The Lugubrious Disasters

Leria - The Youngest

I stood in front of the building; it was a plain little grey building but the big green letters on the front made it obvious this was the place; my brother told me about this place after it happened to his girlfriend and then it happened to me.

The Disaster Rehabilitation Centre; it seemed like a place you'd go into to find people to help you clean up natural disasters or something.

I sighed heavily, tried to muster up something called courage; if I had any, walked up the concrete steps, but then wasn't sure if I should knock or just open the door; I opened the screen and was about to knock but then the door opened.

In the doorway stood a tall, fit, girl with long dark hair and very dark eyes, she had to be of Indian descent or something, at least that's what she looked like.

"Hi, I'm Tanya, is there anything I could help you with?" She asked, taking my hand and pulling me inside.

"Uhm, my brother told me about this place, and told me to look f-for Rayna; I think was the name he said." I answered, slightly stuttering.

Tanya smiled; now looking at her head on, she might've been Middle Eastern or Arabian, something like that maybe.

"Wait here; I'll go get her." Tanya said, nodding and then bounded into a different room, I just kinda stood there, not sure of what else to do.

I wandered into this little area that had a few sofas, chairs and a large coffee table; it was some sort of waiting room, maybe.

I sat on one of the little sofas and just kinda stared at my shoes, nervously I started playing with my fingers; this was somehow completely nerve-wracking; I didn't know anybody in this place, it seemed that there was a lot of girls wandering around, going from one room into another, there were some girls that leant against walls or sat on the floor, either sobbing or laughing hysterically, but within minutes another girl would run over to them to comfort them or pull them up off the floor and into a different room, I did notice that there weren't many boys; maybe a few.

About ten minutes later; this short woman with bright red hair came in the small waiting area and sat down next to me; she took my hand, and then said, "Hello, I'm Rayna; Tanya said that you were looking for me?"

I nodded, "My brother; Peter told me about this place, because a disaster had happened to his girlfriend; Gretchen, and then the same disaster had happened to me." I told her, trying to keep my voice steady.

Rayna nodded politely but didn't say anything as if wanting me to continue explaining; so I did.

"Peter's girlfriend was—hurt by a few people and then about four days later; the same people had hurt me the same way they hurt her."

Rayna's polite smiled then faded, she nodded, stood up; still holding my hand; she pulled me up and into another room, where there was quite a few girls sitting on plastic chairs in a circle; there was only two girls I recognized within the circle; there was Tanya, who seemed a bit nervous, and Gretchen, who was trying to hide her face in her long auburn hair.

Rayna pulled over another plastic chair that was in one of the corners of the room, and she pulled it into the circle next to a petite, thin girl who had her eyes closed and a very dark skinned girl that was fumbling in her purse, I knew exactly what she was doing; she wasn't looking for something, she was trying to keep her hands busy so she didn't break down altogether.

She gestured for me to sit down, as I did, Rayna went over to the other empty chair and sat on the edge of it, she sighed heavily, looked up at the ceiling, closed her eyes, and said, "Gretchen, you've been here for a little less than a week, so why don't you begin?"