Over the road, I see one of my very close friends walking our way (Let's call her Alasyia).
Alasyia's jaw drops and relaxes into a yawn. Her eyes are eddging red around the corners, her lips appeared more yellow than her usual glossed pink.
"Hey Alasyia! What are you doing around here?"
She stops to give me a half-hearted smile, and bends down to pet Merlin on the top of the head.
"I was trying to find you. We need to talk."
We start farther down the street I was heading. Her normal stifled giggles, kindergarden jokes, and hair flips aren't there today.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?"
We don't walk anymore. Now, we are standing in the middle of the sidewalk. I ignore my dog who is barking at two unattended girls riding trikes with oversized helmets.
Instead, it remains silent between us as I stare deep into her eyes. A single tear drips from her right eye, and she starts to breathe heavily.
"Are you... crying? Oh my God, what happened to your hair?"
Alasyia has a bald spot on the side of her head. Earlier, I hadn't noticed the crusted blood matted to her scalp.
"You remember... w-when I went out with Tyrell?"
I nod.
"He. He. Won't. Stop. Hurting. Me."
I squeeze her lower back as hard as I can in a loving embrace.
"I won't let him touch you ever again, Alasyia." I spat.
She grabs my face and now, her eyes are overpowering mine. Alasyia's nails are digging into my cheeks.
"It's just too damn late, Sophia. Where have you been? My life has gone to waste, my friends haven't noticed."
"I-I-I..." I didn't have an excuse. The world began to spin and I was going to hurl.
Which I did.
Alasyia laughed menacingly. This couldn't be her.
"... Alasyia listen to me.."
"What did I tell you? It's too late to listen."
A man with spikey grey hairs starts in a jog once he sees us. He seems like he could help me...
She lays down in a green patch of grass and folds her hands over her heart. Purple blood streams from her fingertips, soaking her white cotton dress.
"It's too damn late, Sophia. It's too damn late, Sophia. It's too damn late, Sophia. It's too damn late, Sophia." She chants, Alasyia's eyes are rolled back.
I let out a terrorized scream. The man stops when he sees me.
"She is going to die," he says, "She doesn't know what she's saying."
"Yes. Yes she does."
I place my hand on her forehead and whisper,"Alasyia, don't leave me." It interrupts her pattern.
"I hope you rot in hell! I hope you rot in hell! I hope you rot in hell!" She is now repeating.
"I rightfully condemn you to the darkest, deepest hell there is, Sophia Manco. Every time he hit me, I thought of you. I had hope that you would save me."
"I'm sorry!" I screamed.
It was too late, though. She had stopped breathing.
I walked home. The man, a third-party, doesn't call the police like I thought he would. But neither do I.
