Chapter 7
Xxxxx
Hey all! Keep reviewing, and I will keep writing! Things might go a little slower from here, but I promise, I will write if you all keep commenting!
Bit busy, but my holiday is soon, so I will be able to write heaps more then!
Can't wait!
PS! QUITE A SHORT CHAPTER, BECAUSE YOU ALL WANTED TO FIND OUT WHAT RIDES HAD DONE!
LUCKILY FOR YU, IF YOU DIG DEEP… IT'S IN THIS CHAPTER!
Enjoy.
Xxxxx
Rides POV
As soon as Wanderer had disappeared off into the distance inside the seekers car, I had reluctantly driven home to my apartment in Sandiago, bringing Stars along with me.
It wasn't really fair dragging her into all my problems, but there were no existing restraints to stop me. I doubted they would work, even if they had existed in the first place.
I needed Stars, and at times, she needed me.
It all fit perfectly- only if I didn't think about the past...
The memories still hurt.
It was unbearably excruciating, up to the point where it was impossible to think back to it.
It was in the past anyway, and whatever happened, I would be unable to change that.
It didn't stop me feeling bad... What I had done was unforgivable... and if I let my guard down, I could tell that it would happen again.
I could feel it.
I was going to have to be very careful. I was feeling the urge again...
I was losing control.
I wouldn't let it happen... ever... but no amount of words would change the future from here.
I just had to hope.
I could sense that Wanderer had now lost faith in me, although I wondered what had set her off.
Could she have possibly of found out about my past? Was that even an option?
It had been my secret from the start, and I had never shared it often. It would have spread in seconds like a deadly virus being thrown around.
The idea was repulsive- even to me.
I just hoped she hadn't known- not yet.
Not so soon.
Why did everybody have to hate me at first glance? Why couldn't they give me a chance?
It wasn't my fault!
It wasn't!
Xxxxxx
When we arrived in the parking lot to the apartment, I swung open the door with great force. It swung and creaked under the force, although I was in a far too bad mood to care.
I wouldn't have cared if I had ripped the whole door off!
I had other things on my mind- other more important things.
Like the present, mixed in with the past.
It was worse than I had imagined.
Stars was glaring at me through widened eyes, the look of horror written all over her face. I hadn't meant to upset or frighten her- besides; she was one of the strongest souls I had ever met.
She had seen worse- we both had.
And under the horrifying circumstances, I had been the one to cause the damage, and she would be forced to watch. It was all in routine.
It never changed.
When I had finally managed to shut the door, I stormed off in the direction of my flat, Stars trailing helplessly behind me, struggling to catch up.
She had such shorter legs than me, and I was pushing her up to an extent where it was about to go too far.
But she was my friend- we all had our ups and downs. She could understand…
Hopefully…
I was rushing off in the wrong direction, but I couldn't care enough to alter my path. However, Stars had other plans in mind.
She was somewhat keen to fix these overwhelming problems, even though they didn't involve her. I had to admit, she cared a little too much.
It was sweet though- I just didn't deserve her sympathy.
Not one little bit.
'Wait', she yelled, running to keep up with my quickening strides, which were increasing in pace by the second.
If I kept this up, I would be running too. It was hard to believe how angry I was.
Of course, I had been angrier… that was when I had lost control… when the whole universe had gone wrong.
I ignored her rudely, not bothering to reply, but my pace grew gradually slower, sparing her my sympathy.
I hadn't deserved it- however, she did.
I owed her that much.
When she reached me, puffing from the sprint she had made to keep pace with me, she placed her hand firmly on my shoulder, beckoning for me to face her.
Even though I was a soul, I was afraid.
I was afraid of many things- that also happened to include letting my best friend down.
Out of all things, I was in no way proud.
'Rides!' She yelled into my ear.
I didn't reply.
She sighed softly, lowering her tone.
'Stop this, and please look at me', she begged.
I hesitated slightly this time, falling for her pleading voice. Sometimes, she was simply so irresistible. I couldn't help myself.
