Avery Rosalinda's life had always been horrible. She was an orphan, nobody cared about her... even her foster families. She had had many throughout her life, though none really cared if she was happy or not. In fact, every single family she had been in had abused her physically and mentally. It had been so bad, to the point where she tried to end her life many times. It even got worse when she lost her best friends who, like her, had it rough in life. They were two girls. And together, with Avery, they were a dynamic trio. Together, they felt like they could conquer the world, they felt invincible; they were inseparable, alas, life wasn't fortunate for either of them.
First, there was Becca, who always threw a tantrum when someone called her Rebbecca. She hated that name as she was named after her mother, a woman who never cared for her and abandoned her at the age of six, in a museum. She had spent nights hidden in an a marine exhibit until she was found by the night guard, who took her to an orphanage. Her first week there, no one spoke to her, and she was okay with that... until some of her fellow orphans started bullying her. She had cried and cried as they made fun of her, teased her and emotionally tortured her until Avery stepped in and scared them away. They became best friends from that day on.
Then there was Ryan, though she called herself Rhianna as she hated the fact that she was named after a boy. She wasn't an orphan, but her father always abused her, physically more than mentally. There was no stopping it, though. Avery and Becca had tried many times to convince her to run away, or to at least report him to the police, since the day they met her hiding in an alley, a block away from her house, but she refused as her father threatened her. The man was sick, and they all agreed to that. Avery was glad when he was arrested. Unfortunately, that was after he had raped Ryan and killed her.
Avery became depressed, though she did not try to kill herself as she had tried many times before because she knew she had to be there for her remaining best friend. But she was done when she had been sent back to the orphanage. She was happy because the family she had been in was as bad as the previous ones. The second she stepped out of the car she was driven in, she ran into the orphanage, excited to see Becca again, though once she reached the bathroom on the last floor that had always been reserved for them to, the sight before her wasn't one she ever wished to be greeted by.
Becca lay there on the floor, dead from an overdose and a hit on the head which was unstoppably gushing blood.
That was enough for Avery.
She stood there, emotionlessly, and just waited until Miss Hemming, the owner of the orphanage, came to call the ambulance and police before walking to her room and locking herself up. No one wanted to adopt her anymore, not that she cared. She just stayed in her room, locked up, ignoring Miss Hemming's calls. She didn't budge from her bed, where she sat, her back pressed against the wall, staring blankly at the opposing one. That lasted for, nearly, a week.
After about eight days had past, she decided she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to keep living in a world, where she was alone to face it. In a world she knew she would never find it in herself to love anyone in any form again because she knew that in the end they would leave her, one way or another. It had always been that way. All the boyfriends she had, all the friends she had gained every now and then... everyone she loved always left her, and she hated that. She didn't want to keep suffering. She didn't want life to keep torturing that way for something she never did, though... who would've thought that would all change one day? Certainly not her. She never thought any of that would change, ever, until that night.
The night she was rescued.
The wind was whipping through her dark, reddish brown hair. She could smell the sea calling her to come down and taste the salt water. The sun had almost finished setting... it was a beautiful sight. The one she made sure would be the last sight she saw before she'd fall into her deep sleep. She got there extremely late, so that no cars would see her standing on the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge, arms stretched out, head tilted back, blue-green eyes closed. She looked peaceful... and she was. She was finally leaving the world she hated so much.
She bit her lip, not daring herself to take her last breath yet. The beautiful sight before rendered her hesitant. It made her think about the many other beautiful things that might be out there, that she still hadn't seen for herself. But she couldn't back down. She couldn't let such beautiful sight stop her.
Many car horns honked, but she ignored them. This is it. Blinking back a few traitorous tears, she took one last deep breath before letting her body fall forward. She didn't scream as she dropped through the open air like a meteor. The wind resisted, trying vainly to fight the unconquerable gravity, pushing against her and twirling her in spirals like a rocket crashing to the earth.
Yes! The word echoed through her head as she sliced through the surface of the water. It was icy, colder than I'd feared, and yet the chill only added to the high. She let all thought leave her mind as she plunged deeper into the freezing black water.
It felt like the usual calm waves were fighting over her, jerking her back and forth between them as if determined to share by pulling her into halves. All the air left her lungs and was replaced by water. Cold, salty water. Then... nothing.
Seconds passed as life left her body. Life, soon followed by feeling, but then, there was a hand, an arm. An arm that wrapped itself securely around her now numb waist. An arm that belonged to none other than Brock Lovett, the first man who saved her...
But surely not the last.