Y.S.B

Chapter Twelve: Make It Worse.

Holding a hand to her forehead, puffing her cheeks out, she let out a scream of frustration. Stomping her feet on the ground as though she was a child who didn't get its way, her tears mixed in with the rain. As the December wind blew cold, she trembled, hugging herself as she proceeded to walk in the opposite direction, her head bowed. Her face grew hot as she thought about what had happened previous, seeing Briar standing with a smug smirk on her face. In the dead of the night, her shriek bounced off of the walls within Richmond, clenching her fists.

Slamming the door to her apartment, Rudy rushed in, closing the door behind her. Leaning up against it, she let out a pitiful weep as she slowly slid down to the ground. Pressed up against the door, she shivered in her cold apartment. Bringing her legs up to her lower stomach, wrapping her arms around herself. "She just wanted to make it worse," she murmured. Positioned like a frightened child, she proceeded to weep all the tears her sopping heart could hold, ridding every single vein of emotion. Numb fingertips grasped at the edge of her drench sweater, attempting to pull it from over her head. Yet, the sweater simply refused to be removed, Rin complying not having the will to fight against it. Sliding further down the door with her hands to the side, she stared completely off into the distance.  Everything felt cold. Yet, she wasn't sure as to whether or not that chill was from her soaked clothing or just from within her. Laying still, she continued to slip further until her head rested against the wooden floor of her apartment and her tired eyes closed.

"Mama!" Cried a young girl as she rushed into the smoothie bar. Turning her head, a silver-haired woman turned her head, seeing the young girl running up to her. Crouching down to her level, she was tackled in a warm hug, a smile meeting with her aged features. "You'll never believe what happened! I saw the prettiest girl ever!" she exclaimed in her mothers hold, pulling her head from off of the woman's shoulder, placing her tiny hands on them. Moving her hand under her daughter's chin, she smiled warmly,
"Huh, did you now?" she questioned, the blue-haired little girl quickly nodding her head,
"Yup! She had the coolest hair ever, it was all braided and she had the colour red in her braids. She smiled at me while I was drawing on the pavement," she informed, "and- and she-"

"Stop it," Rin whispered. Through the window of the smoothie bar, her fingerprints made the glass as it fogged from her breath. Muffled voices continued from the inside whilst the girl stared.
"It hurts the most when you see them again for the first time, does it not?" From behind her came a man, his face looking somewhat similar to the girl. "When you see the face you longed for years and then when you finally get to see them, it's never in light,"  he added. Sticking his hands inside the pockets of his pants, he edged closer and closer to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ice cold.

A sickly pale complexion took over his features as she stood beside the girl, staring through the glass. Rin didn't dare breath, the presence of the man emitting an unfamiliar aura. "Why do you choose to speak about your mother but not her death?"
"She committed suicide," Rin whispered to the man standing beside her, "she took her own life and... I found her,"  she added. Lips forming into a thin line,
"I tried to take my life once," he spoke, "woke right back up after in a pool of my own blood." His words carried a bitter undertone as a heavy sigh passed his lips. "I told myself that one day I'd do the one thing that I was so scared of. I sense me and you are not so different," he affirmed, Rin furrowing her eyebrows, turning to face the man. Purple hair upon his head, hollowed cheekbones carving the structure of his face, "I sense you're scared of the end," he admitted, "well... I can feel it," he rephrased, "if I gave you the chance to relive this moment forever, you would take it. Death would remain a stranger,"
"At this point, I don't care about my fear," Rin hoarsely croaked, the man taking his hand from off of the girl's shoulder, "am I dreaming of you?"
"Where would the fun be if I told you the truth?" asked the man, "do you recognise me?"
"Leon," was all the woman spoke, "the purple hair gives it away,"
"I suppose I should try my hand on whatever that thing is that makes your hair a different colour," the man told.
"You betrayed Francis," the girl whispered, "it's written in the books. He did nothing to you and you did everything to him." Leon chuckled loudly, tipping his head backwards,
"How could I betray the man I became?"

"You fucking blew it!" Rudy screamed down the phone, "you ruined the entire fucking plan and she's- she's gonna do something bad to herself, I can already sense it, she's going to do something and it's all your fault,"
"I'm tired of hearing your shit, go and take it up with someone who cares Rudy. If anyone asks, she's still signing that contract, she's just... ill," Briar shrugged, shoving a spoonful of noodles into her mouth, wincing as she swallowed. "Where the fuck did you get that strength from? You're lucky I didn't fire you there and then," Briar grumbled. A bright grin formed on Rudy's face.
"I'm going to throw every single tantrum I can until you left me out of this deal. I refuse to cover for you when she's going to kill herself for what we've done!"
"Well, she failed once, what's one more to the attempts? I've never known someone to try and commit suicide and come third place with a bronze medal!" She laughed. Rudy held her breath,
"Y- You knew that she tried to kill herself?" Rin asked quietly, Briar humming,
"Mhm, practically everyone did! You really need to keep up with the news, Rudy-kins. She attempted after she walked into her mother hanging like a swing in the local park. Why do you think she takes them pills?"
"I- I never asked."
"They're to stop her from going all loopy. Keep her grounded on Earth. I wouldn't worry too much about her trying to off herself, trust me, as long as she stays on the pills, she'll survive," the blonde-haired smiled, "she'll come around. I'll send Rueben over, I'm sure she'll feel better having a shoulder to cry on,"
"That creep?" Rudy snarled,
"Well, it's either him or no one because we're clearly the last person who she wants to see!"

Rising from off of the ground, her neck riddled with an uncomforting stiffness, Rin sat for a moment. A bad taste in her mouth as the sun gently shone through her open window. Forcing herself from off of the ground, she scratched the side of her head, toddling into the kitchen. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, sniffling as she stared down at it whilst sighing, putting on the morning news. Walking to the side of her sink, she grabbed the bottle of pills she had kept there, unscrewing the lid. Turning to the sink, she poured the contents in, turning the tap on.  Whilst she was there in person, her gaze remained blank as she grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge. Standing there with the door open, she continued to stare. Yet, in the distance, she heard the words 'missing' call out to her from the device. Closing the door, she rushed up to her phone, the bottle of water in her hand falling to the ground when she saw a familiar face on her phone screen.

"27-Year-old Cherrie Broad has been reported missing by her fiance, William Carmen this morning. It has been known that recently, there has been controversy involving the Adams Co. yet, this disappearance is leading people to question as to whether or not the fashion brand has anything to do with the disappearance of the other missing models. This morning, the company issued a formal statement, 'upon the disappearance of Cherrie Broad, the Adams Co. has requested that the general public report any signs of her within the country. She was undeserving of this targeting and they will not stop until they find her.' If you see any sign of this woman in your local area, please call the authorities. Thank you."

Gasping, the girl turned her phone off. For the first time with all these cases, she recognised the woman who had gone missing. Recalling back to Rudy's bar where she had seen the braided-haired woman have a conversation with the maroon-haired at the bar. For a moment she caught her mind wandering off, pondering whether or not the woman who had ripped her to shreds had heard about one of her friends going missing, yet, the thought evolved as she reminisced about the girl. A scowl formed on her face as her eyes grew teary from the thought of Rudy. She attempted to shake it off as she swiped off of the news app, going to her messages, ignoring the flood she had received from Rudy and Briar, going straight to Lewis' name.

Rin: I heard what happened about Cherrie, I'm really sorry. I didn't know her but I can imagine she was your friend. If you need anything, talk to me about it.