âHow can I explain to someone what happened,
When even I donât know what happened.â
- Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Death.
Iâve never thought about it or the way I would die. Iâve never had time to actually thought about it. Iâve always thought that I would die with a person that I love, and not somewhere where no one would find my body.
I remember everything. I remember every detail of it.
Even if it had passed so long since that, those red eyes were still hunting me in this darkness. I tried to run away from them, but they were still following me. I could still hear the demonâs mine in the background. Iâm not sure if it was just my imagination or was it really like that.
âWill she be okay?â A voice echoed int he darkness. This voice was really familiar.
âShe should wake up any moment,â Another voice said. This voice was familiar too.
âDoctor, why didnât she woke up?â The first voice asked.
âSome people need more time because their body and mind arenât ready yet. Iâm sure that she would wake up at any moment, Mrs. Holt,â The third voice said. I donât recognize this voice. It was different from the previous two.
âEverything will be fine. She will be fine,â Said the voice from before.
âI shouldnât have told her to go out with him. Itâs my fault, Louis. It didnât past a week since she came, and now look at this, she is lying here for a week. What will I say to her mother, and God, what about her father? You know what he is like.â
âHey, itâs not your fault. She will recover, youâll see.â
âDid you talk to him?â The first voice asked.
âYes, I will tell you later,â I slowly open my eyes, seeing two worried faces in front of me.
âLena,â I whispered.
âThank God you are alive,â Louis made a step towards me. âWe thought you might not make it.â
âIâm..â I coughed. âFine.â Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and moved my arm from where the infusion was hooked. When I moved my head down, I saw my leg wrapped in a white bandage.
âI will get the doctor, and you stay here,â Louis said to Lena before he got out of the room.
Lena sat next to me, took a glass of water and leaned it on my lips and held it until I drank a few sips.
âHow is Ronny?â I asked. With her right hand, she moved a few locks of my hair behind my ear.
âForget about Ronny now. Is he more important than your health?â
âYou know me, I always go straight to business,â I laughed with her until something started hurting me in the chest.
âI see you still have your humor,â A tear fell down her face.
âPlease, donât cry. You see that Iâm still alive,â I placed my hand on hers, âEverything will be fine.â
âWe were so scared, Elizabeth. When your mother called, I had to lie to her. I didnât want to scare her,â I almost forgot about her. She was for sure dying of worry right now.
âItâs good that you didnât. You know how she is,â My eyes caught a vase full of white roses. âYou didnât have to bring the flowers.â
She looked at me confused. âWe didnât bring them. They were already here when we got here. Maybe the girls brought them.â
âGirls? Ashley and Kathryn were here?â
âYes. They were watching over you,â She paused. âAnyway, what happened? Who did this to you?â I thought about actually telling her or not. Part of me said that I should, but the other one said not to because I didnât know how she would react. She would probably think that I was crazy.
âI donât know,â I lied. I didnât want to drag them into this mess, especially not her when she is pregnant, and it would be better for their safety.
The way she looked at me, she already knew hat I was lying. She always knows when someone was lying.
âOkay,â She fake smiled. She didnât even want to bother me with questions, but I knew that she would wait that I tell her the truth.
As I was trying to stand up, Louis and the doctor walked in.
âOh, someone is awake,â The doctor said. He looked really young. Maybe too young for a doctor.
âI am.â
âYou gave us all a bad scare, Elizabeth,â He stood in front of me, taking out a small flashlight and lighted it in front of my eyes.
âHow are you feeling?â He placed the flashlight back to his pocket and wrote something down.
âIt hurts a little, but Iâm fine.â
âWe will do some tests, and then you can go home, but you have to rest for two weeks without doing anything,â He placed his hand on my shoulder. âYou were lucky, you know. When they brought you here, you looked like a bear had attacked you,â He sounded concerned.
A bear? That wasnât a bear. I wanted to tell them the truth, but I canât. I just canât.
âI donât remember a bear.â
âWhat do you remember then?â
âOnly that Ronny had run into the forest and that I ran behind him. The rest is all black,â I looked down at my arms.
âIt will be hard at first to remember everything, but at the time passing by, the images will start appearing,â He turned to Louis and Lena. âIf she starts getting migraines or anything else, just get her back here,â He said before he left the room.
~ - ~
During the drive, a deep silence was settled in the car. Louis looked on the road while Lena typed something on her phone. And me? I was just looking at the trees and listened to some music, trying to relax. Every time when I looked at them I remembered the night. It will be hard to return back to normal.
I ran my fingers down my neck when suddenly a spark traveled through my whole body.
When Lena gave me the mirror back in the hospital, I almost fainted again when I saw the way I looked. I looked like a car had run me over.
The thing that surprised me the most was my neck, the way it healed so fast and that it didnât hurt me.
âElizabeth, we are here,â Louis broke my scary thoughts.
He was right. We were here.
I took a deep breath before opening the door and taking the crutch with me out. I told them that I didnât need it, but Lena insisted because Iâm not strong enough to walk on my own.
My eyes went to the dark forest. I searched for something, and that something wasnât there.
âAre you okay?â Lena walked to me. She placed her hand on my shoulder, pulling me closer to her.
âI donât know,â I said honestly. She glanced over to Louis who looked directly in the forest.
âLetâs get you inside,â Lena and I both started walking to the porch when Louis yelled behind us. âI will go check something out. Iâll be back in a moment,â He took his phone out and placed it on his ear.
âHurry,â Lena sent him one of her death glares. He nodded and walked back into his car.
When I entered the house, in fronto f me, Ashley and Kathryn appeared with a cake and balloons in their hands.
âWelcome home!â They yelled.
âGirls. You didnât have to.â Each of them hugged me from each side.
âYou scared us,â Kathryn said. Both of them moved away from me, giving me some room to breathe.
âIâm alive and thatâs what only matters.â I placed the jacket on the hanger, my arm starting to hurt.
âAre you okay?â Ashley asked.
âI am. It only hurts a bit.â In the kitchen, the table was filled with all sorts of food. There was everything. Starting from pizza to chocolate cookies. And they were all for me.
âYou didnât have to make all of this,â I sat on the table, and all of them sat next to me.
âYou are probably hungry. The hospital food isnât that great, trust me,â Lena said.
âI am hungry, but how will I eat with only one arm?â I lifted my arm up, showing the bandage to Ashley and Kathryn.
âI will cut your food,â Ashley said.
âYeah, and I will feed you,â Kathryn laughed.
I laughed too. âCome on girl. Letâs eat.â
~ - ~
I never ate so much food in a little time. I ate more than Ashley, Kathryn, and Lena together. I was so full that I couldnât even move. I guess being at the edge of dying makes you hungry.
Louis didnât show up during the lunch, and that made Lena more upset, so I had to calm her down.
Now sitting with Ashley and Kathryn on the bed, I struggled to eat the last piece of pizza.
âElizabeth?â Kathryn asked.
âYes?â
âAshley and I were thinking about what happened to you,â Kathryn said, trying to avoid my gaze. I stood up from my bed and slowly closed the door. I didnât want Lena to hear it.
âI will tell you, but please donât tell anybody,â Both of them nodded. âI know what I will tell you right now sounds crazy, but I swear it to you that I didnât make this up.â