Lights, everywhere. Flashing lights and loud music. The lights make her feel uneasy, on edge and there's a small part of her mind trying to tell her why. But she is not ready to revisit that part of her life, and maybe she never will be. The only way she can survive is by not remembering. But the room is hazy, heavy with people and it's like smoke and her damaged mind tricks her into thinking that she can smell burning. A flash of red, followed by a flash of blue and a flash of green. It's the first two colours that scare her the most, they fell as though they're some sort of warning.
Uneasily, she makes her way through the haze, her senses loose due to the amount of alcohol she has already consumed. Linked arm in arm with her friend, they stood up at the front of the dance floor and looked up at the stage, awaiting some touring band, who were supposed to be worth checking out. It was crowded and the feeling of being so closed in set her on edge once more, for some unknown reason.
Having been so submersed in her own thoughts, she jumped slightly when she heard the first notes of a song she didn't know. The voice a soft, female vocal, that rocked her. She didn't know the song as she didn't know the singer, yet goose bumps had formed over her skin, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand. A heavy sadness suddenly set in her heart, causing her chest to constrict and her eyes to fill with tears. Transfixed on the beautiful voice, with a face just as flawless, she didn't feel the firm tugging on her arm.
"Carla. Come on, we need to go." Her friend hissed, urgency evident in her voice.
"Why...?" Carla answered, her eyes misting over from the intense focus she had on the woman centre stage.
"We need to go. We have to go, now!"
Irritated, Carla shrugged her off, gasping slightly as the deep, hazel eyes onstage suddenly met hers. For a moment, she couldn't breathe, and wondered if her heart and stopped altogether. Though it soon started hammering dramatically against her chest, the reason once more unknown. And Carla saw something in her eyes, too. It was as though they mirrored the sadness in her chest, the overwhelming heartache she was feeling. Carla was sure she heard the singers voice waver, though it seemed to go unnoticed by the satisfied audience. Holding her gaze, Carla wasn't aware of the crowd anymore, or of anyone else in the room, besides her and this mysterious singer and her mesmerising voice, who made her want to burst into tears of anguish. She allowed just one to fall, a lone droplet of salty liquid, sliding down her sculptured cheek.
"Carla, please! Let's just g o for another drink, at least!" Finally, Carla gave into her friends plea, and reluctantly followed him to the bar. Though she could no longer see the singer, her ears aided her eyes. She could still hear her enchanting voice.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"It was her! I saw! She was standing right infront of me...I think she knew it was me."
"Are you sure? I mean, if it was her, wouldn't she have given you some sort of explanation?"
"Maybe she just didn't know what to say? After the accident...She just...Took off..."
"Oh, of course she did. Anything for the easiest, Michelle. Anything to avoid having to face the fact she was bladdered when she'd got behind the wheel of that car." Maria's voice sounded irritated.
"Maybe she just needed time to-"
"It's been a year, Michelle!" Maria shook her head in exasperation, trying to make Michelle see some sort of sense. "If she'd had wanted to keep in touch, then she would have. She saw you and she bolted, because she's a coward. I'm sorry, but you can't keep pining for her like you have been doing, 'Chelle. You just need to see her for the selfish cow that she is. She had you worried sick. She never even stopped by to let you know she was leaving, let alone that she'd woken up as right as rain."
Michelle's eyes flashed dangerously, furious at her youngest sister-in-law for giving up on Carla so easily. The accident has been tough on them all and she could still remember it like it was a day ago, whereas it was almost two years ago. The phonecall, telling her that Carla had been in a serious accident and that she needed to get up straight away. Michelle remembers how scared she'd felt. How her heart had been in her mouth as she burst through the hospital doors, all that filled her head being bad memories. She remembered thinking, 'First Dean, then Paul, then Liam...Not Carla, too...Not our Carla. Please..' The injuries she had suffered were serious, and at one point Michelle wondered if she'd pull through at all. One time she'd squeezed her hand, and Carla had squeezed back. Her weary eyes had opened, though she'd looked at Michelle as though she had no idea who she were. It wasn't just the injuries that had scared Michelle. It was when the Doctor had taken her aside to tell her that during examination, Carla had signs that looked as though she'd suffered some sort of attack. Michelle hadn't told Maria this. She believed that it wasn't her place, and that once Carla had recovered, they'd know more about it.
"She did text me. She sent me texts saying she was sorry, that she just needed space."
"She ran away." Maria concluded, getting up from the plush leather sofa they had been sat on. They were backstage, Michelle having finished her performances for the night. She'd taken up touring with the band when new owners had turned up with papers to prove that Carla had sold them her share, and Maria had come along to her closing show for support. Michelle had never come to accept the fact that Carla may not want to return to Weatherfield again.
"Wait for me! I want to see if she's still out there..." Michelle mumbled, pulling a black, leather jacket over her bare shoulders. Together, they left the building, Michelle scanning the gaggle of people leaving the closing venue, desperately trying to seek out the familiar face she longed to see once again.
