TW: Suicide, overdose
"Mom?"
Rowan stood in the entryway of the living room in her childhood house. The place looked exactly how it used to be before everything went to shit. Candles were lit and smelled like vanilla and cinnamon. The windows were open and let sunlight shine through.
Her mother sat on the worn-out couch, not foaming at the mouth and seizing next to it. No, she was sitting on the couch reading a book.
"Yes, honey?" Her mother's angelic voice sounded out in the quiet room. Rowan understood why her father fell in love with her. She was kind and caring, everything he was not.
Annie Blake was a loving soul with warm, brown eyes and auburn hair. She had a few wrinkles, revealing her age. She looked just like she would have if drugs never killed her.
Rowan took a cautious step forward, her hands shaking slightly, "Y-you're here?"
Her laugh made the girl feel all warm inside, "Where else would I be, silly?"
The daughter slowly walked forward, sitting down next to her on the couch. She finally saw what she was reading and tears gradually filled her eyes, making her eyesight blurry.
"You used to read me that book all the time."
Annie smiled sweetly and looked at the cover, "Of course, Little Women is one of the greatest books of all time. It just shows how strong sisterhood truly is and I just want the same for you and Kennedy." Rowan nodded, too scared her voice would turn into a sob if she tried to speak, "Y'know, your father once tried to tell me that women shouldn't be interested in reading books such as these, but he was crazy, that one was. Women are just as capable as men, probably even more!"
The brunette girl nodded, laughing as her mother ranted about equality. How Rowan would have loved to have this version of her mother when she was little.
She cleared her throat, hating to break the happy mood, "Do-do you know where Father might be?" Rowan didn't know where she ended there, but she immediately knew it was her father who put her in this simulation.
Annie pursed her lips and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Are you feeling alright?" Rowan just nodded, waiting for her answer, "Honey, your father's dead."
The girl's jaw dropped, but she immediately composed herself. She didn't know whether to cry with joy or scream out in happiness.
"Right." She cleared her throat, "Where's Ken?"
Annie pointed to the door where her sister once hung, dead. Rowan gulped and stood up, walking over to it. Once she finally built up enough courage, the girl opened it up and it revealed to have Kennedy and Blair chatting on her bed.
Rowan's stomach dropped as their eyes landed on her. Kennedy began to groan, "I said leave me alone, you demon spawn!"
"No fighting, you two!" Her mother's voice came from the other room.
Kennedy stood in front of the girl with her hands on her hips, "You better be lucky mom's here or you'd be dead." Even though her sister just threatened her, Rowan's lips turned upward.
Kennedy was alive and happy. Her mother was alive and content. Her father was dead. Life couldn't get any better.
"You're here." Rowan breathed out a sigh of relief, "I can't believe it."
Kennedy rolled her eyes and walked back to her bed where Blair was talking on the phone, "You're acting weird, Row."
Blair's phone hit the soft comforter of Kennedy's bed and the girl groaned, "My stupid sister wants to come over. Talking about how she needs to see Rowan or something."
The said girl's breath hitched, "Val?"
The two girls rolled their eyes, "Yes."
Rowan sat on the couch anxiously. Her feet wouldn't stop moving and her fingers wouldn't stop tapping on her knees. She now fully believed that she was transported to a new universe or something. How could somebody know this much about her and have Valerie in here at the same time? It was impossible.
There was a knock on the door, causing Rowan to jump up, but her mother placed a warm hand on her shoulder, "Stay. I don't want you to have a heart attack by trying to get there." The two girls chuckled at her joke.
Annie opened the door to reveal Valerie, letting the brunette release a sigh.
Rowan stood up and began to walk over to her family, but something hit her in the face. Her eyebrows furrowed and her head began to ache at the hit. There was nothing in front of her, but what was stopping her?
The girl stretched out a cautious arm, touching a solid, clear wall. It was holding her in. Her heart began to speed up and her breaths became shallow.
"Mom!" She punched on the barrier, "Mom, help!"
Annie stood there with a shake of her head, laughing, "Don't be silly, honey." Kennedy walked out of her room, followed by Blair. They all stood on the other side of the wall, staring back at the girl, "We are helping."
