Chapter Thirteen
After breakfast, I decide to go to the game room to play some Mariokart. Man, I love that game. I used to play it every day when I was younger, but a few years ago, our Wii feel while we were playing it and the disc got scratched. Now the disc won’t even start up. I remember crying my eyes out that day. And yeah, instead of crying over losing her Barbie, I cried over my game breaking. Or the deaths of fictional characters. Curse you, Moffat!
Anyways, I start to play as Princess Peach. As I’m playing the game, I notice stuff I’ve never seen before in the game. In some of the race tracks, I could see a fire in the distance, or sometimes all of the character’s eyes would just look like dark pits.
Eventually, I have a race on this track that looks similar to a farm scene. Just as I cross the finish line in first place, the game freezes. The obstacles, the characters, everything, it just… stops. Everything except for a fire in the middle of a field right next to the track. And, all of the characters are staring at me with these dark pits where their eyes should be. Not at my Character, Princess Peach. Me. It’s as if the characters can see me through the screen. Not knowing what to do, I press the B button and Princess Peach jumps out of her car.
This can’t be right, I think. Characters can’t get out of their cars. I make Peach walk towards the field. Surprisingly, when we reach the fence, she jumps it and continues closer to the fire. As Peach walks towards the fire, I realize that the thing on fire is a person. They’re still alive, I can tell that, but they’re not trying to put out the fire. They’re just lying on the ground, doing nothing. When Peach is standing right next to the person, I press the A button and the camera shifts so I can see the person’s face. It’s Link.
Ben, I think. Suddenly, Link’s eyes open up and he grabs Peaches’ arm. Peach catches on fire and falls down next to Link. The screen goes dark and the game lets out an ear-piercing scream. After a moment, the game restarts, but there’s only one save file. It’s Mii(avatar) looks like Link on fire, and the name is Ben.
I immediately turn off the Wii and go on the computer. I go on Chrome and type in Cleverbot.com. This is the conversation.
Ben?
Hello Juliette.
Ben, I miss you! It’s so horrible here!
I know.
Where were you?
I was planning. We can’t meet in the library anymore, it’s too dangerous.
Then where should we meet?
In the courtyard. I gigged the cameras so it always shows an empty courtyard.
Okay, I have to go now, it’s time for lunch. And we both know what happened the last time I was late for a meal.
Yeah. About that…… I’m sorry I didn’t help Ethan. I just couldn’t blow my cover.
It’s okay, I forgive you. See you after dinner.
Bye.
Then the computer shuts itself off and I sigh. I’m happy that I know that Ben didn’t leave. Just another reason to keep trying.
I happily leave the game room and half skip to the dining room.
“Hello Love.” David says.
“Hello David, Chloe.” I say, sitting down happily. David looks at me skeptically.
“Why so happy?” He asks.
“Why so serious?” I ask back, making Chloe laugh. We both love Batman. David narrows his eyes at me and smirks.
“Touché.” He says, taking me by surprise. I thought I was going to get it for that sly comment. I guess we’re all in a good mood today.
As we’re eating our food, David talks excitedly.
“After lunch, all four of us are going to put up the Christmas decorations. We’ll put tinsel and lights in all of the rooms and put the Christmas tree right next to the staircase. We should be able to get it all finished if we work together. Let’s get started right after lunch!”
After lunch, we get to work. Marsa and I put tinsel on the stairwell as David and Chloe put it on the entranceways of the living room and dining room.
“Is David always this cheerful during Christmas?” I ask Marsa curiously. Marsa shakes her head.
“No. This is the first time he’s even mentioned it… You do realize it’s because you’re here, right?” I shake my head sadly, looking at David. Does he really like me that much?
After we’re done with the tinsel, David sets up the large tree so the stair case wraps around it. Then we put the lights on it. After that, David and I put ornaments on the bottom of the tree, while Marsa and Chloe use the stairs to put them at the top. While we’re putting up the ornaments, David starts to talk about how he loved Christmas as a kid.
“I remember that every Christmas eve, we would put out cookies and milk for Santa Claus, and then go to bed. I would always try to sneak down stairs to see Santa, but I always crashed before he came. When I woke up in the morning, the cookies and milk would be gone, and a mountain of presents would be under the tree. One by one, we would open up the presents and see what was inside. It would just be me, my mom, and my dad. After the presents, we would have a huge feast. We would spend the rest of the day talking and enjoying each other’s company. We were the happiest family you could ever imagine.” David stops and smiles sadly.
“But then everything changed. My mom died in a car crash with a drunk driver. I was also in the car, but I got out unscathed. I was only ten then. My dad, he couldn’t handle it. He started drinking, a lot. Everyday after work, he would go to a bar, come home, and beat me. He blamed me for my mom’s death. I spent Christmas hiding in my closet hoping my dad didn’t find me. Four years of terror. I never thought I would make it that far, but I did,” David then stops working and looks me in the eyes, “and then I met you.”
And that’s when it hits me. I drop the ornament I was carrying on the floor and it smashes into a million pieces. I remember when I met David.
“No! Stop it, Jeffrey! Stop!” I scream, scared out of my wits. We were at the park, and my brother was pushing me on the swing. But he was pushing me too hard, and I started falling off the swing.
“No! This is fun!” Jeffrey says, laughing. My oldest brother, Kevin, starts walking towards us, and I sigh in relief.
