Round Two

[CHAPTER 9]- JUST AN ILLUSION

I woke up next to Payne on our bed with a terrible headache.

I rubbed my temples in hopes of the horrid pain to fade. I stood up and walked to the bathroom and leaned my head under the faucet. I drank some water only for the pain to get worse.

I walked out to the hallway just to find Nikki and Matthew taking with each other.

​"Grace are you okay?" Nikki asked staring at me oddly.

​"Yes I'm fine just a headache." I answered getting a bit lightheaded. I lost my balance and stumbled a bit and Nikki grabbed my arm helping me stand up properly.

​"Are you sure your fine?" Matthew asked

​"Yes I'm sure!" I said a bit annoyed. "What are you guys talking about anyways?" Nikki looked at Matthew a bit worried and nodded her head.

​"So we believe that the hotel isn't a hotel. The water has been glitching out on us and—" Matthew was cut off by a blur I felt as if everything was spinning. Slowly, Matthew and Nikki faded into darkness.

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I awoke up in my bed that was in our small apartment downtown New York. Payne was asleep in her bed her hair was long in a ponytail as she did it two years ago.

I looked over her to see that her face was tear stained. Suddenly I heard glass shatter.

I ran over to the living room to find my mom screaming at my dad with a broken wine glass in hand. Suddenly my dad's face went red and he began yelling right back at the woman. His hair moved as he yelled.

Before I could process that they were screaming, Mom slapped the man right across his face. There was a moment of silence before Dad responded.

​"What have we become?" He mumbled.

​"A mess of a family. A drunken man with his hard working wife and two kids that get suspended from school every week. Do you even realize the fact that we have kids in the first place?"

My father kept silent at mom's words.

"Maybe if you put down the bottle for once and actually spent your money on food you would notice that Grace had been failing class. Or the fact that Payne is being bullied. OR THE FACT THAT OUR CHILDREN ARE STARVING!" Mom screamed at the man.

Then within seconds he began screaming right back so that I could no longer understand what they were saying.

"I'm done raising these kids on my own. I'm done having to argue to a drunken man every night when I get home from working all day! I'm done with you!"

​"You won't leave. We both know that!" My father responded.

​"Try my luck." Mom walked to the door pulling a suit case from the closet proving that she had prepared for this and threw on a jacket. She put a gray beanie over her long red hair and opened the door.

​"You're not leaving."

​"You can't control me any longer. Raise the girls with all you've got. Give them the best life you could possibly give. And sober up while you're at it."

​"What about the girls?!"

​"Tell them I died. Car crash. It's believable."

​"You are a cruel woman."

​"And you're a cruel man." The door slammed​​​​​

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I woke on the couch that was in the hotel. Payne was latched onto Theodor's arm. Nikki and Matthew were talking in worried voices.