Mountain River Girl

Chapter 9: One Step Closer

ONE STEP CLOSER

“Kieran, please pick up…” I begged into the phone while pushing the heavy door open with one shaking hand and my shoulder. My world had been set to light like a village in the Middle Ages would get plundered and burnt down to the ground. While coming to the Hall, I had suspected things to be bad, but not quite like this. I had nothing left, not after what I overheard from that meeting.

I sucked in a breath when I heard a click, ready to gush out everything I overheard, but instead of Kieran, it was his voicemail. For a second I didn’t know what to say or do, but then I did the only thing I could. I started crying. Tears ran down my cheeks and I didn’t bother wiping them away.

The sky had turned dark already when I exited the old building. Usually I would have hated this but right then and there, I was glad the dark would make it more difficult for anyone to see me. Absently, I pocketed my cell phone and started walking. With one foot after the other, I distanced myself from the Hall. With every step I took, I had to bite through the pain. I hurt physically and emotionally.

For years, I’d never thought I was the town’s toy, to be thrown away for something better when the right time came along. All the times I’d wondered why nobody cared…now I finally knew.

First, my birth parents didn’t want me. Now my own neighbors would ship me off to some godforsaken monster. Why had it only been Trudy standing up for me? Surely I hadn’t wronged any people in town, not intentionally at least and especially not that I could remember. Then why did no one else stick up for me? My life in Mountain River? My safety? Was I really not worth looking out for?

If only Kieran had answered his phone, I could’ve asked him to come get me. I could’ve begged him to let me stay at his place for the night and then I’d be gone by morning. I would follow Joanne’s advice and leave this town. I would leave it all behind. But for now, I had no idea what to do and absolutely nowhere to go. One thing was for sure, I wouldn’t return home.

Time had lost all meaning by the time I found myself wandering at the edge of town, near the school and the park, which were both shielded by a line of trees. Loud music came from that direction and I could see different colors light up the sky behind the tree tops. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, but then I remembered the posters at school about the early Halloween party. A party I had no intention of attending, not back in school and not now. I hoped that by putting some space between the school and me, no one would notice my presence until I was long out of sight.

“Hey, look who’s here!”

Involuntarily, I turned in the direction the sound had come from, an action I regretted as soon as I spotted Michael and a bunch of other kids he usually hung around with. All of them had been wrapped in strands of white linen and were covered in red stains.

“It’s Seda and she came dressed up as….Seda!” All five or six of them burst out in laughter as if that was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

I huffed. If these were the children the town spoke so highly of, and the ones they wanted to keep safe by sending me away, I thought it to be very sad. These guys could rot in hell for all I cared, but no, I was the one they’d sacrifice. Trudy had said I’d get slaughtered and I still couldn’t comprehend what she had meant by that. Did they really intend on killing me? Or letting me get killed?

These morons weren’t worth my time. I had much bigger things on my mind. That was why I turned around and continued on my way. I ignored their loud laughter, their demeaning remarks and cruel jokes as I crossed the street to get away from them. At the time, it had seemed like a bright idea, but I forgot to check the street for any oncoming traffic. If I had looked up ahead instead of having my face transfixed to my feet, I would have noticed the swirling car as it closed in on me. Too late did I pick up on the nearing engine and soon I found myself face-first on the concrete. In the distance, I heard voices and car doors but I couldn’t find the energy to shout for help. I fought to stay conscious but that proved more difficult with every passing second. The sound of screeching tires came next, and then all I heard was silence. Not the driver, nor Michael or the other bystanders came over to check if I was still alive. Finding myself all alone without anyone that cared became a repeating occurrence, especially during the day I considered to be the worst of my entire life. Whatever little bit of fight I had left in me faded away ever so slowly. Soon I found myself questioning why I didn’t simply give in to the darkness. My head hurt so bad that it felt like someone was trying to split it open like a coconut. Every breath I took resulted in a stab of pain in my chest. The struggle to remain conscious no longer felt worthy if it only caused me pain. Lonelier than ever, I allowed the dark to consume me and free me of all agony.