Rowan's head began to shake uncontrollably, "No, no, no. This-this was real."
"Don't be stupid, Rowan." Kennedy walked forward with a disappointed look in her eyes, "I thought you were smarter than that. We aren't real and never will be again. We're dead."
"No."
It was Valerie's turn to laugh, "Don't act like the victim. You did this to me; to all of us." Rowan shook her head and began to murmur something that she didn't even know, "You promised you would save me. You promised!"
"I'm so sorry," Rowan leaned against the clear barrier, covering her ears as sobs racked her body, "I'm sorry."
"If you were, we would be here," Kennedy tutted out, "We would be alive and you'd be under the dirt like you should be."
"You're a girl who should've died a long time ago."
Annie finally stepped forward to deal with her daughter, "And, since you're not. You have to live with the pain knowing that we died while you're happy." Rowan looked through her tears to see her mother holding a rope, a knife, and a bottle of pills.
Rowan's nose flared as she began to mumble through her sobs, "Please, no." Incoherent words slip past her lips, but Rowan couldn't even hear herself.
Her mother smiled, "Who first?" She then gave Kennedy the rope, "How about the sister who killed herself because she couldn't deal with the pain knowing that her sister was going to be happy and she was going to Olympus all by herself." The blonde joyfully took the rope and walked over to her door.
"Ken, don't! Please, you don't have to do this!"
The blonde smirked at her sister, "Oh, but I do. You ruined my life; you deserve to watch my life being ended." Kennedy tied the rope around the doorknob on the inside of the door and threw it over the other side. She grabbed a little stool and stood on it, putting the noose around her neck with a satisfied smile.
Rowan's body shook with sobs as she continued to plead with her to stop. The girl felt so useless and it pained something deep inside of her. She couldn't save her sister for the second time as she heard the neck snap. Rowan screamed out in agony.
Annie laughed from where she stood, "Ah, good times, too bad I missed that one." The mother walked over to Valerie, handing her the knife, "Now, I know you never saw her die. So, I thought you would like to see how it happened."
At this point, Rowan just sat there, numb. Her throat was dry as she screamed till nothing came out. Wet streaks ran down her face and her hair was behind her ears, damp from the tears.
Valerie walked closer to the silent girl, "I worshipped you, Rowan. You were my protector and my hero."
"I'm so sorry—"
"You said that before," Valerie pointed the tip of the knife at Rowan, "Now, you promised me that I would be able to keep my life. Guess what, I didn't. I'm dead and you killed me."
Rowan shook her head and sobbed, "I thought–"
With no hesitation, Valerie slit her own throat, causing Rowan to scream out once more. She punched at the barrier until her knuckles were bloody and bruised. Blood pooled around the girl as she lay on the ground, lifeless.
Annie let out a mock pout, "Aw, I liked her." She walked forward with a slight smile, stepping in Valerie's blood. Her mother poured the pills into her own hands, "I love drugs, don't you?"
Rowan just stared into her mother's eyes, why were they so real?
"Well, bottoms up!" The girl watched as he mother fell to the floor, seizing and foaming at the mouth. Rowan became numb to the deaths, feeling like she was watching this from outside of her body.
"This is your fault, y'know?" Rowan's eyes traveled to the white-haired girl who she just remembered was there. Blair walked forward, "You killed them."
With no warning, Blair ran at her, and Rowan let her. The Reed girl somehow got past the barrier and revealed one dagger in each of her hands.
Blair made Rowan blind.
Rowan screamed out, but she couldn't even fully open her mouth as something was there. The whole room was dark and cold. The girl was too tired to move and either way, she was stuck to a chair by metal bars and locks. A mouthguard was placed in her mouth and a bar held her head in place.
Her eyes adjusted to see who was in the room with her.
There were three women who seemed to be in their mid-thirties—The Algea, Eros, and a random man in the corner who sported a smirk. He had glowing blue skin and red, flaming hair. Scars littered his body and his eyes—oh, his eyes. His eyes were like the aurora borealis. They were mesmerizing and it felt like Rowan was burning under his gaze. And, Rowan didn't know if she liked it.
Nemesis.