the replacement project :: c.h.

twenty two » ski-masks and reunions

a/n - one chapter away from absolutely all the answers, i promise

stay happy,
x bri

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[ cara ]

I haven't run this fast in so long.

The last time my legs had actually moved this quickly, I'd gotten a call halfway through the last day of school from my Mom telling me that Elena was missing.

And likewise, my heart hasn't pounded this fast in so long.

The last time I'd actually legitimately worried that my heart was about to break right through my chest because of how fast it was beating, my Mom had told me that Emma was missing.

It's all actually pretty ironic, given this moment - I was running at a speed twice as fast as I'd ran that day in mid-June, and my heart was slamming twice as fast as it had that night in the hospital when there were staples wedged into the skin of my scalp. A part of me was afraid that I'd end up blinking and the scenario would morph right in front of my eyes; Emma wouldn't be running towards me, I wouldn't be running towards Emma, Emma wouldn't be here - it would have all been an image my mind splayed out for me. Maybe that was why my heart was actually vomiting in my chest right now.

It felt most surreal when we'd both gotten close enough to enclose ourselves around each other - it'd been a while since I'd held somebody this tight. The bruises covering Em's entire bottom half and the fact that she was only wearing a shirt long enough to just barely cover her butt flew straight past me as I held her to me tightly, like if I didn't grip her securely enough she'd "Oh my God."

"Car, I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I d-didn't mean anything I-" Emma paused, sounding like she was trying to take in a couple of breaths but ended up having a sob leave her instead. Both her hands were balled into firm fists, gripping the straps of my dress, but I could still feel them trembling and shaking like she'd just broken into a bank and the adrenaline from it still had her shaken up.

I stood there and just listened to her heave for a moment, not wanting to send her any further into shock, because honestly? I'd never seen Emma look as mortified as she did right now. The thought alone made me tighten my hold around the girl even more, only loosening my arms a slightly after hearing her whimper. Quickly, she pulled away from me and lifted the side of her shirt up in relevance of a large ass, red and purple ass, terrifying ass bruise on her hip that had Emma hissing, and me gasping. It went from her very hipbone up to the middle of her right ribcage, and it only hit me then that I must've squeezed it or something when I held her. I averted my eyes back up to meet Em's before I felt nauseas enough to throw up just from looking at the damage, "Does it hurt-"

"You need to help me," Emma shook her head and bit down on her bottom lip, shrugging off my question. Frantically, she grabbed ahold of my hand and started to drag the both of us towards the parking lot. "You need to help us."

"Hold on, stop, wait, Em, I don't even - Emma! I have questions, wait!" I snatched my hand away defensively and dug my heels as deep into the ground as I could manage. Emma screamed out loudly, causing me to flinch backwards a bit as she whipped her head around to look at me almost angrily, her eyes full of frustration. I held my breath.

"You don't get it!" She slapped her hands against her thighs, breath picking up, "There's no time to talk right now, Cara, alright, we need to go! I-I promised that I would get help and I promised that I would come back for her and if we don't start driving now, she's going to come back and we're going to be too late and I'm never going to be able to forgive myself, Cara, we need to go!"