The Prom - Part 3

“Hello!…Is anybody there?” Daniel yelled as he strutted along the cobblestone path in the dark. He had heard muffled sounds coming from a dark corner of the park. “You’re going to see a shrink first thing tomorrow morning,” he said to himself. Daniel Smith was the high school “nerd”. Dressed in a borrowed tuxedo, he had decided to go to the prom and hang around outside the hall and wait for some like-minded nerdy girl to come and ask him to prom. Laura could hear a faint whistling sound drifting away from her. She couldn’t open her eyes but put all her remaining effort into letting out a drowned scream. …
Laura sat on the green park bench with her face buried in his shoulder. Her bruises oozed blood, which made her shredded dress a deeper hue of crimson. She felt sore. Sounds of her sobs percolated an otherwise silent night, punctuated only by the sound of crickets and other nocturnal insects. Something inside her snapped…she couldn’t believe her best friend would partake in such an inhumane assault; she let out a violent scream and broke down into tears…

“Its going to be ok Laura, I’m here now,” Daniel shook as he gently caressed her hair, trying to be as comforting as he could.
“The bastards…they…even Hail…I’m gonna kill them…” Laura managed to whisper between her sobs. She whimpered like a little puppy and hid her face on his shoulder, smudging mascara all over his coat.
“So much for the borrowed tux,” Daniel thought.
Suddenly she detached from him and looked directly into his eyes…Her teary eyes pierced through his soul. He didn’t know what he felt at that moment but all he wanted to do was save this girl from the clutches of the world before they tore her apart. He held her tight trying to assure her that things would be ok, but he knew as well as she did that Laura Summers world was going to fall apart…and that too sooner than he expected.

…

It had been a week since that disconcerting episode and Laura was recuperating at home. The Summers’ had decided not to take any legal action against the kids – being too self righteous to face trial – instead they had decided that as soon as Laura recovered they would take her away to some small town where no one knew them and start afresh. Daniel had become Laura’s best (and only) friend after the incident. He would visit her every day after school and he seemed like the only male (other than Mr. Summers) whom Laura felt the least frightened by. He would sing to her, write her poetry, act like a maniac around her and basically do everything within his power to bring a smile back to her face. But all he saw, day in and day out, were Laura’s stone cold eyes – devoid of all feeling. She barely spoke, nor did she smile – she sat around staring into the distance – oblivious to the world around her. One fine autumn evening when Daniel went to meet Laura, she seemed to be in a pretty happy mood. She actually came down to greet him and the door with a smile.
“Now there’s a first,” thought Daniel joyously to himself.
“Come upstairs I have something to show you,” she said as she held his hand and guided him upstairs.
“She’s holding my hand! She’s holding my hand!” Daniel thought with excitement. This was the first physical contact the two had made after that fateful night. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, Daniel had started caring for Laura as someone more than just a friend. He enjoyed the heady feeling he got from nursing her back to health. She was like a dove, and it was his duty to protect her from the big bad world. The two went upstairs and Daniel sat on the dresser stool waiting to see what other surprises were in store for him. Laura scurried to her cupboard and took out a mahogany box with intricate carvings on it and handed it to Daniel.
“Whoa! It’s amazing! Where did you get this from?” He exclaimed as his jaw fell to the floor.
“I made it…for you,” She said in a matter-of-fact way.
“Dude seriously, this is like totally…”
“Ok, listen to me,” she cut in before he could finish his compliment marathon.
“Keep this box with you. Don’t open it till you think the time is right. You will know when that is, I might not be around by then…but you have to promise me you will do justice to whatever is inside the box…promise me Daniel,” she looked into his eyes with her cold expression – her eyes wanting to hear an affirmation.
“What the hell are you going on about? You crazy woman! You’re going to be around to terrorise the world for many years and till then you better keep this box and make me a few more to hold my coin collection,” Daniel said with a chuckle.
“Daniel promise me,” she said in a more solemn tone. This time he had no choice but to give in…
“Ok, I’ll do whatever you say princess,” he smiled softly and tucked the box into his backpack.
That night Laura hung herself from the fan and brought Daniel’s world crashing down. Her parents and loved ones were devastated. No one knew what went wrong. She seemed to be getting better – she was picking up the pieces of her life.

What made her do what she did? What did she leave behind in the box for Daniel? When was the right time to open the box? Did Daniel open it and do justice to the contents just as she had asked? …That’s for them to know and you to find out. I couldn’t think of an ending (as must be pretty apparent) so I decided to leave it vague…please help me complete the story.