Broken Scream

We stopped at a hotel to sleep in through the night because they wouldn’t walk anywhere when it gets dark outside. I didn’t get why, but I decided not to bring it up seeing as how they were putting up with me, and could tell me to leave at any time. Not to mention I was feeling tired after all of that walking. I just didn’t see how they could do it all day long. They got the master suit so I got my own room. There were a total of three rooms in the suit.
All of the rooms looked the same one queen size bed with a zigzag designed comforter. By the bed was a night stand so you could put down glasses if you have any. In the middle of the night stand is a lamp so you can read. Then there was a closet to put your cloths in.
Brandon was the one who got the couch out in the living room area. I got the bedroom at the very end of the hall. Brian ‘chose’ the one two away from mine, and Rick got the one by my room. All of the doors have locks on them if you want your privacy, so my door will be locked while I’m sleeping. It will also be locked while I’m changing.
I went over to the mirror that was conveniently in every bedroom. I hadn’t looked in a mirror for a year, and a lot could change in that time. My hair was hanging down to the middle of my back. It had become a dark brown color. My eyes were hazel with a green rim around them. I had medium length eye lashes. My lips were red and plush despite what I’ve been through. My skin was a tan color that would never go away. My nose was narrow and it went with my face. My teeth were straight, and white. And my body looked like a size four. All in all I don’t look to bad.
There was a knock on my door that made me jump. I went over and unlocked it and opened it. It was Rick, of course, that was standing there. I rolled my eyes and stepped to the side for him to come in. He walked in and sat on the edge of my bed. I went to the chair that was in there and sat down in it crossed my legs, and waited for him to talk. He sat there for a few minutes just watching me.
When he finally spoke he said, “Do you need a change of clothes? Because I have enough money to get you some. What you’re wearing right now looks bad, and can probably be thrown in the trash.”
“Um… I guess I could use a change of clothes. Does that include shoes? I asked.
“Yes.” He replied.
“And does it include um…… well you know um…..” I didn’t know how to say bra and panties without embarrassing myself. I could already feel my cheeks getting red.
“Yes it does um… include that stuff.” He said.
“Stop reading my dang mind! Just give me the money and I’ll go get my clothes.” I said.
“I kind of have a credit card, so I have to go with you to buy it. And sorry I can’t help myself when I read your mind.” He said.
“You have to go with me to buy the clothes? Why don’t we just stop by an ATM, and you can just pull some money?” I whined.
“I could do that, but I have no idea how to work an ATM, and I’m not about to give you my pass code. So you can just let me come with you or not get any new clothes at all.” Rick said.
“Fine whatever let’s go. I need the new clothes anyways. Just don’t get embarrassed when I throw my… well um… you know. When I throw my stuff on the counter and you’re the one buying it.” I grumbled.
“O no need to worry. That won’t happen. I don’t get embarrassed that easily. Let’s go.” He said.
We walked down to the lobby. I sat on the couch while Rick asked for directions to a clothes store. Then we were off. The walk took about ten minutes. Rick told me to look around and find something I liked. I found a pair of black cargo pants that had four pairs of pockets on them. After that I found a black muscle shirt that went with the cargo pants. Then I got a pair of black combat boots. I got a dark blue kind of lacy and see through panties and bras.
When I got my bra and panties picked out Rick was tuning a shade of pink. He looked at the stuff I picked out. When he looked at my undergarments he looked away and turned an even darker shade of pink. I laughed and walked up to the cash register. Rick gave the credit card to the lady. She swiped it and Rick put in his pass code. Then he handed the bag of clothes to me and mumbled something about not carrying my stuff.
I so badly wanted to comment about how he didn’t get embarrassed easily, but I decided against it. It was dark outside by the time we were done in the store. We were half way back to the hotel when I heard a high pitch screeching sound that made me jump. My hand shot out and grabbed Ricks hand and squeezed. I had stopped dead in my tracks and was looking around for where the sound came from. When I couldn’t fine its source I looked over at Rick, and saw a big grin plastered on his face. I gave him a, what’s so funny, look.
“That screeching was a hawk. They screech pretty loud. They try to stay away from humans as much as they can, so you don’t have to be scared.” He said
I just nodded my head at him and kept a tight grip on his hand. I knew that screech was a hawk. I just played dumb because I didn’t want him to know I was afraid of hawks. That would be way to embarrassing for him to know. I heard another screech and I grabbed his hand tighter. I could hear some of his knuckles popping from my grip. He gave me a look of pure amusement. Next thing I knew he was laughing with one of his hands on his rib cage. The other hand was I was still gripping. I looked at him and my eyes were full of confusion. He held up his hand and gave me the wait a minute finger. I stood there tapping my foot on the pavement. Finally he stopped laughing and whipped a tear from his eye.
