Fan Fiction ❯ Requiem For Revenge; Part One ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Requiem For Revenge

Part I - Silent Awakening

Chapter I

"Now, if that wasn't as brutal as it could possibly have gotten ..."

"Yeah. My brain feels like fuzz. Or maybe mush ... definitely mush. I can feel it sloshing around inside my skull."

I hollered, kicking the locker closest to me as we continued walking down the hall. "I swear! The next person who shows me a number will suffer a slow and painful death!"

"By spoon?" Drenn inquired.

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes. Death by spoon. A spoon in the head ..."

It's been rare to see my best friend Adrienne and I in such a relaxed mood this past while. We like to joke around a lot, and now that our final exam of the year was over and done with, we were free. Studying for seven hours straight with eight cups of coffee each, we were both wired to do our exam when we reached the school at 8:30 A.M.. Problem was we still had another half hour to wait. So we ran over to Tim Hortons and grabbed another large coffee each to keep us going.

Saying the exam was hard would be the biggest understatement I'd ever made in my life. It took me the entire two hours to finish it, and even at that, I still had three questions left to do. The same with Drenn. She's a whiz when it comes to math, which is a lot more than I can say for myself. You could pretty much say I'm dumb as a post when it comes to numbers and fractions. Never mind anything past that.

"So how do you think you did?" Drenn asked me from down the hall as she grabbed her raincoat.

"I think what I attempted will give me a passing mark. Hopefully. I don't care what it is, as long as it's a fifty or over. Remember how last year Christina failed with a 49%? I think that's just plain cruelty. It's too damn close to passing. It's not even funny." I announced as I closed my locker, my coat and lock in hand.

"Yeah, no kidding." Drenn agreed as she closed her locker, took her lock and followed me to the office. At the end of the school year, we were able to exchange our locks for a dollar down at the office. "At least this lock is going to good use. A dollar, which means ..."

"More coffee ..." I smiled as I put my coat on.

As we pulled up to the drive through at Tim Hortons, we were greeted by the friendly face of Jason, Christina's older brother. "You're back again?" He laughed, handing me down our two large cups.

"Oh hell yeah. We've had like what," I glanced over to Drenn. "Two hours sleep? Gotta get something in us to keep us going."

He laughed deeply as I took the cups from him. "Maybe try getting some sleep in your systems. I hear it's good for the health."

"Nah." Drenn giggled. "Coffee is better for the health. Besides, we've got to our second meeting in half an hour."

Jason leaned onto the windowsill to talk with us, seeing as there was no one behind us at the drive through. "Second meeting? Of what?"

"Anger management." I answered him. "We meet twice a year at the bowling alley to take out the semester's worth of frustration on the pins."

He raised an eyebrow. "And does it work?"

"Oh like a charm." I grinned, raising my cup as if to say cheers. "We're off. See ya later Jason!"

"See ya!" Drenn called out as we turned around.

Seeing as I was driving, it didn't take us long to reach the alley. We had a good fifteen minutes before the usual gang arrived. The alley was practically dead. All the adults of the city were hard at work in their offices, doing whatever they thought was good. We, on the other hand, were ready to finally have some fun. But that could wait until everyone else arrived. Besides, we had to talk about something before everyone made their appearances anyhow.

"So we'll tell them when we're on the way home, right?" Drenn questioned again, making sure we'd agreed on the same thing.

"Yeah." I played with the rim of my paper cup. "I guess that'd be best. There's no point in holding it off. We might as well get it out in the open."

I noticed her fist clench tightly on the table. "This isn't fair you know. We're old enough to stay her for our senior year on our own. That Brian guy can kiss my ass for all I care. He's an insensitive idiot."

Brian was both Drenn's and my dad's boss. He had been talking about some drastic changes that were going to have to be made over the course of the summer. We got the worst of it. Both of our fathers were being transferred. Basically? We had no choice but to move.

"I agree with you about Brian, but what can we do? At least it's not one of us and not the other. We've got each other. We won't be alone when we face the first day of school, thank god. I don't know what I'd do if I had to go to a new school for my senior year and not know anyone."

She sighed serenely. "Yeah, maybe." Letting her head fall back, she ran her hands through her long black hair until they were supporting her neck. "I guess it could be worse."

"You guess what could be worse, Drenn?" A male voice spoke from above her closed eyes, scaring her half to death. She faltered on the chair but he caught her shoulders, stabling her.

"Dugan, you freakin' idiot!" Drenn practically screamed as she stood up from her seat. "How many times do I have to tell you?! Don't scare me like that!" She placed two fingers to her temple. "I'm stressed out enough as it is."

"And that's why we're all here." He smiled, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. He brought her head down and started to grind his knuckles into her head. Her arms began to flail in an attempt to free herself, but it was no use. "Everyone else is getting their shoes but we've got a few lanes already set up so come on!"

Though I couldn't see Drenn's face, I could tell just by the way she wasn't putting up much of a fight against Dugan anymore that she was getting pissed off. She immediately clung onto his arm and managed to flip him over herself. He landed flat on his back, exhaling heavily. "You could've just stabbed me in the ribs." He spoke, his voice a little weak from a lack of air.

