Born To Die | Vanessa Afton

31

TW FOR PART TWO: PTSD

Birthday parties were not something you loved, especially ones for little children. However, when Abby asked - well, no, practically begged - you to come back for her birthday, you couldn't say no, she had been through a lot, something a ten year old should not have gone through.

Mike had called a couple of times, most of the time you didn't answer, you could hardly stomach what had happened there and you could hardly relive it. Everyone needs to face their fears every once in a while, right?

Driving through the town brought back memories. Ones that mostly contained Vanessa. It had almost been six months and you had lost the image of her face almost completely, her words still stuck to you though, every word stuck to you. You found yourself sitting for hours on end analysing everything she had said, certain things she had mentioned. Hours of your life was constantly wasted over someone who you've been trying to erase. It wasn't this hard with any of your other exes, so why is it so hard now?

The neighborhood looked no different, still run down and horrible as usual. You parked outside the skate park that she had chosen for her birthday. The lights blared all sorts of colors onto the floor and since your window was down, you could hear the music that was playing.

Talking in your sleep

The same song that played when you and your friends were almost murdered. The same song that played over and over in your head in your nightmares. The same song that blared over the speakers when you were Abby's age. When your own friends were kidnapped.

Your breathing was quick to speed up, and your eyes teared up in a desperate attempt to block out the music. Closing your eyes only brought back the memories of a massive brown bear coming to murder you. What if it happens again? What if they come back?

Suddenly, the song switched. It took a few minutes to get yourself and your feelings under control. Grabbing the present from beside you, you stepped out of your car and locked it. Going inside almost made your memories flash back to the place you used to go for parties, you wondered why the design was so similar and if the choice of music was just a coincidence.

As you walked in you spotted the little brunette girl who you'd grown to love, as if she was your theoretical neice or something. She hadn't noticed you yet and you were glad, you noticed the massive grin she had on her face speaking to others her age, something you remember her telling you she had trouble with.

"Which childs yours?" A young woman walked up to you and said, her blonde hair styled nicely and sat on her shoulders. Her voice brought you out of your own trance since she had startled you. For a minute, you swear you saw Vanessa. She was the same height, had the same eyes, had the same hair. But you reminded yourself, she's probably dead.

"Excuse me?" You asked, not really taking in what she said, her face twisted in confusion, maybe you came on too harshly. You were at the age where you could have a ten year old.

"Oh I just meant, which one is your kid?" She repeated, the smile plastering back on her face. You cleared your throat. It would be a bit odd if a random woman came in with a present without a kid looking for the birthday girl, especially after the child disappearance at Freddy's.

"Abby's my neice." You lied, thinking back to earlier, it was a good cover up after all. The woman nodded and hummed, believing you. "I just thought I'd come say hi and give her my gift."

"Well thats very kind of you." She said before walking away. She was definitely checking you weren't some creep, otherwise she would have talked to you more. Even if she did accuse you, you could always pull the 'I'm a police officer' card, something you really did not want to do.

Abby finally spots you and her mouth drops, you assumed Mike had told her that you probably wouldn't come or something. She ran over to you and hugged you tightly. "Mike said you would never come back." She said and as usual, you were correct.

"He's just mad at me." You said quietly and let go of her, the smile on her face was one you had hardly seen before. Ever since you had met her, it had gone downhill the more and more you got to know her. You handed her the present.

Watching her unwrap it had to be the highlight of the year already. Her eyes lit up and the massive set of coloured pens, pencils and all that stuff that you got her. "I love it!" She said, looking through the colours.

"Abby! Abby?" You heard a familiar voice call out. Before long, Mike turned the corner to see you and her. He hadn't changed a bit. Neither did Abby really. But Mike looked exactly the same. He stood there for a minute, almost like he was studying your face. He finally came forward, "Abby go play with your friends for a minute so I can talk to Y/n."

Without hesitation, Abby placed her present from you on her table of gifts and went back to playing with some girls. "This is the first time she's had friends to go to a party with." Mike stated.

"She looks happy." You mentioned, he looked back at you, his arms crossed.

"Are you here to ruin that?" He questioned. You knew he wasn't stupid. It would probably be smart to say why you came back but you didn't have an answer. Why did you come back?

(I think my writing had a glow up)