The Last Night (Part 2)

The night air whipped my face and my hands; stinging them. The motorcycle roared on, pushing through the night and carrying me with it! I counted down the houses that we zoomed past until I finally came to the house I had been looking for. I slammed on the brakes and the cycle skidded to a halt right in front of the house. It was a tall, two story house that was rather quaint and set aside, but tonight, that house was where I needed to be, because Chrystal was inside.
"Chrystal?!" I called out. There was no answer. I sprinted for the door and pulled on the handle…nothing. The door was locked. I couldn't leave yet, I couldn't give up. I stepped away from the door and then gave it a hard kick, then another, and another…finally on the fourth kick the door crashed inward and I was inside the house. The house was cold, and dank…something wasn't right here. I hurried in through the front door and saw the first problem…

"Oh my God!" I cried. I saw a woman with greying hair and a few wrinkles on her face laying spread eagle out on the love seat. She was covered in blood and…other things. Her night gown was torn up and she looked half dead…if she wasn't already dead. It was Mrs. Abrams…Chrystals mom. I ran over to her and resisted the urge to puke as I looked at her. She had been beaten to a pulp…and I had a pretty good idea who had done it. I put my fingers on her wrists to check for a pulse. I sighed when I felt the slightest pulse course under my fingers. However, I knew that she wouldn't last long without medical attention. I reached for a nearby phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"911, What's your emergency?" I took no time in explaining the emergency. I told my name, where I was, but when I got to the part about Mrs. Abrams…I choked up a little. "Sir, what was that?"
"There's a lady here…Mrs. Abrams…she's hurt real bad and she needs help now! Just hurry!" Suddenly, I heard a rustling upstairs...the slightest of noises. I dropped the phone and ran up the nearby stairs…
"Chrystal!" I called. "Answer me! Where are you?" She didn't answer…but I already knew where she was. She would be in her room. I ran to her room and saw that the door was slightly open. I pushed it open and saw…yet another body on the floor.
"Chrystal?" Luckily it wasn't Chrystal, this body was too tall. It was a mans body, with buzz-cut dark hair. There was blood coming from his back where he had been stabbed. I stepped closer to the body and I groaned when I discovered that it was Chrystal's father, Arnold Abrams. I also noticed that, coating his knuckles and fingers was blood…the same blood that I had found on Mrs. Abrams. I already. I turned away from his body and looked around the room…finally…I saw her face.

She was standing in the corner of her room. There were specks of blood on her face and there was a scared wildness in her eyes…like an animal that was cornered. Her hair was unkempt and she was still wearing her pajamas. Under normal circumstances, I would have found her appearance cute…but that look on her face showed that this was no laughing matter…she was suffering. I then looked in her hand…there was a long kitchen knife…covered in blood. She was holding the weapon that had stabbed her father.

"Chrystal," I whispered, "are you okay?" What a stupid question for me to ask…of course she wasn't okay. She was everything BUT okay…but what else could I say? In response Chrystal just started crying. I took a hesitant step toward her, but she backed up against the wall even more.
"STAY AWAY!" Chrystal screamed. I stopped and stared at her.
"Chrystal…" I tried to say something comforting, but nothing came out.
"He came home…he attacked mom…he beat her and he…he…"
"I know, Chrystal! I saw what he did." I called, trying to calm her down.
"Then he came after me, and I ran to my room. I grabbed a knife…and I…I warned him to stay away. I told him to stay away! WHY WOULDN'T HE STAY AWAY!!!" She suddenly pulled out the knife and pointed it at her father's body. "I stabbed him, James…I stabbed him twice!"
"Chrystal, just calm down, please!" I was scared. Not for my safety, but for her own…she was acting deranged. There was a wild look in her blue eyes that told me she was thinking of something drastic. There were tears rolling down her face…I wanted so badly to wipe the away.
"He blamed me for everything, James." She coughed.
"He blamed you?"
"He said it was all MY fault that he beat up mom…all MY fault that he raped her…all MY fault…ALL OF IT MY FAULT!"
"Chrystal, he was drunk out of his mind! He was lying to you! None of this is your fault!" I tried to tell her. I think she was only half listening to me. When a person makes up their mind about something, they have this manner of acting…this way of behaving. And I couldn't help but notice that Chrystal was behaving in that manner. I took another step closer, but Chrystal wasn't even looking at me right now…she couldn't. There were too many tears in her eyes.
"I deserve to die…because it's all my fault." She suddenly held up the knife, and turned in upside down, so that the blade was facing her. A surge of fear shot through my body.

