Marked Secrets

10

JP

The words I spoke to Amelia at the party on the staircase were nothing but the truth. My Father had beaten me on a few occasions, and it was always linked to me standing up for myself and the situation he and I were left in after. After everything we thought we knew became a fantasy, and the course of our lives were forever changed by one event.

Amelia's sister seemed so full of herself, so arrogant to the fact that it was Amelia's party and not hers. I hated people like that. I was surrounded by them for the past ten years before moving to Moonstone, people who tried to make something that was clearly about you about themselves.

Moonstone was a despicable place. When I first stepped through those gates to meet Aunt Katherine, I had no idea what this place was, or what they believed in. I put that into Katherine's hands, and she failed me. Or maybe she thought she was doing me a favor.

I knew all she wanted for me was to start over, though she did make that quite difficult when she fussed over me constantly and mentioned the past in side comments here and there. She thought that Moonstone would be a good place to be to forget, but I didn't want to forget. I wanted to remember, now more than ever.

Zoey's words towards Amelia shook me to my core. I knew. Those words were all too familiar to me, my Father uttered them often in fits of rage when he was drunk and trying to forget, whereas I was sober and trying to cope. Amelia needed to be helped, and Moonstone was not going to offer that. I feared for her, but also for myself as selfish as it was.

I could not go through that again, and I would not allow her to be the one to throw me into that hell a second time over. I cared too much, and I knew that Amelia Bridges had a purpose.

Before I could help Amelia with the plan she presented to me, I had to confront someone of my own. Someone who failed to enlighten me with the facts of what Moonstone really was.

Walking up my driveway in the dark, I opened up the front door without even trying to be quiet. When I entered the house, the first thing that came into view was Aunt Katherine on the couch, in her usual spot and position. Furrowing my eyebrows together at her, I lunged towards the coffee table and scooped up the remote, clicking off the television in the middle of one of her shows.

Aunt Katherine turned to me. "Oh, JP. I didn't hear you come in. How was the party?"

"You lied to me," I accused, setting the remote back down with force which made her jump.

"Lied to you about what, honey? Is something wrong?" Aunt Katherine continued.

"Save it," I spat. "You know what this place is. You knew exactly what you were doing when you suggested we move here together."

My cheeks felt hot with rage, and Katherine trying to act innocent only heightened my anger. She swallowed harshly, tucking a sandy blonde curl behind her ear.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't know until I got here, though. I thought that maybe being here would help you, would help us."

"Bullshit! You bragged to me about the 'citizen satisfaction', and how happy this place is. Well, now I know nobody here has a choice, unless they wanna be thrown behind bars! That's not a way to live...in silence, and you and I both know that very well."