Paragon
Chapter Six "Come Clean"
After all the noise the silence was welcomed. A whirlwind of events had swept Ron off his feet and left his world in pieces. In his cell, his head down, the small pillow offered him little comfort. But it didn't matter. Exhausted and burned out in both mind and heart he welcomed the darkness-the still and the numbness of sleep. And as it over took him, a tear rolled down his cheek. Never did he feel so alone.
From cold concrete walls and iron bars the scene changed to rolling hills under a clear night. Cool refreshing summer air whispered past as he sat in the passenger seat of a topless car. There were a million stars and the moon was so huge and bright it bathed the scene in light blue. It was beautiful, peaceful…like a dream. Maybe the whole Josh thing was a dream so far behind him now.
A jump of hope sent a glow back to his eyes. Maybe…just maybe his life was still there, maybe all that he knew was still waiting for him back home. Maybe Kim would be there too. It was then he turned his head to see her driving. She looked his way briefly, showing him a smile. And Ron knew it was only a dream.
The perfection of the moment only stung when in the light of the truth-that this wasn't really happening, that this was just a dream and that in reality he had nothing—not even his freedom. When he felt a hand on his own he looked up. Kim had stopped the car, her eyes full of worry…no there was more than that; there was a deep sadness. Slowly she outstretched a hand and wiped his cheek free of tears. Ron leaned gently into her touch, holding her hand tenderly to his cheek, afraid to let it go. There were no words shared, there was too much to say. There was only the slow soft movement as Kim leaned closer and left a feather soft kiss on his pale parted lips.
"I'm so sorry." Kim's words were so soft that even in the stillness of the night Ron could hardly hear her. She crawled past the center console and wrapped her arms around his neck, her head buried into his shoulder. "Please…please forgive me."
Ron himself hadn't moved since the kiss, the dizziness passing. Now with his senses regained he wrapped his arms around her, savoring the way she felt, the way she smelled, her warmth, her heartbeat. When he realized she was crying he gently pulled back to wipe her face as she had done to him. Her eyes shimmered with the glossiness of tears under the moonlight and Ron felt himself lost. The heartbreak that radiated from her stabbed deep into him. Her lips moved in slow motion forming the sentence, barely whispered:
"I never meant to hurt you." Ron shook his head, lovingly tucking the hair that fell past her eyes behind her ear.
"It's ok." His own voice was cracked-choked by the emotions deep inside. "I never meant to hurt you either." His eyes searched hers for understanding, but emerald ones closed and rested her head on his chest.
"Promise me, Ron."
"Anything."
"Promise me you'll-."
"Time to get up!" Ron sat up at the sound of the clanking of the bars. An officer stood in his cell. "Your attorney is here to see you." Shaking off the stiffness he sat up, trying to remember the dream. The details were hazy; all he knew was he never wanted it to end.
"You don't have to let it end." Ron jumped and looked over to the vacant cot in the cell where a man sat, rope burns around his neck. Obviously another spirit. "You enjoyed your dream? Then go back to sleep and don't wake up."
"What are you staring at?" Ron looked back to the officer before shaking his head, fingers running thru messy blonde hair.
"Nothing." He glanced back to see the ghost had left. "Nothing at all."
It wasn't long before Ron found himself in a small conference room with a one-way mirror. It was a little chilly in his new clothes, the thin orange-ish clothing offering no protection from drafts. Why was it so cold?
"He's coming." It was a whisper in a darken corner of the room and reluctantly Ron moved his eyes towards the source. One eye stared at him from a head on just an upper torso. Two scraggly arms hung from the sides. "He's coming and he'll kill you. Nowhere to run. No where to hide." The voice of the mutilated ghost sounded directly into Ron's mind since the ghost itself had long lost its jaw, the tongue hung rotted from the depth of a battered throat. The door opened, sending Ron out of his seat. A woman towered over him and offered Ron a hand.
"A little jumpy there, huh? Must be hard on you. My name's Louis Tannenbaum and I'll be your attorney." She pulled him to his feet and fixed his chair before taking her own just across the table. "Let's get right down to it Ron, things don't look very good in your favor. The arraignment is tomorrow and you know they'll try to nail you for manslaughter. Hey kid-you ok?" Ron's eyes were still locked on the torso, it's heaving chest spilling blood and maggots. Slowly torn arms came down and began to drag itself closer. Ron quickly jumped into his chair. Blood and rotten chunks of who knows what spilled from the empty socket in it's head—and the smell? Ron could hardly breathe. When it reached out and brushed Ron's leg he jumped up on the table.
"Get-Stay away from me!" Louis on the other hand only stared in shock at her client. He pulled up the chair and swung it at the air, and there was a dead sweat on his skin and fear like she had never seen in his eyes. He was convinced something was there. Enough was enough. She called in the guards who grabbed Ron and in the moment he was held back he felt the cold dead flesh of the spirit caress his leg, the blood seeping thru thin material. Louis watched as they sedated him and began to drag him back to his cell. Her clients before had pleaded insanity but never had she thought she'd find a person that really needed it.
