2,207 Words
Trigger Warnings- Rape, death, murder, abusive dad, cuss words
Point of View (Leah)
I looked everywhere, hoping I could just go back, "Hello? Azariah?" Then this noise immediately came back and it was so overwhelming. I was on the sidewalk of this place with super tall buildings. I subconsciously walked home to my school. I always wanted to go to school again. I smiled, looking at all of my friends. Oh ya, I got to school and sat down with my friends. I was talking with one of my friends and we were so happy. We were having fun talking about what everyone was wearing. I found it weird that they liked to see what everyone else was wearing while they wore such weird looking outfits. They all wore clothes that showed off their bellies and cleavage. But, they reminded me of Claire, which was nice. After school, I walked home with my friends. When I got home, I realized that I have a younger sister. She popped out of her room, speeding down the hallway like a bullet. She ran towards me and jumped into my arms. I laughed, "Camilla?"
"Yes, big sis?" she asked, looking up as she still hugged me.
I smiled, "I missed you so much, little sis."
"Come play with me!" she said, pulling my arm. We played games all afternoon.
Then the door opened.
I told Camilla, "Go into the closet. Just for now." Camilla hid in the closet and I quickly got out of the room, going to the couch, "Hey dad," I said casually.
He growled, "Hey, Azariah." Then I shuddered, realizing I was in Azariah's memories.
"How was work?" I asked casually, hoping he would leave as soon as possible.
"Terrible. Where's Camilla?"
"She's... she's at her friends' house. She couldn't make it to the bus so she just went to her friends' house instead."
"Ok... I'm going to my room. Make sure you feed yourself," he grumbled, walking up the stairs.
I walked back into the play room and opened the closet, "You can come out. We're gonna have a sleepover tonight, though."
"Again?" she asked, kind of disappointed.
"Ya... sorry. But, it'll be so cool. You can tell me all about school."
She got excited, "Yes, and I can tell you about my girlfriend! Well, significant other. They're teaching me how to address nonbinary people. It's a learning process."
I laughed, "Did they teach you all those words, too?"
She nodded, "Yep. She told me that that's how you tell someone about us dating. I said it word for word. I sure can read scripts. Do you know when I can tell dad and mom?"
"I don't know if you can, Clai- Camilla," I said, confused as to why l made that mistake.
She grinned really wide, "Do you like someone named Claire or something?"
"I used to... but she didn't like me back."
"Oh... that's fine, big sis. Someone will love you more than anything in the world some day." Then there were footsteps above us and the door to the playroom opened, "Oh no," she whispered. Our dad had opened the door we all thought he could never get through. If only we knew we weren't actually safe in here.
"Hey, dad," I said awkwardly, "What's up?"
"Ok, so we're all just lying to each other now? Azariah, come with me," he said, getting really mad. He dragged me by the arm, taking me to the locked room. He threw me on the ground, locking the door behind him with his key. I squinted my eyes closed, hoping it would go away. I didn't want this and I felt so bad for Azariah. I opened my eyes again, not feeling the same things anymore. I was in this garden and I realized something, I'm definitely grateful for my childhood. Wait. No, I'm ok with my childhood sucking, but Azariah's can't have this bad of a childhood. I kneed him in the stomach, making him fall back onto the ground. I got up, trying to open the door. It didn't work. Then I remembered that he locked the door. He crawled over to a safe in the wall, and before I noticed that he had moved, he picked up a gun and shot me in the stomach. I fell to the ground, blood pouring out of my torso as I got colder and colder. The life pouring out of the hole in my stomach made life numb to me. Then my eyes opened and I was in bed.
Point of View Change (Jenna)
Slowly waking up, I yawned. I looked at what I was sleeping on, seeing it was something so weird. Leah is such a girly girl. Wait, how do I know this is Leah's bedroom? Oh ya, I like girls. This makes sense, right? I just have to figure out what to do. I went into the living room, knowing that my parents would be making breakfast. "Leah?" Zadkiel asked, smiling.
I smiled back, "Good morning, mom."
"Good morning, Leah!" Domiel exclaimed.
"Good morning, dad," I said, giving them both a hug, "What's for breakfast?"
"Bacon and pancakes!" they exclaimed.
"What are we doing today?" I asked, hopeful to hang out with my friends and such.
"Work." I frowned on the inside, realizing Leah had had a period where she was utterly lonely.
"Cool. Let's eat breakfast," I said, smiling. I felt like I had all this pent up sadness inside. But, I couldn't show anyone that I was sad. I had to make sure everyone else was happy.
After breakfast, I went to records and started doing my work. I truly was alone and nothing could make it better, huh? I was alone and depressed, nowhere to go, no one to talk to. I cried, but I didn't let anyone see. There was no one to see, anyway. Who would even ever care? Even if I told them, what would that do? Make them pity me? Make them cry for my sake? Then a terrible thought passed through my head, if I could die without making anyone cry, I would. I have the perfect family, a steady job, and the best bedroom ever. But, why am I so so sad? No, I have to change this. I have to save Leah's life. But how? It seems so... hopeless. I looked up from my desk, preparing to just go tell my parents I'm bored or something. Bob and Linda would always help Andrea when she got bored. And she got bored A LOT. Especially when they ran out of case, which happened so much because Andrea and Joash would always get them done in no time at all. But that doesn't matter right now. I got up out of my chair and walked over to Zadkiel and Domiel. When I got there, I felt like crying, but I pushed through it, saying, "Mom, dad, I need to tell you something. I'm depressed."
