The moon shone upon the earth as heavy white headlights pierced the jet-black night. Trees appeared as blobs, scattering the surrounding environment as a white van tore through them. Under the car, paved black roads lit up after being exposed to the highlights. Revealed in the center of the road, minuscule rock-shaped lights lit up following the heavy headlights, dimming down after being left to the devices of the dark once again.

Ahead of the van, headlights shone, temporarily blinding the van’s driver before the headlights passed. Multiple times would this happen, and each time it did, the driver would slim his, attempting to lessen the intense heat of the headlights.

This continued for thirty minutes as the driver cruised through back-end roads. Everything around the van was surrounded by forest. Occasionally, houses, farms, and neighborhoods would cross his path. Yet in the curtain of the night, no details could be made out of any of them, appearing as uniquely shaped blobs. Light would only appear momentarily each time cars passed by him.

Suddenly, the van turned right into a conspicuous neighborhood. He continued to trek at lower speeds before turning into the driveway of a one-story house. On the driveway, he unexpectedly turned it off the road and parked in his yard. With precision, he parked on top of four muddy gaps that held no grass, made from the constant pressure of the wheels of the van.

White, heavy headlights pierced into the neighbor’s yard as they shone onto his two-story house. Although only temporarily as everything darkened and the once noisy quieted to a halt. Moments later, the door swung open before an obese man stepped out. A bandana covered his face as shades sat on top of his hat, which was above his bald head.

The man slammed the van door closed before walking away. He approached the house door before fumbling through his keys, stopping at a specific bronze key, and unlocking the door.

Creaks sounded for every inch the door moved as the dark night mixed in with the even darker house. The obese man hesitated for a moment before stepping in. Disappointment flashed over his covered face as he hoped his daughter would be playing the piano once again. In the end, though, it was the only hope. In reality, the piano sat in the same corner as it always did, cold from the lack of usage. He closed the door before flipping the light switches on. Instantly, a flash of light flooded the room, revealing a dirty, disorganized living room. Toward the back end of the house, the kitchen and dining room were also not properly cleaned. In general, it was a pathetic house that could hardly be considered a home.

The man walked slowly to the dining room of the one-story house. There, he dropped a bag of fast food he had bought earlier onto the dining room table. Without the food, his daughter would most definitely not have enough to sustain herself. In some way, this was a way to ensure she got the minimum amount of calories she needed in order to sustain herself.

The man looked deeply at the bag of food before calling his daughter’s name.

“Yasmine! I got you food.”

No one responded. Everett took his bandana off before walking into the hallway that was connected to the living room. He continued down the hallway until he arrived at a white, blank door. Hesitantly, he moved his hands toward the knob before attempting to open it. A slight click sounded as the door creaked open.

Inside, nothing could be seen. Only a slight amount of light was able to enter from the living room. However, it was nowhere near enough to illuminate the room to a sufficient level. Even so, he continued into the room. He did not turn the lights on in case it would frighten his daughter. So, he trekked into the dark room blind. Every step he took was careful not to knock something over or disturb something. Slowly, he approached her bed before reaching down to wake her. He carefully pushed her; however, she did not respond. Sweat began to form on his forehead before he pushed her more roughly. Still, there was no response. His face tensed up as he shook her one last time. Still no response. He fisted his hands before pulling the blanket covering her away.

In his head, he had hoped she was only in a deep sleep. But considering her lack of response, it was more likely something had happened to her.

Moments after he pulled away her blanket, a thick smell of blood flooded Everett’s senses. Immediately, he stepped back and covered his mouth before he vomited.

On the bed, next to Yasmine’s wrist, a thick, recent puddle of blood melted into the covers, seeping into the very mattress.

“Shit!!”

Everett shot back into reality before approaching her swiftly and shaking her roughly, yet he did not hear a response. Automatically, he pulled his phone out before calling 911 and alerting them of the situation. Afterward, he placed his phone down as he attempted to stop the excess bleeding. Blood seeped into his hands as he grabbed her wrist forcefully. Then, his head darted across the room as he looked for a cloth to wrap her wrist around.

Next to him, on the floor, a black T-shirt sat. He immediately grabbed it before wrapping it around her wrist. Sweat fell from his forehead as his face was heavily tense.

Wrapped around her wrist. Everett lifted her up easily before taking her to the living room. Her skinny body limped out of his hands as he took her, as though she were liquid, melting out of his embrace. Even with all this movement, she still did not respond, as though she were put under a spell.

Everett stepped outside and sat down on one of his steps as he patiently waited for an ambulance to arrive.