"She's there, look! She's there! Carla!" Michelle tottered over to her long haired friend as fast as the ridiculous stiletto's she had on would let her.
Frowning, Carla whipped round, her main of dark hair swishing to one side as she turned to face Michelle, confusion laced in with her striking features. Her expression seemed to turn to one of fear as Michelle flung herself into her arms, letting out a strangled sob as she inhaled the scent of the only person she'd considered to be her best friend, the person who she'd woken up calling out to during the endless array of nightmares, which used to invade her brain in the early stages of Carla's disappearing act.
"Get off me!" Carla shrieked, clinging onto her male friend desperately as she tried to shake off the singer who she was now convinced was crazy. Though, as much as she was scared, she had the same feeling as when she had been watching her sing. Her heart screamed at her desperately to wrap the younger woman up in her arms. Carla quickly tried to shake the feeling away.
"How the hell do you know my name?"
"What are you on about? Carla, it's me! Frank..?" Michelle had recognised the man she was clinging onto, and looked at him desperately, in need of some very important answers.
"Here," Frank's voice was soft as he handed Carla a set of car keys, pressing them into her palm. "Go and wait in the car, I'll sort this out."
Not needing to be told twice, Carla scuttled off, throwing occasional glances in Michelle's direction, as though worried about receiving another random display of affection from this stranger.
"Michelle..." Frank started, letting out a gentle sigh. His face was a mixture of calm and sympathy, contrasting to the intense panic that bubbled inside him. This had to be good and it had to be convincing. "Michelle, that accident...That attack." He even winced at the word. He was so good. "When she woke up properly, her memory had gone. It took me ages to even convince her we were going out together. This is going to sound crazy, but forgetting everything is her mind's way of coping with everything she went through. I don't know the extent of the damage, myself, but I won't encourage her to talk about them. She's a shell of herself, and if she remembers then I'm worried about what it'll do to her mental state."
"Then let me tell her who I am! Let me make her remember who I am and I can help her too."
"Michelle, no. It's not that simple. When she set off in her car, that night. She was coming to see you. If she remembers you...there's a chance it might trigger everything off. Do you really want to risk that? You could be the one who'd make her fall to pieces."
Michelle scoffed, unable to believe he was actually making it sound as though she was to blame .
"Yeah, and then I'll stick her back together again. She's my best friend. What're you saying, Frank? That I leave her alone? Pretend she never existed? She must remember me! She sent me those texts."
"I sent them, Michelle. I didn't want you worrying. I didn't want you to come and find her."
The sound of the slap Michelle brought across Frank's cheek was crisp and clear in the cold, night air, and Frank himself reeled, slightly.
"I know you're upset, Michelle, but please, just listen to me-"
"No, you listen to me." Michelle growled, staring Frank directly in the eye. "She is part of what little family I have left and if you think I'm going to let her go-"
"That's what you've got to do, Michelle!" Frank snapped, the panic on the inside making him irritated that this wasn't as quick and painless as he'd previously thought out. "You've got to let her go. You can't know her. You've got to understand that she's left that life behind, now. She's happy. For the first time in months. But knowing you will make her remember. If you want her to stay happy, then you'll stay away."
His words stung Michelle more than the slap she'd delivered to him ever could. Her mouth hung open slightly as she struggled to find the words to express how wrong he was. He'd known her all of five minutes. Her and Carla went back almost twenty years.
"Frank, wait!" Michelle cried, trying her best to keep up with his furious strides, making his way towards the car he'd instructed Carla to wait in. "Just wait, please, don't go yet! Can't we just discuss this properly?"
"There's nothing to discuss." Came Frank's short reply, and without a backward glance, he slipped into the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition to start the car.
"There's everything to discuss!" Michelle called after him, stumbling slightly on the uneven pavement as she reached the car, just as Frank was clicking his belt into place. "Don't go, please! Let me talk to her, just tell her who I am!" Michelle pleaded, hot tears streaming down her face, her palms desperately hitting against the car window.
Ignoring her heart broken pleas, Frank pressed his foot down on the accelerating peddle, almost sending Michelle toppling to the ground, though Maria had managed to catch up with her, and caught her waist to stop her from falling.
"Frank!" Michelle's scream pierced the night as he watched the black vehicle disappear down the road, snatching away the last hope Michelle had of ever being reunited with her friend.
Collapsing to the floor, Michelle was inconsolable as Maria tried to reassure her, though her torrent sobbing completely drowned her consoling out.
"Did you see her face? She was so..lost...Confused...She didn't know me...She didn't know me!" She chocked, gasping for breath as she tried to control each of the heart-wrenching sobs that forced themselves from her throat.
"I did...There's something not right, there 'Chelle...I didn't like his manner." Maria murmured, digging around in her bag, pulling out her mobile phone.
"What're you doing?" Michelle sniffled, wiping under her eyes as she tried to get a hold of herself. There was no way would lose Carla again. There had to be something she could do, and she wouldn't find that something if she sat about crying.
"I'm going to phone the police..."