Beautiful clouds full of beautiful angels. Singing beautifully. As I was slowly returning to consciousness, these are the things I remember. Just beautiful clouds. And angels. The most angelic, beautiful voice. I tried to open my eyes, struggling with the heavy lids, attempting to make them open. As the room slowly swam into focus, I saw my beautiful angel hovering above me. But he wasn't an angel at all. His face looked as if it had been torn to shreds by a wild animal. I gasped and shook my head attempting to blink away the nightmarish image before me.
"Christine, you're awake now." He reached behind him and pulled out a mask. I recognized the white material. Now that I was closer, I could see that it was covered in a lacy pattern. Slowly, everything was coming back to me. I remembered Raoul's attack on me in vivid detail. I rubbed my eyes, willing the images to go away.
"Where am I?" I asked, trying not to look at my savior.
"You're at the park. I've brought you to the park across from your friend Meg's house."
"Why do I feel so groggy?" Though his presence was terrifying me, I don't think I could have run away if I tried. I felt so tired.
"The bastard drugged you." The masked man said, utter disdain in his voice. His passion scared me. I feared for the hatred his tone conveyed.
"Drugged me? Raoul? He wouldn't do that." I know things had gotten a bit heated, but surely.. no. He couldn't have… Could he? And then I remembered the look in his eyes as he tried to force himself on me. I let out a strangled sob and covered my face with my hands. I was so humiliated. How could I have put myself in this situation? I felt myself being lifted, and the next thing I knew, I was being cradled in this strange man's arms. He held me close to his chest and comforted me. I let myself cry. Not only for Raoul, but for my parents. For my lost childhood, for my complete and utter lack of knowledge as to where to go from here.
The thing I remember most about this interaction was that he didn't tell me to "hush now" or "dry your tears" even once. He allowed me to sob and sob until I just couldn't anymore. I fell asleep in his arms.
The next morning, I awoke in my own bed. I stretched and flipped over glancing at the red numbers on my alarm clock. 7:30. I've got to go make sure Andrew is getting ready for school. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and began to stand up. I fell immediately onto the floor. What the…? And then I remembered. Everything came rushing back. I clamped a hand to my mouth to cover up the involuntary, anguished cry. I covered my face and attempted to slow down my breathing; to fight the coming panic attack. I took a deep breath and examined my legs. Why won't you work? I pulled my knees to my chest and looked down at my ankles. Dark bruises had formed around them. I remembered sitting just like this on Raoul's bed. He had pulled me down harshly by my ankles. If he had pulled me hard enough to bruise, why didn't I take that as a bad sign and run? "The bastard drugged you." The words came slowly to forepart of my mind. Yes. The masked man that had saved me. I remember him.
I shook my head and remembered my brother, slumbering in the next room. Blissfully unaware of the world and the evil it contained. I rose gingerly to my feet, holding onto my desk for support. It took a moment, but the blood slowly returned to my legs and I was able to walk once more.
I opened my brother's door. Our Dalmatian greeted me with a sleepy wag of his tail. I smiled despite myself. I pet him gently and reached over to tickle Andrew's foot that was just sticking out of his blankets. "Andrew, it's time to wake up! I've got to take you to school in 45 minutes. Up and at 'em." He groaned and kicked at my hand. As if to help me out, Frankie, the dog, got up and made his way to the foot of the bed. He licked Andrew's face mercilessly until, frustrated Andrew said,
"Alright, alright. I'm up." I smiled and ruffled his hair. I started to leave and nearly tripped over his skateboard on the floor.
"Andrew, are you ever going to clean your room?" You're not his mom. Stop right there. He rolled his eyes at me and glared smugly.
"I'll clean my room when you stop pestering me about it."
"Okay, okay." I smiled weakly and held up my hands in surrender. "Come on, Frank. Breakfast time." The old dog jumped off the bed and followed me down stairs.
Frankie sat down next to his food bowl and waited patiently for me to get out the kibble. I poured a scoop and a half in and watched him happily scarf it down. I smiled at him with total adoration and stooped to add a slice of raw bacon on top. He looked back at me and seemed to smile before swallowing it, I'm sure, without tasting it. "Don't tell anyone." I said scratching behind his ears.
"Don't tell anyone, what?" My brother was standing in the kitchen flipping his Justin Beiber esc hair to the side.
"How much I love you," I said reaching out to pinch his cheeks.
"Yuck, stop. What's for breakfast?" He asked smacking my hand away. I laughed and finished setting his place at the table.
"Bacon and eggs. Orange juice is on its way." I said spooning some runny eggs onto his plate. He looked at it questioningly and back at me. I sighed. "Forget it." I threw everything in the dog bowl and handed Andrew his jacket. "We'll stop at Jackson's on the way to school."
"But, won't I be late?" He asked, a hopeful smile on his face.
"Do you really care about missing the first half hour of home room? Get in the car." He fist pumped the air and grabbed his bag off the couch calling out a hurried goodbye to Frank.
I watched her leave her house from the tree next to the driveway. She was still wearing the same faded jeans and t shirt from last night. Doesn't she get cold? I suppose Arizona isn't exactly the coldest state in the country, but it's cold enough. As if she could hear my inner monologue, I watched her pull on a battered hoodie from the front seat of the car. Satisfied, I crawled back into the thick foliage of the tree, where I knew she would not see me. Once she rounded the corner, I knew it was time for my next order of business.
I was planning on going right to school after dropping Andrew off, but the truth was, I was just too tired. The events of the night before had me completely overwhelmed. I walked inside and sank to the floor in front of the garage door. Frank came over and started liking my face. I held onto him and he sat down allowing me to hug him tightly. After a couple minutes, I stood. "Well boy, it's time to wash last night away. Why don't you go outside for a bit?" I opened the sliding glass door to let him out and made my way to my bathroom.
Once in the shower, I sank to the floor and allowed the hot water to cascade over me. I let the tears flow once more. I sobbed silently into my knees for I don't know how long. I jumped when I heard a knock at the door.
"Christine. You've had the shower on for nearly a half hour. It's time to get out."
"I'll be out in a second, Dad." I called, shocked that he had even gotten out of bed. I quickly washed my face and hair, then climbed out of the shower. I wiped the steam away from the mirror and stared into my nearly lifeless eyes. You look more and more like Mom every day. I thought bitterly to myself.
When I had dressed and combed out the rats nest that was my hair, I went to my parent's door and knocked softly. When I heard the inviting, "Come in" I slowly opened the door and walked in. My mother was comatose in the bed next to my father who was propped up watching the Simpsons.
"Sorry about the long shower, Dad. I lost track of time."
Not taking his eyes from the TV, he replied, "We're in a draught, Christine. Why don't you run to the store and pick up a clock or a timer or something?"
I scowled. "I can manage my time, Dad. I just had a rough night. It won't happen again."
He mumbled assent. "Where's your brother."
I rolled my eyes. The man honestly didn't know what day it was. "He's at school. Will you call in and excuse me for the day, please? Also, Andrew was a bit late for first hour. It was a slow morning for us."
Still not turning his focus from the TV, he said, "Yeah, sure. Will you go to the store and pick up your mom's prescriptions, please?"
"Of course. Anything else you need while I'm out?" He ignored me, so I excused myself and turned to leave. Well, I guess I'll spend the day playing catch up. I went downstairs to begin cleaning the pots and pans that were piling up in the kitchen sink.