A Light in the Darkness

[Wishing Angel]

Tammy, still wrapped up in Jase’s arms, watched as the other girl came towards them.
“Tammy, this is Danielle. Danielle, this is Tammy,” He said as she came closer.
Tammy smiled slightly and politely held her hand out to shake Danielle’s. “Uh, glad to meet you I guess. Even if this isn’t the best time in history,” Tammy said as depression sunk back into her face. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds until Tammy remembered James standing behind her. “Jase, Danielle, this is James. James this is my cousin Jase, and Danielle. You guys go ahead and talk if you want but I need to see if my sister is in there,” She said trying to excuse herself. “I’ll be right back.”

Tammy walked up to the house and cursed as she tried to turn the handle. She sighed and pulled out the loose brick on the steps and picked up the spare key. She then opened the door with ease but as soon as she stepped in she couldn’t believe what she saw.
Blood was everywhere in that room. Tammy noticed a trail and she decided to follow it, it ran into living room and then into the kitchen and what was there made her scream. There was a body on the table and two knives stuck out of the wall. Tammy took a deep breath and walked closer to the body. Tears formed in her eyes and she saw the face of the body, it was Shelly. “No,” She screamed as the tears flowed from her eyes.

“Tammy,” she heard a scratchy voice behind her. She knew the voice all too well because she heard it every morning when she woke up. Tammy turned to see Sara supporting herself on the wall. She had stabs all over her body and blood everywhere on her. “Oh my gosh,” Tammy said rushing over to her sister, “what the hell happened?” The younger girl melted into her sister’s arm.

“Tam, y-you need t-to l-le-leave,” Sara said closing her eyes.
“Sara, honey, you need to stay awake,” Tammy said trying not to cry. “Come on Sara, stay awake.” Tammy made her way to the door with Sara in her arms. Before she could get there she tripped and fell to the ground. She cried in pain as her head hit the floor but she knew she had to ignore the pain right now. When she stood she smelt something. It smelled like smoke…coming from the back of her house.

 

[Elohir]

James nodded to both of the newcomers, he wasn't really that comfortable with all this, he wasn't comfortable with anything now. His sister was gone, his parent's were gone, his chances at happiness were now gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. For all of his size being six and a half feet tall, and for all his strength with his large build, he was helpless. There was nothing he could do now to get his family back, but if his sister had been right all along, then they weren't the ones in trouble or in pain. James was.

His attention was snapped back to reality by a scream coming from the house. Without thinking he snapped his head in that direction and took off towards the scream, nearly knocking down the front door as he burst through. "Oh God." He said seeing the mess, and the body in the kitchen. This was all wrong. James never wanted to see this stuff again. He'd left all that. After the massacre, that was when it ended, and his new life had begun, this stuff wasn't supposed to happen any more. "Tammy?" He called out as he looked around.

 

[Wishing Angel]

Tammy heard James call her name. “I’m over in the dinning room, next to the kitchen,” she called out. “She went back in the kitchen and saw James there. James took Sara out of her arms and carried the young girl outside. He laid her in the grass and checked for a pulse. Tears fell from Tammy’s eyes as James shook his head.

She took a few steps backwards towards the house. “No,” she said just above a whisper. "Not her too." Tammy's eyes showed a mix of feelings like anger, pain, and sadness. She was at a loss of what to do. What could she do? What was worth doing? She sat down in the grass beside Sara and let the tears continue to fall as she looked at her sister. It wasn't fair, two of her siblings died right in front of her. "Why?" She asked bitterly.

 

[Shocka]

Jase went throught the formalities as Tammy walked into her house. All was said and there was an akward pause, this was quickly broken by a ear piercing scream that came from inside the house. Jase and Danielle took off after James as he swung open the door. Blood was everywhere. Needless to say Jase wasn't ready for the sight as the door opened. His eyes caught sight of a girl slumped on a cofee table, two knives ,with the girl's blood no doubt, stapled to the wall.

His eyes wandered around the house, but it overwhelmed him. His body was still there but his mind wasn't, he felt like gravity had lost its grip and he was about to float away. But he came back to his senses shortly amidst the confusion. He followed them out into the grass, and watched as Sarah passed...

"Who could have done this?" Danielle said in disbelief.

Vague stomping noises came from inside the house, and Jase saw a figure run out of a room headed for the back yard.

Jase began to run back into the house, and hunt it down...

 

[missionarypoet]

***Danielle***

I just stood in shock as everything happened around me. Jase stood next to me, then something caught his eye and he ran after it. I turned. There was someone running from the house! No one else was going to get hurt tonight- they couldn't! I ran after Jase, soon catching up. He glanced over at me and waved for me to go back, but I shook my head and motioned that we would gang up on him. We slowed as we came up behind the person, then we split and ran at him from both sides. Jase hit him first, taking him down with a flying tackle, I heard a low "oof" as I landed on top. Jase hit the main solidly, and he was knocked out. As we struggled to our feet, we both gasped at who it was.
"Tammy! Come here!" Jase shouted.

