Jayfeathers Room of Lightning 2

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Chapter 11: Skelita

Burning, itching through my bones

In a crowd I'm all alone

Senses heightened, souls contrast

Lightning sears and volts my past

Sparks enlightened, eyes on fire

Corrupting ice through my desires

Thunder hit, loud yet quiet

Shook through me, ever so silent

Flametail raced through the crowd, growing more desperate by the second. Eli didn't have much time left, and Jayfeather was nowhere to be found. He looked at all the grieving faces, sadness growing in their eyes for someone who wasn't even dead. Where the fuck did Jayfeather go, Flametail thought to himself. He couldn't have just disappeared!

And then he finally saw him.

Jayfeather stood by the pitiful concession booth at the back of the gathering of people. His eyes were closed, and he was whispering something Flametail couldn't hear. His plate in his hand remained untouched, the cake flopping to one side from the lack of use.

"Jayfeather!" Flametail screamed. Jayfeather opened an eye, turning his head slightly in Jayfeather direction. Flametail pushed through the black clad crowd and raced towards him.

"Jayfeather!" Flametail cried again as he got closer. This time Jayfeather raised his head completely and looked around. When he spotted Flametail he dropped his cake in shock. The chocolate icing smeared over his shoes but he didn't even notice.

"Flametail?" he whispered, his dull eyes brightening for the slightest of seconds. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"Eli's alive," Flametail whisper/shrieked. "You need to get her out of the coffin, now!"

"What?" Jayfeather screamed. He threw his plate on the ground and ran through Flametail towards the coffin. Flametail turned around and raced after him, heart hammering in his chest. Jayfeather pushed through the confused people, who stared after him with unsure faces.

"Poor Jayfeather," Flametail heard one of them say. "He's gone mad with grief."

"STOP BURYING HER," Jayfeather screamed at the four people who were in the process of shoveling dirt over Eli's grave.

"Look man, we're on a schedule," one of the grave diggers growled. "We're already running late as it is and we don't have time for this."

"Move, now," Jayfeather hissed. "Or the next grave you'll be digging will be your own."

"Okay, easy," the man stopped shoveling and stepped back. "I guess we can be a few minutes late."

Jayfeather ignored him and jumped into the hole where Eli's coffin lay.

"Jayfeather," a choked voice sounded from behind him. It was Kit.

"One minute," Jayfeather said, using his hands to scrape dirt away.

"Jayfeather, she's dead!" Kit screamed. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"SHE'S NOT DEAD," Jayfeather screamed back. "FLAMETAIL TOLD ME SHE'S STILL ALIVE!"

"You've gone mad," Kit whispered. "Jayfeather if you don't get away from our daughters grave this instant I am going to take Sparks and you will never see us again."

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU RIGHT NOW," Jayfeather yelled. He continued digging furiously, dirt flying up into the air and falling back into his already filthy hair.

"Jayfeather, stop," Kit choked. "Please!"

Jayfeather ignored her, and continued digging as fast as he could go. Finally he hid the solid roof of the coffin, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He grabbed the latch to the door and pulled, hard.

The lid to the coffin rose.

The crowd let out a gasp.

Jayfeather just stared.

Six months later

Sparks pulled on his coat, not looking forward to the cold outdoors he was about to walk out into. It was the dead of winter, and it was a cruel one. Every time Sparks walked outside wind cut through his skin and chilled his bones. Sparks yanked on his hat and took a deep breath. It was time to face the music. He pulled open the door, resulting in an icy wind to blow into his face. Sparks cursed under his breath and proceeded to trudge through the knee deep snow.

"Hey," a voice sounded from beside him. Sparks turned around to see Zelia standing there, bundled up in a large coat and mittens. Sparks sighed in annoyance when he realized Zelia wasn't wearing socks with her shoes.

"Where are your socks," Sparks asked, his breath billowing out in front of him like smoke.

"I lost them," Zelia explained, looking down at her frozen feet.

"Well we'll go buy you some later," Sparks said. "Having no socks in this weather is not acceptable."

"Thanks," Zelia brightened at this. Then she looked down at the two coffees in her hands and held one out to Sparks. "I bought this for you."

