8Could You Catch Me
Chapter 1
I watched as the blood poured from their bodies and dripped onto the cold cement below them. My parents watched, a smug look on their face as they watched their handy work. There they lie dying, they stood laughing. I pulled my mothers head on my lap and brushed her long brown hair from her face. A tiny trail of blood was falling from her red lips, traveling onto the white skirt I wore. "Take care baby girl", she said as blood poured from her eyes. "I'm not baby", I said with pride in my voice. "I'm Juliet and I shall be with my Romeo!" Mother smiled as her blue eyes lost their light. I smiled slowly and used my two fingers to close her eyes.
"Bye my beauty", father whispered as his green eyes lost their light.
Wake up beauty", my maid Helen says as she shakes me awake. I open my eyes, the previous nightmare still on my mind. Helen smiles at me, her dark chocolate eyes twinkling with mischief. She backs up as I sit up and wipe the sleep from my eyes.
"Good morning", Helen says in her thick Hispanic accent.
"Good morning", I reply as I throw my legs over the bed and pull my thin cotton robe over my body. I walk past Helen into the bathroom and wash my face and brush my teeth. Helen watches silently, waiting for me to be ready for the day. This is our daily routine, this has been our routine for five years. Everyday the same, every year the same.
When I'm done brushing my teeth Helen clears her throat and leads me back into the room. She hands me a comfortable pair of khaki shorts and a nice pink polo. I slip my night clothes off, not afraid of changing in front of Helen. She has been there, she was the only one I had.
It wasn't their fault.
I slip my flip flop on and brush my long black hair into a messy bun on the top of my head.
"Now Juliana", Helen says. "You never know when company is coming, you just look presentable."
Helen wags her old wrinkled hand at me, a smile on her thin pink lips. I smiled at her in my reflection in the mirror and pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair. I brushed it to where it lay flat and pulled it back into a nice and presentable bun.
"Better", I ask as she takes my hand and leads me down the stairs.
"Si, mucho mejor!" Helen gushes in her native language.
I let her lead me to the table, where sitting on the spot I sit are chocolate chip pancakes. I turn to see Helen giving me the same mischievous smile she was giving me earlier. She knows I'm on a diet, and that I also have a weakness for chocolate chip pancakes. I wasn't fat so technically I didn't need to be on a diet, also no one ever saw me: but I just felt I should watched what I ate.
"Sit sit", Helen clucks as she pulls my chair out from under the table.
I sit down and put my napkin into my lap and sigh. "Gosh Helen, you want me to be a fat cat."
"No no silly", she says as she sits down opposite me. "I want you to feel loved."
I smiled and look down at my hands, which are shaking in my lap. I feel my breath coming out in huffs, and I cant seem to breath deep.
"Deep breaths", Helen says, standing up from her seat.
I make a motion for her to sit down as I close my eyes and count to ten. I'm trying to stay calm like my psychologist tells me: I'm pretending that I'm in my room, under my blankets re-reading the entire Golden Compass series.
When my breathing goes back to normal I open my eyes and smile at Helen. "I'm sorry Helen, little slip up."
"Aw beauty", Helen says as she hands me the syrup. "It's not your fault."
I take the syrup and drown my pancakes in it. Ignoring Helen's previous statement I chow down into my food. Every once in a while Helen will mutter something in Spanish to herself, but otherwise it's silence. This is how it's been for five years, and how it will be for a while.
I finish eating and stand up to take my plate to the kitchen. I'm stopped when Helen calls out to me, her voice full of anger and disbelief.
" Pequeña, dama ven a sentarte."
I sit down and wait for Helen to finish her food. She takes her time, slicing the pancake into even slices and dipping each piece individually into the syrup she has placed to the side. She cuts up her fruit into tiny pieces and places them in her mouth just as slow.
When she's done eating she takes our plates and walks into the kitchen. I hear her hum to herself a song on the radio as she washes the dishes.
The dread in my stomach almost has me throwing up the delicious pancakes I had. Because I know what pancakes mean, and I don't look forward to it. I wring my hands nervously in my lap, a thin layer of sweat covering my body. My breathing s labored and I feel as though at any moment could pass out. My mind is telling me that I cant do it, that it isn't worth it. Yet, a tiny part of me wants to see if I can do it, if I could live in this world.
All too soon Helen is walking from the kitchen and drying her hands on her apron. Her lips are in a forced smile and her eyes are sparkling with unshed tears. She knows just how hard this is for me, and she feels just as agonized as I am. I feel bad, I feel as though I burden her.
