VILLAINESS [TWD]

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖆𝖗𝖓

"i was fifteen and all i wanted to do was smoke and shoplift. i was awful, to you more than anybody. and the messes i made, you cleaned up."

i peer between the rails of the staircase, looking down to daddy and maggie. she was getting dinner prepared and he was sitting in front of her. something about that boy, carl, being okay now.

carl was a couple years older than me, but daddy didn't let me around him. he had told patricia it was something about 'getting attached'.

"you're my daughter. i'd do anything for you."

maggie sniffles, setting the knife down where she was cutting up a salad.

"she's.." she begins, shaking her head. "daddy, you and annette cleaned my mess. now, i.. i live every day thinking about how wrong i was."

she wipes her tears, sniffling once more, "all this.. it's not different. you're different."

"i am," daddy agrees. "but we're not. i love you. that's part of this. is this because of that asian boy?"

"ellie!" matthew's voice rings through the house.

i jump, scurrying further up the stairs to not be caught.

"mags," he greets. "hey, hershel. either of you seen ellie?"

"she's taking a nap," daddy answers.

the voices grow more distant but i still try and listen.

"mags.. is everything all right?"

"don't, matt," she sighs. "just stop."

--

"ms. mary!"

as i begin running to my teacher, maggie catches me. we spin around, falling onto the ground. 

the people around us fire their weapons, the guns louder than anything i've heard before.

"ms. mary!" i cry as someone shoots her and she falls to the ground.

"don't look, ellie," maggie begs, trying to hide my face.

i claw at her arm, trying to get up. 

why was ms. mary in our barn?

my head gets free enough to look back to the doors.

ms. mary- my favorite teacher from this year, justine from beth's class who hung out here on the weekends, harry from down the road, mr. gould from church that always had handmade crosses to give out, mrs. gould that gave me a birthday cake last year, brother beau who led the sunday sermons, mrs. hadley who was my best friend's mother.. all of them were in the barn. 

all of them were shot down.

and then, momma walked out of the barn.

every time i asked where she was, daddy just said she was helping out somewhere up north. she was here the whole time?

"momma!" i scream.

maggie's hold grows tighter and she forces my face to her neck. my tears pooled against her skin as i took deep breaths that rattled my chest. i thought i was going to drown in my tears so close to maggie.

another pair of hands grab onto me and i see matt's tattoo. despite how awful it must've been for them, matt and maggie both cared about me and what i saw. 

i could only cry and scream as the people i knew were killed in front of me so brutally.