“I can’t believe that you’re afraid of a hawk. I mean come on its just one bird, and you’re a human. It can’t do that much damage to you. Besides it’s more scared of you than you are of it. That’s just the funniest fear I have ever heard of.” Rick laughed.
I pulled my hand out of his and punched him in the arm. “It’s not funny! Why don’t you try getting attacked by a hawk when you’re just three and getting put in the hospital because of it. I don’t know about you’ but that’s enough to get me afraid of hawks. I needed an I.V because it got a lot of blood out of me. So don’t laugh at my fears because I have them for a good reason.” I huffed.
“I’m sorry, if I would have known I wouldn’t have…” he began
“Whatever, it’s over anyways. Let’s just get back to the hotel so I can change.” I huffed.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and trudged back towards the hotel. I didn’t say a word to Rick for the rest of the night. He kept trying to apologize, but I ignored him. I got dressed in my new clothes, and went to bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light.
That night I had a dream hawks were attacking me. I kept trying to fight them off, but I couldn’t. They just kept coming back to attack me. I cried out for help, but there was no one around to hear my cries. I had blood trickling from my nose and other places. The hawks wouldn’t give up until I was dead, or close to death. One pecked me right in the shoulder blade, and I screamed out in agony. My hand shot up to where I had just been pecked to stop the blood flow, but it wasn’t working. I started to feel dizzy and a bit fuzzy. I bent over and coughed up a pool of blood. A hawk came at me and knocked me to the ground. It let out a mocking screech, and then it drove its beak through my heart. My body went slack. Someone was laughing and petting the hawks, and that person was my grandma.
“I told you I would rid you of your curse, Alice. I told you I would, and I did. The only way to rid someone of their curse is if they are dead, and that is how I got rid of yours. No more bad things have to happen now. Everyone is now safe. I’m glad I was the one who did this to you.” My grandma laughed.
She brought her foot back and kicked my limp body, and let out an evil laugh. Her hawks let out a screech, and flew off. My grandma took one last look at my body, and then she turned and laughed one last time. Then I was left alone. My crimson blood was staining the grass and flowers around me red.
I woke up, and let out a small little cry that didn’t sound like it belonged to me, and buried my face in my hands. I looked over at the clock and it said it was three in the morning. I had a feeling that would not be going to sleep any time soon, so I just sat in the bed and thought about my best friend Mary and what she was up to.
***
“You look like crap. Did something happen last night? I mean besides being mad at me?” Rick asked.
“No nothing I’m fine. Guess I’m still a little tired. Besides I’m not a morning person anyways.” I said spooning my cereal.
Of course something happened last night. I had an absolutely terrifying dream that resulted in me waking up at three in the morning and not going back to sleep. I just didn’t want to tell you guys that. If I did I would have to tell you about my dream. I thought to myself. I remembered the dream completely, and it wouldn’t leave my head. All the hawks and my grandma made me want to hurl.
“That sounds like an awful dream. I wouldn’t want to have a dream like that. I’m sorry it kept you up all night.” Rick said.
I was too tired to get mad at him I was feeling a little strange also. “Yeah well. Hey, Rick, did you know on the last birthday I had with my parents I asked if they could spend the day with me. I didn’t even want anything for my birthday that year. Of course my mom goes out and gets me an ipad. I didn’t want her to spend money on me all I wanted was a day with them. My birthday wasn’t until tomorrow So that very night I took the ipad back and gave her the money she spent on me. You should have seen her face, she looked like she was about to cry. She put her arms around me and hugged me so tight I couldn’t breathe. I think that was the happiest I have ever been
“Actually I had a happy life until that night. It was the night of my birthday. After I gave the money back to my mom I went over to my friend Mary’s house to see if I could reschedule our sleepover date. She didn’t have a cell phone, so I had to walk over. I was on my way back when a fire truck whales past me fallowed by an ambulance. I ran to see where they were heading. When I got there I regretted fallowing because it was my house they were going to. My house was the one that had been blown up. I ran up towards the house to see if my family was ok. An officer stopped me and told me I couldn’t go in because it was a crime scene. I yelled at that officer that they were my family. I asked if they were ok, and he told me they had been in the house when it blew up. He told me there were no survivors.
