🕊️

Amanda lost the baby.

She lost the little child inside of her.

She sat up in the hospital bed, clutching onto the sheets. She remembered how the doctors had broke the news to her and her husband, their faces flushed with pity. She remembered the feeling of her heart falling, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Amanda could hear her husband talking to the doctor outside. She only managed to hear snippets of their conversation: "miscarriage... rare... malnutrition..."

Amanda stopped listening. She knew what the doctor was saying. A miscarriage so late into the pregnancy was just so uncommon, and it was all Amanda's fault.

She continued to cry, her hand on her stomach, under which her baby child should have been, breathing and living.

It was all Amanda's fault.

It's all my fault.

She lost both her babies.

All because of her.

If only she had eaten more!

If only she hadn't sent Lily to school that day!

If only... she'd been a better mother.

Sobbing and screaming, Amanda banged her hands against the bed. She hated herself.

It was all her fault.

Her family was broken, gone... because of her.

Amanda let out a sob, frantically running her hands through her hair.

I'm so sorry, my babies.

Mummy's so sorry.

☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎

Emma watched as blood splattered everywhere.

Slowly, the school filled with blood.

Red, cold, blood.

Her heart was beating too fast for her to handle. She could hear Julian whispering, "Emma... Help..."

Emma's eyes darted around, looking for him, for Julian. A familiar face. Please.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Emma. Remember that." The shooter smirked, holding up his gun and shooting Emma in the head.

Emma sat upright in her bed, startled. Her sheets were messed up due to her constant twisting and turning in her sleep, and her cheeks were red and puffy. Her heart was pounding against her chest at the rate of which cheetahs ran and her eyes were frantic and wide.

Just another nightmare. Calm down, Emma.

But she couldn't. The horrors still haunted her, no matter was she asleep or awake. She could feel the lingers of her nightmares in the shadows, ready to pounce on her.

Running both her hands through her hair, Emma let out a screech, hiding herself under her sheets.

Please, protect me. She begged, crying into the soft fabric.

"Emma..." Julian's voice rung over and over in her head, causing the hairs on her skin to stand upright as her eyes darted around in fear.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Emma sobbed, clenching and unclenching her fists.

The terrified girl screamed over and over again, images from that day running through her head like a sideshow.

Julian.

Killer.

Blood.

Emma could see the fear and pain in Julian's eyes as he passed away. She whimpered, wishing the demons to let her be. To stop the nightmares. The pain. The sorrow.

The Roberts family awoke in the middle of the night, startled by the terrified screams of their youngest child. Emma's mother entered her room, concern written all over her face. She wrapped her child in her arms, attempting to calm her down.

Features twisted in agony, Emma muttered over and over, crying into her mother's arms, "I'm so scared, mom. I... I'm so scared. Please, mom... Hic... Please... I want it to stop. Please. Make it stop."

☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎

Ms Garcia stood at the roof of her apartment, the wind howling against her face.

Her hair flew in the wind as she stared into the night sky, her face void of any emotion.

She remembered the day clearly. Through tear-filled eyes, she had watched her students fall like dominoes in a little game of life or death.

It had all been a game to that man. He watched them all... die. Because of him.

Ms Garcia shook, not from the cold, but from the anger that raged in her blood.

How dare he.

The teacher let out a whimper, her lower lip trembling.

The man was long gone, dead to the world. And all he left behind was sorrow, guilt, grief, sadness... pain.

So much pain.

With that final thought, the grief-stricken Ms Garcia jumped from the 25th floor of her building, tears pricking her eyes.

I can't take it anymore.

I don't want to live anymore.

🕊️