Homecoming

 The cave was dismal. The stone was cold and jagged. Water echoed drearily as it dripped into a small puddle beside a series of obtrusive stone growths that had formed over the years.

 Clara was snuggled up close to the wall, pulling a soiled blue shawl tight against her shivering body. She kept her gaze firmly planted on the cave’s only opening, watching as the sky turned a reddish orange. Her eyes were wide: alert and afraid. A tear fell unnoticed as she whispered shakily, "Help."

 ****

"Clara?"

 Clara opened her eyes. She was sitting slouched in a limousine, clutching a silver tiara. She was garbed in a fine, blue dress and her raven hair was up in an elaborate bind. She blinked, her mascara running slightly as her eyes had watered.

 "Clara . . . are you . . ."

 "I’m fine."

 Amanda, tall, with long, blonde hair and a shimmering green dress, raised her brow, concerned.

 "Look . . . Clara . . . it’s alright if you just-"

 Clara stared out of the window, watching the thick trees pass quickly by.

 "It’s too late. We’re going. I’ll be fine."

 Amanda nodded without responding. Clara nestled herself back into a slouched position and closed her eyes.

 "Wake me when we get there."

****

 Clara’s flashlight flickered as the batteries died.

 "No . . . no! Work! Please!"

 Her cries were hysteric as she swatted the small flashlight against the cave’s wall. It echoed loudly and Clara stopped.

 Her breathing was harsh. She paused, attempting to quiet herself, but sobbed, unable to stifle her emotion. She dropped the flashlight. It rolled across the stone and clicked back on, illuminating the cave’s entrance.

 A figure stood staring into the light, silhouetted. Clara’s eyes opened wide. She put a hand to her mouth and shook her head slowly.

 "He found me."

****

 Amanda nudged Clara and opened the limo door.

 "We’re here."

 Clara stared out of the window.

 "They’re all gonna look at me."

 Amanda watched Clara with hesitancy.

 "They just . . . they don’t know what to say . . ."

 Clara narrowed her eyes. Her voice was low.

 "So they look?"

 Amanda paused.

 "I guess."

 Clara crossed her arms and pulled them tight against her body. Amanda watched.

 "They’re . . . they’re just happy that you’re okay . . . they-"

 "They want to know what happened. They want to hear it from me. I shouldn’t have come."

 Amanda took Clara’s hand.

 "I know it was bad, but-"

 "Bad?"

 Clara’s face reddened.

 "How could you know?"

 Amanda retracted her hand.

 "I didn’t mean-"

 "Of course you didn’t! No one does!"

 Amanda’s tone weakened, hurt.

 "I’m just trying to help you."

 "Well, don’t."

 Clara got out of the limousine. Amanda sighed, wiping away tears. She followed.

****

 The figure, a man, chuckled deeply. Clara shook her head, pressing herself against the cave wall.

 "No . . ."

 The man took a step forward. Clara’s tone intensified with anger.

 "NO!"

 The man’s hair was long and unkempt. Clara screamed.

 "Please!"

 Clara collapsed onto the cave floor sobbing, her voice weak and fatigued.

 "No . . ."

****

  A boy pointed at Clara as she walked through the crowd. The room was dim. A DJ sat at the head of the room talking animatedly to several young women as most of the student body swayed rythmically in huddled groups conversing with one another.

 Clara stared longingly at several people laughing nearby, almost entranced. A hand came down on Clara’s shoulder.

 Clara screamed. She jumped back. Amanda took a step back as well, her eyes wide and fearful.

 The students stopped swaying. They stared at Clara. The room whispered in unison as eyes and fingers pointed to Clara, her face tearstained, her body shaking. Clara ran to the exit, threw open the door, and burst out into the cold, October air.

****

  "You got away, dincha? Got away. Not again. You don’ go away again."

 He grabbed her hair and pulled her up. Clara’s screams echoed off of the cave’s walls, drowning out the monotonous drip of the falling water. The man put his face close to hers. He breathed open mouthed, exposing a cavern of black and yellow teeth. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

 "We gun have fun tonigh-"

 Bang! The man sputtered and dropped Clara back onto the cave floor. Clara clutched her hair sobbing. Flashlights flooded the cave as a dozen police officers streamed in, their walkies wailing as the voices of every dispatch in the state called out the triumphant cry: "We found her."

 Clara shivered, crying uncontrollably as the men grabbed her, covered her in blankets and pelted her with questions. She only had one response, which she repeated over and over: "I want to go home. Please. I just want to go home."

****

 Clara sat on a swing, kicking dirt up with her high heels. Amanda approached slowly.

 "He’s gone. He can’t-"

 "I know."

 Amanda stared at Clara, concerned. Clara looked up at her, directly in the eye.

 "It was so easy . . . so easy for him to just . . . to just take me . . ."

 The tears started to fall without Clara realizing. Amanda listened quietly.

 "And what he did  . . . the things he said . . . and I wasn’t going to make it, Amanda . . . it was like he owned me."

 Amanda held herself back.

 "He was sick, Clara . . . he was sick and now-"

 Clara bit her lip. She looked down.

 "I can’t do this."

 Amanda frowned.

 "What do you-"

 "This! A dance! School! These people! I can’t do this anymore!"

 Amanda took a step forward.

 "But if we could just go back to how it was, then-"

 "How it was? I see him. Every time I close my eyes, I see him! I’ll see him for the rest of my life! It is mine to deal with . . . not theirs. They don’t get to know about this. Abo

ut him."

 Amanda turned and looked back at the school. Several people had exited, watching after Clara. Clara narrowed her eyes, looking up.

 "They don’t have the right."

 Amanda hesitated. Clara cried freely, watching her feet skim the dirt. Amanda moved over and took the swing beside Clara.

 "They called me, you know. After your parents, I was the first one they called."

 Clara didn’t respond.

 "That phone call . . . that moment . . . you’re my best friend, Clara . . . I love you . . . and I didn’t know what . . ."

 Amanda stared at the ground. She took Clara’s hand.

 "You’re alive. He didn’t win."

 Clara squeezed Amanda’s hand.

 "When I got out, I found a cave. I found a cave and I stayed there. I was going to die there."

  Amanda kicked the dirt.

 "But you didn’t."

 Clara watched the students exit the hall and reenter their limos and cars, cheering and laughing enthusiastically.

 "No . . . I guess I didn’t."

 Amanda stood and moved up behind Clara. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and held her. Clara sighed as the tears leaked and then fell. Amanda held her tightly, whispering in her gentlest tone, "It’s okay . . . you’re safe . . . it’s over."

 ****

 The coroner ushered Clara into the cold, white room. He pulled the sheet swiftly off of the body. Clara nodded and turned away, pulling a hand to her mouth. The coroner pulled the sheet back over the man’s head.

 "Thank you, that’s all we need."

 

 

A guy