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"Marley...?"
Another late night at the Rose household and Marley couldn't wait to finally be able to relax. With school having just started back up, Millie was back at work and visbily more and more exhausted every day; Marley had been doing her best to take as much off of her mother's plate as possible, with work and trying to keep up with her mother's health, it wasn't that easy to maintain a balance for the two of them. It was nearly 10 o'clock and they had just gotten done eating and Marley was getting ready to take a shower before she heard her mother call for her. "In the bathroom," she called back absently, turning on the water as she did.
/"Marley!"/
The scream sent a cold wave through Marley's entire body, a lump instantly forming in her throat that made it hard to breathe. The panic in the older woman's voice was evident, her urgency echoing through the house. "M-mom?" she yelled, darting out of the bathroom towards the living room where Millie was still yelling for her daughter frantically. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?" Marley asked out of breath as she rounded the corner, immediately dropping to her knees in front of where the woman sat, inspecting her color-striken face for a clue to what was wrong. "Mom?" she urged, taking her mother's shaking hands in hers. She looked like she seen a ghost, her face rid of all color, her hands clamy.
The realization that her mom was crying felt like another weight being added to the girl's chest. "Mom? M-mommy?" she urged again, her voice cracking as she shook her mother gently. Marley had never seen her mom like this before--quiet, intense, afraid?--and it was starting to get to her. /The news/ was all Marley was able to make out as Millie nodded slightly, motioning toward the screen behind Marley. Turning her head, the young girl followed her mother's gaze. Her mind still focused on her mom's state, it took Marley a moment to process what was going on. When it hit her, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Dropping Millie's hand, Marley's turned fully, her entire body falling for her to sit flat; her now free hands immediately darting to her mouth as a shaky scream escaped, her eyes instantly filled with tears to mirror her mother's.
If the sight of lights from first responders wasn't enough, the caution tape being put up around the entrance of her work and the Breaking News warning flashing across the marquee was more than enough to make Marley feel sick to her stomach. She watched the screen in mute terror, tears streaming down her face as LimaOne aired security footage, Tracy Canterbury's voice going over the horrific encounter. "Oh my god!" Marley gasped, a sob escaping as the flash from the pop of the gun showed on screen. /"...as seen in the footage shown here, Mr. Puckerman goes down and the suspect attempts to flee."/
"No!" she screamed through her hands as everything around her froze, her body unvoluntarily lurching forward as if she could do something to stop what was happening. She was suddenly hyper aware of her surroundings; her mother's ragged breathing, the vibrations running up through her body as she shook, fear and panic taking over, but her eyes stayed glued to the screen as another man jumped into frame. /...box boy, Sam Evans, was able to be in the right place at the right time and take him down again./
She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. Her body had shut down, but her mind hadn't. Screams echoed in her head as she stared straight ahead, staring at the screen as her eyes glossed over with tears that continued to well up until she couldn't see anymore.
