ILOMILO ━ ? applyfic

LORALIE.

I dropped my bag to the floor as I pulled out a knife from a narrow compartment. Was I paranoid to pull out a weapon? No. I wasn't paranoid. I could simply remember a day nine years ago all too well. The day my mother and I came home and found ourselves standing in the frame of a broken-in door. At the time, we didn't know what this break-in would mean for our family.

I cautiously stood up and looked around, mentally searching for the person who had left that gate open (or forced it open). But there was no one there. At least I hoped no one was hiding in the shadows of the trees or somewhere else where I couldn't see anything.

With slow, silent steps i walked through the open gate and then through the equally open door into our house. And then I stopped abruptly.

The inside was unrecognizable.

The building where my mother and I lived was in complete chaos-I could tell just by looking at our belongings, which had been carelessly thrown onto the floor in the hallway. Even two cupboards had fallen over. I blinked and forced myself to keep walking, even though I was afraid of what might await me in the other rooms.

I headed for the living room, one door down, first, because that's where we kept a safe where we stored weapons for emergencies. But when I entered the room, my world stopped moving for a second.

My mother was sitting there, handcuffed to a chair, half bent over, and I could see a wound on the back of her head.

The silence that had captured the room choked me. My throat felt as if someone were gripping it with ice-cold hands. My heart stopped for a moment. And when that moment was over, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. I felt like I was being controlled remotely as I ran towards my mother.

With trembling hands, I lifted her head and stared into her closed eyes. They were the same eyes that had been full of life this morning. Crying, I placed my fingers on her neck and searched for a pulse-until I felt a pounding.

I immediately fished my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed the number of our primary care doctor. He was the only person I trusted anymore.

⋆

Dr. Fanning arrived within ten minutes and only had to look at my mother for a couple of seconds to know this was an emergency. After checking for her pulse, he packed up his things again and looked at me with an expression that made my blood run cold. Without another word, he took my mother and me to the hospital.

When, or rather if, my mother recovered, it would take a long time for her to be the same again. At least that's what he said after my mom was taken into care at the hospital. Dr. Fanning told me that she had been put into a coma for the time being and that she might be affected by this head injury for the rest of her life. If she survived at all.

After a few hours in the hospital, Dr. Fanning sent me home. He told me to rest, if I could, and take a few hours to calm down before I came back to the hospital. And here I was now, in the living room, staring at the chaos around me.

The burglars had emptied our valuables and our entire safe. They had taken all the weapons, all the money, and all the means of subsistence. Whatever was left was nothing but worthless. Whoever had been here made it impossible to live here. This wasn't a normal robbery, but a personal motive. Just like the day my father disappeared.

I stared at the chair my mother had been sitting in, then at the emptied cupboards and drawers around me. They took everything from me. They almost took my mother away from me. It was like they knew exactly what was important to me and snapped all of it right out of my hands. I never had much, but now I had nothing. I swallowed the thought, and it felt like high-proof alcohol in my throat. The only thing they had left behind was acid.

With my eyes closed, I let my head fall against the wall I was leaning against. I couldn't bear the sight of that room any longer. I couldn't stand the sight of the blood on the table, on the floor, and on the chair. Everything was covered in blood, covered in red, and I knew that color would haunt me in my dreams. But to be able to dream, I had to fall asleep. And right now, there were so many things I'd rather be doing.