In the distance, its sound gradually grew as blue and white lights pierced through the neighborhood. Moments later, an ambulance drove into Everett’s yard as many stepped out and rushed to the two…

——————————————————————

It was a cold hallway. On the ceiling, blank white lights shone down on the near never-ending hallway, creating a bleak atmosphere. Along the wall, chairs were stacked in a row, and an obese man sat in one of them. In front of him, a door with the number 294 stood tall, menacingly intimidating him.

Everett stayed seated in the chair with his hands put together, leaning forward, until the hospital door in front of him opened. Inside, a nurse came out and spoke directly to Everett.

“She’s awake. You can go in and speak with her if you’d like.”

Everett stood up before thanking the nurse.

“Yeah. Thank you very much, ma’am.”

The nurse smiled before leaving momentarily.

Everett walked towards the door before hesitating to enter. He knew now was not the time to argue or even get mad at her. All he could do now was comfort her.

With a light breath, he opened the door before entering. In a short corridor, he took three steps before seeing the outline of the hospital bed. With another step, he found himself staring directly at his daughter.

Questions filled his mind that he helplessly struggled to suppress before he smiled.

“How are you holding up?”

She did not respond. She stared blankly at the TV, ignoring his question.

Everett’s smile faded as he walked to a chair in the corner of the room and sat down.

Everett thought about what to say before he spoke.

“Just get better soon. I can’t afford this.”

Yasmine continued to stare at the TV before responding.

“I had hoped it would have killed me. So I could stop bothering you.”

Everett shook slightly as his goosebumps formed on his skin.

His fist tightened as he struggled with his response. Eventually, though, he responded harshly.

His mouth opened and closed a couple of times before the words finally tore through the air.

“Then you should have cut deeper…”

Yasmine did not respond. Her eyes focused on the TV while Everett continued.

“If ya were really thinking of doing that for me, Then you should have made sure.”

Before he could continue, a nurse stepped into the room.

She explained that she would have to keep watch over Yasmine for the night. It was to ensure she did not harm herself while in their care. Everett understood and soon left without saying another word to Yasmine.

The sliding doors opened to the entrance of the hospital before Everett walked to his van. While walking, he pulled out his phone and fumbled with it as he texted someone.

<Can you ask the miss if she can meet them tomorrow?>

After sending it, he thought about what Marcia had asked him earlier in the day.

“How about they meet each other!?”

Everett had looked at her weirdly before responding.

“What would that accomplish?”

Marcia thought about it for a second before blurting out an answer.

“Maybe they can…”She tried to think of something. However, even she did not know what it would accomplish. Hell, it might make things worse for the two of them. Both Marcia and Everett were in this blind, and the advice on the internet usually had a 50/50 chance of working. Usually, it would make things worse while sometimes making them better.

“Maybe they can talk about their struggles with substance abuse!”

Everett rubbed his chin as she continued.

“Who knows, maybe they can grow a bond and help each other through it. You know, like a collaborative effort!”

Suspicion filled his face as he thought about it.

“I don’t know; it might make things even more difficult.”

“But it could make things better as well! You know we have to stay positive through it all!”

Everett hesitated before responding.

“I’ll think about it, miss. Can I contact you through Matthew?”

Marcia smiled before patting Matthew on the back.

“Yeah! Just send him a text, and I’ll receive it.

“Alright.”

Marcia continued before he changed the subject in an attempt to convince him even more.

“Everett. Let’s think about the people going through this. They could help each other with another head to lean on. We always have to think about them first.”

Everett smiled subtly before continuing with what he came there for.

Back at home, he unlocked his house door with the same bronze key he used earlier before it creaked open.

A large sigh crawled from his body as he walked in and collapsed onto the couch. Everett remained there for minutes, slumping as he tried to relieve his stress and exhaustion. After a certain time, though, he stood up and walked into Yasmine’s room. He came out with all her blood-soaked blankets and covers minutes later. He walked to the edge of the kitchen before stepping into a separate room. Inside, a washer and dryer stood unused for the past couple of weeks. With the blankets and covers in hand, he shoved them all into it and added detergent.

His thought process was that it would be better to deal with the blankets now so that the stains would not show as much. He also did it to wash away the guilt he felt, as if it would leave so easily.

Afterward, he cast a glance at his watch and realized how late it had become. He had work early the next day, yet he was here with unwanted stress. Another sigh left his being as he walked towards his room. Now, he did not have time to shower if he hoped to at least sleep six hours. The room door creaked open as pictures of a couple were nailed in different places around the room. The king-sized bed right next to the door was unmade and had clothes on top of it. Everett could not be bothered with it right now, though. He took his shirt off before collapsing onto the bed. Then he turned the lights off and lay there. He slowly fell into a deep sleep before his phone buzzed. His eyes shot open, then proceeded to close and open multiple times as he woke up. Exhausted, he struggled to grab his phone on the desk next to him. When he did, though, he noticed a text notification. When opened, it said:

<She said that’s perfect; what time?>