Chapter 6: Shocking Discovery
Quil's POV
I could smell bleach and blood. I was only gone for maybe twenty minutes. How could she have done that to herself? I ran over to her and yanked off the blanket from her lap. Her shorts had spots of blood. I grabbed her arms and wrenched up her sleeves. She tried to fight me, but I was too strong. I found them. The long, deep, oozing gashes on her arms. I sank to my knees in front of her. I grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her. "Why?" I half yelled. I gritted my teeth, waiting for an answer. I was mad. Really mad. I started shaking. I couldn't phase not here. I jumped up from the floor, grabbed everything sharp from her room and walked outside. I threw all of it in the trash. Every single thing, except the knife. I would keep that in my room until I thought she could be responsible enough to have it back. It was a gift from her father after all. I started for the woods. I couldn't take her to the hospital. They would suggest psychiatric help. I couldn't do that to Claire. I knew she would never be the same Claire as before. She would always carry that burden. I just hoped that one day she knew that I would never leave. I would always be here. I envisioned the cuts on her arm and nearly vomited. Then I got angry all over again. The shaking came back, red spots blurred my vision, the burning sensation in my body came, and I exploded with a snarl. DAMMIT! Those were my last pair of shorts! I heard Embry and Paul. Hey man! Embry said. I guess Paul sensed my distress and he said quietly, what is it Quil? I didn't want to think about it but the images came anyway. Her arm bloody and swollen. The blood on her shorts. Her fighting against me. Dude, that's harsh. Embry thought. Shut up, shut up, shut up! I barked. Embry, I think it's best you left Quil alone right now, was Paul's smooth calm answer. He had calmed down a lot since he and Rachel got married. They were expecting their first kid in December. I know I probably shouldn't have done this, but I needed to see the faces that haunted Claire so badly. Paul, show me what you and Rachel saw that night. Uh, Quil are you sure? Paul asked hesitantly. I need to see it Paul. If I am ever going to help her I need to see it. He seemed to struggle making a decision. Please Paul. He began to show them to me. He didn't hold back, but I didn't want him too. The car was mangled. Her mother and father unrecognizable. Her sister's face caved in. Blood pouring from the wound in her stomach. Cuts on her face, neck, and arms. Blood spitting from the gash on her chest. Her legs were smashed from the steering wheel where one of the cars had smashed the front and trapped her inside. I whimpered and winced a few times. When the ambulance came and they cut the car open and got her out and on a stretcher was when it really hit me. Before it all seemed like a bad dream. The put an oxygen mask on her and started an IV. The last Paul saw of her before the hospital was the ambulance driving away. The sirens screeching. I darted further into the woods and collapsed beside a tree. I phased back and lay there naked. I was a screaming, crying, wailing, mess. I needed to see that. Even though it hurts like hell to know that this had happened to her. I laid there for almost an hour, screaming into the dirt. That's where Paul and Embry found me.