Beast in the Night

Chapter 2: A Fresh Start

Emily Sullivan Graham stood outside of Aishcliff Hospital, trying to look and feel―like the random people who would cast her a questioning look―as possible in the cloudy Boston afternoon. Her gray duffle bag sat next to her feet.

Taking a deep, long breath, she stared at the hospital’s red brick and white columns before she was interrupted by an awkward hug from Kathy, one of the nurses at the facility who became her sort of friend.

“Remember, Emily, your ex-boyfriend’s a d**k, your mom’s a d**k, her fiancé’s an even bigger d**k, they don’t deserve to stay in your life. Second chance. New beginning. Always remember that.”

Emily smiled. She very well knew that Kathy only wanted what’s best for her and she was right, all those d***s in her life had to go.

“And-ah, I heard this place Rhys  be under new management starting next month. You don’t want to be back here next month. I heard that the new owner’s a d**k too.” Kathy laughed and her large bosom shook underneath her blue scrub suit. 

“Really?” Emily finally spoke.

“Yeah. That’s why I was late yesterday.” Kathy leaned into her and whispered in her hear, “I had an interview with Clements Hospital. Pay’s not that good, but at least the owner’s―”

“Not a d**k,” Emily finished her sentence for her.

Kathy’s pale and freckled face lit up. “You bet!”

“Got it. Well, my mom Rhys  be here soon. She specifically told me I can’t be late for the wedding.”

“Of course! You take care, okay?”

Emily nodded and thanked her for keeping her sane for the past six months while she was in the hospital. Their friendship didn’t immediately happen, but Kathy had really tried to reach out to her, unlike Dr Grey. But it wasn’t that she was trying to reject help, it was just that she wasn’t sure herself what needed to be done. Kathy, had somehow, noticed that. She opened up to Emily and soon Emily opened up to her, as how a friend would. She soon started to feel better.

Maybe she only needed someone to trust and talk to after all.

Someone like who’s patient enough to wait. Someone who’s honest and brave enough to actually share. Someone who’s uncritical enough to listen and not judge. Someone who’s like Kathy.

Although, she knew could build those walls again and ease back into letting the world pass around her, in black and white and muted sounds, but she and Kathy had worked so hard to free herself from the strong emotions that had been brought about by the d***s in her life. It was time for her to decide to give herself a second chance for a new beginning.

“There’s your ride.”

Emily turned around and saw her mother pull up in her white hatchback car with a grin that was too bright and too cordial to be real.

Emily’s mom waved. “Hey, doctor! How you doin’?”

Kathy suppressed a snicker. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Sullivan.” Then she turned to Emily. “Did she just call me ‘doctor’?”

“Yeah. She just did.”

“What are you waiting for, cheesecake? Get in! I don’t want to be late for my own wedding.”

“Your mom reminds me so much of Regina George. It’s so weird,” Kathy chirped.

“I don’t know who’s that.” Emily sighed and picked up her bag. “I have to go. Thanks again, Kathy.”

“Call me if you need anything.”

“Rhys  do.” He gave her friend a quick smile and walked over to her mother’s car and got in the passenger’s seat. Quickly they drove off. “Do I really have to attend the wedding, mom?”

“Fran, cheesecake. You were only gone for six months. You couldn’t have forgotten what we’ve talked and agreed on. You know how old it makes me feel when you call me mom, and I’m really not that old. You know that.”

You’re almost fifty. You are old, Emily thought.

Emily’s eyebrows furrowed. “Do I really have be at the wedding, Fran?”

Fran smiled. “Why, of course. It’s my wedding and you’re my daughter. People are expecting you to be there.”

“I don’t have anything to wear. We’re not really allowed to leave the hospital to go shopping.”

“I have it taken care of, cheesecake. You don’t have to worry a thing. All you gotta do is sit there, smile, act like a normal person, and avoid Winston as much as you could. Today is his day too as much as mine. You gotta give that to him.”

Glancing at the scar on her right forearm, Emily wanted to shout at her mother that she shouldn’t be marrying Winston and should have thrown the guy out instead. It wasn’t really her fault when she lost it. But her mother somehow used her other hidden cuts as an excuse to have her locked up.

Emily closed her eyes and started to count in her mind. Fran took her silence as an acceptance that her daughter was wrong and she was right. Minutes later and she soon drowned Emily with her chatter about the wedding.

