chapter three
trouble in paradise
🎧
May 3rd, 1976.
Rue's parents used to take her to a park a few blocks away from their homey apartment in Chicago all the time. Rue would be throwing a ball around with her father, who would try to videotape as much of it as possible, while her mother would be reading a book on a bench not far away.
There were plenty of other families around, dogs that ran around the field and other kids who climbed the play structure nearby.
"Smile for the future," Bob grinned, holding his camera up to point it at his daughter.
Rue spun around, and she held a baseball bat in her small hands, and a helmet that was almost comically too big for her tiny head, and her hair was short but still in two adorable tiny braids that were at the brink of falling apart from all her running. Despite it all, Rue was beaming, and her eyes had never been brighter as she smiled for the camera.
"Did you get it?" She called, dropping the bat on the grass and running to her dad.
Bob kneeled as the polaroid began to roll out of the camera. The polaroid was still blank, but it did stop Rue from leaning on his shoulder and going on the tips of her toes so she could see. "Do I look okay?"
Bob couldn't help the smirk on his face from growing when he saw the helmet on Rue's head drop to her face, blocking her sight. He chucked as she pouted and huffed.
"I bet you look great." He said, pushing the helmet up so she could see.
Rue's smile only grew brighter.
Bob handed Rue the polaroid once the picture had finally set in. She grabbed it gingerly, her eyes wide as she stared at herself in the photo. Rue didn't pay any mind to how dirty her pants were with grass stains or how there was mud splotching her purple shirt and shoes—she thought she looked perfect.
And Bob did too.
"Go show it to your mom," He whispered, nudging her side softly. Bob reached for the helmet on Rue's head and pulled it off gently.
Rue nodded eagerly and spun on her heels. She glanced around the park shortly before spotting her mom, who looked like a princess, while she read on the bench peacefully.
"Mommy!" Rue yelled, beginning to run through the grass and dandelions. She held the picture tightly, afraid to let it go. "Mommy! Mommy, look!" Rue waved the photo proudly as she neared her mother.
Emilia glanced up from her book, her lips curling into a wide smile as she watched her five-year-old daughter run toward her.
And then, all of a sudden, Rue felt everything hit her.
Rue stopped dead in her tracks, panting. She had lost her breath and felt as if she had run around the park three times without stopping. Rue flinched, and her squeezing fingers nearly crumbled the photo in her hands.
It became loud.
Really loud. And she could hear the voices of all the kids around her, all the parents and couples. Even the voices of the people across the street. "When should I—?"
"Where is—?"
"I love that song—"
"I wonder if Danny—"
Rue panicked and looked around. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat and tears grew in her eyes as she stumbled in her balance. Everything was really, really loud.
"I wanna watch this new—"
"I have—"
"I think—"
"What if—?"
"What's wrong—?"
"I'm in love with Jason—"
Everything was hitting Rue all at once, and she felt herself drop to the floor. She felt the wet grass seep into her pants, but she didn't really care. Rue dropped the photo beside her, bringing her hands up to cup her ears, hoping it would help silence all the noise, all the whispers.
A few seconds later, Rue felt overwhelmed, and she felt so many things she's never felt before. Emotions began to pour through her body, and she didn't even know what they were. Some were familiar: happiness, sadness, confusion, fear. And others were new: grief, irritation, adoration, relief.
Rue wanted to cry.
But she couldn't even do that. She couldn't focus on anything that had to do with herself.
Her body trembled as she shut her eyes tightly. It was so loud she couldn't hear herself think, all she could hear was the voices, and she could feel all that emotion. The movement of thousands of heartbeats, thousands of thoughts, all of it was in her ears. Her head hurt, her palms became sweaty but she didn't dare to tear them away from her ears. Her head hurt... it hurt. Everything was hurting... she couldn't breathe...
"—uth! Rue, baby? What's wrong?"
There were hands on her, on her cheeks, wiping away tears she didn't even realize she was shedding. It was her father, who had rushed to her side.
Rue opened her eyes, and her vision blurred with tears. She saw the look of worry and terror in her dad's eyes, she could feel the concern and fear from him and it only made Rue panic even more.
Next to him, Rue's mom had already crouched by her daughter. "Rue? Babe, what is it?"
"It's so loud," Rue sobbed, her eyes darting all around her. "It's so loud! Why is it so loud?" she shrieked.
