Home for the Odd Ones

The welcomed feeling of pain

There she was, floating in the darkness. Gwen tried to claw her way out, but felt weak. She'd managed it the other times, but now, she wasn't so sure. She might've dug too deep to climb back out. She felt heavy. The weight of death.

The only thing keeping her from drifting away was the thought of her friends. The only people she'd ever truly loved. And that's what did it; Gwen knew she had to stay. She had to stay because she had to help them leave. There was no way she was going to leave them in the home.

So she climbed out of it. Gwen's eyes opened, a blinding sunrise coming through the window. She looked down; she had curled up, fallen asleep. A large trail of blood led into the drain, coming from her now scabbed over wound. It was a thin scab, it would bleed if she moved to quickly. So she reached over, feeling on the ground for the envelope. When tipping it over this time, a needle and thread fell into her hand. Pain from simple stitching felt like nothing to her. So after cutting the string, she stood up hesitantly, trying her weight on her leg.

She couldn't really do it. It sent stabbing pain up her leg and butt, but she bit her lip and dealt with it. Gwen sighed, grabbing her pants before turning on the shower head. She got a washcloth from the closet, one leg in the tub while she wiped the blood off. Then she switched, cleaning up the other one.

When she finished, she dried off her legs and slipped into her pants. Walking was tough, but she did the best she could to keep an even stride. Even kneeling down to get clothes hurt. Jeans were a definite no, so she grabbed thick leggings and pulled them on, making the bump of the stitches invisible. She pulled on a sweater, then her boots, before she world up the courage to walk into the hall, down the steps, and into the dining room.

"Gwen!" Iden called her over, and she sat with him. She didn't even bother with breakfast this morning.

"Hey."

"What's wrong? You look like hell." His expression was worried for her, and she felt under her eyes. Puffy skin, probably a bruised purple. She just used the lie she did every time.

"I was up most of last night. I got sick, too much candy." She laughed, rubbing her eyes.

"Stomach not good enough to eat?"

"Not really."

"Tell you what, once I'm finished lets got for a walk."

"That sounds nice."

Gwen was glad he finished so quickly, because as she walked out the back door after Iden, she saw inky black hair poke out from the boys hall. The gash started throbbing, causing her to slow her unnecessarily quick pace. Iden looked at her, but didn't say a thing until they got to the pond. She took a seat on the stone bench, trying to keep her breathing even.

"Can you tell me something?"

"Sure." Gwen sighed, happy the topic is off her state of health.

"Did something happen to Ari? He came in last night looking like he was about to kill everyone and everything."

Another sore subject she didn't want to speak about. So she forced out another lie. "I don't have a clue. He was acting weird yesterday though. Like he was sad."

"Maybe he's having emotional issues."

"Maybe."

"You know he likes you, right?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you do something about it? You two are obviously good for eachother. I mean, look what you did in under a week." He shook his head. "That's a lot more than anyone else could do."

"Love is something I forgot about a long time ago." Gwen sighed, standing up. "People don't love me. They break me."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone I've ever loved has hurt me in a way that can't be fixed. They left emotional scars behind." She started walking away, keeping tears down. "Ari, either I'd hurt him, or he'd hurt me. I don't think it will ever happen."

"You know, I can tell by the way you walk, you keep your weight off one leg. Is there a reason for that?"

"Scars hurt."

Gwen walked back to the home, deciding to avoid everything and go right to the girls room. She walked in, expecting everyone to be down at breakfast, but found Aurelia sitting on her bed. She looked up, anguish in her cloudy eyes.

So this is why you don't like changing infront of people. She held up the bloody razor and needle, inspecting it. Gwen felt shame crush her soul, tears running down her cheeks.

God please don't say anything. Iden already thinks I've done something and I don't want anyone knowing. I screwed up last night Aurelia. Bad.

What happened? She stood up, placing everything on the night stand before embracing Gwen.

Something happened with Ari, he kind of sort of broke my heart, and I went A-wall. I remembered it was in my bag and I just went overboard.

How bad is it?

I almost bled out. Its stitched up now though.

God Gwen. What has this all come too?

I don't know. But this is the last time this is ever going to happen. She pulled away, walking to the stand and grabbing the razor. She walked into the bathroom, throwing it in the toilet before flushing, watching it swirl away.

I guess we got lucky I was the first one up after you.

I guess so. She wiped away her tears. I don't know how much longer I can do this. Everything is just killing me, whether its ghosts, vampires, or myself.

We only have two months left. We'll leave the day before news years eve.

Did you guess my birthday was on new years?

Yes.

Well, I just hope it comes soon. Because I'm ready to leave all this behind me.