Anyway, thansk for the feedback and enjoy.
Part 10
Oh, You Are The Roots That Sleep Beneath My Feet
Oh, You Are The Roots That Sleep Beneath My Feet
Tess sunk back into the bathtub. The smooth marble was cool against her feverish skin and she closed her eyes, longing for the safeguard of oblivion. She was exhausted. Her body felt heavy as if she had the weight of the world bearing down on her. She tried to recapture the essence of who she had been before her life had been torn to pieces.
It was hopeless though, that girl had died with her father, and it wasn’t long before she was assaulted by the thoughts she had been running from since that day Kit had discovered her on the floor of her closet with a bottle of Russia’s finest for company. She tried to remember to breath instead she remembered the last time she had seen her father. The memory would always haunt her.
He had been dead for a week, but as she stared down at him in the chapel of rest, she thought he might be only sleeping. Her legs buckled and she had clung to the edge of the casket in an attempt to stop herself from falling. The mahogany of the casket had cut into her skin, leaving a red indent, but Tess didn’t even notice. All her attention was focused on her father.
“I love you,” She had murmured, her fingers hovering over his chest where his heart no longer beat. “I’m sorry that I missed my curfew. I never knew…I never knew this would happen. I am so sorry, daddy. If I had known that that extra hour would cost me so much, I would never…”
She kissed him one last time. His cheek was cold and waxy beneath her lips and her heart broke a little more with the realization that it was real. It wasn’t a nightmare she was going to wake up from. The sour taste of bile filled her mouth as the unnatural chemical smell of the room finally became too much for her. She stumbled to the door, passed her sobbing Nana and into the bathroom.
She fell to the floor and cried. The marble tiles were cool against her feverish skin.
***
“What are you doing?” She opened her eyes from her nightmare and saw that Zach had crept into the room and seated himself cross legged on the floor. She eyed the plate of banana pancakes warily that he held in his hands and felt her stomach begin churn in revulsion.
“Contemplating drowning myself,” She murmured, struggling to sit up in the tub. She sunk back down after her second failed attempted with a sigh. Her problems were like an anchor around her neck.
“In a empty bathtub?” He asked, with a mouth full of banana pancakes. Tess winced at the sound of his voice. It felt like someone had dug a ice pick through her skull.
“Obviously, once I had gotten pass the contemplating phase, I’d add water.” She instantly regretted open her mouth as the sound of her own voice dug the invisible ice pick further into her skull.
“And maybe some bubble bath? You’re looking kind of sweaty and gross.”
She sunk further into the bathtub, sunk further into the darkness.
“What is going on…Tess?”
It was Kit. Her voice was muffed as if Tess was under water, but she couldn’t remember turning the taps on. She couldn’t remember anything. All she could think about was the darkness that was swallowing her whole and taking away her pain.
“Tess. Wake up, Tess. Damn it, wake up! Zach, help me get her out of this stupid tub. Jesus, she is burning up. Call an ambulance. Tess. Tess, please wake up.”
Tess fought to open her eyes, but Kit’s voice soon faded into the darkness as Tess lost her battle.