"That's your own fault, now isn't it? Now lets go take out some anger on the pins!"

I immediately ran down to the lane, punching in everyone's names. We were a full group, one you'd instantly stare at. We were a weird combination, I'd have to say. First there was me, the somewhat perky and very naive give who loves to draw and play instruments. Then there was Drenn, a pure gothic chick all the way. Dugan was the obnoxious one of us all, always cracking some kind of stupid joke. Alicia was the quiet one who had the neatest fashion sense I have ever seen to this day. She makes most of her clothes and could never be bothered with brand names. Her boyfriend, Jamey, is the newest addition to our group. He's the smartest of us all, getting high grades all the time. The guy never reads past one page in all of his text books. I envy him sometimes. Besides a few other people, these were my best friends. We had been together in our group since the second day of grade nine, with the exception of Jamey. We were always there for each other and my case, I was thankful mostly for that.

"I'm gonna kick your ass so bad this time, Sophie!" Dugan declared as he grabbed his first ball.

"Sure you will, Dugan." I picked up mine and set myself up on the opposite lane. "Sure you will."

"Care to wager on that prediction, Sophie?" He asked, waving a twenty in his hand.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, chump." With those final words spoken, we both shot our first ball and the games started.

"I'm sorry Dugan, but I can't hear you. Speak up please." Drenn laughed as I took a drink of my coffee.

"Oh shut it, will you? I think you've made it quite clear that you won." A shrill laugh came from Alicia, her long dark brown hair falling from behind her ears.

"She won? That's all you can say? Dugan, she had you begging for mercy! It was pathetic."

"Yeah so pay up," I grabbed his wallet from his back pocket, grabbing my much deserved twenty dollars.

Life here was great. Our town wasn't that big so it was easy to know half of the people who lived here. It was safe to say our lives were pretty well reserved, but not to the point where we didn't have fun. Our lives were all plain fun, no matter what we did. Believe it or not, even if it didn't seem like it at times, we usually found some amazing way to make school interesting. That's just scary in itself. Wait, make that a miracle in itself.

"Just a small loss. I'll win it back some day." Dugan mused to himself. I giggled and drank a gulp of my coffee again. The street lamps outside of Tim Hortons were all lit, projecting some light onto the darkened parking lot. Snow was dancing lightly down to the ground, leaving us with about another inch or so to walk through. It was falling in large fluffy lumps, I noticed.

"Well, seeing as I've gotta head out," Dugan announced flatly as he stood. "The rest of us do as well. You two gonna come over to my house for supper or what?" he asked in Drenn's and my direction.

"Well we had something to--"

"We already have some other plans for the night! Sorry Dugan maybe next time, eh?" I cut Drenn off abruptly. I saw her glance at me from the corner of my eye but I pretended not to notice.

"Aw too bad. Well, see you two later then!"

Drenn turned to me with somewhat of a glare in her eyes. "Why did you say that? We were supposed to tell them!"

I hung my head down, running my finger around the rim of my cup. "I ... I don't k-know ... I just couldn't seem to find it in me to tell them ..."

"Then I'll do it next time." She said rather coldly, taking my cup along with her own and bringing it to the front. "Come on, let's get going. I've gotta get home to cook dinner for my family tonight."

"Alright."

After dropping off Adrienne, I decided to just drive around for a while. I stopped by at Tim Hortons again to talk with Jason for a little while. When business picked back up again I decided to leave him to work. Then I was left to driving aimlessly once again. For some reason, something inside of me was screaming 'Don't go home. Don't go home!', but I didn't heed the warning. Just as I had said before, our lives were plain fun. For the most part, that is. Some of us had our secrets that no one knew about. In my case, I had a few.

It was around ten-thirty when I decided to head home. I stopped my car at the front of my driveway, turning it off but leaving my hands on the steering wheel. I clenched the leather as tightly in my palms causing my knuckles to turn white. Taking in a deep breath I exited my car, grabbing my keys and purse. Please god, let tonight be different. Maybe no one would be home...

My mother and father were the picture perfect parents. My mother was a hard-working professional photographer who loved what she did. Though she had to move around frequently and being away from home for long periods of time, the money she made was amazing. My father was a businessman, typical. He went to the office every day, worked nine to five and then came home to his perfect family. He was a hardworking man. I'd give him that. He just wasted his money a lot of the time. He was a gambler, but that was the least of my worries. He was also an alcoholic. I'd be lying if I said he's never hit me, never hurt me ...

That's why I was always afraid of going home. My mother's on the job in Florida right now and wouldn't be back until the beginning of the new school year. That was almost two and a half months from now. My father was only getting worse as the days wore on. Sometimes he wouldn't get home until far past midnight, totally drunk off his ass. Others, he'd drink while he was home and become violent with me. He never seemed to remember any of the things he did while he was under the influence of alcohol and I never told him. I didn't have the heart to shatter his own, though he had done just that to me many times. Besides his horrible addiction to alcohol, he was an amazing man whom many people had much respect for, and I wasn't about to bring him down. It was the last thing he needed now that he rarely saw his wife of twenty-three years.

