⋆ CHAPTER ELEVEN - DROWNING PART ONE ⋆
“Pomegranate. Wake up, Pomegranate.I need you to wake up.” The words were uttered in a hushed tone as my head shook and my lids clung shut. “Pomegranate, please..” The words slipped in a stern tone which caused a groan to fall past parted lips. A migraine formed in my temporal lobe as ivory caps lifted from chestnut hues; my lids blinked for a couple of minutes as the evidence of sleep slowly disappeared; my vision was clear, and my eyes took in the scene around me. It was evident that I had spent my night on the kitchen floor, my back was pressed against the wooden tile, and I slowly lifted myself upward. The sound of bones cracking sent a chill down my spine; I placed my palms against my exposed thighs.
The ache in my body washed over me, and a muted sigh escaped my lips. The pain was evident this morning, but something told me I needed to get up and get to my room. Everything hurt, and the pain washed over me; each step toward my room felt like someone was breaking my bones. A sigh was elicited from my throat as my body collapsed onto the ground, tears gelding down my cheek, which felt like acid leaking. “You can’t give up, Pomegranate. We are so close to the end, and it’s almost over. I promise you.” His words circulated through my mind, wrapping into something logical. My head nodded a couple of times as I lifted myself upward, and my palm pressed against my thighs. I inhaled and exhaled; I wobbled lightly as I gathered my strength, this time, I wasn’t allowing the pain to keep me down but to help me towards the truth; even though I didn’t want to know the whole truth, I had to do it. I stood outside my bedroom door, and my heart picked up speed as I pushed the door open. My whiskey-tainted hues scanned the room; shattered glass was on the floor from the mirror being broken, the sheets were tossed onto the floor, and piles of clothes were everywhere. The room was a mess; shaking my head as my eyes landed on my iPhone.
“It’s time, Pomegranate.” He spoke words I needed to hear, which was the push I needed. Nodding my head several times as I scooped my phone from the bed, I swiftly unlocked the device, and his name was the first message; Shawn Matthews. That was the name I had known for most of my teen years. He was the first boy that ever looked and me and saw who I was; behind all of the cracks, he saw something beautiful. After years of dating, we both realized that this wasn’t real love that is shared through a relationship but a bond that is deeper than that-he was my best friend now, and even he couldn’t get me out of this hole. No one could. I had to figure all this out alone; this trauma was mine alone.
My finger hovered over the message, clearing my throat as I shut my eyes for a brief moment. “You have to open it, Pomegranate.” My lids flung open, and another sigh left my lips as I pressed on the message which read: “Mich, I know that you want to know the truth and you want to remember everything, but this is a bad idea. This will hurt you more than help you, but I know this needs to be done, and you will hate me forever if I find the footage, so here it is. I cleaned up the voices, so you should be able to tell who is who and that psycho Josh is front and center. Please don’t watch this by yourself. I love you, M&M.” A soft smile rested on my lips at the concern that Shawn had for me, my finger pressed onto the video, and my eyes widened at the screen. The laughter emitted from the speaker as Josh came into focus; the laughter grew louder and louder as he finally spoke. “Today, on March 13, 2021, at approximately-” He paused, glancing at his watch before more laughter spilled from his mouth, and his words continued, which caused a sickening feeling to watch over me. “At approximately 11:30 PM, I finally get to take what is mine. Isn’t that right, baby?” His words, the smug smile he had on his face, and as the camera zoomed in on my features and in that moment, my legs languidly lost their place, and my knees collapsed to the carpet as my mouth opened; the sound that escaped from my mouth was a scream that belted from the pits of my stomach. The scream that escaped was gut-wrenching and painful, and the pain was evident as I screamed and the phone dropped from my hand; the voices echoed in my head, my fingers tugged against my darkened tresses, jerking the hair as my tears collapsed down my face. My vision became blurry, and the pain in my chest made breathing hard. “I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know. Eros, I don’t want to know; it’s too much. Make it sop…” His hand rested against my shoulder blade, “I can not, Pomegranate; it’s time.” As his words escaped, the room around me faded, and the memory I had locked away finally flashed before my teary eyes.”
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[FLASHBACK]
Shot after shot, one pill, then two pills, and a puff of a blunt handed to me by some random guy, I found myself leaning against the wall, my eyelids blinking a few times as the room started to get dizzy. I shook my head slightly as my lids fluttered open. “Mich, you alright?” Hearing him ask the question caused my head to pound, nodding my head a few times. I was aware of the voice; it was Tyler. “Here take my arm; let’s get you away from all this noise. You might just need to sleep it off. Do you want me to call Selina for you?” I simply nodded my head at his question, his arm wrapped around my waist as my head rested on his chest. I had lost my balance a couple of times, and Tyler had to help me up; I was currently a mess, but once I no longer heard the loud music or the chatter of people, I felt a tad bit better.
“Thank you..” the noise had disappeared entirely, and I found my head resting on a plush pillow; my eyes stayed shut as a mumble left my mouth. My head was nuzzling onto the pillow, and I was between sleep and trying to ease the headache that was washing over me. The room was moving slowly, and the more I tried to sleep, the more I tossed and turned.
“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.”
I had finally stopped tossing and turning; the room was still spinning, but it wasn’t as bad as before; the
sound of laughter caused a groan to leave my lips, but the laughter didn’t stop; it only got louder and louder. Then, a familiar voice rang in my ears as he spoke, “Today, on March 13, 2021, at approximately-” He
paused, which only caused another groan to drift from my throat. “At approximately 11:30 PM, I finally, get
to take what is mine. Isn’t that right, baby?” The question hung in the air for a brief moment when different voices
started to bounce around the room, and I wasn’t able to recognize the voices; I wasn’t sure if it was because
the room was spinning or the fact that I wasn’t there, but I felt a hand glide against my
right leg and a slight shift on the bed due to added weight–J–Josh, is that you?” The words escaped my mouth in a
hushed tone, my eyelids slowly fluttered open, and confusion swept my features. He leaned forward, a smirk
curled upon his lips as he slightly nudged my legs apart with his knee, and his fingers glided against my inner thigh,
which caused a shiver to run down my spine. "Michaela,” He stated as he
wetted his lips, his face hovered over mine as he slowly leaned downward. “I told you when we first
met that you would be mine, but you didn’t hear me, so I’ll repeat it, You are mine, and tonight,
I’m going to make you feel what that means.”
“𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩. 𝐒𝐡𝐞
𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐩. 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.”
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