 

[Wishing Angel]

Tammy heard Jase call her but she really didn't care to go in there. She didn't want to have to look at the blood and Shelly's body. She just wanted to get away from the house and asap. Maybe go to Jase's house and get washed up and crash. She had slept over so often that she had her own dresser space in one of the dressers.

Tears continued to roll down Tammy's face as she looked at Sara's lifeless body. Tammy knew there was nothing she could do about it, just like she couldn't do anything about Hayden's death. All the tears that were ever shead could never bring back either one of them. She didn't under stand why anyone would do this to someone else, especialy a little girl.

Tammy got up and walked towards the door. She didn't want to look inside she just wanted to talk to Jase. "Can you just come here, Jase?"

"Tammy, I think we got the person behind it," he said coming back towards the door. "Why don't you come see who it is."

Tammy shook her head, watching Jase as he stepped outside with Danielle right behind him. "I was um," Tammy started quietly, "I was wondering if you'd let me get some of my clothes from your house and get washed up." Her voice was barely above a wishper as she choked out the words.

Jase put his arms around Tammy as her eyes let even more tears form and drop. "That'll be fine," he said softly. "I don't know why you ask when you know you don't need to. I'll go invite James over too," he said letting go of Tammy.

 

[Elohir]

James stood as background for now. All of this had happened so suddenly, and all of it was bringing back memories that haunted him, that he didn't wish to see. He himself had done this sort of thing to people. He'd killed before, he'd trashed houses, apartments, cars, even yachts. That was a life he wanted to forget, it was supposed to dissapear along with his addictions during the rehab. He didn't want to see this, but it was forced on him, and he was helpless to answer to Tammy who just wanted to know why.

In truth there could be many reasons, someone in her family owed money to the wrong person, somebody in her family had a contract taken out on them, or even the most possible, somebody took advantage of the dissapearances and tried to loot the house, but wasn't expecting to find anyone inside and panicked. The mind of a criminal is a mind that acts on fear, desperation, and evil, whether that mind realizes it or not. James didn't want this, he didn't want any of it. Was this the world now? Would it ever be back to normal. This was Hell, and he knew it.

 

[missionarypoet]

(everyone else is writing in third person, so I'm going to start writing that way too- sorry for the switch, but I think it'll work better that way.)

***Danielle***

Danielle stood near to Tammy and hugged her arms around herself. None of this could be real. It just couldn't be. She felt like she was watching everything from a long way off, like it was happening to someone else. Did she even exist anymore? She didn't want to live with all this happening. There was no more reason to exist- no more family, no more friends, no more happiness.
She stared blankly at the little girls body- so sad. So sad that she had to die that way. Wasn't she better off though? No more pain anymore. She wouldn't have to see any of the terrors to come. Mindlessly Danielle walked back into the house. She picked up one of the knives and tested the blade with her finger. It would be so simple to end it now. One more body added to the carnage. Who would care? There was no one left to care.
Danielle held the knife in her hands, staring at it. She could be free. She heard a creak in the hallway, and knew that she had to do it fast. She held the knife to her throat and felt the stinging as the blade cut into her skin. She heard someone shouting in the backround, but she didn't care anymore.

 

[Shocka]

Jase let go of Tammy's embrace.

"I'll go tell James." Jase said softly, and Tammy nodded.

Hdoubled back through the rooms to find James. He'd openned the door to the kitchen, and saw Danielle...with a knife.

"NO!" Jase yelled as he sprinted across the room, and snatched the knife away cutting himself in the process. Danielle fell to the floor, but Jake caught her and gently laid her head on the wooden ground. She was muttering something, but Jake wasn't paying attention, and she was bleeding.

"James! Tammy!" Jake yelled as he quickly wet a cloth with warm water. He kneeled down and began to clean the wound.

"What's going on!?" James asked.

"She... cut herself. She just missed her Jugular vein... but she's still losing alot of blood..." Jake trailed off as thoughts raced through his mind giving him a headache.

 

[Shocka]

(( guys...?))

 

[missionarypoet]

Yeah...um, I would post, but I'm kinda unconscious and bleeding to death...so yeah. Post something peoples! Do a time jump- anything!

 

[Elohir]

James was big, but he was fast. He raced to his car and grabbed the emergency first aid kit that was in the glove compartment. All the while things running through his mind from his past. The past that he didn't want to remember, that he would do anything to forget, so long as the memories of his family were left untouched.

He raced back to Jase and the girl as quickly as he could, with the medical kit stuffed under his arm. He quickly ripped out a bunch of gauze and held it to the wound on her neck. Close and hard enough to help with the bleeding, but not hard enough to cause her any pain or choke her.

"Jase, we need to get out of here. Any ideas on where to go? We could go to my place, or yours if you have one. Doesn't much matter to me." He said as he tried to rouse Danielle from her unconcious state without doing any more physical harm to her than she had already done to herself.

 

[Shocka]

"I only live 7 blocks from here." Jase informed him."I'll go get the van." He said running out the door. Within seconds he had pulled his green mini-van to the very edge of the steps, and laid the seats back as a make-shift gourney.

He raced inside where he and James, carefully, lifted Danielle into the middle seats. They'd arrived at Jase's house in record time, and set Danielle on the couch in the living room.