"She's bleeding," Bob suddenly gasped, his eyes watching as blood began to roll down his daughter's nose.
Rue brought her hands down from her ears, only for her fear to arise when she saw them coated with her red blood.
More people gathered nearby, and Rue didn't need to look up from her blood-coated hands to know that. She could hear them all slowly gather to see what was wrong with the five-year-old girl. The voices got louder as the number of people increased, and Rue felt herself lose her ability to breathe.
She was suddenly pulled up from the floor, and Emilia wrapped her arms around her daughter as she carried her. "It's okay, baby," She cooed, nodding toward Bob to let him know they should go.
"Make it stop," Rue sobbed, digging her face into her mother's chest.
"It's gonna be alright," Rue heard her mother saying soothingly as she began to walk out of the park. "Just listen to my voice, and ignore everyone else's, okay?"
Slowly, Rue peeked up to look at her mom, who smiled at her softly. She noticed that her mom hadn't opened her mouth when she said, "We're gonna go home. You're gonna be okay. Just listen to my voice."
Rue's eyes were wet with tears, but she nodded anyway.
Emilia brought her hand up, and Rue placed her small palm over hers. She watched as gold began to glow from her skin and warmth spread through her fingers. Distracted by the dim light show, Rue found that she could breathe again. She inhaled deeply and exhaled in slow breaths. There was a thin layer of sweat on Rue's forehead, where the loose ends of her hair had stuck to her skin, but she calmed down.
Emilia smiled at this and kissed her daughter's hair while her eyes began to shine with fresh tears. "Relax, baby, go to sleep, we're almost home."
Her mother's voice was soothing despite never coming out of her mouth.
Rue felt her eyelids grow heavy, and even though she tried to fight it so she could see her mother's glowing hands against hers, she had fallen into a deep sleep.
"We should take her to a doctor." A voice chirped over Emilia's shoulder, causing her to freeze in her steps.
Bob Newby had nearly run into his wife when she suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Their building was only a block away by now, and the sounds of honking cars were louder than it was at the park as the couple made their way through the city.
Emilia moved to the side, getting out of everyone's way. and Bob followed her. "What?" She asked, blinking twice, almost as if she hadn't heard him correctly.
"We should take her to a doctor," Bob said again, his daughter's bat and helmet nearly slipping from his hands, and the photo she had dropped was shoved into his pocket.
"No," Emilia's jaw tightened. She used her thumb to wipe away the blood under her sleeping daughter's nose. Emilia's eyebrows narrowed and creased as she saw the red blood stain Rue's golden hair after it had come out of her ears as well.
Rue had turned sickly pale, and bags had grown under her eyes. She looked weak, like she was dying, despite having been laughing and bright just a few minutes ago.
The thought of it alone terrified Bob, "What do you mean 'no'?" He asked, "Emilia?" Bob reached for her gently, feeling that something was wrong. "Lia, look at her... she's—"
"We can't take her to a doctor... She's not sick," Emilia quickly denied, finally looking up at her husband as she held Rue closer to her chest.
Bob frowned, "I never said she was—"
"Yeah, but you thought it," She glared at him. "You think she's sick."
He threw his hands in the air in distress, "Of course, I think she's sick!" there were tears in his eyes when he caught another glance at his daughter, "Look at her! She looks like she's dying! We need to get her some help before it's too late, Lia!"
"She's not gonna die, Bob..."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"Then what's wrong with her?"
"She just needs rest!"
People were beginning to stare.
Emilia glared at them, and they all looked away and went on with their lives as if nothing had happened.
"There's nothing wrong with her," Emilia said. "How could you think that?" her voice cracked, and tears grew in her eyes as her chin trembled. "How could you—?" She sucked in a breath and shook her head in disbelief, "How cruel of you, Bob Newby."
Bob wanted to scoff, "Don't do that... don't turn this on me. I just want to help her. She's been doing this all week! She's having these panic attacks and... and... she says it's loud? We should take her to a doctor, Lia."
Emilia wasn't hearing any of it. "She's not sick," she said again, holding Rue closer, "She's... extraordinary..." Emilia whispered. "No one can know. No one needs to know."
emilia is hella sus 🥶
bob however,,, <33 you keep doing you king 👑
( word count: 1819 )