Wingless Book Series (book 1) (32 page)

I jumped, startled he was there.
Mark held onto my arm, he didn’t even smile or make eye contact.
Nothing about him was happy anymore. Evan unlocked his door and
mine, letting out a huge frustrated sigh. Mark followed me to the
passenger side door.

“
What are we doing?” Mark said to
Evan. Evan shook his head.

I climbed in the truck just
wanting to sit. This all was going so wrong.

Evan and Mark stood outside
the truck discussing something I wasn’t sure of. I wasn’t even
trying to overhear. For all I knew they were speaking of
my demise. Was this something you could be killed
over? And how did Evan and Mark find me, I asked myself. My brain
was not working, I had no explanation.

“
You ready?” Mark asked Evan,
climbing into the truck beside me. Evan was still outside not
looking like he wanted to get in the truck anytime soon.

“
Can I get out and talk to him?” I
asked Mark.

“
No. No, no, just stay put,” he
said in a stern yet amused tone.

“
I got to do something. I never
seen him like this,” I said, starting to cry.

A bunch of people came screaming
and running past the car, chaos was still all around us.

Mark turned my face to look at
him, wiping my tears.

“
I’m telling you, now is not the
time. Just calm down and keep quiet right now,” he said, wiping my
face again and then pulling a tissue out of his pocket.

“
Thanks,” I said, sobbing all over
again.

“
Evan, let’s get going. Let’s get
her home,” Mark said, pounding his fist on the outside of the truck
door.

Evan finally made his way to the
door opening it and slowly getting in. I caught his glance. It was
more troubled than angry at this point. More people were walking
all over the street.

“
I’m sorry,” I whispered to
him.

He didn’t say a thing, just put the
truck in drive and slowly moved forward.

Mark rolled his window down,
watching the crowds of people.

“
I’m sorry you found me like this,
Evan, but I got to tell you. Vanessa is gone. I can’t find her. I
was trying to make sure she was alright,” I said, pleading with him
to stop.

I couldn’t breathe as I cried,
thinking about Vanessa still out there somewhere.

“
Call her,” Mark
offered.

I pulled her cell from my pocket.
Mark sighed, looking out the window nothing else to say.

“
I need to know she is alright!” I
screamed at Evan who, at this point, still wasn’t talking. Mark
looked at me, alarmed.

We pulled onto the road driving at
a snail’s pace. Finally at the corner, I was blinded by flashing
lights and police sirens. Fire trucks were even lined on the
street. All sorts of crowds were gathered.

I was confused as to all the
commotion and yelling that still was going on this far away from
the house. Mark grabbed my arm, which I found even odder because I
was sitting.

“
What?” I said, giving him a dirty
look. Evan put his arm across my legs as well.

“
Eve,” Mark said.

“
What are you guys doing? I’m
fine. Take your hands off me!” I shrieked, not knowing what either
one of them was trying to do to me.

“
Eve!” Evan yelled in my face, his
nose practically touching mine. Mark still held tight to my
arm.

“
What?” I asked him.

His face was stone, no expression
there that I could read. My hearing felt like it was slowly fading
away and my sight as well. I felt as if I was going to pass
out.

Evan didn’t say anything that I
could make out, he kept his arm across my lap as well as Mark as we
crept further down the street.

Cops were waving traffic through.
We stopped as the next cars passed and I caught the very end of
Vanessa’s car sticking out from behind the fire truck that was
parked on the street.

“
There! Right there!” I yelled,
trying to get up.

I knew I had a chance to get out
and see. More than likely she was caught in the traffic as
well.

“
Eve, sit still!” Evan
yelled.

“
That’s her car right there! Turn
left!” I yelled at him, scratching at his arm that was pinning me
in place.

As we made our way right, which
enraged me beyond belief, I turned backwards in the truck to see
Vanessa’s car as we passed.

I couldn’t breathe. My breath
literally escaped my body. All life just left me at the moment I
seen what I seen. I was choking in agony. I yelled out a lifeless,
empty scream. Nothing came out.

It was Vanessa’s car; she was the
reason for all the sirens. Once you saw the whole car, you knew.
The car was smashed beyond belief, there was no backseat anymore,
and what was the front seat was no longer there, either. I closed
my eyes, collapsing in hysterics, Mark and Evan still pinning me.
Evan driving the car one handed.

“
Pull over!” Mark
yelled.

“
No. I’m driving home. We are not
that far off!” Evan yelled back.

“
She’s not breathing right!” he
yelled at Evan, smacking my face with his hand.

I didn’t care. I didn’t know what
was happening to me. I knew that what once was, was no longer was
there. Vanessa was gone. I didn’t need anyone to tell me this. I
was sitting among the eyewitnesses. I was sitting with one or two
people who’d killed my best friend.

I felt sicker and sicker, going in
and out of consciousness. All I could hear was Mark yelling to Evan
to pull over and Evan yelling no. I could see Mark’s worried look
hovering over me when I would come to.

Chapter 32

Words

“
Eve.” A soft buzz and a low voice
were chiming in my ear.

I kept my eyes shut, cold and
feeling ill. Curled in a ball, I laid in the dark. I didn’t know
where I was. I didn’t care. My whole being was without the ability
to function properly. It was a feeling I had felt once before. And
I was back in it.

Life had given me another sucker
punch. I should have been used to it. I should have already known
what was happening and what would happen. How it felt to be in the
dark hole that was death.

