Speakerboxx // The Hate Below.

Speakerboxx // The Hate Below

February 15th, 2015
New York City -- Caroline's Apartment

Caroline murmured to herself under a hefty sigh, pulling dark-brown locks back from her face to – rather carelessly – tie it back into a hair bun. Most of the apartment was clean now, especially her much beloved display case filled with the championships she won back in her glory indy days. However, she still had one task left at hand and that was her bedroom. Continuing with heavy distaste, Caroline approached her bedroom with cleaning utensils in hand.

Her room was almost like a teenager's; messy with bits and pieces scattered across surfaces with clothes lazily thrown on the floor, along with a few other miscellaneous items. Her bed hadn't been made as sheets and pillows laid messily on the mattress. Running a hand through the few escaped, messy pieces of brown tresses, Caroline sighed heavily and approached her bed. She went to lean over to grab the bed sheets and pull them off, however, she stubbed her toe on something hard and metallic under her bed. With a grunt of disapproval, she moved back to lean down and hold her foot, massaging the now reddened toe between her thumb and forefinger. Her eyes flickered upward to spot the metallic case, and soon everything became silent.

The case.

She hadn’t seen it for a while, never mind its contents. Within that moment time seemed to slow, and rather than seconds passing it felt like snow; falling flake by flake until gradually becoming overriding and unbearable, as if being blocked in by her silence. Slowly Caroline fell onto her knees, eyes never leaving the case for a single moment. Hands began to shake from the build-up of emotion inside, just staring stupidly. Cautiously, her hand reached forward to gently grasp the steel handle of the case and pull it close to her, before her bent knees. Another moment of stillness and silence fell over the room, as if everything had come to a standstill. A quivering hand hooked under the latch of the case and flicked it upward, very cautiously opening the box.

Inside were only three things; a small bracelet, and two pictures. The first Caroline picked up was a hand-drawn scribble, clearly an infant’s drawing. The picture in question was of a small girl with short, brown hair wearing a purple dress holding the hand of a taller woman with black hair in a ponytail in a blue dress, together walking in a flowery meadow with a smiling sun and big, fluffy clouds. Scribbled in green at the top of the picture was ‘I luv my mama’ in poor hand-writing, all done in crayon. Fingertips brushed over the still lumped markings of the crayons, smiling in a sorrowful manner at the childhood innocence which no longer lingered.

Carefully she put the picture back, and brought the other to her attention. This was different, a photograph to be exact, showing Caroline – roughly sixteen, judging by the horrendous shoulder-length dark brown hair she sported and the pesky pimples that surfaced themselves on her skin – grinning widely with a thumbs up and holding a large clump of cotton candy. Beside her was the same woman, this time with a long braid, smiling so brightly her eyes had become small arcs of zeal, with an arm wrapped around Burchill’s waist and her cheek pressed against her forehead. Her mother. Smiling and cheerful, the way Caroline always preferred to remember her. Despite the fond memory expressed in the photograph, all of the other not-so cherish-able memories began to flood into her mind.

Memories that she greatly preferred she didn't have to remember.

Caroline shook her head and placed the photograph back into its original confinement. A soft sigh passed through her lips as she pushed the case back underneath her bed before proceeding to tidy up her room. Once she was finished, however, a faint knock of the door resonated within the apartment. Startled at first, Caroline made her way towards the door and opened it slightly, peeking through the crack to see who it was. Her mouth became agape in shock and her eyes widened in disbelief upon the realization of who it was that was by the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The male that was by the door simply shook his head and chuckled, seemingly amused by Caroline's shocked disposition. He placed his hands in his pockets, the small smirk that was on his face never fading for a second.

"Surprise, surprise. Thought that you would actually be a little nicer and give me a more welcoming response as opposed to that. Then again, you'll hardly ever change your ways."

Caroline stared at the male in a dumbfounded manner. However, as she was able to recollect herself, Caroline shook her head.

"What do you want, Matt?

The male that stood before her was none other than Matt Kendrick: Caroline's ex-boyfriend and professional wrestler. He and Caroline knew each other when they were five and began dating when they were twelve. Many people said that their bond was inseparable due to how much the two truly loved each other. However, as Caroline's ego grew more and more progressive over the years, their relationship was beginning to have a major strain. The two finally called it quits four years ago after Caroline broke up with him on February 14th, the same day that Matt was planning to propose to her. Haven't seen him in quite some time, the young woman was clearly shocked. Matt, noticing this, couldn't help but to chuckle and shake his head.

"What is this? A baffled Caroline? My, oh my... this is all too amusing. Looks like someone finally got your trap shut for once. What a miracle!"

