The Missing Piece

by Kiersten Modglin

I nodded, grateful for the chance to leave. I picked up the glass, hurrying back to my room. When I got to my room I shut my door, sliding down the wall. My whole body shook with fear. What on earth was going on? What were they talking about? Had I really forgotten who I was? How could I? Who was I? Questions swam in my brain as I began to drift off to sleep again. When I woke up the next morning, the cup was gone from my nightstand and the prior night was a bit of a blur. Had it all been just a bad dream?

My body went into full panic. I tensed up, a scream tearing from my throat. I pulled away, my cheeks burning.

He was just doing what he thought I needed. I couldn’t fault him for that.

Or wait…did I just not remember being here? The nightmare from the other night still haunted me. I couldn’t be sure if it had been real.

I feel like I’m walking on eggshells here. I don’t know what I can say and what I can’t. I don’t want to upset you or break the rules. I just want my friend back. I just want to be able to talk to you, like we used to. This is all just so confusing.”

When I looked back, she was staring at me through the glass, a look of sheer disappointment on her face. She didn’t stand up, she didn’t come after me, and she didn’t try to stop me. Instead, she watched me leave, keeping her distance. A look of understanding filled her face.

When I looked back, she was staring at me through the glass,

look of sheer disappointment on her face. She didn’t stand up, she didn’t come after me, and she didn’t try to stop me. Instead, she watched me leave, keeping her dist...

Panic was starting to set in. I went to each class trying to act as though I wasn’t worried, but my whole body was on edge. Where was he? Was he still mad? Why wouldn’t he just talk to me?

“Look, I’m sorry, Jaice. I was just stressed out, okay? I had to blow off some steam.” “And you do that by disappearing? By ignoring me? You could’ve at least let me know that you were okay.” “I know, I know.” He still sounded angry.

“You’re right. I’m your girl. Yours and only yours, and no matter what anyone does, nothing will ever change that. Do you hear me?” “Promise me?” “I promise.”

I’ve never really had someone care about me. I’ve never had anyone to answer to.” I hugged him back. “Well, I’m here now. You have me, and I care. I care a lot.” He kissed the side of my head, my pulse quickening, this time in a good way. “I love you.”

He spun, his hands in the air. “Why is it not okay for me to disappear for a few days but it’s fine for you to flinch every time I touch you?” I looked at the hurt in his face, begging me for answers I didn’t know myself. “Someone hurt you,” he said. It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. “Who?” He walked closer to me, his arms ready to hold me. I paused, thinking long and hard. What answer could he handle? What answer could I give? “Who hurt you, Jaicey?” he asked, his voice growing firm. He grasped my arms, not in a painful way, but enough to make me flinch again. “For God’s sake, Jaicey, tell me.” “I don’t…I don’t know,” I said, trying to keep my voice under control. He dropped my arms. “You don’t know?” I shook my head, rubbing my arms where his hands had been. “No.” “What do you mean you don’t know?” “I just don’t know.” I wished I could tell him more, wished I had more to tell. Instead, I stared at him solemnly, waiting for his response. He turned back for the door. “Fine. Whatever.” “Brayden, please. I want to tell you, I do. I just…I don’t know. Please. Please don’t leave. Not like this.” “Like what?” He stared at me. “Angry. Mad. Whatever you are.” “I’m not angry, Jaicey. I’m not mad. I’m hurt. I’m hurt that you don’t trust me, but it’s fine. It’s whatever.” “It’s not fine. I know that. I’m sorry.” He waited for me to elaborate but I didn’t. After a moment, he grasped the door handle. “Please don’t leave while we’re fighting,” I begged, feeling tears form in m...

My hands were shaking. I was inconsolable.

my strength finally shattered. The tears that had been building up in my eyes were now pouring down my face, ruining all of my makeup. I was a cliché;

He kissed my neck, his lips brushing my scars. I instinctively covered them with my hand. He pulled it down forcefully. “You don’t have to be embarrassed by your scars, Jaice. I love them so much.” “What did you say?” I pushed him back. He’d never mentioned my scars before, never even looked at them from what I’d seen. It was part of the reason I’d liked him so much. Why I’d loved him.

him. How had I never noticed the savage in his eyes?