As quickly as my anger had appeared, it was erased again by the softness of her tone, and the devastated, pleading look on her face.
Her cheeks were flushed from exhaustion, and she was still breathing heavily, staring me right in the eye.
She had gone this far to help me- I was flattered.
She would never give up on me- she was such a good friend, like I should have been for Wanderer.
I had just let her down.
When she finally realized that I had silently obeyed her command without fuss, she gave me a weak smile.
'Hey', she said, just as helplessly. 'Don't cry.'
She brushed away the tear that I had never confirmed its presence, wiping it away with her forefinger.
I looked down shocked at the glistening tear which sat on the tip of her finger, splattering miniature rays of sunlight form its reflective surface.
Slowly, I closed my hand around her single finger, submerging it into our skin between us.
She looked up nervously from the corners of her eyes before placing her hand on my cheek.
'Don't cry', she repeated, looking at me sternly, with hints of sarcasm in her face.
'M'not', I muttered, staring at the floor.
I didn't want to admit my weaknesses to her- I just couldn't.
She beamed at me, showing her crystal white teeth.
'Sure you're not', she said, still smiling. 'Now come on'.
I sighed and reluctantly let her tow me along to my apartment, hand in hand.
I was just too weak inside to carry on like this- I kept thinking it was going to happen again…
If it did, would I be able to control it?
What would happen then?
Xxxxx
When we had reached our floor, after climbing up many flights of stairs, not bothering to use the lift, we padded up to the door, my head held up confidently.
There would be no more tears- I could promise myself that much.
I was stronger than that.
I had to be.
When there was no moor floor left to walk on, she looked up at me expectantly, and I sighed at her impatience, slowly reaching into my pocket for the keys.
My finger looped with the chain, and I pulled them out hesitantly, before sliding the correct one into the lock.
It fit in loosely, and I slid the bolt round with ease.
Stars reached forwards, already one step ahead of me, and swung the door open, running to the guest bedroom which she had claimed as hers without a backward glance.
She had often stayed overnight here, but she hadn't been here in so long.
I wouldn't blame her if she missed the place- homesickness was a priority for me.
It always grew around my paranoia, creeping up on me when I least expected it.
She hadn't been here in so long… not since the… incident.
Back then, the flat had been nothing but a dump.
There hadn't been much of a change- even now.
I could barely look at myself in the mirror- let alone touch anything.
Sometimes it brought back too many memories… too powerful… too strong…
I shrugged the thought off, following Stars into her room.
Xxxxx
The dim light illuminated the room, and although it was midday, there was not much light coming from the sky.
The clouds had drawn together again, blocking out the sun.
It was always a battle of rivalry between the sun and clouds, and most of the time, the sun let up, giving the clouds the victory and triumph of ruling the sky.
I hadn't earned much faith in the clouds though, and the sky's grey colour was not a comforting sight.
Stars had plonked herself on her bed, already sorting through the files and folders she owned, checking and listing off to see that everything was in the right place.
She had always been overly organised- always neat and tidy, with not a single hair out of place.
I ended up as her exact opposite.
I was never good at keeping things tidy, and my efforts in accomplishing that mission only made matters worse.
I always gave up before hand, and however unfair it may have seemed, I had granted Stars the joy of straightening things up for me.
I would never understand her obsession with tidying- Never have, never will.
She was a funny little thing, she was.
Almost exactly like…
I wouldn't say it.
I just wouldn't say the name.
Too many memories… too much pain.
I wasn't going to even go there- not today, not ever.
I would save that for a rainy day, for sure.
Xxxxx
Sighing deeply, I heaved myself onto Stars right duvet next to her, playing absentmindedly with her red hair.
She leaned into my hands while I chuckled, almost definitely messing up her hair completely.
I would have to keep her away from the mirrors- all the ones I hadn't smashed anyway, before I could find a hairbrush for her at least.
I had never before known that something so reflective could cause a hazard.
'You okay now?' she asked, looking up into my eyes from below me.
I hesitated, debating whether to tell her a lie, or the truth.
Eventually, I decided to go with a mixture of both.