But I cant let her go, she's the only one I have left.
"Come now beauty", she says as she takes my clammy hand. She makes a face at how moist my fingers are, but otherwise but of us are silent.
"Lets go", she says as she practically drags me through the house. We stop at the back porch that overlooks my garden. My beautiful garden that I haven't enjoyed in years: the garden my mother had planted with her own two hands.
Helen slides the screen door opened and I'm greeted with the smell of freshly cut grass and flowers: a lovely smell I never get to enjoy. Helen holds my hand tightly as we step outside. "Take off your flip flops" she mutters quietly.
We don't talk when we come out here: it's sacred.
I kick my flip flops off and smile. The grass is soft under my feet and still wet from the morning dew. Helen leads me to the new flowers I had ordered and I try and enjoy the moment, though I feel our time running out.
Just as we're getting to the tulips I cant feel Helen's hand anymore. My body becomes numb and I want to crawl into my bed and tuck myself under the blankets. Tears begin to stream down my face as I struggle to breathe. My lungs feel like they're collapsing in my chest: my eyes are filled with black dots that cripple and blind me. Though I cant see or feel her I reach out for Helen to let her know I'm ready. Apart of my brain registers that I'm being lifted and dragged away. I distantly hear Helen calling my name, but I cant reply.
All I can hear is their cries of agony as they await the moment they finally die. They don't know where the shots came from, and neither do I. All we know is they hit with precision, knocking both of them to the ground and taking them away from me forever. I cant seem to function without them.
"Juliana, come back to me", I hear Helen calling to me.
Slowly my vision returns and my breathing goes back to normal. I groan as the feeling comes back to my numb fingers. I turn my eyes to stare at Helen, who has a tears streaming down her face.
Reaching over a wipe the tear from her eye and smile. "Don't cry for me Helen." I say softly.
"I just don't want you to be in pain", she replies as she holds my hand to her face. I look into her chocolate eyes and see my reflection: I'm a mess.
"Helen, don't worry about me".
Helen lifts me from the floor with strength that a fifty six year old woman shouldn't have. I walk slowly to the stairs and use the stairwell as a balancer as I walk the stairs because of my still numb legs. I walk into my room and shut the door behind me as Helen tries to follow.
I go to my bed and sit down on my fuzzy pink comforter my mother made for me when I was still in high school. Before I know it I begin to cry. The tears over power my body and I'm sobbing so hard I cant seem to rake in enough oxygen. I lean into my pillow to muffle my tears so Helen wont worry too much.
I felt the sobs coming from my very soul, from the bottom of my being. They seemed to over power me in the grief and darkness I had been suffering in for five years now. Why had someone taken my parents from me: I would never know. What had I done to deserve such a thing: again I didn't know.
My tears slowed after a while and I was left feeling numb. I lay down on my bed, my eyes puffy and swollen and took and took even breathes in and out.
It was hard love
It was hard on you I know
So hard to be so close to you
So hard to let you go…
I leaned over and grabbed my phone from my nightstand and checked the caller id. Not that many people called me, but I'd rather not talk to a bill collector at the moment.
"Hello Juliana", My agent Stephanie says over the line.
Stephanie is a family friend from before the accident. After everything went down she told me I could live with her and she'd support me until my career took off the ground: but I kindly declined. My parents had left me the house and more than enough money: I didn't need anyone's handouts. Plus she wanted me to act still, and that was completely out of the question.
"Hi Stephanie", I say meekly. I always felt timid talking to her. She was just so loud and outgoing, and I was just so not. The louder she was, the quieter I got.
"I have a new project for you, and it isn't too long." She gushes.
"Oh", I say as I switch the phone to my other ear. "I can take on something new, just fax it to me."
" How about I drop it off?" She says, talking over the loudness in her background. "I haven't come by in ages and I want to see how your doing."
"Um", I say, biting my lip against telling her not to come. I don't want her over here, invading the only place I had. And not only that, but Helen couldn't stand her too,
"It's settled then!" She yells, making me drop the phone. I scramble to pick it up, hoping she doesn't say something that requires an answer. "I cant come today but I'll be over in a few days!"
"Um, okay."
"Bye darling!" She yells before she hangs the phone up.
Yeah, I'm having company!
Authors Note- Sorry about my horrible spanish, for the record, it was googled. Please dont feel hesitant to review, I wont bite I promise(: ... Anyway Thanks for reading and hopefully you liked this first chapter.