Can I Help But Love You?
Kristina carefully
stepped over the large, cement-set stones. When she got to the other side,
she stopped dead in her
tracks. She tried to scream but her voice was nowhere to be found.
She turned towards the
house, just in time to see Caroline walking off the porch. She turned
back and whether it was the
sight of seeing one of her best friends lying lifelessly on the
ground or a pure miracle, she
found her voice and used it to it's greatest extent. "SOMEBODY HELP
ME!"
+ 1
+
"Kristina, this
isn't funny anymore! Caroline! You're both starting to make me mad."
Kristina and
Caroline snickered as their friend tried to find them. Currently, they were
hidden in the tree-house, peering slightly over the edge. Destiny was searching
everywhere but the treehouse. Her face purely read
that she was sick of this game.
Kristina looked
towards Caroline. "On the count of three?"
Caroline smiled
devilishly and nodded. "1... 2... 3, jump!"
The girls quickly
rose to their feet and jumped from the treehouse,
landing on their knees on the soft, warm ground. When they looked up to see
Destiny's reaction, they were surprised to see she wasn't there.
They scanned their
surroundings, but still she was nowhere to be seen.
"Dessy?" Kristina cried, becoming worried. She looked
towards Caroline, who's eyes were vacant and no trace
of a smile was evident. "Caroline, something's wrong?" Kristina stood
up and pulled her friend up with her. She was obviously too scared and too weak
to get up on her own. "Come on, let's look around." Kristina linked
her arm with Caroline's and they started searching the yard.
"We're going to
have to split up if we want to find her quicker. Her yard is too big."
Caroline finally spoke, but her voice quivered, relaying her fear.
"Alright, you
go check by the porch, I'll check by the garage. Meet back here in three
minutes."
Each took off in
their assigned direction. Kristina carefully stepped over the large, cement-set
stones. When she got to the other side, she stopped dead in her tracks. She
tried to scream but her voice was nowhere to be found. She turned towards the
house, just in time to see Caroline walking off the porch. She turned back and
whether it was the sight of seeing one of her best friends lying lifelessly on
the ground or a pure miracle, she found her voice and used it to it's greatest extent. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
+ 2
+
Caroline’s head shot
up at her friend’s sudden outburst. “Kristina?”
“Get help, Caroline!
Quick!”
She didn’t know what
happened but Kris’s voice clearly stated the seriousness of the situation. She
took off running towards Destiny’s neighboring house, who luckily was also
friends of hers. She ran up the steps and pounded mercilessly on the front
door. A few seconds later, calm blue eyes met her frantic brown ones.
“
“Caroline, calm
down. What’s wrong?”
She took a few deep
breaths then tried again. "Destiny’s hurt. Get Ike and come on!”
“Alright, I’ll go
get Ike. Hold on.”
A few seconds later,
Isaac and Taylor emerged from the house and joined Caroline. Without
hesitation, they ran back to Destiny’s house and made their way back to the
garage.
“Where did they go?”
Caroline looked around, but no one was to be found.
“God, Caroline, I
thought you were serious!”
“They were! I swear!
Something was wrong with Destiny so Kristina told me to get help... Ike, you
believe me don’t you?”
He concentrated on
her face, which was genuine. He sighed. “Yeah, I do... but either they’re
playing a joke on all of us or something else happened...” His voice trailed
off as his eyes focused on an object in the middle of the driveway, which they
failed to see earlier. He walked over and slowly bent down.
“Ike, what is it?”
“Something’s wrong,
guys. I can feel it.” Caroline whispered.
Isaac turned his
head towards them, his eyes filled with un-shed tears. He held up the object in
his hands. Taylor and Caroline both looked at the blood-soaked article of
clothing. “It’s Destiny’s.”
+ 3
+
“
Caroline nodded, and
watched at the two ran towards Destiny’s house. She stood there, staring at the
blood spot on the cold gravel. She rubbed her bare arms, trying to produce
warmth. She wasn’t even cold, but all the fear that was building up in her,
caused her skin to rise.
“God! Where are they?”
She asked herself, quietly.
After another ten
minutes of waiting, she decided to walk towards the house. She slowly climbed
the porch steps and made her way inside. “Hello?” No one answered her. “Hello?
Is anyone here?”
Just when she was
about to leave, she heard a loud thud come from the basement. She ran to the
closet and grabbed a bat. Tip-toeing towards the door, she made sure not to
make the slightest sound. She gripped the door handle, then
flung it open. Nothing was there. She made her way down the steps, gripping the
bat tightly in her hands. She looked around the room and when she was satisfied
that no one was there, she headed back up the steps.
“I swear to God, I’m
going insane.” She looked at the door that she thought she left open, but now
if closed tight. She reached for the handle and soon realized that it was
locked.
