Quiet the Noise Page #2

The tragic events of the loss of Elle’s family.

• Fiction
• Horror
• Mystery
• Short story
• Drama

								


My head was pounding, I was laying it against the seat of the car. I kept hearing Officer Brass’ radio kept turning on and off. Most of it was about my family, some of it wasn't, and some of it I couldn't understand because it was just numbers.

“Four bodies at the…” The radio started but it cut out. I think he had shut it off. Then all I could hear was the sirens. Such a horrid sound they were. I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from coming. I was flicking the rubber band on my wrist so much that a whole ring of welts had formed. My mind felt like it was racing a million miles an hour. It hurt, god it hurt so bad. I couldn't even breathe, I couldn't even think straight. I reached for my necklace and grabbed the pendant. I loved this necklace. Jay had picked it out for me years ago. I was seven and Jay was nine. Here I am 12 years later and I still wear it every day. It has a little shell that has a little black heart painted on it with a bright red piece of yarn hanging off each side. It is a miracle it hasn't fallen apart by now. It's always been special to me. I had wondered when I would run out of tears. Not yet that's for sure. They wouldn't stop pouring, at this point I wasn't even conscious of the fact that I was crying, the tears were just falling. The car ride felt like a lifetime. Like it was never going to end. The sirens. The sirens blaring, drilling into my brain more and more each second. I covered my ears. Silence. Except not really, the sirens were muffled, but my brain was still as loud as ever. Millions of thoughts all at once. How do you escape the noise when your mind is the loudest thing you've ever heard? I just sat there, all curled up, eyes closed, holding both ears so tight trying to escape.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop….” I kept muttering under my breath. “Just breathe, there is so much air, just breathe, just breathe…” I need to get it together I thought, I need to control myself. I opened my eyes and was blinded by the light coming from the window. This is what mom would say, this is what mom would tell me to do, I kept reminding myself that. But mom was dead. She can't tell me to calm down, she can't help me right now, because she is dead. She is never coming back. She's gone. “She's gone, She's gone, she's dead, she's never coming back. She has gone She's…” Someone put their hand on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder as quickly as I could, it startled me. It was Officer Brass. I looked at the driver's seat of the car and found it empty. I hadn't even noticed we stopped. I looked up the sirens had stopped. I was confused looking around.

“Elle,” the officer said I looked over at him. “Let's get inside.” He grabbed my hand and helped me out of the car. It was so bright, the tears still seeping from my eyes. I kept blinking waiting for them to adjust to the brightness of the sun. I stumbled a little bit while getting out of the car, but the officer was holding me. He grabbed my hand and put his other on my back helping me stay stable while walking up the stairs to the door. I was so weak, I wasn't hurt, but my head was throbbing so bad I felt I could pass out at any moment. We got to the door, and he let go of me to open it. As soon as I walked through the door it felt like a bullet went into my shrieking head. There was so much going on. Doctors talking fast and loud everywhere. A little boy was crying for his mom. There was a lady who was wailing, she was on her knees on the floor, crying to someone on the stretcher that was covered in a sheet. I felt my pain in hers.

“Elle” I heard someone say faintly “Elle… Elle” I couldn't even tell where or who it was coming from. I stopped in the middle of the lobby. The noise of everyone, my ears were ringing. I looked around, though not comprehending what was going on. It's like I was in a trance, it suddenly became quiet, not really but in my head it did. I stared at the crying woman but couldn't hear her. Tears started to fall from my eyes as I watched her. I felt someone grab my hand.

“Elle!” I look and see my dad. “Hey breathe.” I tied my arms around his neck, but he pulled back. “Come over here please” He started back in the direction he came, he still had my hand and had to pull me for a second before my brain registered I needed to start walking. We walked to this area near a desk. My aunt ran up to me and my dad and grabbed me from him. My dad went the other way and began talking to a group of officers. I was slow to even realize it was Cory, my aunt, who had grabbed me. I think she was talking to me, and we walked, but I could hear her. She brought me to this bench where Liv was sitting. I sat down next to Liv and Cory bent down to get in my eye level. Again she was talking, but I had no idea what she was saying, everything was slow and not processing. I laid my head on Liv’s Shoulder and she grabbed my hand. I close my eyes waiting for it to end.

The next thing I knew I was waking up in my bed. I reach for my phone on my bedside table, but it's not there. I got out of bed. I was in different clothes. I opened my door and looked at the clock on the wall in the hallway. It was 11:04 am. I wondered how many days had passed. I heard clattering downstairs. I started down the staircase to see a bunch of workers tearing up the carpet in the living room. I walked past the part stained with Jay’s blood. I stumbled into the kitchen. Cory was sitting at the table with my grandma, Josie. They both jumped up and ran to me.

“Hey sweetie, how are you?” said Cory as she ran to me. I just looked at her for a second.

“What day is it?” I asked

“Thursday, it is the eleventh,” She said. I looked at her and gave a little nod. Had I been sleeping for two days? I didn't care about that right now though.

“Where is my dad” I asked

“At the police station,” My grandma responded. The next few days were terrible. My aunt and grandma never left my side. My dad still wouldn't talk to me. They had finally finished replacing the carpet. I hadn't eaten in days even though Cory was pushing me too nonstop. It had now been a week since the incident, their funeral was this Saturday. Cory and Josie went back home for a few days. I couldn't be in the house today so I decided to go for a walk. I looked ill. I haven’t been sleeping or eating, and I haven’t showered in a week. I didn't care though I just wanted to leave. I put my slippers on and walked out the door. I was walking down the block, people kept staring at me, I didn't care though. I walked past the stables down the street from my house, my mom used to bring me and Jay here all the time. I sat there for a minute just watching them. Eventually, I sat down on the sidewalk. I had my legs curled in with my arms wrapped around them. I rested my head on my knees staring at the horses. I could feel my breathing slow and steady. The world went quiet. Even my brain stopped screaming for a moment in time.

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