Within that instance, Caroline's expression quickly changed like a chameleon; shifting from shocked to serious with her eyes glaring at Matt. 0 to 100 real quick.

"Fuck you, Matt. Fuck you."

Matt couldn't help but to chortle out a laughter, shaking his head. He then spoke in a mocking tone, bowing his head down.

"I'm so sorry, my dearest queen. Please don't chop my head off! I never meant to upset you, m'lady!"

"You think that this is a joke, huh? I'm not going to ask again. Why are you here? What do you want?"

"What? Can't I just come by and visit you? Is that some kind of a crime now?"

"Obviously."

"Well, shit. Thanks for the warm welcome, Bunny."

"Don't fucking call me that."

A hinge of pink slowly crept into the cheeks of Burchill, who averted her gaze from Matt out of embarrassment. She huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

"You know that I've always hated that stupid nickname."

"N'aw... that's too bad. I actually like it! It suits you. You should've known that by now."

"I don't like it. Now, can you kindly do me a favor and go away? If you're just here to poke fun at me then I suggest that you be on your way promptly. I am not in the mood to deal with any of your nonsense."

"Actually, I did come over here to have a small chat with you. Man, what a bitch you've become."

Caroline's mouth opened to speak. However, before she could even utter out a single word, Matt already pushed himself past her and made is way into the living room. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Caroline marched over to where he was going. Matt would plop himself down on the couch, letting out a content sigh as he sunk into the comfy confinements of the cushions. Caroline murmured a few curse words under her breath, her frown becoming even more pronounced than before.

"You know, if you're going to sit on my couch at least be considerate enough to leave me some space. You don't need to hog it up with your fat ass."

"So 198 pounds is considered to be fat now? Where did you get these bullshit standards from?"

"Just fucking move!"

Matt laughed, scooting himself over a side to give Caroline some space to sit down. Once she was on the couch, his expression changed from playful to a more serious one. Noticing the sudden change in Matt's demeanor, Burchill quirked an eyebrow as she inquired:

"What's with the look?"

"Everyone back home is concerned about you and your recent behavior. We watched the promos you've done for that wrestling promotion you're working for. Your mom was especially taken aback by your attitude. You really changed a lot, Bunny. It's like you're an entirely different person--"

"Matt, for fucks sake. Don't start with this bullshit again."

Caroline shook her head, ready to get up. However, Matt continued to press on with his statements.

" 'Friends will only become a liability for me in the end'? Caroline, are you fucking serious? So having people that actually care about you and support you will only hold you back? What kind of nonsense is that to say? How can anyone sane enough even say some shit like that to begin with?!"

"You don't understand all of the pressure that I went through. I was always told to do this and that, say this and not that. And so I always had to put up this facade, smiling and being the 'girl next door' type of person. I had to be molded into this bull crap ideology of what a role model is and I was supposed to pander to you pathetic fucking wastes of flesh. I was supposed to fit into your ludicrous ideology of what 'perfection' should be."

"Caroline... are you absolutely nuts? Do you even realize the words that are coming out of your mouth right now? What has gotten into you..?"

"Fuck you, Matt. I'm sorry that you guys were jealous of the success that I was obtaining that you guys had to stoop me down to your kind of level, but hey. It's not my fault! And everyone is saying how I'm having an ego trip? No, I'm not. You ineffectual scoundrels were holding me back because you guys realized how far more superior I was compared to the rest of you. All of you wished you were just like me! Face it, Matt; I've always been better than you."

Matt looked shocked. His eyes then softened and so did the tone in his voice. He finally asked, with equal parts hope and disappointment, "Why would I ever be envious of you? I was so proud of you. I loved you and I still do. Everyone wanted to see your wrestling career into what it is today, but you've become so arrogant and you've pushed the people that cared about you off to the side as if they were nothing."

All of a sudden Caroline quickly got up and, grabbing the glass that was on the coffee table, picked it up and smashed it down onto the hardwood flooring. Glass shards went flying about with some of them piercing themselves into the flesh of Caroline's hand. Within the midst of his speech, Matt abruptly stopped and looked on in horror as he saw the broken pieces of glass... and the droplets of the crimson ichor that came from Caroline's cuts. Burchill was breathing heavy, hands balling up into fists in rage. In a voice that she barely recognized as hers, she finally spoke.

"Get... the fuck... out."

Matt tried to utter out a word. but Caroline pointed her finger toward the door and yelled.

"GET THE FUCK OUT NOW!"

Matt got up and slowly made his way towards the door, all while avoiding eye contact with Caroline. He feigned off tears as he walked himself out of the apartment. Once he was gone, Caroline grabbed the pillow that was on the couch, put her face in it and screamed.

She just screamed and screamed.