Shane," she finally said, "the screaming from last night…I think that…I think that it's my mom when she was being beaten up by my dad."
Shane pulled her closer, holding her tighter than ever before, and kissed her forehead. No one said anything, the car was silent, everyone was deep into their thoughts. Her dad used to beat her mom and she didn't realize it. How could she have let this happen?
Now she regretted every moment she had gotten into a fight with her mom, every moment she'd left her alone. Her thoughts raced in her mind as she began blaming herself for not being there for her mom.
She had not realized that the car had stopped and that Nate and Jason were already getting off. "Mitch, we're here. Are you alright? I could carry you if you can't walk."
She wanted him to carry her, but she hesitantly said, "No, I can walk."
She got of the car, feeling a little dizzy from everything that she had to take in, but she continued walking. Shane must have noticed because in just a second he was already next to her supporting her. She didn't object when he opened the door for her and carried her up the stairs.
Shane laid her on the bed and faced her. She was on the verge of crying. He gently touched her cheek. She touched his hand and gently kissed it letting a tear fall. Pulling her into a tight hug he said, "It's alright, you'll be okay, as long as we're together, we'll be okay." She sniffed and looked at him.
"I'll be fine, I might not be right now, but I will, in time," she said in a low voice.
He looked her straight in the eye, and was silent for a moment, thinking.
"Mitchie," he held her hand, "umm, I've got a meeting, with my manager and some other people. It's really important, but…" he struggled to get the right words, "I have to leave for 2 whole nights. Nate and Jason will be here, but I won't. If you don't want me to leave I won't, I'll cancel the meeting."
"No, no you don't have to," she replied squeezing his hand, "you can go, I'll be fine."
He pulled her into a hug, "thanks."
She smiled as she rested her head on his chest.
"I love you," she muttered.
"I love you, too."
"When will you be going?"
"Tomorrow."
She gave Shane a deep goodbye and he held her face and kissed her. "I'll miss you, even though it's only two days. Call me if you need anything, okay?"
"Don't worry, Nate and Jason will be here."
He gave her another quick kiss, "see you," he muttered and climbed into the car.
She turned around and plummeted onto the couch next to Nate.
He put an arm around my shoulder, "how's my little sister?"
"Alright," she grinned, she was happy that he considered her his little sister.
"Oh really," he said as he began tickling her.
"NO, NATE STOP," she broke into laughter, "STOP."
"I haven't seen you laugh in a long time, so you better smile hard to get me to stop." He continued tickling.
"OKAY, OKAY FINE!" he stopped tickling her and they both broke into hysterical laughter.
"So," he said after finally stopping, "wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure, what are watching?"
"Across the Universe."
"It's not one of your scientific movies is it?"
He laughed, "No, it's a Beatles tribute. You'll love it." He started the movie which looked really interesting.
Nearing the end of the movie, exhaustion won over her and she went to sleep.
She felt someone carried, opening her eyes slightly she saw that it was Nate. Shane would've definitely told him to take good care of her. He laid her on the bed and she went back to sleep.
Suddenly she heart a soft moan, she opened her eyes and looked around her. There was no one there. That moan slowly developed into a high pitched scream. It was her mom's scream, the one from the dream.
"Stop…" she whimpered, "Please…stop." She was sobbing now. She stretched out her hand to grab her phone, but she was trembling. She caught the phone and it dropped. She put her hands to her ears, "Shane, stop it please." But Shane wasn't there. She needed him more than ever right now. She slowly climbed off the bed and stumbled to Nate's room knocking on his door, the screaming continued. "Nate, please, open, Nate," she fell down but someone caught her.
"Oh my god, Mitchie what's wrong?" he carried her over to his bed as she clung on to him.
"The screaming," She sobbed, "call Shane, please."
He held her closer to him and quickly dialed Shane's number. The screaming continued, louder than ever. She put her hands to her ears, trying to block it out, but she knew she couldn't. It was coming from her, from inside her.
"Shane," she wept.
"Shane, dude, it's Mitchie, she woke up and she says she hears screaming," he paused to hear what Shane was saying.
"I don't know, man, can you come, quickly. I don't think she can take it anymore….don't worry I'll stay with her until you come."
He hung up and pulled her closer whispering to her, "it's okay, it's okay, Shane's coming, hang in there Mitch."
Right then Jason walked in half asleep, "what's going on?"
"She hears screaming, Shane's coming, Mitch, its okay." She felt Jason sit on the other side of the bed. He took her hand in his and slowly rubbed on it. She sat there, between the two boys for what seemed like hours to her as the screaming went on. 'Please stop, go away, please,' she thought.
Suddenly she heard someone barge into the room. "Oh my god Mitchie," she felt Shane pull her up to hold her tight, "it's okay Mitchie, I'm right here, it's okay."
She cried harder than she had ever done, "the screaming, make it stop, please, make it stop." He held on to her rocking her from side to side, and than an idea occurred to him.
"Every time I think I'm closer to the heart,
Of what it means to know just who I am
I think I finally found a better place to start
And no one ever seems to understand," he began singing as she cried on to him. The screaming began to slowly fade.
"I need to try to get to where you are,
Could it be you're not that far,
You're the voice I hear inside my head,
The reason that I'm singing
I need to find you
I gotta find you," the screaming had stopped, and Mitchie began to calm down. Shane waited for her to calm down and kissed her head, "It's alright, I'm with you now, its okay."
