Shades Of Scarlett

1

Everybody experiences pain. It's an inevitable part of life. Pain comes in many forms and while some would argue it isn't the case, physical pain was the easiest to deal with. At least in the short term. It's the emotional pain that cripples you. The one that would leave a grown man crying because his love just died. A pain that makes you want to sleep and never wake up ever again. 

Not everyone experiences it at the same level. Not everyone can deal with it. Not everyone can smile and forge on, but those who do? They are strong, no matter how vulnerable they may be in the moment. When your heart continues to beat and you continue to live your life to the best of your ability -- that is what true strength is. 

Scarlett

Life isn't easy for Scarlett. 

Though that blanket statement could be applied to just about anyone, for Scarlett it was different. Life was never easy for her. It was her fault really. At least that's what those around her told her. When she was seven, she lost her father. She had been playing in the woods near the edges of the border and a rouge wolf who managed to sneak his way in attacked her. Luckily, or unluckily, her father was there and saved her. She could never forget the fight that happened after that. Her father was gaining the upper hand on the enemy when he was jumped by a second wolf. Maybe it was his love for her that he managed to put down the two rouges, but it came at the cost of his own life. She was eventually found crying on her father's dead body, covered in his blood. 

It was after that day that her life changed. Her own family couldn't look at her the same anymore. Her mother, who had just lost her mate, was so overcame with grief that she directed all her frustrations and heartache on Scarlett. 

She was the reason her father was gone. 

If she had just stayed within safer grounds, her father would still be alive. 

Her brother was no different. He loved their father with all his heart and looked up to him as a role model. Not even the alpha had as high of a standing in her brother's heart as their father. When he learned of how their father died, he accused her of putting him in harm's way and she became the subject of his rage. 

"Why didn't you die instead of Dad?"

At the age of seven she became subjected to abuse. It was hard for her, when everyday she would be reminded time and time again that she deserved all the pain she was given. At first she couldn't understand why. Hadn't she lost someone she loved as well? How was it that she wasn't allowed to mourn for her deceased father? But she soon came to realize that it didn't matter if she felt the pain of losing him because she was the sole reason why he was gone in the first place. So she slowly grew up with the knowledge that she was a killer who wasn't worthy of knowing love or warmth. She deserved the pain because she was the one who caused her father's death. 

It's all your fault, she would hear. Day after day. Night after night. 

People say pain is easy. Is it? is the emotional pain easy? Or is it physical pain? She didn't know. And quite frankly, it was beginning to all hurt her the same. 

....

There was a slight murmuring in the background, like a voice on the radio lost in the white noise. Scarlett groaned softly, but snuggled up to the pillow and continued to sleep. She was warm and in a safe place. Darkness enveloped her in peaceful bliss as she laid there with no worries and nothing to stress about. Everything was quiet and tranquil, something that she rarely experience. But, the slight murmuring grew louder. Now, it sounded as if it was a laugh. It was faint at first but the longer she slept, the louder it grew. It wasn't a happy laugh at all. It was mocking.