"Poor kid."
"Shhh…calm down." Kim's words did little to calm the small rodent. Rufus who had a stomachache the day before had no idea what was happening—why Ron wasn't home. She figured it was hopeless to explain to him the real reason when she herself was trying to forget. After making some excuse, which he bought skeptically, Kim laid back on her bed, staring up at a ceiling covered in plastic glow in the dark stars.
"You think this is a good idea?" A 14-year-old Ron smiled down at her from a wobbly chair, cradling a number of plastic stars in his shirt. They were all pre-sticky-fyed, as Ron had referred to it then. All he had to do was reach up and press it to the ceiling. That's what Kim was worried about.
"I do this all the time back home, KP. There's nothing to worry about." He reached up and stuck a on a star. "See? I have the balance of a-." The crack of the chair leg came first, then the smash of glass, then darkness and a thud.
"Ron! Are you ok?"
"Yea, I landed on your bed…sorry about your light." There was silence after that as both took a moment to looks around. In Ron's fall all the stars he was holding had scattered everywhere. He felt the bed sink a bit as Kim lay down next to him.
"Perfect."
"What is? I broke your light and the chair and-."
"I mean the stars, Ron. It's…It's like we're in space just the two of us. No school, no problems, just us." She took his hand and smiled at his little gasp. "I like it."
"M-me too, KP."
Kim shook off the memory. That seemed like forever ago and Ron was a different person back then…but so was she. Kim closed her eyes, trying to make sense of all the mess. Just where had things changed between them? She remembered everything was just fine-they had grown up together just fine all the way to junior year…Kim bit her lip. It was that year that she and Josh had started going out. With the dates and cheerleading and other school stuff…
"I mean Ron's liked you for years. He cares about you very much and if he thinks you're in danger then you should hear him out. He must have a reason."
"Of course not! You of all people should know I would never kill someone, KP!"
"I used to think that, but the way you've been acting, the things you've said-."
"Kim, Kim look at me! Kim! Please! You gotta believe me when I say I didn't do this!"
There was no use stopping the tears. She had tried to forget what happened, how she had lost two friends in one day. She had tried to erase the sight of Monique and the pain in Ron's eyes but it returned and haunted her every time she closed her eyes.
"S'ok." Squeaked Rufus from next to her but his words did little to calm the teenager.
Everything spun, the sedative finally setting in. Ron couldn't feel the guards dragging him to a more secure cell; all he could do was stare blankly at the scores of mutilation that stared back from the passing cells. The smell was rank and the blood on the floor cold and thick. If…if this is what he'd have to see for the rest of the day Ron would much rather be blind. They stopped and Ron was tossed into a empty white room with a one way mirror so that they could monitor him until they received permission to transfer him to Middleton sanitarium for an analysis.
Luckily the room was empty—free of the cold stench of death that seemed to follow him now. This was Josh's fault. Josh did this to him, he stole Kim, Josh ruined his life. Never had Ron felt so much anger towards anyone…not that it mattered any more. He closed his eyes and waited for the sedative to take him under.
"So you're giving up? How you lasted that long with Kim, I have no idea." Ron's eyes opened in a flash to see Monique standing in front of him, her hands behind her back. She was in a corporeal looking state, whole and almost alive looking. There was a faint smell of death, but it was mixed with her normal scent of vanilla.
"M-Monique?"
"In the…well, not in the flesh, but you-Anyways, Ron, you gotta listen. You hafta save Kim, she's still in danger." Ron's head swam a bit but he focused, trying to think.
"I can't I'm sorta…t-trapped here. Being held for your murder…" Ron could hardly even talk. "I-I… didn't really kill you…?" Monique shook her head before grabbing Ron's face centering it on her own in an attempt to make him focus.
"You need to get out of here and save Kim. If you stay then both of you will die." Ron adverted his half closed eyes.
"W-would that be so bad?" Ron's eyes closed the rest of the way, finally sub coming to the sedatives. She gently laid him down before fading back to her torn state and shook her head in pity.
"You have no idea."
Jao: Firstly, song credits: Come Clean by Hillary Duff from her album Metamorphosis.
I hope that helped you guys who were wishing for some KR in this horrible story somewhere.
And before you kill me, I know I didn't pay much attention to the law process but I had to remember that this is a horror fic, not a courthouse drama, tho that would be fun. Trying to prove Ron innocent despite all the evidence piled against him.
Anyways, what are my own fears with this story? Making it feel too much like the movie 6th sense. What with Ron being able to see dead people. Whelp, there will be a little more action in the next chap, promise. After all, he is coming…