She cursed under her
breath and headed down the steps again. She walked to the back door, that led to the backyard. But when she got there,
something held her back. Something was wrong. She could feel it. Then she heard
it. Moaning. It was soft, but haunting. It seemed to
be coming from the storage closet. She put the bat down and stepped in front of
the door. Her hands were claming up and her heart began to race. Her shaky hand
grasped the doorknob for what seemed like the millionth time. She slowly pulled
the door open and screamed as she got knocked over.
+ 4
+
“
“Oh, Care, admit it.
That was THE prank of the year.” Ike interjected, grabbing Destiny’s hands and
pulling her off the ground.
“Yeah,” Destiny
chimed in, wrapping her arms around him. “That one will never be beat.”
“But one thing I
don’t understand...”
“What?” Kris asked, who was sitting beside
“If you were all in
here, who shut the door?”
“’ello!” Zac said, bounding down the steps.
“Zac
too!?! Zac was in on it?”
Destiny smiled at
Caroline. “Of course he was! And you did an awesome job, Zac, if I do say.”
Zac ran over and
slapped her hand. “Thanks Des.” He turned to Caroline. “Dang girl, you scream
loud! I could hear you way up there!” He pointed to the ceiling.
Caroline placed her
hands on her hips. “You’re so funny! Haha! You would
have screamed too if
“Yeah, well, that’s
true.”
Destiny started to
cough wildly. Caroline looked over at her. “You okay?”
She waved her hands
to show that everything was fine. Ike looked at her. Just one look and he knew
that something was wrong. “Des, what’s wrong?”
Without warning, she
ran up the steps but she didn’t make it too far. Half way up, she passed out
cold.
The guys ran over to
her, all with worry etched in their faces. Ike climbed over her so he could see
her face. He placed his head next to her mouth. “Guys, she’s not breathing.”
+ 5
+
"Is she going
to be okay?” Kris asked, leaning against the back wall.
Dr. Hunter flipped
through his charts and medical papers. Before he could answer her, he began to
lecture them. “You guys know as well as I do, Destiny can not be over-active.
Her lungs are too sensitive, and the slightest inflammation can set her asthma
off. You know this! I don’t know why you insist on playing those stupid
games...”
“Just answer Kris,
Doc. We don’t need another lecture, okay.”
Dr. Hunter turned
towards Ike, who was sitting on the hard, wooden chair beside Destiny’s bed,
lightly stroking her arm and staring intently at her. His voice, which was
usually playful and light, now seemed dark and angry.
“Yes, she should be
alright. As soon as she wakes up, we’ll run some more tests. We’ll keep her
here over-night, and if I think she’s stable enough, she’ll go home tomorrow...
where are Chris and Sam?”
“They’re in
“Well shouldn’t they
be informed that their only daughter is in the hospital?”
Ike turned and
looked at the doctor. “They wouldn’t care...” He turned back to Destiny. His
voice became too soft to hear. “They never care.”
Dr. Hunter rubbed
his chin, in thought. “If her parents aren’t here, then who signed her in?”
“That would be me.”
Everyone turned
around and smiled at the glowing face of Mrs. Hanson She came over and shook
the doctor’s out-stretched hand. “It’s so nice to see you again, Diana.”
“Likewise, I just
wish it was on better circumstances... how’s she doing?” Diana walked over and
placed her hands on her oldest son’s shoulders.
“Well, we won’t know
for sure till she wakes up, but there’s nothing to be worried about. She’ll be
fine. We’ve been through this before.”
When Isaac looked up
at him, it made his stomach turn. Just the way the doctor was smiling, made him
sick. “And that makes it okay?”
The doctor sighed
and turned to Diana. “I’ll leave you alone now. If you have any questions, page
me.” With that, he turned around and went out the door.
Kris decided to
break the tension in the room. “Um, thanks Diana. For everything... you saved
us again.”
Diana smiled. “Hey,
what are mothers for? Besides, Destiny’s like a daughter to me...”
Ike smiled at that,
then wrinkled his nose and laughed. Everyone looked at him weird, which made
him laugh harder.
“What is so funny?”
Caroline asked, trying to keep a straight face. But seeing Ike laugh, made her
laugh and soon everyone was in hysterics but they didn’t know why.
Soon, there laughter
died down, and everyone was wiping tears from their eyes.
“Man, Ike, what was
so funny?”
“I don’t know. I
guess when Mom said about Destiny being her daughter... that would mean that me and Des would be brother and sister... and brothers and
sisters do not do what we do...”
Kris spit out the
soda she was drinking. Everyone turned towards her, and just seeing soda
sprayed all over her face, got them started again.
“Guys, this has
definitely been one of the weirdest days of my life.” Caroline said, looking
around at everyone’s red faces.
Everyone was quiet, but she knew they silently agreed.