'Getting there', I murmured, still playing with her hair, but attempting to fix it at the same time.
It wasn't an easy challenge.
She giggled, while I stared at her questioningly.
Eventually I gave up guessing the cause, waiting for her to give in her laughing fit.
'What?' I finally managed.
She continued to giggle.
'Cat got your tongue, or what?' I said playfully.
She bit her lip, and ran her hands through my hair.
She had been doing that for a while now- I had just failed to notice.
She did this often- just an old habit.
It didn't mean anything- we were just used to each other by now.
It had been a while- so long, I had lost track of the amount of time that we had been together.
It seemed like forever- then again, it probably was.
In our eyes, anyway.
Between giggles, she passed me a mirror from off her shelf, forcing me to look at my reflection.
I couldn't see why, but I obeyed her every command.
Sometimes she could be so confusing. I found it hard to understand her.
She smirked at me while I held the mirror numbly in my hand, like it was a deadly weapon.
No soul would own such thing, except for seekers that is, although it felt that way to me…
Last time it had been done with my bare hands…
I shuddered at the thought.
'Go on then', she urged impatiently. 'Look'.
Sighing, I obeyed her obediently, staring back into my own grey eyes again.
The first thing that came to mind was how tired I looked, and I appeared to have not slept in days- weeks even!
My eyelids drooped, and my whole face sagged, causing me to look at least ten years older.
It wasn't a pleasing view.
After what seemed like hours of staring into the mirror wordlessly, I began to see what she had been so hysterical about.
I really was slow these days. Maybe I really was ten years older than I seemed.
Maybe I really hadn't slept in days- Either way, I would never know.
I wasn't any good at catching up either- reality and time had both lost their meanings at equal measures.
Again- not a comforting, positive thought.
Life really wasn't going well at the moment. Hopefully it would improve soon- not that I deserved any better.
Xxxxx
Stars had been laughing at my hair, doubling over with endless hysteria.
It really did look that bad.
Firstly- I couldn't remember the last time I had used a brush.
It had cotters lined up all the way down to my scalp. I couldn't believe that I hadn't realised.
Wanderer probably had- that seemed embarrassing, even for me.
I looked like a wreck.
Secondly, Stars had only made it worse.
For the fun of it all. It was always her- the trouble maker.
She had been running her hands through its short tangles, ruffling it up above my head.
I really did look awful.
A growl rumbled through my lips, before the smirk worked its way up to my face, lighting it up with untraced enthusiasm.
She squeaked when I snatched the mirror out of her hand, pouncing on her playfully.
I pinned her to the door, holding the mirror up to her.
'Care to take a look at yourself?' I asked her playfully.
She frowned and took the mirror form my grasp, gasping at what she saw.
She glared at me accusingly.
'You', she growled, before running out of the room towards the bathroom to fix her hair, which had only grown worse due to her jerky movements.
I chuckled, and followed her footsteps out of the room, pausing in the hallway to run a hand through my own hair, fixing it into the only ways that I could, involving bare fingers.
I would really have to start owning a brush.
I couldn't even remember the last time I had owned one- let alone used one.
A sudden jerky movement from inside my head stopped me in my tracks, causing all my joints to freeze.
It was happening again.
I knew it.
Xxxxx
With quick steps, I had paced right along the full with of the hallway, pausing to look onto the counter.
My head slowly turned sideways, staring at a single picture.
It was framed with a small, diamond structure, holding a single person beneath the glass.
I didn't hesitate, and nothing stopped me from moving.
My fist knocked forwards, throwing the frame to the floor, cracking the glass.
I heard the sickening crunch from beneath my feet as I crushed it beneath my shoe.
I stepped back examining the damage that I had once again caused.
I stroked a finger across my chin, liking what I saw.
On the floor lay the remains of a girl.
The girl I had killed.
Xxxxx
Dun dun DUN! Hope you liked it! The more reviews I get, the more I write… wonder how you took the twist ending! I loved it! Wowee, it felt good to get that out! Still liking Rides now? Well there is more to come- much more!
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