“…and oh, no one really knows about your stint at the hospital, cheesecake. So please, never ever mention it. If any asks, tell them I picked you up from the airport. Okay?”

Emily laid back in the seat and just nodded, not wanting to engage in any argument with her mother. She was still hurting that her own mother chose her boyfriend over her, but Fran barely seemed to notice it as she drove them to the wedding location.

When they arrived at the venue, Emily soon felt her stomach churned as she looked out the window of the car and saw that they’ve arrived at a country club.

How did her mother or Winston able to afford this? She wondered.

Fran parked the car. “Let’s go, cheesecake.”

“Fran…”

“My guests Rhys  be here soon. Don’t embarrass me by looking like that when they arrive.” She hissed. “f**k, your so pale! I had no idea you’d come home looking feeble and like you’re running out of blood.”

“We’re not really allowed to go to the beach and bask under the sun, Fran.”

“Don’t be a smartass. I told some of my friends that you went to Greece for an extended vacation. Look, if anyone ask, tell them you got bored and spent the remaining months of your vacation in…I don’t know, some country in Europe that’s really cold, okay?”

“Do you really think this is a good idea, Fran?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you just tell them I’m sick. Like you could tell them I ate something on my way back and now I’m really sick. Look, I just don’t want to f**k up your wedding.”

Fran’s eyebrow arched and her lips thinned into a straight line. “You not showing up and behaving well today Rhys  f**k everything up. Now, like I said, I have told everything you’re coming so you Rhys .”

Emily pursed her lips, jaw clenched. “Fine.”

“Good.” Fran smiled. “Now go to your assigned room and get in that f*****g dress that I rented for you. Once you’re done, look for Ana, she’s my makeup artist. Am I clear, cheesecake?”

“Crystal.”

“Good.”

*          *          *

The fuchsia pink was a nightmare hanging in the closet when Emily found it. And it smelled of mothballs.

“What the fuck.”

With a heavy heart, she put the dress on. She let out a long, frustrated sigh as soon as she saw her reflection on the full-length mirror. Her regret to agree to be her mom’s bridesmaid was tenfold.

The pink halter dress was too tight at the top, her cleavage popping out, and it was way too puffy at the bottom like a can-can skirt. And she was having a hard time already standing straight in the bedazzled, metallic heels.

Her life in Aishcliff was way less frustrating than this, she thought. At least they wore something which she was actually more comfortably. A whole lot more comfortable.

After her makeup transformation done by her mother’s makeup artist, Ana, she went down for the wedding which was held in a garden and tented reception on the lush lawn. Emily couldn’t help but admire the beautifully landscaped grounds and the overall picturesque setting.

Guests had already arrived and everyone was all smiles. Emily did her best to down everything out. After spending six months at the hospital, as solemn event like a wedding was beginning to be too much. But she still tried and did everything in her power to play the happy-for-her-mother daughter role and greeted everyone with a smile that never once reached her eyes.

And it didn’t really help that the smell of mothballs had started to be a little bit overwhelming for her. And the dress itched too.

“What in the hell are you wearing?”

Awkwardly standing in a corner, Emily turned to see a familiar face. “Ydith…you came.”

Ydith Martin was her good-natured friend from college who came to her aid when she and Winston had the fight that ultimately sent her to Aishcliff. And if she were to relive the incident again, she could swear it was Ydith who almost paralyzed Winston when she sent him flying across the room. She spent so much time in the gym was what she told Emily.

“Of course! This is like the wedding of the century! How could I miss it!” Ydith laughed. Unlike Emily, she was wearing a rather comfortable dress; a peach pink, halter, chiffon cocktail dress that very much complimented her curvy figure and bronze skin. “Hey, I came here for you and not Fran.”

“Thanks.”

“And Jimmy begged me. He doesn’t want to miss carnival show.” She let out another laugh.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, have you thought about that it yet?”

“Thought about what?” Emily asked, not really sure about Ydith’s question. She wasn’t really about a lot of things now a days. All she knew was that she wanted a new beginning after her stint at Aiscliff.

“You know what I mean…moving out of Fran’s house. I mean, I’m sure Winston Rhys  move into your house. That guy’s a parasite.”

Emily nodded. “I’m thinking about it.”

“Stop thinking about it and actually do it. You can’t live in that house with cretin or you’d end up killing each other.”

