Chapter 5
Teddy
I’ve never heard someone screaming before being murdered, but I imagine that the sound of Ariel’s scream is pretty damn close.
Ariel crawls back, screaming and terrified. Her eyes are wild, and she’s pale as a ghost. When I heard a scream, I came to check on her, and found her in the bathroom. I made the mistake of touching her. I was trying to help and pull her hair back, but I accidentally brushed her shoulder. Fuck, what a mistake that was. I scared her. Backing away, I hold my hands up and try to calm her down, but she’s too frantic.
Veronica comes rushing towards the bathroom. She seems calm. Like this is something she’s used to. I shouldn’t be shocked because what she went through was something none of us can understand, but I’m getting the sense that Ariel could understand, that she went through something similar.
Veronica squats in front of Ariel, and talks to her gently. “Hey, you’re okay. He’s not here, he can’t hurt you anymore.” That makes me pause. I had already suspected that someone had hurt her, but it’s just been confirmed. A new wave of anger overtakes me. I don’t know why some men can’t keep their hands to themselves.That’s something we learn in fucking kindergarten, actually some learn it before then. It’s not a hard concept to grasp. It’s quite simple actually. Why shitheads, like whoever hurt Ariel, can’t understand a simple rule, I’ll never understand. I’m an angry asshole, but I would never hit anyone, least of all a woman.
Taking a breath, I simmer down my anger. That’s not what this situation needs right now. I walk away and give them some space because I can understand that Ariel is uncomfortable in my presence. I go to the kitchen and make myself some coffee.
I can’t help thinking of another time, a time where I went through hell, and the woman I loved was taken from me. I was so angry, hell I still am. This world is downright vicious, and it pains me that my whole family learned the hard way. It fucking wrecks me that Ariel learned the hard way. I don’t know her at all, but I feel drawn to her. I have no clue why that is, but since I saw her eyes, they’ve haunted me. The pain in them shakes me to my core. The hope in them messes with my head. There’s a storm in her that’s trying to wreck her, but she’s holding on for dear life because she knows that after this storm there’s a rainbow waiting just for her.
Ariel
I feel so dumb. Teddy was just trying to help me, and now I wouldn’t blame him if he thought I was insane. Crying into my pillow, I cling onto Veronica’s reassurances. “It’s okay. All of us have experienced trauma and its after effects. It’s nothing to get embarrassed over. It’s a human response, and if we start judging people for simply being human, then, well, what a sad life we lead.