beth's favorite part of the night. There was a peace about it, something that was calm and made her smile.
That night, there was a disturbance in the calm that even Beth could feel. She was walking as fast as she could, but even then she didn't feel okay. It was silent, the eerie silent that sent shivers up your spine. Beth was almost in the clear when a hand gripped her shoulder tightly and spun her around. She barely had time to react before someone punched her in the nose, sending her reeling back. Beth leaned herself up against the wall and saw the guy coming at her again, but this time she was prepared.
The man flew back towards the other building, and other started to come out of the shadows. In that moment, Beth was taken back to the cold cell, the dark faces and the dim lights. She couldn't go back, she wouldn't. With her hands covering her nose and her back pressed against the wall, Beth ripped the gun out of one of the men's hands and swung it up at his face. That movement caused the other men to fire, and she squeezed her eyes shut as the bullets seemed to hit the wall at an outline of her body.
They seemed baffled. Beth opened her eyes again and they were all checking their weapons. She took her chance and sent the lot of them flying back towards buildings and garbage cans. Beth turned down the alley and sprinted down as fast as she could, her backpack beating harshly against her back. The entire time she ran, all she could think of was her days with the Pures, being locked in the cell, being treated like an animal and other things that were hidden in the recesses of her memory.
Bethany didn't stop running until she had slammed the door to her dorm room and locked it. She leaned up against the wall and took deep breaths, trying to calm her heart down. She let her backpack fall off her back and she tossed it over to the side. Slowly, Beth made her way to her bed and sat down. As if she was pulled there, she slid back against the wall and covered herself in blankets. Her hands were trembling and her breaths were shaky.
That psych ward was sounding to start pretty good right then and there. Tears spilled from her eyes without warning and she hid her nose under her blanket. She was 14 again. She was that scared little girl who never swore. She was innocent. She wasn't defenseless, and that, in the end, was her downfall.
