SILHOUETTE, until dawn

SIX

˗ˏˋ CHAPTER SIX ˊˎ˗
o. aftermath of a broken heart

THE SICKENING CRIMSON COLOUR OF BLOOD STAINS THE PORCELAIN SKIN OF ELLIE GREENE, the horrific liquid seeping into every indent of her body's surface, and dripping from her fingertips with great ease. Newly shed tears cascade down her dirtied cheeks, the small, misery induced droplets seeming to be of an everlasting supply, her recently shattered heart brewing an unbearable, agonising pain deep inside her. Her body lingers on the brink of collapse, the clutches of exhaustion taking a tight grasp upon her, as that evening, she had been faced with great levels of emotional and physical exertion.

The heart-wrenching sobs of the Greene girl had come to silence throughout the journey back to the Washington Lodge, in order to commence a search for Sam and inform her of the horrid events that had occurred within the godforsaken shack. After stumbling upon both Emily and Matt, while all three were utterly entranced by their own hysterics that came as a side-effect of witnessing a friend, or something more, have all life ripped from their body, the trio had parted ways with the significantly more calm-minded couple, as they had ventured off in an attempt to contact those beyond the mountain.

And now, Ellie Greene lingers directly in front of the open doorway in which leads into the room that had always belonged solely to Josh Washington; a room she had spent countless lonely nights within alongside the male. She finds herself unable to gather the will to enter the room that holds such a sacred position in her heart, nor could she take even another step more, and instead, her glazed over eyes stare upon the bedroom of the deceased. She had stumbled upon the opened entryway in her half-hearted search to find Sam, and it had quickly stolen the entirety of her attention, averting her focus from what she had initially intended to achieve whilst back in the lodge.

The barely audible creaking of floorboard beneath the feet of another manage to finally snap the attention of the Greene girl away from the room that lies before her, but she makes no attempt to look upon the approaching person, not truly caring who it may be. Not even when they make an attempt to induce conversation with her does she pay them any attention, the harsh blame toward those around her burning with such an intense passion that she fears she may explode if she utters a singular word to them.

"Ellie?" The voice of Chris, which now sounded like nails on a chalkboard in the perspective of the Greene girl, echoes out with an underlying tone of concern woven deep within his voice; an emotion in which the female discarded with great ease. "I'm so sorry about what happened. You probably hate me at the moment, but, it was either him or Ashley and... Fuck. I know you're mad, but you can't just shut everyone out."

But his words seemed to fall upon only deaf ears, as all Ellie Greene did was walk away from the boy who had once been one of her closest friends, sparing not even an isolated glance backward as she did so. Her facial features remained utterly stoic and void of all emotion, the mask that she had managed to force upon herself barely even cracking under the words of the blonde. And all Chris could do as was watch as one of his most beloved friends left him behind in the dust, severing whatever threads of friendship were left.