KING, the hundred

fifteen: hallucinations

tw: emotional & physical abuse, asshole parents, general sad shit

"the higher i get, the lower i'll sink.
i can't drown my demons, they know how to swim"

can you feel my heart by bring me the horizon

After exiting the communications tent, Avery rejoined Monty and Jasper in sorting the various nuts and berries as rations for the winter. Of course, they cut into their supply a little bit, mostly snacking on nuts that they'd found near their camp.

After about an hour with Jasper and Monty, Avery had the sudden urge to be alone. Following the urge, she walked along the fence surrounding the camp, and made her way to a little hill outside the wall. She came to this small hill to sit often, mostly when things got a little too chaotic.

Coincidentally, it was the same hill Wells died on. Knowing this, she sent a silent message to Wells whenever she found herself there. Whatever was on her mind, or whatever she felt he needed to hear.

This time, however, the message never left the back of her head. Instead she heard a voice beside her, a voice she hadn't heard in years.

"Avery." Her mother said, her eyes glazed over. Avery turned to her in disbelief, but her expression of shock quickly turned to one of anger.

"No, no!" Tears welled in her eyes. "What are you doing here? You can't be here!" Her feet skidded in the dirt as she scrambled to her feet.

"Avery." Her mother's voice was just as calm the second time as it was the first and it was infuriating. "You killed him." She had a bottle of moonshine in her hand and rose it to her lips, taking a long sip of the liquid while Avery was speaking.

"No I didn't!" She screamed. "You did, Mom! You killed him!"

"Silly girl." Her mother's voice changed, and the vision shifted to a memory. "If you hadn't killed your father, then you'd get to eat."

"No!" She screamed and cried. "You killed him, Mom! You did. He took the fall for you, he loved you. Mom!" Avery squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears, wishing for her mother to go away, and her memories with her.

"Honey, don't you know, love is weakness. Just like fear." Her mother's voice was sweet, a tone she only remembered from when she was young. Avery slowly opened her eyes again, only for her mother's voice to shift back to its original dark tone. "You owe me. You're still scared of me, you freak." She said, and Avery could feel the scrape of her mother's long nails on her chin. "Look at everything I gave you."

"No!" Avery screamed. "You gave me nothing! Everything I ate, I got myself. I didn't even get a room half of the time. All you did was get dad killed! He gave me everything that I am. You gave me nothing!" Tears were streaming down her face as her mother's emotionless face morphed into an expression of anger. She raised her fist and Avery closed her eyes, expecting a black eye to be the outcome of their conversation.

Instead, she felt a warm, familiar hand on her shoulder. A hand she hadn't felt in years. Slowly opening her eyes, Avery took in her surroundings. She was standing in her old quarters, and her father stood before her. Exactly how she remembered, his eyes curved with wrinkles that lead underneath them. His lips curved upwards into a small smile. His hand moved in circles on her shoulder, and Avery leaned her head down on his hand. She breathed him in, tears filling her eyes.

"How?" She whispered, through tears. "How are you here?" Her father gave a deep sigh, and pulled his daughter closer to his chest.

"I feel like that's not the question you should be asking me, Ava?" He chuckled lightly, but his tone was serious. There was a moment of silence.