003. Salt In Wounds
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Wounds heal easy. Usually. Stick a bandage on it and let it heal, then a week later a scab is in its place.

Marissa never let hers heal. Never stuck a bandaid on them. Maybe some part of her liked it. The pain. But this...this is pouring salt deep into the cuts across her skin.

For Sister, She thinks as she walks up to the glass doors of the newly opened Family Video. Movie posters line the windows. Like an extra wall. Like they know if she'd seen him through the glass while sitting in her car, contemplating, she would've just left.

Thankfully, he isn't at the counter when she enters the building. It's cold inside, she thinks, as goosebumps rise across her skin. Robin Buckley is working the register.

"Marissa?" Robin questions and her eyebrows are raised like she's seen a ghost.

Marissa gives her a soft smile. It's all she can manage, as her eyes scan every crevice of the building that's visible.

"You look...awful" Robin blurts and Marissa's eyes are brought back to the girls face. She looks like she wants to scoop those words back up and swallow them whole.

"Thanks" Marissa replies, now subconsciously touching her face. She hasn't looked in the mirror in days. And now she wishes she would've.

"Sorry, oh my god, I'm so sorry, I can never just shut up sometimes" Robin is stumbling over herself. It makes Marissa's lips curve slightly. Then they are straight, separated, dry.

He's feet away and he's already affected her just by his presence in the room. He still looks perfect, she thinks. Of course she's seen him around, but always from afar. She's been afraid to get too close again.

His hair is still the perfect shade of chestnut, with that hint of caramel. His eyes are still painfully gorgeous, dark and bright all at once. And that stupid uniform he's got on... god, she wants to laugh. But then it all comes back. Rushing in. Like a tsunami you wished and wished wouldn't come.

He's helping a costumer. Some pretty girl that he's obviously trying to use his charming skills on. And Marissa is back on the porch, her hand over the doorknob, she's back in the hallway catching him talking to her, she's back at that party, watching him kiss her. And every muscle in her body screams to run.

She's stuck. He catches her eye. His jaw tenses. She catches it. He's walking over.

"This'll be interesting" Robin mumbles, and Marissa catches it. Yes, yes it will.

"Hi" He says, and he looks awkward as ever.

Marissa just smiles. The same smile she gave to Robin not minutes ago. A painful, fake smile.

"So....what's so important?" He's straight to the point, and part of her is grateful, the other just wants to hear him say he's sorry.

"It's, um, it's Chrissy," Every nerve is being pinched just saying her name. "She's, she's, gone" She can't say where, she doesn't even know.

"Gone? Like missing?" He asks. Always questioning. She wished he wouldn't.

"No," She can feel the tears start to fall, "Like, gone, gone" God, please catch on. He doesn't. But Robin has.

"Oh my God, how?" Robin isn't sure if she should hug her or if it isn't her place so she stays shocked behind the counter, 

"The police still haven't given my parents a straight answer" Steve still looks confused. She wants to shake him and scream, "She's dead!" but she can barely even look in his direction.

Finally he speaks, "I'm sorry I'm a little lost here". Robin shakes her head, "How thick is your skull? She's dead dingus"

Straight to the point, and the words hurt just as much as they did when her mother said them aloud the day it happened.

Steve's mouth is slightly agape. Marissa can feel his eyes quickly flight over her and return back to something else. Anything else as long as they aren't on her.

"I'm sorry" The words are barely audible but he says them. Those two words she's wanted to hear for months. Two words that mean so much even if they aren't directly meant for her.

"So," Robin interjects, "They still don't know what happened to her?"

"They ruled it a homicide but the pictures I saw say other wise." Marissa's lips are moving but her mind hasn't caught up to what she's said yet. A homicide. She's feeling sick.

"Pictures?" Robins brows are knit together, while Steve is concentrated hard on the string that's come loose from the hem of his shirt.

"Yeah," Marissa swallows, "Pictures they took of her at the scene" Her eyes are watering and she tries to choke them back but they fall, slow, individually. Steve is looking at her now.

"God," is all Robin breathes out. She can't even imagine, Marissa thinks.

"It wasn't normal... she looked," Another tear is rolling down her cheek. She doesn't finish her sentence because she's not sure how to describe the way her sister looked in those photos. "No person could've done that to her" She says instead.

Robin and Steve share a look. "I know some weird shit went down in the past couple years, and I know you guys were apart of some of it, whatever it was" Marissa explains. "So that's why I'm here, I want answers," She continues "And I think you can get them for me".

"We're gonna need a little more information than that" Steve blurts and Robin's eye flit over at him long enough for him to look like he wished he wouldn't have said that. "We'll figure this out, I promise" Robin adds.

The door of the store swings open and two out-of-breath teens are stumbling in.

"We need to talk to the both of you," The boy starts, "Immediately".