𝗦𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦 𝗛𝗜𝗠 , m.sturniolo

OO. THE PROLOGUE

      WHEN ANASTASIA PATON WAS TWELVE-YEARS-OLD, HER FATHER PASSED AWAY. How was she, a child herself, supposed to take care of her ten-year-old siblings while her mother was nonstop travelling?

"I WATCHED YOU. I just stood there, completely frozen, thinking how much of a disappointment I must be to you at this moment, but there was nothing I could have done. I was scared."

PITCH BLACK. Light. Pitch black. Light. This cycle continued through Anastasia's vision until she found herself blinking with squinted eyelids, a flashlight shining into her eyes. A hospital. She was in a hospital.

BY NOW THE YOUNG GIRL WAS EXTREMELY FAMILIAR WITH HOSPITALS. She had gone from feeling sick just hearing about a hospital to thinking of them as somewhere she could shut the whole world out and just be herself.

ANASTASIA AND HER FATHER HAD A BOND SHE CONSIDERED UNBREAKABLE. Though that light died rather fast when she found out the unbreakable bond had officially broken. For that, Anastasia hated alcohol and drugs. They were the villains that killed her own father, the man who she had trusted with her entire life.

WHEN SHE WAS FIFTEEN, HER BEST FRIENDS DRAGGED HER TO A PARTY. Poor little Anastasia sat as still as a statue for the majority of the party. A boy had soon walked over to her to offer her 'a drink' which Anastasia had figured was very strong alcohol, that encounter was enough to send her over the edge.

SHE PICKED UP HER JACKET AND RAN OUT OF THE DOOR. The young girl sat on the porch steps, crying until she felt numb. Anastasia missed her dad. She knew it may be a foolish thing to miss him after three years, but guilt and sadness never go away.

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT YOU'RE GONE NOW, DAD."

SHE HATED THE PITYING LOOKS SHE RECEIVED FROM EVERYBODY THAT KNEW. Sometime's Anastasia would have to fight the nerve to strangle someone who brought it up. By this age, she had been more into acting, something she enjoyed, to take her mind off of everything.

ACTING WAS ANASTASIA'S ESCAPE. She knew that there was definitely not a feeling better than being on set, pouring your heart out through speech and watching yourself blossom. Although everything good must always have a pinch of salt, the hateful comments Anastasia received led to self-doubt.

SHE WAS IN TEARS ALMOST EVERY NIGHT. Anastasia had no control over her own mind at sixteen. All the smiles? They were all a big cover-up. Finishing school earlier than the average teenager, looking after her two younger siblings, remembering to take her depression medication, updating her mother on her wellbeing every day.

EVERYTHING WAS BECOMING STRESSFUL TO ANASTASIA. Even just telling a bedtime story to her siblings, Vada and Felix, could send her into a panic attack. Anastasia was so sick of herself, she wanted to vanish clean off of the entire earth. She wanted nothing more but for her father to come back or for her to be with him.

"I REMEMBER THE LAST THING YOU SAID TO ME. 'Even if we're miles apart, just close your eyes and I'll be right beside you,'."

AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH DEPRESSION, ANASTASIA'S YOUNGER SIBLINGS BOUGHT HER TWO KITTENS. Sixteen-year-old Stacy was over the moon, she had been wanting a cat since she was six and now she had two. These kittens, which she named Frank and Frypan, had stuck by Anastasia's side through it all. They helped her. The kittens, along with her family and best friends, were Anastasia's rocks.

AT EIGHTEEN ANASTASIA HAD GROWN PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND IN FAME TOO. Her body had gone through puberty, her mind had become more stable and positive towards herself and she was in many movies and television shows. Anastasia was famous.