“I fell to the ground and cried my eyes out. The officers asked me if there was anyone that I could stay with. I didn’t reply. He finally found my next in kin who happened to be my grandma. She came to the house to pick me up. She didn’t even glance in my direction. The only time she acknowledged me was to tell me to get in the back seat because she didn’t want to sit by me. I crawled in the back seat and didn’t even bother to buckle up. I thought if we got in a car accident and I died I would at least be with my family. My grandma stopped at a stop light, and without thinking I got out and ran for it. I ran until I came to that abandoned house. I stayed there for a year.
“The worst part about my family being gone is I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. I said see you later because I really believed I would, but I didn’t. I should have told them I loved them, but I didn’t. Ever since that day I shut myself out. I became depressed and mean. I wish they were still here.” I told him. I tried my best to keep the tears back, but at the end they flowed out of my eyes like a waterfall.
Rick was looking at me with sadness in his eyes. I looked away from him and put my head on the table and just kept crying. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to find Rick had got up. He pulled me up out of my chair, and wrapped me in his arms. He brushed his fingers through my hair, and it reminded me that my dad did that when I had a bad day and wanted to calm me down. I buried my head in Ricks’ shoulder and continued to cry. I hadn’t cried this much since the day they died, and it felt good to let it all out. I needed this from the very beginning. I know I will always miss them, but I know I couldn’t do anything to stop it from happening.
I cried into Ricks shoulder for five minutes. When I stopped crying I pulled away from Rick. I looked up at him and smiled at him. I went to the bathroom and washed off my face. I couldn’t I spilled my guts like that to these people I barely knew. It was strange but reliving to tell them. I let out a small laugh as I was leaving the bathroom. It felt good to laugh after all that crying.
“So when are we leaving here and continuing to where ever?” I asked. My voice came out a crock
“I would like to leave now if that is ok with you. I mean if you’re up for it.” Rick said.
“Of course I’m up for it. Let’s go.” I said with a smile.
“You know your eyes are emerald green right now. I thought they were hazel.” Rick said.
“When I’m sad and have been crying my eyes turn green. When I am angry they turn a dark brown color. My eyes change color according to my mood. I think it’s kind of cool.”
“You look pretty with green eyes, Alice. I-I mean you’re eyes look pretty green.” Rick stuttered. Then he clamped his mouth shut and his cheeks turned red.
“Thank you very much, Rick. It’s nice to know you think I’m pretty.” I mocked.
Rick turned an even darker shade of red. Of to the side his friends were whispering to each other, and smiling. Rick looked over and glared at them, immediately they shut up and muttered sorry. They both still had smiles plastered on their faces. That made me grin. I wondered what they were saying to each other that was so funny. Maybe they were mocking how Rick called me pretty and got all nervous about it.
“I thought we were going to leave not mess around and laugh about stupid stuff. If you don’t want to leave then I will and you guys can catch up.” Rick grumbled, and stormed out of the door.
I ran out the door and grabbed his arm, and forced him to stop. He turned around and his eyes met mine. They were full of anger and embarrassment. I felt bad about teasing him when he said I look pretty, but meant to say my eyes were pretty. I guess I should apologize for it.
“Sorry about teasing you when you said I was pretty, but meant to say my eyes are pretty. It’s just it comes so naturally. I really didn’t mean to do that. I’m trying to grow out of it, it’s just hard.” I said.
His eyes softened. “Its fine, Alice.”
“I’m sure Brian, and Brandon are sorry to.” I said.
“I know they are. They tease me all the time when we’re not being serious.” He said.
“So you weren’t serious about me or my eyes being pretty.” I whined.
“No that’s not what I meant at all. Gosh I keep messing up. I honestly didn’t mean that. Please don’t be made at me.” Rick said.
“Relax, Rick, I was only kidding. You really need to loosen up. I don’t think it’s good for someone to be this tense. Come on I have something we can do. We can leave later. I have the money to buy part of what we’re going to do. I just hope you can swim.” I said to him.
“I can swim, but we have to leave. I have something I need to do” He said.
“No not until you learn to have fun. Come on I’ll buy the swimsuit. Pleeeeeeeeeeese.”
“Fine I’ll go swimming with you.” He said.
I gave smiled and dragged him down to the store. He got checkered swimming trunks, and I got I got a blue strapless bikini. We went back to the hotel that has an indoor pool. We had to use or room keys to get in. The pool had a diving board, so I went to that first. I jumped into the air did a perfect arch, and made a perfect dive. When I came up Rick was gawking at me.
