A/N Welcome to chapter 8! This chapter is still during the night after the crash, but I promise the next chapter will be Day 1.
Chapter 8: Fade out
When Aubrey opened her eyes, she found herself in the plane again. The plane had just crashed. Water flowed down in the plane in slow-motion. Seconds passed like minutes before Aubrey realized what was happening. She needed to get out. Quickly. She unclipped her seatbelt and climbed over the chairs on her row to the walkway. On the other side of the footpath, she saw a woman with blond hair, still buckled in her seat. A huge, deep cut covered her face in a diagonal. Her face was severely damaged. A piece of glass had struck her eyeball, right in the center. Her jaw was broken and hang in an unnatural position below her face. The blood from more cuts in her head covered her face completely, making her face almost unrecognizable. But everyone would recognize a friend, even in such condition.
"JESSICA!" she screamed as she tugged at her seatbelt. Jessica's head fell to the side, her lifeless eyes looking at Aubrey as if blaming her. Aubrey put her hand over her mouth as she felt her supper coming up.
"No no no. NO. NO! JESSICA!"
She shook the blonde, but she didn't wake up. Aubrey's trembling hands and clothes where covered by the dark blood from Jessica. Aubrey looked at her hands, panicking. She tried to rub the blood on the chair in front of them and on the ceiling. On anything as long as it was not on her hands. She tried to calm down and to even her breaths, before she would faint. She was sweating profusely, her vision was blurry. She looked at Jessica for the last time, before running towards the exit. It was then when she noticed that the exit was blocked by the enormous amount of water that entered the cabin.
"SHIT" she cried.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, slowly. Standing in front of her, was Denise. Her eyes were big, she was crying inaudible. Suddenly, she stopped crying. Leaving the two in a complete silence. Even the stream of water had stopped bouldering. The world just stood still for a moment.
Slowly, very slowly, Denise moved her head to her shoulder, showing the right side of her neck. She moved her head further and further and further and further, before a loud snap erupted from the breaking bone in her neck. Denise kept staring at Aubrey as she moved her head even further, causing the skin to rip where the fracture was located. Dark blood streamed out of the wound, covering her neckline and collarbones. The blood streamed further down, drenching her clothes.
Aubrey couldn't move. She was frozen. She couldn't think. She heard a belt unclip and heard footsteps approaching her from behind but she couldn't turn around. All she could do was wait for Jessica to walk towards Denise and turning around, showing her blood covered face. The piece of glass was still stuck in her eye and moved frantically as she used her eye to look around. Jessica tried to smirk, but her jaw still hang like a rag doll below her face. Her teeth were showing.
"Please…"she said, as well as she could without her lower jaw. Denise smirked as she finished the sentence.
"…Never leave me…"
Aubrey yelped as she shot up, paining heavily. Her back was drenched with sweat. She looked around, checking her surroundings for any signs of Jessica and Denise, but they weren't there. What a terrible dream. But she knew that it was based on actual events. Her hands were trembling as she rubbed them.
"Are you okay?" Beca's voice trembled. She couldn't sleep and jumped when she heard Aubrey scream. The rest of the group didn't seem to have noticed it. Beca shook Chloe off her and moved to Aubrey, taking her hand in hers.
Aubrey nodded. "I had a bad dream."
"Dreams won't hurt us." Beca said. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"It was about Denise and Jessica…"
Beca nodded, understanding.
"They…" Aubrey started crying. Beca rubbed her back.
"It's okay."
When Aubrey stopped crying they looked at the fire for a while. Her eyes shifted to the sleeping Bellas. She saw Lilly and Amy fast asleep. Ashley turned, her eyes moving behind her eyelids, dreaming something. Chloe, now alone, was curled up in a ball, laying on her side. The girl looked so vulnerable. Stacie-… Stacie? Where was Stacie?
"Where is Stacie?!" Aubrey asked, looking horrified.