"Chrystal don't you DARE do it!" I shouted. "It wasn't your fault! None of this is your fault! It's all your dad's fault! Please don't do this!"
"I HAVE TO!" She screamed.
"I swear Chrystal, you won't ever have to feel this way again! Just come home with me! This will be the last night that you have to feel like this." Chrystal wasn't even looking at me now, she was holding the knife in her trembling hands and her eyes were closed. I tried harder. "Chrystal, I won't let you do this to yourself!"
"WHY DO YOU CARE?!" She screamed. I hesitated…could I say it? Should I say it? I had no choice.
"I love you Chrystal." I finally cried. Chrystals eyes finally opened and looked at me. "I've loved you since the day we met…I can't imagine life without your beautiful face in it. If you come with me, then I won't ever let you feel alone or unwanted again! Just please…please don't do this." Chrystal stared at me for a long time. We stood in silence…then Chrytal shook her head.
"People that love me…always end up leaving me." She cried. "I won't go through that again." She raised her knife over her head, ready to bring it down into her chest.

"NO!" I roared.

It happened in a flash of movement and pain. I darted forward and wrapped my arms around Chrystal, holding her body in my arms with all that I had. And then I felt the pain of the blade as it entered my back shoulder blade! I grimaced as the knife buried itself into my back and exited through the front of my chest. Chrystal opened her eyes in stunned amazement as little specks of blood dripped from my new knife wound down onto her face. I wouldn't let go of her…no matter how much it hurt or how much pain I was in…I wouldn't let go of her. I held her as tightly as I could.
"James…why?" She whimpered.
"You…mean more to me...*cough*…than life itself." I said through labored breathes. "I would gladly…give my life…for you….Please…don't die." I looked and saw the words I spoke fill Chrystals heart and move her. The tears came out stronger now.
"James, I don't understand!" She screamed. I reached around behind me and pulled the knife out of my back. I growled furiously as I pulled away the steel, but soon it was free and I could wrap my arm around Chrystal again.
"No…you don't…but I will help you understand. Just don't let go…don't stop holding on." I whispered. "This is the last night…the last night you'll feel so worthless and alone." Over the sounds of her sobbing and the thumping of my own heart, I could hear sirens filling the night. The ambulances and police where finally here. Would they make it in time to save Mrs. Abrams…would they be able to do anything for Mr. Abrams? I didn't really know or care…all I wanted to know was if I had come in time to save Chrystal. I looked at her eyes through my bloody tear filled ones. She was crying…she was fighting back the tears…and then.
"I'm so sorry!" She cried. She threw herself into me and wrapped her arms around me, like a baby that had found is parent…like a child that was lost and was now found. I embraced her…I held her. I forgot my pain and I forgot my fear…I was in the arms of my angel and I could have died right there and been perfectly content. As the police came running into the house, I still wouldn't let her go…just like she wouldn't let me go. They came into the room, but I didn't really notice.
This was indeed the last night…it was the last night that I would remain a scared little boy; terrified of admitting his feelings to the girl he loves…and this was her last night of being alone and scared. But were one thing ends, another must begin…what lay ahead for us was uncertain…but as long as it could begin and end with Chrystal in my arms, it really didn't matter to me. All I could do was enjoy this moment that we shared in the blood and the tears. In blood and tears, we shared this last night.