Kashmere
Two months after the incident, the social services sent me to live with our close family friends and neighbors, the Jacksons, since I didn’t have any other living close realitives. They were kind to me, they acted like I was the daughter they always had wanted. But it took me days, weeks, months, adding up to a year, to get used to living with them.
I remember after waking up in the hospital the morning after my meeting with Nikki and Missy, I put one hand on my neck and felt the cold chain. I looked down and saw the red ruby, glistening like the blood that had stained the white sheets.
Wanda and Paul Jackson had showed me my room and they already had my bed set up. “Can I be alone?” I asked, and they let me be. Tears fell onto the freshly cleaned carpet and I cried, “Why? Why is this ruby like something else? Something that could have saved my parents?”
I looked down at the ruby and grasped the chain. “I don’t even know what this is anymore. I don’t know what my life is. I don’t know what happened that night. I can’t live with this anymore. I just can’t,” I tugged the chain, trying to rip it off.
Blood flowed from little cuts as the metal shredded my skin, but soon, I pulled it with enough force that the precious gold chain snapped.
Tears formed in my eyes, but not because of the sores, or the blood. But because, I had failed. I had let my parents die, and it was all my fault I was here. I took the broken metal and held it to my wrist. I never thought… that I would be able to do this. But it was okay, nothing mattered now, my whole life was gone.
I scratched the chain on my wrist, the blood streaming down my arm, gathering into a pool on my palm. I cried out in agony and tears did start flowing because of the pain, I dropped the chain and screamed. “Wanda! Paul!”
I heard footsteps running to my room and the door opened. “Kashmere!” Wanda cried and rushed over to me. “Paul, we have to get her to the hospital!”
“No!” I screamed. “I won’t go! I can’t go there anymore! I can’t!” Blood now fell onto the carpet, turning it ruby red and sticky. Just like that night…
“No! No! I won’t die! Mom! Dad!” I yelled and fell into Wanda’s arms. “No,” I murmured. “I won’t die…”
I was running through a maze of darkness, not able to find anyway towards the faint glow in the sky. Black fog surrounded me, and my barefeet grew cold. I kept on running, hearing screams all around me.
I turned right and hit a hard wall. I felt pain race through my head and I could suddenly see. I was in my parents’ bed, warm sticky blood all around me, scars on my arm, and tears of red liquid running down my cheeks.
“Shh,” a voice whispered. “I won’t tell him you’re here.” The voice seemed to echo, and suddenly, there were eyes. Eyes with a tint of maroon, staring into mine. “I won’t tell him you’re here.” The eyes began to fade and I was suddenly falling, falling, into a dark pit, red eyes taunting me from above.
I sat up quickly, screaming. Tears fell from my face and I couldn’t breathe, but somehow I kept on screaming. “Kashmere!” a gentle voice whispered and soft hands were placed on my shoulders, shaking some sense into me.
Tears still fell, but I stopped screaming. “They’re gone,” I cried. “They’re gone!” Wanda climbed onto my bed with me and held me close to her, stroking my hair softly.
“I know,” she whispered. “But its going to be okay.”
“But I can’t even remember their faces! Its just a blur!” I lay my head against her breast and tears flowed. I couldn’t remember my parents, and I didn’t know if I ever would.
The day the letter came was another dissapointment. I didn’t know the girl who had sent it, and didn’t know what she was talking about. I remember tearing open the envelope, only to reveal nothing, this girl “Lizzie” was supposuvly my best friend, but I couldn’t recall what she looked like.
[i]Dear Kashmere,
Hi! Its me Lizzie! How are you? Is everything okay? You haven’t written to me, I was beginning to wonder if you had changed your address or something. Anyways, we’ll be going to the Teton’s in a few weeks so be sure to write back before then! Hope you’re having fun!
Love,
Lizzie[/i]
I quickly folded the letter and grabbed a new sheet of paper and began writing a reply to the girl named Lizzie.
[i]Dear Lizzie,
Its me, Kashmere. I’m sorry I haven’t written. You may have heard about-
I stopped writing, my hand was shaking and it almost pained me to have to write the words onto the paper.
You may have heard about my parents death. I’m sorry, but I don’t even remember my parent’s faces, nor yours for that matter. Please forgive me, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend the “boarding school” I have heard about. The people taking care of me, Wanda and Paul Jackson, don’t possibly have enough money. Goodbye Lizzie.
Kashmere
[/i]
I sighed and placed the letter in an envelope, writing the return address from the last letter onto the crisp white envelope. I ran it out to the mailbox and raised the little red flag, and quickly ran inside.
Why couldn’t I remember anything? How couldn’t I not even remember my best friend, or even my parents for that matter?