"Thank you," Sparks said in surprise, the kind gesture almost made his heart warm. He looked at Zelia for a second before holding out his hand to her. "I missed you," he said quietly. Zelia took his hand and looked him dead in the eye. "I missed you too," she smiled. "Every second of every day."

For the past six months Zelia had been in a counseling home, trying to work out her issues. Ever since her dad died and Zelia had figured out her dad had been torturing her friend Eli, Zelia had lost sense of reality. Six long months of treatment had done a fine job, and Zelia was happy to think she stood on solid ground.

"Are you ready to go?" Zelia asked, breaking Sparks out of his thoughts. He let go of her hand and shoved them into his coat pockets. "Yeah," he said. "We should probably go soon."

They walked in silence down the road, shivering in the icy winds.

...

Kaeleigh sighed as an announcement pulsed through her room.

"Will all level 1 patients please report to the counseling hall?"

Kaeleigh lay on her bed for a second, not wanting to go to her group counseling meeting. It was so boring, all everyone ever did was blab on and on about their pathetic screwed up lives. Kaeleigh lived in the Driftwood Lake's Recovery Home. Also known as the Driftwood Lake mental hospital for the disturbed. She was a level one patient, so she didn't have a lot of rights. There were levels one through six in the home, and Kaeleigh had been stuck on one for so many months she had forgotten how many. Kaeleigh rolled her eyes as she pulled herself off the bed, wishing it could just be nighttime so she could go to sleep. She walked down the hall, feeling wobbly on her stick thin legs. Yawning, Kaeleigh scratched her side, feeling her sharp hipbone with a feverish smile. Kaeleigh was a very tall girl, with long black hair and ghastly white skin. She weighed only 95 pounds.

They call me anorexic, ha! Kaeleigh thought to herself. Who do they think they're fooling? I'm so fat... Kaeleigh wished she were thinner. She raised a sickly thin arm to brush her hair out of her eyes. She walked to the counseling hall in silence, and when she opened the door to the room she scowled at the people inside. Ruby sat cross legged in a chair, rocking back and forth slowly. Ruby was a 12 year old girl with schizophrenia. She constantly shot her head up and talked to things that weren't there. Next to Ruby sat the only other anorexic girl in the building. Kaeleigh didn't know her name, everyone just called her Skelita Skelita was even skinnier than Kaeleigh. Her face was gaunt and her cheekbones stood rigid against her skin. The gap between her legs was so big it made Kaeleigh sick with jealousy. The sound of the counselor clearing her throat made Kaeleigh stop thinking so hard.

"So who would like to share a story first?" she asked. Her voice was gentle and encouraging. "Kaeleigh, would you like to say something?"

"No," Kaeleigh replied. The counselor just smiled and turned to the next person. "What about you, Dana?"

Dana was a 16 year old girl who cut herself. She wore a long sleeved black hoodie to hide her scars, but it made no difference. Kaeleigh had seen her without her hoodie, and her arms nearly made her throw up.

"I had the urge to cut again last night," Dana mumbled. "The feeling just raced through my veins and through my bones. I wanted to so bad," she continued. "But I didn't."

The crowd clapped slightly. Jen, the counselor, smiled widely. "That's a great story, Dana," she said kindly. "I'm proud of you. Maybe in a few weeks we can talk about you grading up to level 4."

Kaeleigh thought of her own level one status again and tried not to groan. She was a long way away from level 6, or 'graduating' as the counselors liked to call it. Once you rank up to level 6, you get to leave and go back home. It was every patients goal. Kaeleigh was no where near it.

"Would anyone else like to speak?" Jen asked the circle.

"How about Skelita," a girl named Kimberly sneered. Jen shot her a warning look. All eyes dead locked at Skelita, who shifted her feet nervously. Kaeleigh felt bad for the girl. Skelita ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair and shifted her eyes to the floor.

"I threw away my dinner last night," Skelita murmured truthfully. "But I tried to eat it. Honest!"

"Thank you for sharing," Jen smiled sweetly.

"And my name's not Skelita," Skelita said, eyes wide and hurt as she spoke to Kimberly. "My name is Eli."