I opened the back door quietly, trying my best not to make a single sound as I entered. I had succeeded in my stealthiness until I reached the bathroom. I felt an arm ensnare my waist as I was pulled up abruptly against a firm chest. "Why are you so late?" I low voice asked. I could smell the thick reeking scent of alcohol in his words. I swallowed hard, trying to form some kind of response.

"I-I was just out to coffee w-with some friends ..."

A hand ran itself through my short hair a few times. "You had me worried. You should know by now it's bad to have me worry." The same hand clenched into a fist that connected well with the side of my head, sending me shoulder-first into the wooden wall beside me. Now using the wall as a support, I tried to collect my wavering thoughts as pain swelled through my mind. I felt another fist unite itself with my side, planting more pain on top of the already damaged ribs I had. In another moments' time, the one hit that had me to my knees in pain was given to me in my stomach. A sharp uppercut to my gut had me gasping for air. "Get up you worthless whore!" He yelled at me, pulling me up to my feet by my hair. I screamed and tried to follow his hand as best I could, attempting to keep the hurt as little as it could possibly be. My knees were weak and my legs were shaking under his death-grip on my head. My hands were clutched around his own, trying to relieve them of their grip on my hair. "You're worthless, you know that. You're nothing but a worthless, dirty little slut."

He threw me into the wall again, my sobs echoing through the hall. I could only crawl to my room, which was only a couple feet away. Thank god. I grabbed my purse and closed my door, locking it. Cowering over to my bed, I leaned on it, sobbing into the covers. When my eyes were dry and my shaking had diminished, I pulled away from the now soaked bed sheet. It was covered with two long stains of the remnants of my makeup that had been washed from my eyes with the tears I had cried out. I don't know how I managed to cry for what seemed like such a long time. I was finding it hard to breathe after receiving such a shard blow to my diaphragm. I lay on my side now, gasping for some much needed air. When I finally opened my eyes, I noticed a brown box resting on the floor beside me. I pushed myself up to my knees, trying my best to ignore the pain I was feeling in my shoulder, and saw what it was. A parcel. From Florida.

I wasted no time in opening it, now being totally oblivious to my pain. It was pushed far back in my mind as thoughts of what could be inside this box from my mother occupied my mind. I took the letter out first. It read;

June 1st

I hope this package finds you well, dear. All the time I've been spending out here in the sun has given me a miraculous tan! You'll be able to see what I mean when you take a look at the pictures that are included inside. Unless you've already done so. There's also some landscape picture I took, as well. Just thought you'd like to see some of the things I'm able to see here!

Brenda and I are just fine. The people are very friendly here and we've made a few new friends as well. And so many interesting places to shop! I got you something very interesting, and seeing as it's Adrienne's birthday at the beginning of July, I got one for you to give to her as well. I hope you enjoy them both! And don't you worry, I didn't pay half of what you may think for them!

I'm sorry to have to cut this letter short on you but time down here, unfortunately is money! I'll send you another letter before I leave. I'll call you soon, sweetheart! Give your father a hug and kiss for me, will you? I'm sure he misses me as much as I miss him.

With all my love,

Mom XOXOX

I laughed at all the times irony came into play within the contents of that letter. Fate does like to play feeble games with me. Oh yes indeed she does.

I decided to open the rest of the package to see exactly what she had bought me and Drenn. I came upon two small items carefully wrapped in tissue paper. I rested one down beside me and began to open the other. I gasped when my eyes took in the site of what I was now holding. A brilliant sapphire stone delicately accented in sterling silver rested in the palm of my hand. The stone was sizable, just able to rest perfectly in the small of the palm of my hand. The chain it was linked to was thin and finely woven, joining up with the stone beautifully. Once I was able to recover from the site of such an amazing stone, I decided to unwrap Drenn's. It was exactly the same as mine, except her stone was an onyx- as black as the night sky with a similarly artistic sterling silver chain. I was beyond words. Where on earth had my mother found such a pair precious things? And to give them to us and not keep one for herself? It truly showed her more generous side.

I slowly made my way over to my full length mirror, undoing the clasp to my necklace and doing it back up around my neck. It fit like a charm. I laid back down on my carpeted floor, looking at the box from the corner of my eye. It was refreshing to hear from her again. I was really starting to miss my mother. A lot. My dad never acted like this when she was around. Not even once. I missed those days.

After finding some strength inside of me, I went into my bathroom and cleaned myself up. Changing into my flannelette pyjamas and closing my curtains, I turned off my lights and got underneath the covers of my bed. I turned over to lie on my stomach, though some aching muscles inside pleaded for me to do otherwise, I decided to ignore them. The Tylenol I had taken should begin to work any minute now. I grabbed the controller to my CD player and chose a disc I had burned some soft music onto to play as I let my thoughts waver. Before I knew it, my dreams were captivating my thoughts and the reality I came to hate so much became nothing but a distant memory in my mind. ~*~