My mouth was full of water, and I spit it right in his face. First his face turned to shock, and then he was smiling. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me under the water. I came back up, and we got in a splashing fight. Then we raced across the pool I win three times, and he won two. When we both had too much water we got out and went up to the hotel room. I went into my bedroom and changed.
I loved the new outfit Rick bought for me. It was comfortable. I walked out of my room, and found Rick in a muscle shirt. And cargo shorts. My breathe caught in my throat. I never realized how good he looked until I really looked at him. He has muscles, not huge ones, but they looked good. His light brown hair went with his bright blue eyes. His jaw was high and strong. He looked really cute in his outfit. It made his muscles stick out more.
“O god am I really falling for him? This cannot be happening. I just met him, and I don’t really know him. That cannot be a good sign at all. I hope he doesn’t notice me starring at him. Please let him be clueless.” I thought to myself.
“So you really feel that way? On a scale from one to ten how cute would you say I look?” Rick asked.
“Ten, ten, ten.” I thought.
“Um I was just kidding. I was seeing if you were listening in on my thoughts.” I lied. My cheeks were getting hot.
“So you would say I’m a ten. That is very generous of you, Alice.” He said.
“Well you’re definitely better looking than Robert Pattison. I’ll give you that one. Um, don’t we need to be leaving?” I asked. Hoping for a successful subject change.
“Yeah we do. Come on let’s go.” Rick said, and we left the hotel.
***
It took about an hour and a half to get to the edge of town. There was only one road leaving town, so it wasn’t hard to decipher which way we were going to go. We just needed to keep going straight. According to Brandon we were thirteen miles away from the California border. He said that means we have another two hundred and sixty-three miles left to go. I would complain, but I was the one who chose to go with them. Brandon told us that we would stop in California for the night. We would probably be there for a couple of nights just because of how big California really is.
The ocean was off to our right, and it looked pretty. I could see some sea lions from here sun bathing. A few of the sea lions had cubs that were cute as can be. I was so caught up in watching the ocean that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and I tripped over a piece of tire. I fell on the ground and cut open my hands and my arm. A lot of blood was coming out. I would probably need stitches, but I was not about to go to the hospital. If I went to the hospital they would call my grandma to come get me.
The fall really hadn’t hurt me at all. I just kept walking to catch up to the guys. Rick finally realized that I wasn’t with them, and turned around to look for me. When he saw all of the blood on my arm his eyes got wide, and he ran to my side. He took off his shirt, and wrapped it around my arm. My hand had already stopped bleeding, but not my arm.
“How on earth did this happen to your arm?” Rick asked.
I smiled up at him. “I was watching the ocean and not paying attention to where I was going. The next thing I knew I was tripping over a piece of tire, and my arm is bleeding.”
“Well you’re lucky you don’t need stitches. If you would have cut your arm any deeper you would need the stitches. Just keep this shirt on your arm for the next couple of hours and it should be scabbed over.” Rick said.
“Thank goodness I don’t have to go to the hospital. That would totally put a damper on this whole thing.” I Sighed.
“Is the hospital another one of your fears?” Rick teased.
I gave him a frustrated look “No if I went to the hospital they would have to call my grandma. I don’t want my grandma coming anywhere near me.”
Rick looked away and didn’t say anything else. We just kept walking down the highway. This time I was watching where I was stepping so I wouldn’t fall. I stayed behind the guy so I wouldn’t get lost. They seemed to know where they were going. Every so offend a car would pass us. I kept my eyes on the ground only looking up to see if the guys were still in front of me.
I planned on going to the beach while I was here, so I put my swimsuit in my backpack along with my knife. Those were the only things I had in my bag. My bow and arrows were in my pocket. I would rather have a bow and arrow over having a knife. Besides the bow is easier to his when you can make it smaller.
A cop car drove past, and stopped when he saw us. Ever bone in my body went stiff. My grandma probably filed a runaway file and ever cop in the country probably knew what I looked like. The cop walked up to Rick and asked him what we were doing. Rick told him that we were going for a walk. I was looking at the ground so he wouldn’t see my face. When he asked about me I shook. “He knows he knows.” I thought. Rick told him I was their sister. The cop nodded his head and walked back to his car.
I let out a breathe that I didn’t realize I had been holding. I took off my bag, and got out my knife. I flung the bag back on to my back, and then I took the knife and cut my hair just above my shoulders. Rick grabbed my hand after I finish cutting my hair, and took my knife out of my hand. I shook my head to make sure all of the hair was out of it.
“Why did you just cut your hair off like that, Alice?” Rick asked.
“Because I just thought, my grandma probably filed a runaway report to the police, and I don’t want any of them to recognize me.” I said.
