11/2/04...
"I just don't get why this guy my brother works with doesn't seem to like me." Amanda responded as they walked on home, both worn down from the long day.
"Well you did hit him with a steel chair during the summer, Mandy." Sachael replied.
"It was part of the show, I didn't mean to hurt him." Amanda responded, the girls laughing and Sachael throwing her right arm around the shorter teen.
"Maybe he's just feeling a little humiliated that someone short kicked his ass, Mandy… he sounds like he holds a grudge over that. Or maybe you just need to get to know Luther better. You might end up working with him one day." Sachael replied.
Amanda was about to respond when both girls heard tires screeching loudly and Sachael threw Amanda out of the way to protect her.
Amanda's left leg was trapped between the car tire and building and Sachael was pinned down… but she saw the tears start to run down her friend's face.
"I… I can't feel my leg… Sache… are you okay?" Amanda responded, unable to see properly because of the freshly fallen snow obscuring her vision.
"I'm okay… we're gonna get out of here, little sis." Sachael replied, before she looked ahead to where the hillside road looked out across the glowing city. "It's… quite a view."
"B... Best seats in the house." Amanda responded, thinking for a moment. "Well… far from the best ones actually."
Sachael laughed slightly at that, stopping as she glanced down and saw what she was glad Amanda couldn't. "Yeah, true. You know… I've always wanted wings." She responded, which caught Amanda's attention.
"Wanted wings?" Amanda questioned as she blinked to clear her eyesight.
"I think you'll understand at some point, kiddo… take care of them for me." Sachael replied, closing her eyes midway. "I'm… proud of you… well done, mate."
Amanda's instinct was to call out for help… and the next few hours were blurred to her.
She woke up in a room and saw John, who pulled her into his arms… and she knew that Sachael was gone.
She looked to see George, who's light hazel eyes were reddened and Amanda and John let go before she and George hugged.
"I am so sorry." Amanda responded as they looked at each other.
"It's not your fault, Mandy." George replied.
John decided to let the two teens be by themselves… they needed each other now more than ever…
Present time, 11/3/15…
Amanda opened her eyes, unsure of when she fell asleep… but she was in Finn's arms and rested her head back on his right shoulder and her right arm around his waist with an oversized blanket over them, which stirred him awake.
Finn kissed Amanda on the top of her head and knew what had been going through her mind as she had slept.
"I always try to block out her last words, those last moments… I don't know why." Amanda responded quietly as they looked at each other.
"You want to remember the good times with your sister." Finn replied.
"I remember her calling me after seeing that episode of SmackDown, seeing Luther get thrown through a wall. She was impressed with me and John protecting each other." Amanda responded as she and Finn sat up… and saw the snow starting to fall. "Every year… it starts earlier." She replied before they heard Andre and Molly talking downstairs.
"I guess that's our cue to go join the others." Finn replied before they stood up and Amanda decided to fix herself up a bit, not wanting them to see her bruised eye.
The split lip wouldn't be easy to hide though.
"So where is your old friend?" Molly questioned as she and Andre sat down on the couch.
"Upstairs, sleeping… I think. Mandy was over in the UK when Arthur called her. Work keeps her on the road most of the year." Andre explained.
"You know… it sounds like a lonely life at times." Molly responded.
'Yeah until she's cuddled up to whoever he is!' Andre thought.
The two saw Amanda and Finn walk downstairs, Amanda having fixed her makeup.
"Hey… your extended family should be here soon." Andre replied, Amanda nodding.
Molly couldn't help but feel bad for Amanda, having lost loved ones herself although not in a gruesome manner.
She knew that loss still hurt though and that while the wound healed, the scars remained… and so she stood up and pulled Amanda into a hug despite not knowing her.
It was later that Amanda and Carol hugged before Amanda hugged her siblings… and her and Dan looked at each other.
"Everything's gonna be okay, kiddo." Dan replied.
"He's right, Mandy. We all stick together through everything." Carol responded as she lightly rubbed her daughter's right shoulder.
When they were alone, Finn turned the radio up a bit as Burning Rope by Genesis began to play and him and Amanda held each other as they slow danced.
"After everything that's happened… I know you need to forget for just a little while." Finn replied as they looked at each other.
"I honestly don't know what I'd do without you in my life, Finn." Amanda responded.
"And I don't know where I'd be without you, Mandy." Finn replied as the song faded out, Many Too Many by Genesis starting to play.
They paid no attention to the knock at the door or it opening and closing as they danced.
And Mark observed them and felt that mix of jealousy, sadness and protectiveness hit him.
But he reminded himself that Amanda was not the 15 year old he left behind anymore… she had grown up.
Mark left, quietly closing the door behind him and brushing tears of anger away as he reached the rented Chevy Traverse and got into it before he drove off as Motley Crue's If I Die Tomorrow played on the radio.
"I don't know where I'd be if I didn't know you, Mandy… but lately it hasn't been so good, to say the least." Mark responded quietly as he glanced at a picture of him and Amanda when they were younger that was clipped to the mirror.
"I miss her too."
Mark turned to the passenger side, eyes widening when he saw Sachael.
"Not a day goes by that I'm not keeping an eye on her… I want to reach out and hug Mandy just like you want her to jump on your back so you can run around an arena with her hanging onto you and make her laugh." Sachael replied.
"She's got someone else that makes her happy now… holds her together when she feels like falling apart. I wish she and I hadn't left things the way we did." Mark replied as he slowed down the speed of the vehicle.
"You can make things better… just give her time to warm back up to you, Mark." Sachael responded, her left hand resting on Mark's right shoulder and him resting his left hand on her left hand.
"I miss you so much, kiddo." Mark replied quietly.
"And I miss all of you… more than you'll ever know." Sachael responded before she disappeared.
Mark headed back onto the hotel, deciding to let Amanda and Finn be for now… he stopped the car in the parking lot, put the picture in his jeans pocket after turning the car off and got out.
With it locked up, he put the keys in his pocket and headed into the Best Western before heading to his own room.
Once in her pajamas, Amanda clipped her hair out of the way and used a charcoal facial wipe to remove her makeup before throwing the wipe away and closing the package.
She washed her face with her favorite peppermint body soap and dried it off before letting her hair down.
Feeling a cold breeze go by, Amanda turned and her eyes widened when she saw Sachael… and Sachael's eyes widened when she saw Amanda's bruised eye and split lip.
But it was the scar on the palm of Amanda's left hand that caught Sachael's attention.
"Mandy…" Sachael replied, trailing off.
"By the time I had lost you, I was losing myself… and I kept putting the pieces back together but then…" Amanda responded. "Have you seen Chris? Does he remember that weekend at all?"
"Blocked it out. When he realised what he had done, he couldn't live with the guilt." Sachael explained.
"I kept ignoring the warning signs after we all lost Eddie… Chris took it harder than I did and I didn't realise that until it was too late. One day… I grabbed a knife while sleep deprived and..." Amanda responded, brushing her tears away and Sachael resting her right hand on Amanda's left shoulder.
"Not too many people you met after 2007 know, do they?" Sachael asked.
Amanda took a deep breath before she readied herself to explain it.
