The Prophesied Chronicles

Maybe I Should Have Gone Home Earlier

"Oh my God, you are a fucking disgrace to this family!" His words cut into my heart like a red-hot knife. It always did. I tried to hold in my tears as he screamed at me from the other side of my room, the door broken behind him from shoving it open forcefully. I probably wouldn't have a functional door for a while..

"I never should have adopted you and your brother!"

I'd heard those words from him before, too. It still hurt. I tried to not show it.

"Don't even bother coming down for dinner."

And then, Ryan was gone.

I knew I wanted to cry. My body wouldn't let me. I was cold, but it barely mattered; the only thing I really felt was a pained numbness that had now become my life.

I had broken one of the good ceramic bowls when he had me help with dinner, and basically flew into a rage. When I tried to apologize and offer to pay him back, it only made things worse. My hands still hurt from the jagged pieces when I tried to pick up my mess and throw it away, cutting into my skin from how on edge I was.

I barely noticed my body still shaking when I gingerly grabbed my phone, pulling up my brother's contact. For a few minutes, I contemplated telling him what happened.

He already has enough to worry about. He's probably asleep anyways.

Instead, I found my fingers pulling up YouTube, clicking on one of the many playlists I've created over the years. Quickly, soft music started playing from the speakers, taking away a little bit of the numbness in my heart.

School the next day was hardly better. Whatever sleep I got the night before was fitful at best, and mostly riddled with bizarre dreams or straight up nightmares.

I yawned yet again, my head heavy from the poor sleep I had the night prior, and I could barely focus on the history lesson. I'd never really cared for history, but at least today's lesson was short, and this class was the last one of the day.

I pulled at my sleeves of my jacket absentmindedly. Even in Jasper, Nevada, our "precious" small town, the schools were cold this time of year.

Precious. Yeah, right.

It wasn't long until school was out, and I was free to leave the school. This was really the only time I felt truly free, since after school I usually worked at a pet shop. Ryan, my adoptive father, didn't know I worked there, believing that I had tutoring most days of the school week.

By the time I walked into the pet store, my breath seemed to come easier. This was my only safe place anymore.

"Mika! About time you got here, I was beginning to worry! How was school today?"

The shop owner, Donovan, smiled brightly as I walked through the door. I felt my lips curling into a small, genuine smile at his greeting. He was a middle-aged man, balding, but he was certainly quite handsome in his own rights.

"Long and boring, as usual," I quietly sighed, walking behind the front counter where he stood, shoving my backpack into one of the small cubbies under the counter. "Glad to be here."

"So am I," he agreed. "Help is hard to come by these days, and you're one of the few that's actually cared."

"You always tell me that," I sighed, rolling my eyes at him. "The usual today?"

Donovan nodded. "We're supposed to get another shipment tonight. You think you'll be able to stay a little later today to help me with it? Rachel called off today."

I was already nodding. Anything to keep from being home.

It was late by the time I finally got off work, but at least my belly was happily full, and I was exhausted. With any luck, I'd be able to just sleep once I got home.