H O R R O R S || B T S [Completed]

| = > Chapter Nine < = |

No sound erupted through the area. There was no low buzz of chatter, no vocal squeak of a footstep, no distant beep of a machine. It wouldn't matter though, she wouldn't hear any of it, ears too preoccupied with Evanescence's new single.

Her eyes stare ahead, vision memorizing every flaw located in the plastered wall in front of her. Once she discovers a blemish, she corrects it with one spark of imagination. She does this until there are no more cracks to fix, no more detremities to correct. The wall is completely perfect.

She'll be okay. Dad said he wouldn't let anything happen to them. And Dad is always right. It'll be okay.

The small girl winds her slender digits together, laying the joint hands in her lap. Her feet slightly swing back and forth, toes brushing the polished wooden flooring. The nerves electrify her system entirely, forcing her head to stray from the music. No one had visited her in a long time. No one had come to get her. No one had come to tell her.

Her restlessness increases at the thoughts invading her mind, fueling the growing embers smoldering within her chest. The female inhales a sharp breath before releasing the air in a frustrated huff. She peers at the table beside her, checking the clock positioned neatly on its surface. Nearly midnight. Nearly the fifth hour.

I won't move. She thinks to herself, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest. I told him I wouldn't move, and that's what I'm going to do. I will sit here and wait like all the boys do, because I am just as strong as they are...

"Tals." A soft call of her name halts her racing thoughts, a tall individual stood in front of her smaller physique. She jumps to her feet at their appearance, yanking her headphones from their nests within her ears.

"Dad?"

The male watches her with saddened eyes, expression contorted in one of pain. He holds out his hand, instantly met with a small one. The father pulls the young teenager against his body, tightly wrapping his arms around her delicate figure. The girl returns the hug, awkwardly depositing her short limbs around his waist, "Where's Mom?"

She feels the individual tense at the occurrence of her question, his stance somewhat tightening around her body. She squirms in response, "Dad..."

The girl does not move a muscle, until her father's arms fall from her form. The male inhales sharply, then exhales it in a vocal huff. He lowers to his knees in front of the teen, leveling their gazes equally. He positions a hand upon her narrow shoulder, using the other to tuck a loose dark strand behind her ear.

"Listen to me, love... I need you to keep an open mind right now-."

"Where is Mom, Dad?" Her voice releases in a panic, pitch slightly raised. She shrugs his touch from her body, reeling back toward her chair. "Tell me where she is."

The father bites his bottom lip, thoughtfully analyzing the best words as to not set off the teetering teenager. But, he can't find any... He can't bear to lie...

"She's dead, Tallulah... The Serpents got her."

No. The girl feel her figure run numb, her senses completely shutting down. She couldn't register the own shallowness of her breaths nor the pain of her nails sinking into the flesh of her palms. Her thoughts withhold her common sense in a cage... A cage of suffering torture.

The father attempts to pulls her back into his embrace, only to be shoved away by her small form. Screams and insults begin to fall from her lips, almost in tune with the tears cascading down her flaming cheeks. She pounds her fists against his chest, kicks him with flailing legs and abuses him with her verbal thoughts.