Amid the Roar - Sequel to M.A.L.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Questions. There were questions from her parents, the police, and the doctors. Everyone wanted to know where Gabrielle had gone and each answer she gave was the same.

“I don’t know,” she told them. “I can’t remember a thing before I woke up on the floor of my living room. It’s black. I wish I knew.”

But that was a lie. Gabrielle knew exactly where she had been and everything that went on. It was all she could think of but she dared not tell it. She promised herself she’d take the secret to her grave and she planned on doing that. But with her parents being the prying people they were, Gabrielle was sentenced to visit a therapist.

“I was gone six months,” Gabrielle whined, giving the mind-doctor woman what she wanted. It had been twenty minutes they had been there but both of them knew they were getting nowhere. The girl’s fingers fiddled together under her knit sweater’s long sleeves. The illusion of nerves needed to be played but in reality, Gabrielle was too numb inside to feel any of it. “And then I come home to an empty house to find my parents went on vacation to forget about their troubles… To forget about me.”

“How did you feel when you saw them,” Ms. Johnson asked. Gabrielle’s brown eyes looked to the woman and finally, she gave up. This office and figuring what made her tick, it wasn’t her thing. The girl coughed, sat up and returned to the annoyed girl she really was inside.

“I don’t want to be evaluated and I don’t want therapy,” she said directly. Ms. Johnson was taken aback by the tougher Gabrielle but listened intently. “I want to be a normal kid and go back to normal things.”

“What makes you think having sessions like this will keep you from the normal life you want?”

Gabrielle scoffed at the woman in the grey dress suit, not sure if she was being serious. “Look lady, if I don’t remember what happened then there’s probably a reason I don’t want to. It’s psycho stuff. I don’t want to go psycho because I’ve been interrogated by a psycho-ist. I want to leave it be and resume life and forget all about what I can’t even remember. Alright?”

Ms. Johnson cleared her throat knowing there wouldn’t be a way to reach the girl’s level of understanding. She wrote a few more things on the clipboard of paper, making a bit of a scratching noise as she did. Gabrielle sat quietly. It wasn’t like her to be so angry at people who only wanted to help. Nevertheless, it made her feel stronger. Gabrielle fixed her straight black hair by pushing it behind her shoulder. She liked feeling in control.

“Alright,” the therapist said. The woman exhaled and was already regretting the words she was about to say. “Thank you for your time, Miss Harris. If you ever want to talk, I’ll be glad to listen. You’re free to go.”

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows as if not believing the woman. After a minute silence, she knew it was no joke and proceeded to stand up and open the door. But before she could leave, Ms. Johnson called to her asking one last thing.

“Could you send your mother in? I just have a few questions for her and then you won’t have to come back ever again if you don’t want to.”

The girl looked into the woman’s eyes, challenging her to see if she’s lying. With Ms. Johnson’s unchanging impassive face, Gabrielle nodded her head.

“Fine by me,” she mumbled. “Thanks for, uh, this. It’s been fun.”

Gabrielle sent her mother in right away and waited out in the hall. Her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned on the wall, one leg bent up and her hair hanging back over half of her face. It was annoying they were there but her mother insisted on having her examined. She hated feeling like she was broken when she knew the past few months made her stronger.

Inside, Gabrielle’s mother talked to the therapist, forgetting it was a session meant only for her daughter’s sake.

“I just don’t know,” mother Harris explained to the woman. “Sometimes I feel like she’s back to her old self. And then there are times where she acts like an entirely different person.”

“A behavioral change is very normal in cases like this,” Ms. Johnson defended the daughter. Though she knew there was something off about the child, she let it be. “Gabrielle has gone through something traumatic. It’ll take some time to adjust back to the way she was, even if she’ll never be who she was again.”

Gabrielle’s mother agreed. She glanced at the door wondering what her daughter was thinking of now and if she would ever be the same. The pissed off girl she couldn’t see made it that much more obvious that Gabrielle wouldn’t be. Mrs. Harris sighed.

“Why don’t you take her to the family reunion you’ve told me about?” The woman with the clipboard smiled at the distressed mother. “I’m certain Gabrielle being around people she knows and loves would really help her settle back into life.”

“I’m not sure,” Gabrielle’s mother said uneasily.

“Take her with,” Ms. Johnson encouraged, nodding her head. “If she wants to be normal again, starting with family is the quickest way. What’s the worst that can happen?”

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh you know the good stuff starts happening after someone says that. What do you think is going to happen? ;)

On another sadder note, I don't know if I'll be posting as fast with this story. I want to, don't get me wrong but my computer is being incredibly slow so I might have to get it fixed. I will post as much as I can in the mean time though.... Anyway, thanks for reading! Stay insane <3