"What? Leah, come here right now," Domiel said in a stern voice.
I stepped back a little, "I don't think I want to anymore." Domiel stood up and picked me up. They sat down, putting me on their lap.
"Leah, you'll always be our daughter. Or son. That doesn't matter right now, though. Right now, we're going to talk about this. I know you might not want to, but it's for you. Zadkiel, what do you think about this?" Domiel asked, spinning to Zadkiel.
Zadkiel sighed, "I don't know. I just think that Leah's always so happy. I don't get how she could be depressed unless she's hiding her emotions."
"That's a good point, babe. Leah, from now on, can you agree to come to us everytime you get sad? Or, even if you're super happy, lost, or scared, come find us." Domiel explained, putting their forehead against the back of my head. "Aww, I'm so happy to have my babe and my baby! This is so great and wonderful and I love it! You wanna hang out here with us?"
I laughed, "No, that's fine. I'll go back to work."
"Ok... we'll see you after work," Zadkiel said slowly. I got up, confident that I had fixed it. Leah's life would go absolutely ok. I walked over to my desk, getting back to work. I was happy. But then I realized something. If I was happy, I wouldn't be so lonely. Then the alarms went off. I rushed over to the rack of swords, grabbing one. I took a fighting stance and drew my sword. I started fighting, stepping closer and closer to where they were coming from.
Then I felt a sharp pierce in my back and someone grabbed me, "Dad? Mom?"
"No, not them. Sadly... they're already dead," the person said in a sinister voice. Then I slowly woke up, opening my eyes to be in the same bed, smelling the same thing I did just yesterday morning.
Point of View Change (Azariah)
After a moment of nothing moving at all, everything moved. The world started to turn again and all of a sudden, I was awake despite already being awake. I woke up in this bedroom that seemed pretty dark and gloomy. I opened the door, knowing exactly where I was supposed to go. I went down the stairs, remembering the little seat next to the top of the stairs. I must be in Jenna's house. I smelled breakfast downstairs, so I walked over to the kitchen. "Good morning, Jenna!" Kelly exclaimed, smiling.
"Huh?" I asked, really confused.
"Jenna, I'm not in the mood for this today. No games. Let's just eat breakfast," Hosea said, groaning to himself.
I laughed, realizing he was very cute, "Shut up."
"Whoa, calm down everyone," Linda said, walking into the dining room.
"Why? It's good to get your adrenaline running or whatever. Oh, where's Alexa?" I asked, looking around.
Kelly frowned a little, "Still in her room. She's not excited for school today."
"Why?" I asked.
"You know, usually you're in your room, too. What's different today?"
"Death threat yesterday. Makes sense, though, you know? I mean, I'm pretty rude a lot of the time." I was pretty confused, though, since I didn't really remember that.
"Oh... who was it?" Hosea asked, not as grumpy.
"Timmy Lachrim. I didn't take it all that seriously, though. She's bisexual and she's still single. And, she wears the weirdest outfits and says they're hip."
"Wait, you're not taking her seriously because she's bisexual?"
"No. That's not it. She's just rude to everyone. Like, you remember that girl who confessed to her, right? She said no just because the girl wasn't popular. Everyone knew that Timmy actually really liked her so much! It was just so dumb of her," I explained.
"Oh. Well, good luck, I guess," Hosea said, rolling his eyes.
"With what?"
"Timmy's group of non-binary's. She's like their token gay friend or something. They'd beat anyone up just for her."
"Oh. I'll be fine. I'm tough."
Later that day, I was outside for lunch like usual. I knew they'd beat me up right about now, so I waited, stuffing my face with food. I knew I could always just puke on them if they started beating me up. Then my mouth was covered and someone grabbed my arms and legs. I could barely see who it was, but I noticed that one of them was wearing rainbow glasses. Then my eyes were covered and I was taken somewhere. When they were opened, I found that I was in this dark room. It was completely empty. Then I heard someone say, "Jenna, you b****, this is what you get for making a fool out of the most powerful bisexual in this school."
I rolled my eyes, "You're still being such a prick, huh? Timmy, you are a terrible person and I hate you! You're such a pain in the a**. You know that, right?"
"You know, the one thing I never got was why you were so invested in Aimee. When I rejected her, you beat me up. Why was that, Jenna? I know you're not just an invested ally, Jenna."
"Stop saying my name!"
"Is it your dead name?"
"No, you just sound like a f***ing idiot when you say it!!" I tried to get up, failing to stand up. I was able to get up on my knees, "FIGHT ME, B****!"
"I'm not gonna fight you, Jenna. I want to know what your deal is. I'm always one to kidnap a fellow bisexual and set them straight."
"I'm not bisexual, though. You can't make me bisexual."
Ten hours passed of me laying down on the floor in the dark room, refusing to say anything. Then I realized I was about to puke. "I need up. I can't get up, Timmy."
"No, I'm not helping you up, you're just going to try to fight me."
I rolled my eyes, folding my arms across my chest, "Ugh, fine. Watch me die, b****." Then that was basically it. I chose all the wrong choices, making Jenna die just to spite this girl. I was dead. Then, I opened my eyes.