“They won’t recognize you now. You look different with your hair short.” He said.
“Um, is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked.
“I guess that depends on how you look at it.” He said
“My moms always use to cut my hair this short, so I’ll take it as a good thing.” I said with a smile. “Though, my mom probably cut it more even.
“To tell you the truth it is pretty evenly cut.” He said
“Um, we should probably keep moving before another cop stops by.” I said.
By this point we were only two miles outside of California. The sun would be setting in about three hours. That gave us plenty of time to find a hotel for the night. Well if nothing bad happens to us. What I mean to say is if nothing bad happens to me, because I have the luck for getting in trouble. I couldn’t wait to lay down in a bed and go to sleep; I just hope I have no bad dream tonight. The last one I had scared the crap out of me.
A way you can tell if you’re in California, aside from the welcome to California sign, is the big ‘Hollywood’ sign sitting on the mountain. Then there was the big walkway scattered with street shops. The beach was full of surfers, boogie boarders, and people. Some of the surfers were awesome, and some were beginners. There we kids making sand castles, and digging holes to capture water in. There was a slight breeze that brought an ocean spray with it, and it went in my face. That made me smile.
I have always loved the ocean. It is pretty, and has amazing creatures in it. I remember my mom taking us to the beach. My older brother always helped me build sand castles, and find sea shells. My favorite thing to look for is a sand dollar. They are hard to find alive, or big, but I found a live one that was the size of a dinner plate. It was absolutely amazing, and it made my day. My favorite thing to do at the beach was play in the water, and try to stay standing when a wave came. Remembering all of this made a huge smile come to my lips.
I decide, while we were by the stores, I would buy myself something. I looked through everything, and decided on getting a baseball with a picture of the Hollywood sign on it. The Hollywood sign was painted neon blue, that’s why I chose the ball in the first place. I took my bag off my shoulder to put the ball in my bag, but before I could even get it unzipped someone came and took it out of my hand. They started running off with it. That was the biggest mistake they made. I aimed carefully and threw my ball at top speed. It hit the guy in the back of the head, and he fell to the ground. I ran up and took my bag that he dropped when he fell. The man sat up and rubbed the back of his head, he looked a bit dazed.
“Watch whose things you steel, because next time a lot more than a ball hitting you can happen. You’re lucky it was me you stole from.” I whispered in his ear.
“S-sorry Miss It won’t happen again.” The man stuttered.
The man got up and ran off in the opposite direction I was facing. People were looking at us, and the big scene we had just made. I ignored all of their stares, and picked up my ball off of the ground. Everyone just kept staring at me, and I kept ignoring them. Rick, Brian, and Brandon ran up to me. Finally all of the people got on my nerves.
I shouted at all of them. “Stop staring at me and get on with your lives! It’s over people!” when they kept staring I shouted again. “What do you thing I’m pretty!?” then I made kissing noises.
Several people started laughing, and everyone started moving again. Rick gave me an amused look, and shook his head. He opened his mouth to talk at the same time I did.
“Go ahead.” He said.
“I was going to say stop making fun of me.” I said. “What were you going to say?”
“You have a good throwing arm. Where did you learn to throw like that?” he asked.
“I was in baseball for three year, I picked up some things.” I said.
“Sweet, I love baseball it’s my favorite sport.” He exclaimed.
“Mine too.” I said.
“I kind of figured that one out on my own, Alice. I mean it’s a given.” He teased.
“You never know I could hate baseball, and my parents could have made me join the baseball team.”
“Well from what you told us about your parents they would have never done that to you.” He said.
“No they wouldn’t do that to me. I’m just marking it as a possibility.” I said.
“Come on, Alice, it’s about to get dark. I know where we’re going to be sleeping for the night. It’s not that far away, and it’s on the beach.”
At that a smile spread across my face. It had only been three days since I met Rick, but I felt I could trust him. I know I said I didn’t want to trust anyone any more, but I guess he is different. I didn’t run after him right away.
“Hey, Alice, are you coming or what? We don’t have the time to kill, or waste.”
“Yeah, Rick, I’m coming calm down.”
I stood in my place for another five seconds, and then I bounded down the street behind him. My bag was securely on my back so that no one would be able to take it again. If anyone else tried to take my bag, they would be getting off worse than the other guy. Taking my mind off of that I had to get into a full sprint to keep up with Rick, if I didn’t I would be lost in the state of California with nowhere to go. I didn’t want that to happen to me, sure California is a nice place, but it’s not the place for me.