"Relax, she is over there, at the graves."
In a distance, they saw a figure kneeling on the sand.
"She asked me to give her a minute alone."
"I'll go check on her" said Aubrey as she stood up. Beca gave her a nod.
"Cynthia…" for the last half hour she hadn't been able to say anything except for her name. "Cynthia…"
She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears.
"Cynthia, please don't leave me alone… I can't do this without you… We were supposed to be together."
And I'm gonna need somebody to make me feel like you do
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Aubrey was standing behind her, just listening to her pleas.
And I will receive somebody with open arms, open eyes,
Open up the sky and let the planet that I love shine through
She didn't expect the brunette to turn around and to run into her arms. She stumbled back, slightly, as she now held her close, whispering comforting things to her.
For coming to my room when you know I'm alone
For finding me a highway and driving me home
And you gotta know
For that I serve you
"I miss her so much…"
Aubrey sighed in grief.
"We all do…"
For crying out loud
You know I love you
Beca watched as she saw the two women hugging from a distance. They had all loved Cynthia and her unique personality, but no one cared for her like Stacie did. She couldn't imagine what it felt like to lose someone you held so dearly. Seeing the two girls hugging and crying in the distance, made her finally cry as well. This was the first time after the crash she cried. Seeing the two girls there, woke her up. Their plane had crashed. Some of her friends were injured. A lot of people had died, including some Bellas. There was a chance she would never be able to go home ever again. And if she was, she still would have lost friends. She still would have seen people dying. Her life would, no matter what the future would bring, never be the same again.
She felt someone dropping next to her. When she turned around, she saw that Amy was sitting next to her. Beca wiped her eyes. She wasn't used showing her feelings in front of other people. Amy wrapped her arm around her and pulled her close.
"It's okay." She whispered, trying not to wake the others.
"No, it's not." Beca dried her eyes.
They stayed silent for a while.
"Man, I hate that they're gone."
"Me too." Amy sighed. "We had never been great friends, but I still cared for them, you know. I just hate that I was a dick to them, always putting myself first." She buried her face in her hands.
"Always picking on Cynthia's sexuality, I really regret that. I really don't mind, to be honest, I just thought that it was really funny how she was so awkward about it. I noticed last month that she really disliked me for saying stupid things like that, so I decided I would make it up to her when we were on vacation, I would go to her and apologize and we would become friends again. But I'll never be able to say sorry to them now."
Beca stayed silent for a moment. What was she supposed to say? She was very bad at cheering people up, that was Chloe's job, but she was asleep now.
"I really don't think they minded." Really, was that the best she could come up with?
But Amy seemed satisfied with that answer for the moment. Or she just didn't hear Beca's answer.
"Poor Stacie." Amy said, looking over her shoulder at her. "Do you think they had a thing together?"
"Like a relationship?" Beca never had questioned it. "I don't really know, but they seemed pretty close. However Stacie always has the many one-night-stands she has with guys. She doesn't seem a lesbian to me."
"I guess you are right. Still, they we're so close and Stacie isn't an unattractive woman…"
"But I think I would cry like that as well if you or Chloe died. I never knew Cynthia, Denise or Jessica very well, but Stacie did. Stacie was closest to Cynthia from the beginning and she always hang out with Jessica. I just can't imagine how it must feel to lose your best friends like that."
Amy nodded and yawned. "Thanks."
"I didn't do anything?"
"For listening."
"Oh, anytime. You look tired, try to sleep some more before the sun rises."
Amy nodded and laid down again. Seconds later she was fast asleep.
For pulling me away when I'm starting to fall
For revving me up when I'm starting to stall
And all in all
For that I thank you
But most of all
For crying out loud
For that I love you
AN: Synthia, anyone? The song I used is 'For Crying Out Loud' by Meatloaf (yes that's also the title of chapter 7, hehe). Let me know what you think and see you in the next one! It'll be the first day on the island!
April
