Beatrice Santello, what a strange name. Maybe for a common folk of neighborhood cities around Possum Springs, her name would be surely strange.
Bea was a really strong person. In her young age, she would already take care of herself. She was very talented in math, determined to get the job done and never complaining when something didn't go as planned.
There was a reason for all that. It all happened that day, few years ago. Few years ago, Bea's mother died.
But these are facts you already know.
Our story starts one day, not so different from the others. Sun was shining; flowers were blooming, ordinary boring stuff of the middle of the week. You could see people going about their business, not minding one another. You could see Mae Borowski jumping on the power lines, high above ground. You could see honest folk, working hard to survive. Only one thing was off that day.
Ol' pickaxe was closed. This wouldn't be strange, if this hardware store wasn't so well known for their policy of never breaking the schedule.
Sirens of fast driving ambulance ripped through the calm atmosphere of the city. Ambulance took no time at all to reach the area before the Ol pickaxe hardware store. Time seemed to stop, as all the people close nearby stopped dead in their tracks, to witness a horrible scene.
Three doctors hopped out of the car, pulled out the medical bed on wheels and disappeared inside of the hardware store. There were whispering among the people standing nearby. Some were suggesting one thing, others something else. One side was confident enough to say Beatrice took some drugs to end her own life; the other one disagreed and stated something else had to happen.
The doctors were back, and proved some witnesses right. The one lying on medical bed was Bea's dad.
Nobody had seen Beatrice cry before. She was taking slow steps outside of the building. She had appeared right after the doctors left the building. She didn't pay attention to workers in white that were loading her father to the ambulance to drive him to the far away hospital. She seemed to be delusional, in some state of shock. She leaned on the frame of the door and just stared into nothingness.
Someone tried to approach her, to comfort her, to give her a shoulder to cry on. She reacted impulsively and unpredictably.
Her eyes widened, stretching to almost impossible wideness, and she ran off to the woods nearby. Some were trying to go after her, but to no avail. She was very swift and fast.
There wasn't much that happened after that. Beatrice was gone for like two days and then realized she couldn't hide from her problems forever. However, it wasn't her at all. Everybody noticed she was like a body without a soul, and if someone tried to talk to her she would either remained unresponsive or she would harshly and vulgarly yell at them to leave her the eff alone.
It got worse over the time - whole world ended for Beatrice Santello. Her father died in hospital from untreated lung cancer.
City was silently preparing for upcoming saddest ceremony ever - the burial. Bea's friends were trying to cheer her up, but again to no avail. Beatrice was too closed to world to accept any comfort to easy her pain. Parents of Beatrice Santello were finally united.
All the people of Possum Springs were in town cemetery on the day of ceremony. Bea's friends were standing in small group on the side of graveyard and none of them were actually paying attention. They were afraid for Beatrice, because she didn't show up.
"Anyone knows where Bea is?" asked Mae her friends, Gregg and Angus. They both shook their heads. Mae shifted weight to other leg, "We are wasting time here. She needs us." she said. Nobody had anything to say, so their sad group left the cemetery in the middle of burial.
Trip back to Ol pickaxe didn't take too long. At the first glance, it was obvious that Beatrice lost any sort of responsibility and that kept her going for past few years. Hardware store was empty when they entered and the door to the rest of the house was open.
Everybody knew what they were supposed to do, but nobody wanted to take the first step. It was Gregg that decided who was supposed to be the brave one. "Mae, you go. We will wait here and stop Bea if she would want to run away again."
Mae protested, saying she was the least capable person to comfort people, but she was quickly convinced by Angus, that remained silent to this moment. "You are her best friend."
Mae took the stairs to the upper level of the house, only to find closed doors to Bea's room. She knocked gently, and when the response didn't come, she whispered, "Bea, I know you are in there. I am coming inside." And then the brave girl opened the door.
Her friend was sitting by the wall, smoking a cigarette. There was a heavy fog in the room, keeping the sad person company. Mae coughed violently upon entering, gaining attention of mourning girl.
"What do you want?" said Beatrice rudely and stood up, another unlit cigarette in her right hand. Mae looked around and she saw opened bottles of alcohol nearby, along with several used lighters and empty cigarette boxes. She looked up again; to meet half angered, half desperate gaze of her friend.
"Bea, I am here to help. You don't have to be alone, we can think of..."
*Smack*
Mae didn't remember Beatrice ever hitting her. She yelped in surprise of sudden pain, but somehow it didn't break her. Mae felt blood in her nose, but managed to look up again. She had repressed the need to ask what the hit was for and smiled instead. "You can hit me again if you want, if it makes you feel better." said Mae, completely unaware of drops of blood falling of her broken nose and ruining carpet floor beneath her.
Beatrice was crying, legitimately this time. She had dropped down to her knees and choked out, "I am a horrible person."
Mae got up, not minding the pain in her head and embraced her friend in tight hug. Mae let Beatrice to let it all out.