FM November topic - Mercy
The phone call has barely ended by the time the hard plastic of her cell phone is cracking, breaking against the hard ceramic tile in the kitchen floor. "Whatever you do, don't fall in the kitchen," Kacie had warned her. "The tile's imported. It'll crack your skull." But she doesn't even hear it. The mock echoes of bone breaking on foreign ceramic. It shatters into splinters of hot pink that scatter like hard, shiny confetti with jagged edges. Her hand feels numb and weighted, still holding something to her ear that no longer exists.
Still holding on to something that no longer exists.
Lexi can't be dead. Undead. Whatever she's become that she wasn't just a few days ago. When she was still Lacey's best friend. Even when they had that fight and Lexi was pretending like she wasn't anymore. Lacey knew better. She knew that neither one of them could ever write the other off so easily. Like now. She wasn't about to just accept the fact that her best friend was a vampire, and she was technically dead now, and that was that. It wasn't over.
It felt like hours before the world came back into focus and she realized she was still standing there in the kitchen. The same kitchen where they'd mixed up drinks all summer, like right before the big party they threw. The one where she got close to Jude. In reality, it had only been a very long few minutes. Maybe the longest few of her life.
But it was all it took for her to realize she couldn't be alone right now. No matter how hard she'd tried to prepare herself for the fact that that's exactly what she was, now that her parents had cut her off. She couldn't do this by herself. She'd never planned to. She was supposed to live with Lexi. She was supposed to have her best friend, now that it was going to be hard.
Lacey cried the entire drive over to Jude's. She had to pull over twice, just to regain enough composure to keep going. There was no plan now. Nothing to fall back on. And the only thing that kept her going was the long shot that her boyfriend could so something. He knew magic. Surely magic could fix things, right? But she didn't hold her breath. Lexi's aunt was a witch. If it could be fixed, it would have been fixed by now. She was just desperate, grasping at straws that weren't even there.
When Jude opened the door, she threw her arms around him without even saying a word and just held on to him so tightly, she was almost afraid she'd hurt him. But she couldn't help it. It was almost like, if she let go, she'd lose him too.
If there was really a God, and he had any mercy, that would never happen.
Again, she wasn't holding her breath.
Still holding on to something that no longer exists.
Lexi can't be dead. Undead. Whatever she's become that she wasn't just a few days ago. When she was still Lacey's best friend. Even when they had that fight and Lexi was pretending like she wasn't anymore. Lacey knew better. She knew that neither one of them could ever write the other off so easily. Like now. She wasn't about to just accept the fact that her best friend was a vampire, and she was technically dead now, and that was that. It wasn't over.
It felt like hours before the world came back into focus and she realized she was still standing there in the kitchen. The same kitchen where they'd mixed up drinks all summer, like right before the big party they threw. The one where she got close to Jude. In reality, it had only been a very long few minutes. Maybe the longest few of her life.
But it was all it took for her to realize she couldn't be alone right now. No matter how hard she'd tried to prepare herself for the fact that that's exactly what she was, now that her parents had cut her off. She couldn't do this by herself. She'd never planned to. She was supposed to live with Lexi. She was supposed to have her best friend, now that it was going to be hard.
Lacey cried the entire drive over to Jude's. She had to pull over twice, just to regain enough composure to keep going. There was no plan now. Nothing to fall back on. And the only thing that kept her going was the long shot that her boyfriend could so something. He knew magic. Surely magic could fix things, right? But she didn't hold her breath. Lexi's aunt was a witch. If it could be fixed, it would have been fixed by now. She was just desperate, grasping at straws that weren't even there.
When Jude opened the door, she threw her arms around him without even saying a word and just held on to him so tightly, she was almost afraid she'd hurt him. But she couldn't help it. It was almost like, if she let go, she'd lose him too.
If there was really a God, and he had any mercy, that would never happen.
Again, she wasn't holding her breath.