More Than You Knew

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Veronica gasped for air, her eyes opening wide as she expected to be thrown back into the burning and chaotic background of the fire that she had been in a mere moments prior--only to squint against the bright sunlight that shone down on her face from the blue sky above. Veronica raised an arm, covering her face against the sun's harsh rays as she sat up, trying to remember where she was. All around her was an open expanse of tall yellow grass, with mottled patches of wildflowers breaking up the wash of golden yellow that seemed to fill her vision. Crickets chirped, hidden within the tall strands of grass, and the steady sound of water against a nearby streambank filled the air. Her brows furrowed slightly as she stood to her shaky feet, the bruises and injuries that had once rendered her legs practically useless had vanished altogether--though the scarring on her right arm remained. She looked down to the grass beneath her, wondering if this was some sort of odd dream that she was having due to smoke inhalation. Where she'd once been able to see the worn and tattered fabric of her jeans, she saw the flowy material of a light colored skirt splayed out elegantly across the flattened patch of grass that she'd been laying on. Her white button-up shirt remained; though cleaned of the soot, ash, and blood that stained it seemingly moments prior, leaving the fabric a starchy white as if it was freshly washed with the sleeves rolled up just past her elbows. A sudden breeze blew through the prairie, causing the light and airy material to cling to her legs. She squinted, trying to see if she could recognize any landmarks on the nearby horizon--raising her arm yet again to shield her eyes as if it might make her see better.

Not far away from her, she could see a dirt road forming a clear split amongst the hills of golden prairie grasses. She blinked, deciding to follow the road to any sort of nearby town. As her bare foot made contact with the rough and uneven dirt road, Veronica barely winced--though normally she would have as she didn't have the thickest calluses on her feet. Though she found it odd, she shrugged it off and followed the dirt road, searching for any sign of civilization.

'Maybe James would be there..?' Veronica thought, feeling hope flare in her chest as she wondered to herself whether or not James would be waiting for her somewhere within the borders of whatever town this road inevitably led to. It was a naive hope that'd he be able to just accept her back into his life without hesitation, despite all the havoc she caused, and despite all the secrets that he didn't know about and all the things that she had yet to share with him--she knew that, deep down, even if she didn't want to admit it. She shook her head, burning the hopeful feeling in her heart--James needed to stay far, far away from her. It was what was best for him; she'd said that to him in the message that she'd left behind the first time, and that was the ideal that she was going to stand by.

Even if she didn't want to distance herself from him, she was still dangerous. A criminal. A liability. James deserved to live a quiet and peaceful life after everything that he'd been wrapped up in because of his affiliation with her, and her affiliation with William. She almost laughed at how strikingly different her thoughts on the matter were now compared to what they would have been if she'd been asked all the way back in the 80s while they were still working at Freddy's, back when everything was simpler and the biggest worry on her mind was whether or not Scott was finally going to snap and fire her for some misstep in handling a distraught child, with his patience having worn so thin because of all her previous antics. A weak smile formed on her lips, but the joy of those memories were quickly diminished when she remembered the one presence that had kept her stuck working that pizzeria job.

William.

However grateful she had been for the consistent safety net at the time, looking back on it, she just wished that she had decided to leave at the beginning of when things had begun to go sour. She found herself wondering how different her life could have been if she'd just turned down the night shift that she'd been offered that fateful night, the night that her and William really talked for the first time. She hadn't needed the extra money that badly, had she? Veronica couldn't even remember what she had spent it on, no matter how hard she thought about it--though it had likely been some random impulse buy from the local Target down the street from her old apartment. Her gaze dropped to the dirt road beneath her feet as she walked, sticking to the side of the road despite the fact that no cars had driven by her in the duration of the time that she had been wandering in search of civilization.