City Lights, Country Nights

19.that man's voice

Liora led Jackie, up the stairs to the front door of the house, Cole, and Danny followed behind

"Shhh," Liora hissed as she opened the door, cautioning Jackie, who almost ran in. Cole tried to grab her to quiet her down, while Liora moved forward to prevent her from stumbling up the stairs.

"Where have you four been?" Everyone's head snapped over to see Katherine sitting at the kitchen counter.

Liora let go of Jackie, who continued giggling as she looked at Cole and then back to Katherine.

"We went to a party," Jackie said with a laugh, pointing her finger at all of them. Liora closed her eyes and let out a breath; she just wanted to go to sleep.

"What?" Katherine said as Jackie nodded, while Liora tried to hush her.

"Yeah, we had fun, Rory here almost got in a fight!" She said. Liora glared at Cole, blaming him for the idea, Jackie for going, and Danny for driving them.

"Your hand, Liora!" Katherine said. Liora just looked down; her knuckles had dry blood on them and some bruising.

Jackie kept giggling, looking at Liora, then Cole, and back, as George walked down the stairs. "Where have you been?" He asked.

"I did that, already" Katherine said.

"Oh! Are we in trouble? I've never been grounded before!" Jackie said. Liora pulled her back a bit.

"It wasn't their fault, it was mine," Cole said as Katherine looked at Danny.

"I was just the driver," he said as Jackie kept talking.

"Okay, come on, Jackie, let's get you to bed," Katherine said, taking her up the stairs, and Liora let her.

"What happened?" George asked, looking at Cole. Liora bit her lip as she stepped forward, and Katherine came back down.

"It was my fault," Liora said. Both George and Katherine looked a little shocked.

"No, no, it wasn't her—" Cole started, but Liora cut him off.

"It was my fault. I... I used to do it all the time in New York. I, umm," Liora said as she tried to come up with something. "A couple of guys asked me if I wanted to go to a party, and I said yes. Cole and them tried to talk me out of it, but I went with the guy anyway," she lied. She could already feel the tears welling in her eyes.

"They just came to get me because I wasn't answering my phone, and Jackie was scared and came for me. I... I do it all the time. The drinking wasn't even the bad part," Liora mumbled, looking down. "It was my fault." Why she was doing this, she didn't know, but either way, Jackie wouldn't get in trouble.

"I... I never thought that," Katherine said. She really didn't know what to say. "Okay, well, you're grounded," she said. Liora kept her eyes on the floor.

"Liora, you cannot keep missing school. There will be no more of that," she said. "And the outbursts and fights will stop too. My goodness, I don't even know what to say," she said. Liora looked up at her. She had that look.

That look. Liora hated that look. It was the same look Jackie gave her the first time she came home high and drunk, the look her uncle gave her when he found out. That look was of disappointment.

Liora couldn't stop it now. The tears fell. They fell fast. Liora tried to stop them from being seen or heard, but of course, it didn't work.

"Rory?" Danny said, but she didn't look up. Liora tried to take a breath in, but her throat tightened, her chest pounded with pain, and her head spun.

With one swift move, Liora took off upstairs and into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her as she put a hand on her chest and her eyes darted around.

Boxes, that's all she saw—boxes full of her things that were supposed to be making this place feel like home, but they didn't. It never had. This was not her room; this was just a room. This was not her home; this was just a house. This was not her family; it was just a family.

Liora's hands shot up, pushing the boxes away from the wall and down to the floor with a loud thump, scattering everything across the floor.

And with a small sob, she slid down the wall, her hand wiping the tears as if trying to stop them, but it wasn't working.

Liora took in some deep breaths to calm herself as she looked over the mess until her eyes found something that had rolled to the corner of the room—a small orange bottle with a blue lid. She could always hear that man's voice in her head.

"You take one and it will all go away."

"It's not worth it," Liora mumbled to herself as she closed her eyes. "You don't need it," she said as the tears kept coming.

Slowly, Liora pulled out her phone and clicked on Lucy's number. She moved her finger to access the saved voicemail and pushed play.

"Rory! You won't believe it!" Her deceased sister's voice said through the phone. "God, I can't wait for you to come home! I have so many things to tell you." Liora couldn't help but smile.

"And it's just not the same with you not here. Like, why did you have to go on that dance thing? It's been 5 days! But anyway, you're probably sleeping, so call me when you get this, and I love you!" She said as the voicemail ended.

"I love you too," Liora mumbled, rubbing her dry lips together. "Happy birthday," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

"Rory?" A knock came from the door along with Katherine's voice, but Liora didn't say anything. She pushed the next message to play. "Can I come in?" She asked. Liora ignored her as she wiped her eyes and stood up, walking to the window.

Liora's eyes moved to the sky and looked over the stars. Slowly, she looked down to see Cole walking away from the house.

Liora laid her head on the window and watched the stars. Every so often, she looked down to see Cole working on a car a little ways away.