It hit me then that this was his plan all along. He was going to win.

I gasped as I saw it, a thin red scar running from my upper thigh around to the back of my knee; a scar like Brayden’s. Seeing the scar made me dizzy and then I remembered. I remembered everything.

It was Bailey who had been suspicious, I could see it in the way she looked at me, but I wouldn’t hear of it. Bailey was always the cautious to my extreme. She was tame when I was wild. She was calm when I’d gone mad. I thought she was just being childish, uncool even. What I wouldn’t give now to have listened to her, to have trusted her.

I lay back down, groaning and rubbing my head, trying to figure out where I was.

She didn’t answer. Bailey had never liked Mr. Brown, had never trusted him like I had. She thought our friendship was weird. “I’m sorry, Bailey. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” “It’s okay, Jaicey. You couldn’t have known.” I sobbed loudly, forgetting I should be quiet. “Of course I could’ve known. You warned me about him.”

When the door crept open, the light brought physical pain to my eyes.

Death didn’t seem so scary anymore, honestly. It was almost comforting to know it would be over soon.

“I don’t feel much anymore. I think…I think I’m dying. Is this how it feels?”

She wasn’t crying anymore; I don’t think either of us really saw a point. Besides that, I didn’t think my body had any extra water to release.

“Now, if honesty truly existed, would we even be in this situation? Just hold still, sweet girl, and it will all be over soon.”

The cold metal of his knife ran down my neck. It hurt, oh God, it hurt like nothing I’d ever felt before. I felt my warm blood pouring out of the wounds, I could taste it bubbling in my mouth, out my nose. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I prayed that it would end. I prayed for death.

It was useless to hold me down. He didn’t know I couldn’t fight back, I wouldn’t fight back. I was done.

Her voice brought me back some focus.

her. I felt the icy blade dig into my neck once more, tracing designs into my skin, my skin on fire and raw with pain. “Get off,” I tried to scream, but I couldn’t breathe through all the blood. As the blade dug into my neck once more, deeper than all of the other times, I was filled with adrenaline. I acted on impulse, jerking my arm free from the arms around my shoulders. I grabbed the knife from his hand, ignoring the blade as it dug into my broken, numb fingers. I stabbed the person holding me down from behind, digging it into his shoulders and dragging it toward me. He let go.

The pain was sharp, causing my eyes to water and my heartbeat to pound in my ears.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, my lungs burning for oxygen. Realizing I had no idea where I was and no idea how I was going to get out, I stopped. My whole body shook with pain and exhaustion. I gazed around the room, my vision blurring.

I spied a hallway out of the corner of my eye. Before I could make my way to it, I felt the knife dig into my leg, twisting its way up my thigh. I turned around, screaming as it tore through my muscles and nerves. I reached for the knife, feeling it tear me apart, and I just knew that I was dead. I fell to the ground, accepting defeat. It was over and I was going to die. He had won. He flipped me over, his glasses sliding off of his nose, his sweat dripping onto my face. He stared into my eyes with nothing but hatred.

The last time I saw Mr. Brown, his face showed only fear. Deep, immense fear. He screamed and I swung, showing no mercy. I hit him again and again until he fell silent.

I ran to her, dropping my weapons. “Oh, sweetie. Look what they did to you.” I untied her carefully, noticing that her arm had been broken in several places. Her cheek had been slashed open, and her eyes were swollen shut. I pulled her pants up, feeling sick at how loosely they fit on her now. She couldn’t walk, I knew. She couldn’t even stand. Her legs shook under her weight and she immediately fell over, nearly smacking her head on the concrete. I wanted to cry at the hopelessness of it all.

