Love Save the Empty

One

Sad girl,you stare up at the sky,

When no one's looking back at you.

You wear your every last disguise,

You're flying then you fall through.

Love Save the Empty - Erin Mccarley

Bella quickly followed her aunt into the house, struggling to carry her two large suitcases into her new home. She dropped her bags on the floor at the door and looked around the unfamiliar house.

'Well, it’s definitely roomy,' she thought to herself, scanning over the one-floor house that smelled like alcohol and cigarettes.

The house that stood before Bella belonged to Kelly Schmidt, her mother’s sister, or in other words, her aunt. Aunt Kelly wasn’t always the best aunt to Bella, but right now, Bella was thankful for her because if Aunt Kelly didn’t take her in, she didn’t know what she would have done.

You see, Isabella Woods, Bella for short, recently became orphan when her parents and her brother were off to his basketball tournament and never came back. After that fatal car accident that turned Bella’s life upside down, she was left alone with only one family member that she knew was living: Kelly Schmidt.

Kelly is a divorced woman in her late thirties who has developed many bad habbits no one should ever have over the past few years. With her constant partying, drinking, and smoking, her job as a waitress at the Diner not far from her house barely paid her rent. She was going to refuse to take Bella in, but when she found out she would receive monthly revenue for taking care of her, there was no way she could say no.

Bella didn’t care if she was in it just for the money. Just having a living, breathing family member meant the world to her.

Family meant everything to Bella. And to have the most important people in her life be ripped from her grasp caused her little heart to be torn to pieces. Nightmares of her family’s fatal accident flooded her mind every night; and every night Bella would wish for just one full night of sleep. But every night, she would wake up screaming and crying.

Bella was in no way the girl she used to be; the happy, perky one who could always make someone smile. She couldn’t even make herself smile. She barely talked or look at anyone anymore. She wouldn’t let any of her friends in or talk about her situation, leaving herself to drown in her own solitude.

It was easy to say that little Isabella Woods was tired, lonely, and broken.

Moving to a small town just outside of London was just the thing she needed. It was completely different from the lifestyle she was used to in the sunny, busy streets of Miami, Florida. It as colder and quieter here, and a lot smaller to say the least. She wanted nothing to remind her of the horrific, traumatic events that just occurred in her life.

And this place would do just that.

“Helloooo? Anyone home in there?” Aunt Kelly wave her hands in front of Bella’s face, snapping her out of her daze.

“Oh! Y-yeah, sorry.”

Aunt Kelly took a puff of her cigarette before continuing.

“So, Belle-“

“Bella,” Bella politely corrected.

“Bella,” Aunt Kelly repeated, mentally slapping herself for not remembering her only living niece’s name.

“So, listen Bella, as you probably already can see, I’m a pretty fucked up lady.”

Bella looked at her aunt, surprised and her upfront and honest statement. Aunt Kelly read her expression, snickered a little, and began again.

“So, I’m just going to lay the rules out right now. Don’t go depending on me for shit when I can barely take care of myself. I’ll have food here for you, but don’t expect it to be waiting on a plate for you when you walk through the door. Try not to bother me when I’m home. I’ll either be sleeping or have my boyfriend over. And I need to make this one clear with you. Don’t fuck with Brent.”

Her words were harsh, but Bella could sense a hint of worry and care in her voice as she spoke them. Bella nodded, signaling that she was still listening to Aunt Kelly’s instructions.

“Good,” Aunt Kelly said, “That’s pretty much it then. If you follow those rules, you can pretty much do whatever the fuck you want. You can have friends over as long as they don’t cross my path. You can have them sleepover too. Boys or girls. I really don’t give a fuck, you’re old enough to make your own decisions.”

Bella nodded once again, fascinated by her aunt’s thick British accent. It reminded her nothing of her mother’s voice which sounded fully and completely American. Her mom’s accent faded away due to all the years of living in America. Aunt Kelly has lived in the UK her whole life while Bella’s mother moved away when she was 18 to attend the University of Miami to study Marine Biology. The same place she met her father.

Aunt Kelly could sense Bella’s sudden change in emotion, uneasiness taking over as memories of her mom and dad came flooding back in her mind. Aunt Kelly placed her hand that was free of the cigarette on Bella’s shoulder in attempt to comfort her. Bella looked at her thankfully.

“I’ve never really had to deal with kids,” Aunt Kelly started, “so I might need help with the whole ‘mothering’ thing.”

Bella gave her a small smile, tears still threatening at the back of her eyes. Aunt Kelly desperately searched for something to distract poor Bella. She was right when she said she wasn’t good at the whole ‘mothering’ concept.

“So, the kitchen’s over there, living room and TV that way, your room’s down the hall to the right, and the bathroom’s right across from that. Capeesh?”

A small giggle erupted from Bella’s mouth. She had always thought that word was funny. She was still a little girl at heart.

“Capeesh.”

Relief flooded Aunt Kelly’s eyes when the giggle reached her ears. Seeing that girl upset could make even the strongest, toughest man want to curl up and cry with her. Bella always had a certain effect on people that no one could ever understand.

“Alright,” Aunt Kelly came over and cupped the back of Bella’s head and kissed the top of it, the cigarette in her other hand accidentally coming dangerously close to Bella’s face, “Go unpack your things.”

Bella quickly obliged, not wanting the cigarette smell from Aunt Kelly to stick onto her. She grabbed her bags from the front door and dragged them across the floor with all the strength she could muster. She turned quickly when she heard her name escape Aunt Kelly’s lips once more.

“I know school is tomorrow and all, but you can take as much time as you need to get accustomed to this place. Maybe just staying home for a few days would make you feel better?”

Bella flinched at the word 'home'. This wasn’t her home. Her home was back with her beautiful, loving mother, her hilarious, caring father, and her protective older brother in the warm sun in Miami.

Bella sighed, reminding herself that Miami wasn’t home anymore. This was her home.

“No,” Bella quietly responded, “I think school is the best place for me to be right now. You know, to distract me from things.”

Aunt Kelly nodded in understanding.

“If that’s what you want. Make sure to set the alarm by your bed for 6.”

With that, Bella made an escape to her room, wishing for the next day to come where she would be distracted from everything, and dreading the night time when her nightmares replay the moments she so desperately wants to avoid over and over again.

Little did she know that he would be there. And little did she know that he would turn her life upside down once again.