Death was the greatest villain, no
matter how it got you; it always had the same outcome. It chewed
you up and spit you out. It went on a war path, destroying
everything. No one was ever happy after death came around. There
was always sadness and pain. Death was the most selfish and
heartbreaking vulture. Death disgusted me.

“
Eve, I know you’re awake, so
listen to me,” the voice said again.

I lay lifeless, hoping that the
voice would go away. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to listen to
anything. There was nothing I could do.

“
So talk,” I whispered into the
darkness, covering my head with my hands.

“
What was the worst part about me
dying?” the voice asked me.

Finally, I knew it was Marcus, and
a little feeling rushed through my body.

“
You’re not here for me,” I
said.

“
Is that it?” he asked.

“
Isn’t that enough?” I
griped.

“
I think you’re where you should
be, and I think you got it in you to accept how this life turns
out. It’s a crazy life, but it’s the only one you have. Accept what
you’re thrown. It may seem ugly right now, but remind yourself that
it’s the way it has to be,” he said.

I felt a presence. A warm, fuzzy
feeling on my forehead. It made me open my eyes to see Marcus even
closer, his perfect being sitting right there in front of
me.

“
I don’t know if I can do that
Marcus. I feel tired and I can’t keep doing this,” I said, sitting
up. Marcus stared at me, his eyes concerned and deep, almost
hypnotic.

“
It’s life. Everyone is destined
for the same ending. Why are you going to hold a grudge at the
timing?” he said, cracking a smile.

“
Because it’s not fair,” I said,
refusing to play along.

“
I think it’s fair. I think you’re
just being selfish. I’m fine. She’s fine, and we all know and are
at peace when it’s time to go.”

“
You were shot in the head at a
minimum wage job, Marcus. You weren’t at peace,” I said, annoyed at
his peace rant.

“
That wasn’t me. I was long
gone.”

“
We saw you at the hospital. They
said you were in a coma. You died when we were all
there.”

Marcus nodded.

“
So you were there,” I said,
looking at him.

He was the same as always, the
same as I remembered. He was at peace with everything that’d
happened in his life and in his death. I didn’t understand how he
could be that way.

“
My body, not my soul. I know you
were all there for me, and I was there for each and every one of
you. I hope you all know that. Do you think Mom knows that?” Marcus
asked me, looking grim.

“
I don’t know that she knows. I
know she was devastated and has never truly been Mom again,” I
said, taking in the moment. It felt as if it would be gone any
minute.

“
She’s alright, and she knew you
loved her. Don’t let this ruin you anymore than I already did.
She’s at peace. Be at peace, Eve.” He smiled, fading
away.

I shot up in bed, finally coming
to, realizing it had all been a dream. Nothing more than a dream.
It saddened me to think this was reality. But even though it was a
dream, it gave me a new outlook on this new loss of
Vanessa.

Evan sat up in bed, turning on the
light. He quickly honed in on me, touching my arm lightly. He
didn’t say anything for once; usually he always had something to
say. I laid down, turning to face away from him.

“
Are you okay?” he finally
asked.

I rolled my eyes thinking that was
a crappy question.

“
Please, don’t talk,” I said,
stiff now.

Tears slipped from my eyes.
I silently brushed them away thinking of Marcus and his words, that
I shouldn’t let this ruin me because she was alright.
It felt good to know that someone knew this. She
was all right, I kept saying to myself
repeatedly.

I shot up in bed again, my heart
racing and aching at the same time. She was alright but the
emptiness that death brought was just so powerful. It was too hard
to look at it that way. I cried hard, slowly more noise coming from
my body as it went on. Evan didn’t move at first, then he turned
the light back on, his eyes wide with astonishment and anxiety. I
could tell he didn’t know what to do. He brought his fingers to my
cheeks, wiping my tears, not saying a word.

I cried some more, moving a little
closer to him, but not letting him fully hold me. I wasn’t fully
ready to just give in and accept he’d done this to her.

I finally caught my breath,
settling under the covers. Evan reached over, turning the light
back off. He took his position away from me in bed. Silence floated
through the room, nothing was ever silent though, and there was
always a noise, a buzz, something.

I tried to make sense of the
darkness, tried to focus my eyes to see something. There was
nothing to see. I sighed, running my hand against the fuzzy throw
pillow beside my head. I could see her if I focused my thoughts. I
could see every inch of her.

I wondered how long it would take
before I lost all that. I wondered how long it would take before
the sound of her voice would be nothing more than a memory that I
could barely bring up anymore. The memories would fade over years,
and she would soon become that one girl.

I sat up again, tired and
soggy from all the tears. Flinging my legs over the side of the
bed
I sat in the dark crying silently.
Evan’s hand found my back. He rubbed it softly and slowly in a
soothing way. I let him, feeling way too exhausted to
resist.

“
I wonder if she was in pain,” I
let out.

I felt a little movement on the
bed, waiting. I laid back down. If he were any kind of a man, he
would give me explanations, any I wanted.

“
No, she wasn’t,” he said quietly.
I could feel the nervous energy pouring off of him. It was a thick
presence in the room.

“
You teach me how to feel things I
never thought I would I have,” I said, biting my lip.

“
Okay.”

“
Did you see her?” I asked,
rolling over to face him.

“
Yeah.”

“
Do you think she was okay with
dying?” I asked him, wondering if it was something Vanessa wasn’t
afraid of; it wasn’t something we spoke of that often.

“
Eve, do you really want to sit
here and ask me all these questions?” Evan asked louder than
before.

“
Yes, I do. I think I have the
right.” I was starting to feel extremely angry.