Finally out of the house, I realized it was the middle of the night. I was thankful that there was no sun in the sky to burn my eyes.

I turned the keys in the ignition and began to drive. My hands were shaking as we pulled out, I had lost so much blood I could barely keep my eyes open. The adrenaline rush that had kept me going was wearing off by the minute. I just wanted to give up, to give in to sleep. I couldn’t, I told myself, I wasn’t going to let Bailey die. Not like this. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. The clock on the dash said it was 4:04 in the morning. Somehow, I knew I would never forget that time.

It began getting harder to breathe, each breath more irregular than the last.

Her cries turned into soft screams as I watched her eyes glaze over. My best friend was dying before my eyes and I was falling asleep. There was nothing I could do. I turned on the air conditioner, wishing it would keep me awake. My last thought was that we were going to be okay, that we had to be. I was very wrong.

I saw the headlights coming our way and I heard the horn blare. I felt the impact, heard the sickening crunch of metal on metal. Feeling my body catch fire was something I would never forget, smelling our flesh burning all around me and not being able to move. My doctors said that with all the blood I had lost, it was a miracle I made it as far as I did. I passed out at some point, accepting death. I still had no idea where I was heading. The last thing I remembered, before waking up from my coma seven month...

I had thought that it was over. I had thought I could move on with my life, forget it had ever happened, but I had been so wrong.

“How could I have known? You never let me see your face. You left as soon as I knocked him out. You just left him there to die. You were a coward.”

He reached in the back pocket of his pants and pulled out a long, thin knife. This was just like my nightmare. Had I somehow known all along? Had my subconscious been trying to tell me?

it was always about you. About you and your spoiled rotten self and your rich mommy and daddy. You were just this girl who had the whole world handed to her. We had to show you how bad the world can be, don’t you understand? It’s so much darker than you believed. You had to understand that. We had to help you understand that. He said girls like you didn’t deserve to keep living, carrying on every day with this perfect little life while the rest of the world suffers every day. You needed to know how it felt. You didn’t deserve the life

“No, he wasn’t your friend. He was your teacher. Girls like you don’t know the difference. You think everyone loves you. You think everyone wants to help you out. Sorry, sweetie, but he hated you. He hated every single thing about you,” he said through gritted teeth.

I saw how you lied to everyone, including yourself, about what had happened to you. It was like nothing had ever happened, like that night never existed. I watched you for months, saw how you pushed your friends away as if you didn’t know them. You don’t think I noticed that all of the mirrors in your house were gone? That all the pictures stopped after that night? I asked you about Derek, and you pretended like he was just some guy. I saw you with your old friends; I saw how you acted like you didn’t know them at all. He told me all about you, Jaicey. I knew everything about you. You could pretend that nothing had happened, that you’d never been the girl you were, but I knew better. The lighthouse was the final test. When you pretended not to recognize it, I knew I had you. You were so easy, just like he said you’d be. Didn’t you learn your lesson not to trust people the first time?” I was stupid—so stupid. I couldn’t believe how idiotic I had let myself become. I reached up to my neck, tracing my fingers along each of the four scars he had given me. “Did you really think that someone like me, someone normal, could love a scarred face like yours? Did you really think it could all be normal? That I hadn’t noticed how deformed you are?

Didn’t you learn your lesson not to trust people the first time?”

I screamed, hot tears pouring from my cheeks as years of heartache ripped through me hearing those words.

This time, there was nothing. This time, I wouldn’t survive. Crying was all that I could do, and so I did it, loud and undaunted. He stared at me from above. “You ready to die, Jaice? Do you want this to be over, once and for all?” I nodded. I was ready. I just wanted it all to end. I thought for a moment about my parents. They’d come home and see my body, and I knew it would destroy them. I hoped he’d take me with him, that they’d never have to see me like this, never know how foolish I’d been. He leaned down close to my face again. I closed my eyes, waiting for the blow, waiting for the pain. Waiting. “So now, let’s finish this.”