She nodded one more time. Her brows knitted at the sudden wind that brushed her curls. First the dress, and now her hair. She just wanted all of this to be over.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Emily asked, clearly not sure how to keep up with the conversation. She was tired. And bored. And itching. And feeling utterly uncomfortable in the dress, the shoes, and the loads of hairspray Ana had to use to keep her hair in place.

“Well, you know Jimmy. He’s probably sitting in a corner, looking at people with his judgmental eyes.”

Emily couldn’t help but relate. Except for the whole ‘judgmental eyes’ thing. Even if he wasn’t so good at feeling what other people do, she felt a little grateful that someone else was on a different level of mood unlike the overemphasized happiness and cheerfulness that people everywhere she looked were throwing.

“Emily! It’s great to finally see you again.” Winston, stumbled over to the with a beer in hand already.

She drew into herself immediately when her mother’s soon-to-be-husband’s hands fell on her shoulders. She didn’t like being touched by anyone. Especially Winston.

The guy was six feet tall and easily towered over Emily and Ydith.

“I’m glad you came,” Winston said and took another pull from his beer.

“The ceremony hasn’t started yet and you’re already drinking?” Ydith asked in disgust.

Winston grinned. “I am just extremely happy. I can’t contain my happiness.”

Looking at the thirty-five-year-old who would soon become her step-father, Emily tried to hide her irritation and kept her balled fists by her sides. She had hoped her mother would notice how much she was hurting inside, and how marrying Winston was the final nail in the coffin. She thought her fight with Winston had gotten through to Fran, but no, if anything, it even gotten her a vacation at Aishcliff hospital.

Winston swayed and his beer to Ydith. “Here you go, girl. Why don’t you take this…the ceremony’s about to start.” And without warning, he turned to Emily and pulled her in for a hug.

Emily stiffened; jaws clenched. “Get you f*****g arms off me.” She whispered between gritted teeth.

Winston chuckled. “Relax, sweet daughter,” he mocked and sauntered back to his family who looked like they’d rather be somewhere else.

“His family don’t look as extremely happy as him,” Ydith remarked.

Emily thought that the only person who was actually happy that very moment was her mother.

Half an hour later, the ceremony started. Emily’s stomach began to churn again at the thought of walking down the aisle in her hideous gown. She was sweating and her heart was racing when she finally did. She hated every second of it and hated how people couldn’t seem to hide the mocking smiles on their faces.

What was actually on her mother’s mind when she chose that repulsive dress for her?

For a split second, she thought it could have been her mother’s poor taste, but as soon as she saw Fran looking beautiful and elegant in her vintage beaded lace ball gown, Emily wanted to just disappear.

Did she pick this horror of a dress on purpose? Emily suddenly asked herself. But why?

The ceremony ended and everyone flocked to Fran and Winston, congratulating the newlyweds with applause and standing ovation; everyone except Emily who felt sat in a chair next a tree, a few feet away from celebration.

She felt the darkness swell in her again―the desolation and the pain. She was the only daughter of the bride and she was supposed to be happy for her mother, but she just couldn’t seem to bring herself to celebrate with and for her.

The entire place soon buzzed with chatter and children ran between the tables. Then the bride and groom sat in front of a bouquet of baby white roses. When the cheers died down, and everyone had finally settled in their tables, the toastmaster rose from his chair. The sound of his teaspoon rapping on the side of his wineglass motioned everyone to pay attention.

Emily soon drifted away from the crowd and made her way back into her room, avoiding everyone, even Ydith and Jimmy who seemed to were already laughing at the toastmaster’s jokes.

As soon as she’s back in her room, she angrily wiped at her face with stuttering breaths. Quickly, she gathered her duffle bag, changed into her usual shirt, pants, and sneakers combo and sneaked out of the country club and got inside her mother’s car.

She slumped in the driver’s seat, wrapped her arms around her and started to rock from side to side as tears streamed down her cheeks. A moment later, she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, scrubbing at her face with shaky hands.

 She needed to leave now. No matter how hard she tried, there was no way she could ever start a new beginning, a new life, if she would stay with her mother…and now Winston. The guy was just plain appalling. And the fact that her mother couldn’t see that was just too painful and maddening for her.

No. She couldn’t take it all in anymore.

With all the strength she’s able to gather, she took her mother’s key from the glove compartment where she had seen Fran usually kept it, and started the car.

Emily took one long breath and then took off without looking back.