AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just go,” he croaks, his voice barely a whisper.
“Okay,” I nod, before turning and walking toward my apartment.
I don’t know why or how, but it feels like Elliot just drove away with a small little piece of my heart.
NINE
Elliot
That night, I dream of flashing red and blue lights.
I dream of her unmoving body, lying lifeless and still on the bloody asphalt. Her head is tilted eerily in my direction. Her eyes are wide open, unblinking as she stares right through my soul.
“You did this to me,” her gaze communicates.
“I was only sixteen.”
“My life had not even started yet.”
“How could you let me leave?”
“You knew I had been drinking.”
Even though she never actually spoke those words to me, I know that every single one of them is true. What I took from her haunts me every night in my dreams. I robbed her of life.
But tonight it feels worse.
Tonight, it doesn't feel like a nightmare. It feels real.
It's as if I can hear the sirens blaring, the soundtrack of my destruction.
Yellow tape barricades her crumpled car, looking much more like a crushed soda can than a vehicle.
I just stand there, silent and motionless as paramedics lift her limp body onto a gurney.
I’m waiting for them to cover her with a white tarp because we all know she’s dead—and I’m the one to blame.
I gave her the alcohol. I left the party without making sure she had a ride home. I killed her. I’m responsible, and I’ll never let myself forget it.
Something happens in this recurring nightmare that hasn't before.
Her parents are walking my way, angry fingers pointed at me as tears stain their cheeks. After all these years, the two people I hurt the most are confronting me in my dreams. I’ve always feared this conversation. I don’t think I could handle it in real life because I can barely stand it in my dreams.
“How could you do this?” they scream at me.
“She was our only child!”
“You were supposed to protect her.”
“She’s gone, and we’ll never get her back.”
“You’ve ruined our family! Our life!”
Instead of responding, I just stand there and take it. I nod, welcoming the onslaught as tears stream down my cold cheeks.
I deserve their rage. I deserve every last word.
I killed their daughter.
