Hambie

Ends and Beginnings

She flinched as a door slammed loudly, the sound of fast clipped steps nearing her room. They were obviously wearing heels, and the girl felt a sense of dread fill her every cell, as the sound came to an abrupt halt outside her bedroom door.

She shoved her phone and laptop under her bed, not wanting them to be broken, and then counted to ten, waiting...

As she expected, the door was flung open, revealing her mother in all her furious glory. Immediately, the stench of too much perfume and a surplus of alcoholic fumes invaded her nose, telling her all she needed to know about the current situation.

Her mother huffed angrily, stepping closer and beginning to raise her arm...

She winced as she lifted herself off the floor, struggling to stabilise herself, as her head grew dizzy and she saw the room spin slightly around her. Hands finding purchase on her bedframe, she pulled herself to a sitting position and reached underneath, collecting a sachet of bandages and some plasters, along with her phone and computer.

Propping herself up against the headboard, she opened her computer and clicked resume, setting it to the side of her and watching the intro to the last episode of AOUAD, as she quickly set to the task of covering her wounds. When she had finished, the episode was half-way through and she got under her covers to watch the remaining half, a slight pressure building in her temples.

As she had watched, black spots gradually crept into her vision, obscuring what she could see of the final frame, though not dampening her thrill at the suspenseful cliff-hanger.

She closed the screen with a content sigh, not for the first time wishing that she had been born into another world, where it all just seemed so much simpler than the shit-show that was her current life. 

Most kids remembered a few vague memories of their early childhood, usually brought about by the reminiscence of their parents. She however, at the age of 18, had no such happy recollections, her parents had divorced when she was young and her mother had claimed full custody to spite her father, not actually caring about her own daughter, or her responsibilities as a parent. 

Her mother had then fallen into a bad crowd, often bringing them back to the house to drink in the lounge, which lead to her in turn spending most of her time either locked in her room, studying/watching shows, or hiding out at the library. What little she did remember of her father, had faded and only hollow echoes of his laugh and piggyback rides remained. She thought it all sounded quite pathetic, if she were being honest.

To compensate her home life, she had planned her escape. She had applied for the farthest university she could find, in the hopes that she would be rid of the shackles of this place. As a straight A student, courtesy of her amazing memory- eidetic, the school had said, with an advanced understanding of the material, she had her pick. But all she truly wanted, was to escape. To escape and never have to return. 

Her mother was not someone she would miss, and what little friends she had, were all going away as well, so that really left nothing for her to return to in the end.

Her mind  came back to the show, a slight pressure building behind her eyes, the world dimming around her, tinnitus getting louder in her ears. 'I wonder what will happen next season..' she thought, her eyes closing without her knowledge. And she was gone.

She would not be checked on for a long time, and only then would they discover her still form, pale and lifeless, bruises across her body, nose having long stopped bleeding, ears and mouth with small trickles of blood that had dried against her skin.

~~~~~~~~~~

She yawned as she woke up, stretching widely across her bed and turning over to bury her face in the  pillow, attempting to block out the sun.