“Yay! Kevin’s come to save me!” I say happily. Except, he didn’t. He went right up to Jeffrey and says, “Hey, Jeffery! Mom wants to know when we can sell your zits on eBay!” That makes Jeffrey mad. He’s 14 years old, and very self conscious of his acne. It didn’t help that Kevin called him ‘Jeffery’ instead of ‘Jeffrey.” He gets really mad when people do that.
Jeffrey starts to chase 16 year old Kevin around, which was kind of funny at first. Until, of course, they run through the swings, pushing me down unto the ground in the process. I land on my bum and tears start to form in my eyes. My brothers, of course, take no notice to me and start climbing up the spiderweb like little kids.
I put my head between my knees and start to cry. No one takes any notice to me as tears rush down my face and unto the ground. My parents are probably talking to someone else, and my brothers never even pay attention to me. I don’t even notice the sound of shoes crunching on the wood chips as my tears run down my face.
“Are you okay?” A voice asks in front of me. I look up and see a guy, about Jeffrey’s age, with spiky black hair and bright green eyes. I shake my head, sniffling. The guy holds out his hand and I hesitantly take it. He pulls me up off of the ground and I mumble ‘Thank you’ before looking down at the ground.
“What’s your name?” He asks. I look back up at him.
“Juliette.” I say, wiping my nose on my sleeve.
“Well Juliette,” He says, holding out his hand, “I’m David.” I take his hand and shake it.
“You have pretty eyes.” I say. David blushes slightly and smiles.
“Thanks. No one’s ever told me that before.” He says.
“Well, they should.” I say, smiling back.
“So, do you like to swing?” David asks. I nod my head.
“I’ll push you if you want.” I hesitate. Should I really trust him? I shrug.
“Sure.” I sit back on the swing and David starts to push me. I swing back and forth gently, and start to laugh. I love the wind in my hair and the feeling of weightlessness. David and I just stay at the swings in a comfortable silence, him pushing me, and me laughing every now and then.
After about ten minutes of this, a car pulls up with an angry looking man driving it. David stops pushing me and I get off the swing. I turn around and see David is extremely pale and deep in thought.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, making David jump.
“Oh, nothing, my dad just got here.” He says sadly.
“You mean the mean looking guy in the car?” I ask. David laughs and nods.
“Yes, the mean looking guy in the car. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay.” I say, reluctant to let my swing partner go.
“Bye!” I say before hugging David. After a few moments, he slowly wraps his arms around me.
“Bye.” He chokes out, before turning around and running to the car. I walk around, looking for my mom. I find her and tell her about David.
“Juliette,” my mom says sternly, “you know what I say about talking to people you don’t know. He could’ve kidnapped you!”
“David would never do that!” I say, defending my actions.
“He’s too nice!” My mom shakes her head.
“Just promise not to do it again.” She says, crossing her arms.
“I promise.” I say, sighing.
“Good. Now let’s go get something to eat.” We all go in the car and drive away. And as we’re driving away from the park, I reassure myself David wouldn’t have harmed me. And then I wonder when I’ll see him again. I hope I see him soon. Maybe he’ll come back to the park tomorrow?
But, unfortunately, he didn’t, and I never saw him again.
It all makes sense now. That’s how David met me. I didn’t recognize him in London, because he had dyed his hair black the first time I saw him. David didn’t just pass me on the street or something. We actually interacted with each other. David needed help when he met me. He was abused by his dad, and was looking for something to hold unto. Even the tiniest sliver of hope. And that sliver of hope was me.
I look at David in disbelief for a second, wondering how I didn’t figure it out sooner. How didn’t I recognize his eyes? Am I really that daft? After a moment, I do something totally unexpected. I run towards David, ignoring the crunch of glass under my shoes, and hug him.
David, surprised at first, gets over his shock and wraps his arms around my waist. I lean my chin on his shoulder as a single tear slowly falls down my face.
“I remember.” I whisper in David’s ear. David immediately understands and tightens his grip around my waist. And for the first time since David took me, I want him to. I want him to be that 14 year old boy who helped me up when no one else did. I want him to be that kid who pushed me on the swings one day and then vanished. Now I know that this isn’t entirely David’s fault. His bad childhood led up to this. And, while I still think what David did was wrong, I can’t help but feel sorry for him.
After a few minutes, we let go of each other, and I can see that David also has tears in his eyes. I smile at him and turn around to see a very confused Marsa and Chloe. I smile at them and mouth ‘I’ll explain later’ to them. I turn back around and see David has a box in his hands.
“Juliette, will you do the honors and put the angel on top of the tree?” David asks me. I smile and nod.
“I’d love to.” We walk up the stairs until we reach the top of the tree, which is about halfway up the stairs. David talks a beautiful ceramic angel out of the box and hands it to me. I look at it for a few seconds, and then lean over the railing. I gently set the angel on the tree and admire it.
Just as I’m about to go back over the railing, I feel someone push my back and I fall over the railing in between the stairs and the tree. As I’m falling, I hear someone scream and someone else yell my name.
Maybe I’ll finally leave this cruel world, I think.
And then I black out.
A/N: Yay! I updated 3 times today! Woohoo!!! And those David feels. At this point in the story I feel really bad for him because he really just had a messed up childhood and that's why he did all of this stuff. And then Juliette falls. Drama!!! I feel kinda evil today. I think I'll just leave you guys here with this cliffhanger for a day or two. Hehehehehehehe....... <3 Julie