 

[Wishing Angel]

((So sorry guys. I had a concert on Sat night so all of Sat was spent getting ready for that and then I was gone all day yesterday to church events but I'm back now. If it's alright with everyone I'm gonna do a slight time jump of a week.))

Tammy's mind raced with thoughts. She had a hard time pushing them aside but she knew she had to so she could help Danielle. Tammy didn't know this girl well but there was no way she would let her die. "We aren't going to quit on you," She said softly to the unconscious Danielle, "so don't you quit on us."

~One Week Later~

Tammy was worried that Danielle had lost too much blood after the fatal cut she did to herself one week ago, but she was doing better now. The two had become closer now but the pain was still too new to both of them especialy to Tammy. She was almost afraid to get too close to someone fearing that she'd lose them too.

Tammy made her way out to the porch at Jase's house where she had been staying. She sat and put her head in her hands, watching as the sun set. Things were still far from normal but you wouldn't think that by watching the sun go down.

Tammy closed her eyes and started singing softly. She had found that it helped with the pain slightly but not fully. She swayed to the beat that was in her head that went with the song she was singing. She was just about done when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder which made her jumped slightly.

 

[Elohir]

For the past week James had been running between his house and Jase's almost every day, checking on Danielle and just plain helping out. He'd gotten his own house in order, at least what was left of the empty thing, but he couldn't stand to be in it longer than he had to be, which was part of the reason he went to Jase's house so much.

So many things in this area had changed, so many things that he didn't want to remember he could barely recognize, but it was ten times worse than he remembered. With dissapearances all over the globe there was almost no end to the sacking and looting by the various street gangs. Chances were Johnson was still alive, which was why James' house had been left alone. A common courtesy type of thing between old friends, or so he figured.

James came up to the porch of Jase's house to find Tammy out on the front porch with her eyes closed, singing and swaying. Not knowing exactly what else to do he rested his hand gently on her shoulder before speaking. "You okay there Tammy?" He asked softly at her surprised reaction. "I didn't mean to scare ya, just stopping by to check on things, make sure you're all still okay."

 

[missionarypoet]

***Danielle***

Danielle sat in what had become her room at Jase's house thinking about all that had happened in the past week and wishing she could stop thinking about it. Why had they saved her? She still didn't know. They had just met her, didn't know her, and mostly still didn't, but they had saved her and taken care of her. She would have died if they hadn't been there. She knew that. She had come very close to death even with their help. Even so, she had a hard time feeling happy about being alive. She didn't want to be ungrateful, and she wouldn't try anything else. She couldn't do that to Jase, Tammy, or James, no matter how she felt.
Someone knocked softly on her door. "Come in," Dani answered. She stood up slowly to greet the person, and as she did, she felt the now familiar rush of dizziness from the blood she'd lost.

 

[Morwen]

~One Week Later~

Sierra had spent the week cleaning (to keep her mind off of things), eating and sleeping. She had tried to watch TV, but the only thing on was news and she didn't want to see that. She kept thinking about what she was going to do now that her parents were gone. Her house was huge...she couldn't stay here by herself.

She got up from the couch and went outside to her old friend--the porch swing. She sat down and started rocking.

 

[Shocka]

"Come in." Danielle said from behind the door. Jase slid through the door and sat on the chair opposite of Danielle.

"Felling any better?" He said trying to make some small talk.

 

[missionarypoet]

***Danielle***

Dani tried her best to smile at Jase over the wave of dizziness. It would pass soon. Unconsciously, she lifted her hand to her throat and touched the injured area before flinching away. "I'm ok, thanks," she said, trying to convey her feelings in those few words. Danielle sat back down and perched on the edge of the bed.
"You know, if there's anything you want to talk about..." Jase shrugged and looked down. "We've all been through a lot in the past week, and if there's one thing that's obvious, it's that we need each other's help."
Dani nodded and bit her bottom lip, trying not to cry. She hadn't cried since the night of the disappearances. Until a couple days ago, she hadn't been conscious enough to think about it, though dreams had haunted her. "I'm sorry Jase, so sorry!" She choked out after a moment. "My family's gone...all of them, and if they knew what I tried to do they would hate me, Jase. They wouldn't understand and they would hate me. They would be strong and face what's going to happen, but I tried to take the coward's way out. I can't face myself. I have nothing left!" Danielle began to sob in earnest and turned away from Jase toward the wall, ashamed to look at the person who had helped her so much.

 

[Wishing Angel]

Tammy smiled slightly. "I'm alright," she said softly, looking down. "Jase and Danielle are both inside somewhere." Tammy shook her head slightly thinking about Danielle.

"What's wrong?" James asked, noticing Tammy shaking her head.
"I was thinking about Danielle," She said looking back over at him. "She would never say anything about it but she's lost too much blood, you can tell by the way she acts. I knew it last week but I didn't do anything about it. I should have, it would have made things alot better."

Tammy's head fell back into her hands. "It's my flippin' fault that she's having four times the problems that she should be having. I bet my uncle's place is gone because there sure were enough drugs and stuff there to keep a lot of people happy and rich for a long time. I'm sure the hospital is still full on top of it all. I'm such an idiot."