Take A Walk (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 5 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Five

❝identity (pronounced ʌɪˈdɛntɪti or ih-den-ti-tee
the state or fact of remaining the same one, as under varying aspects or conditions.❞

"You saw that it was Frank? What did he do?" asked Julia in the recording, businesslike.

"H-He... walked... came up to us... started... punching... I ran, I hid, I couldn't d-do it again, and I h-hid..." Elle in the recording sounded small, frail and delicate. "A-And then he... g-got the knife, he... k-killed... st-stabbed him... after a b-bit, he wasn't screaming... anymore... and he left..."

"Was the knife his?"

"N-No, but- he- he wiped it off- and he left it... and there was so much blood, I... I..."

"What's your name?"

"M-Mine?" whispered the recording. "It's... Amber."

"Amber?" breathed Elle, staring at the recording like it came from outer space.

"And how old are you?"

"F-Fifteen."

"And you know Frank?"

"F-Frank... h-he ties me up... calls me E-Ellie... like how y-you do..."

"I'm sorry, I thought you were Ellie," said Julia. "Who are your parents? Where did you come from?"

"I l-live in France but I- I can't s-speak French... I was b-born... in... A-Australia..." Amber gasped shakily. "My parents... I don't... know... I o-only know Gabriel. C-Cassie. And..." She whimpered. "H-Him. Frank."

"Do you know Adrian?"

Amber was silent, and Julia said to Elle, "You nodded- well, she did."

The recording cut off, and Elle blinked at the paper she had been writing on, the spelling words Drew had dropped off for her to give her something to do. The word 'seismograph' stared up at her from the paper and she stared back.

"Are you okay, Elle?" said Ivy softly.

"I'm gonna go to bed," she heard herself say faintly.

"Okay," said Cassie. "We'll see you in a bit?"

"Maybe."

"Don't... don't hurt yourself or anything, okay?" said Julia softly. "We're all here-"

"Yeah, whatever. Bye." Elle walked to the room she stayed in, locked the door, and lay on the bed silently. She reached up and pressed her hand to a pillow, imagining it was Drew, and closed her eyes. She missed him. Him, or Ma or Pa, just someone. Someone that wasn't those three. Someone who didn't see her as two people.

What if this 'other self', this Amber, took over for good? What made Elle herself, what made Amber herself? Who was she? What was Amber? Was Amber the real Elle, or was Elle the real Amber? Did anything make sense anymore?

Troubled, she closed her eyes, and dreamt of a better place.

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Phoenix was anxiously playing with the box in his hands. Hunter had so many headphones, and when he had called last night and asked to take one of them, he told him to grab the brand new ones in the top shelf of his closet. Phoenix had told him that it was for a birthday party, even though he had no idea when Ebony's birthday even was. But she'd like this gift either way, right?

Ebony sat with him again at lunch, and he was shaking slightly, barely able to look at her. He wondered again about the side of her face, the one she always hid from everyone, as she ate her lunch quietly. She smiled at him and he smiled back weakly. She was so pretty. She wasn't eating her food much and he looked up. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked, nodding to her barely touched plate of oddly rubbery pizza.