Burn Bright ( An Adopted By The Yogscast Story)

Chapter 12 - Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, a bubbly little girl with a happy smile lived in a happy house with her happy family.

Once upon a time, the little girl's mommy and daddy fought a lot. Because the little girl was getting hurt and nobody could figure out how or why.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose mother took her and her siblings and ran far far away from the bad man pretending to be her daddy.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who couldn't talk anymore, and didn't smile either. Nobody knew why she changed, and she couldn't remember.

Once upon a time, a quiet little girl lived with her noisy family in a huge house. She kept to herself, and now they're gone. They left her with memories she can't understand, and nobody to ask for clues.

Tom didn't know how to whisper. I knew this because the sound of his voice woke me up in the middle of the night. Parv's arms tightened around me a little as he stirred. I didn't budge.

"Sparkles*, be quiet...Don't wake her up. She looks so peaceful.." Parv whispered lowly, carefully rearranging my blankets around me as he sat up.

"Sorry..Is she okay?" Tom's voice murmured.

"I think so...Sparks*, you were right, I think something really bad happened to her. She was crying so hard she couldn't breathe, but..she wasn't making a sound...it was terrifying.." Parv's voice softened even more as he stopped talking, and I felt the tips of his fingers brush over my forehead as he swept a few strands of hair away from my closed eyes. They were talking about earlier. When I broke down because of...something. It was already hard to remember what it was.

"Did she tell you what it was?" Tom asked quietly. I felt the gentle shake of Parv's head.

"No..she couldn't remember." He answered quietly, "I'm going to stay until she wakes up.."

"You sure? I can take over. You look wiped, mate."

"It's no trouble, Sparks*. I'd hate to move her, anyway."

Tom's footsteps came closer. I felt a warm touch on my face as he lightly kissed my forehead, the hairs of his beard tickling my skin.

"Goodnight, then.." Tom whispered as he left the room. I felt Parv's chest rumble with soft laughter.

"He's totally smitten with you, kiddo.. In a dad-bro way, not an icky way," Parv paused to stroke my hair again, "We all are. You're...like the kid sister we never got to have. I don't think any one of us would ever let you get hurt, even if we had to give our lives. We'd do it. Well... Goodnight, Em. Sleep tight." He tightened the blankets around me and held me against him. In minutes, exhaustion pulled me under once again.

Once upon a time, the man who must protect and cherish and love his little girl above all else dared to break her trust, her innocence, her happiness. As is the nature of the beast, he was never caught, and her justice was never sought after.

Once upon a time, the little girl started to remember. And all hell began to break loose.

I felt Tom's eyes on me as I picked at my cereal. I needed to eat, it would get soggy and nasty soon. If it wasn't already. I shifted to take a bite only to feel my stomach roll under the expectation of food. I shook my head decisively and pushed the bowl away.

'Full' I scribbled, getting up from the table. Tom stared at me.

"Em, you ate two bites."

I shrugged, fidgeting with my marker. So what if I wasn't hungry? It wasn't my fault. He opened his mouth to speak again, but he didn't end up saying a word as I returned to my room. Nobody came to my room until about three or four when Parv came in bearing a plate of pizza. The smell filled my room immediately. Fresh pizza. He offered it to me with a smile.