The Sun Burns Brightly With My Love For You

Chapter 5: Isabella Douner

Trigger Warning ⚠️/Author's Note: Cursing, Bullying, Panic Attack and Minor Fighting.

Isabella was in the town library with her friends and her dad. She had to be careful though, she told him that they were just doing homework, she didn't want him to find out the real reason.

So, in order to not look suspicious all four of them were using incognito tabs when searching for information concerning the killer and were swapping the covers and backs of any books they got on the subject with math and history covers. They also brought their actual homework seeing as that would really sell it.

"Do you need any help?" Her father asked.

She had to get him off her back, quite literally, so she said in the most annoyed voice she could muster "Dad, I'm not a child anymore, I think I can handle a few pages of homework!"

He looked kind of hurt which, in turn, hurt Isabella. She didn't like lying or being mean to her father. He didn't deserve it; he was a good Dad and always tried to make sure that his children got everything they asked for.

"I know you are capable of doing it yourself but, you've just grown so much and so fast and I still want to be useful." He said quietly.

"It's okay Dad, sorry for snapping at you but could you please let me do this myself?" She asked.

"Alright. I'll accept it, I'm old, and you're a teenager, so you don't want to hang out with me anymore, I get it, I understand." Her Dad said dramatically.

"Dad, stop that." Isabella said swatting him away and internally sighing in relief when he went away.

She got back to work.

She flipped through the magazine articles on the computer that held the information on the victims of the Harbinger. So far, there have been 73 victims. And as she read even further into the cases she noticed that they all shared one thing in common; they were all either staged to look like an accident or the weapon wasn't at the crime scene.

She wrote the information on three separate sticky notes and passed one down to each of her friends. Anastasia nodded to her and Blake handed out a slip of paper that passed from Ezekiel to Anastasia and then, finally, to Isabella. It read, 'My house. This Friday, at 4:35p.m.'

Isabella looked up at him and nodded. She then focused on finishing her homework. When they all finished they packed up and Isabella's Dad dropped off her friends at their respective houses and then they drove home.

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Isabella was walking Lyde to his homeroom at the beginning of the school day before heading to her own homeroom when they showed up. Lyde's bullies. Lyde seemed to freeze in fear as he curled in on himself and tried to make himself invisible by hiding behind her in a vain attempt to not be spotted. But it was no good.

The leader, Rishel, had already spotted him and stalked towards him like a predator stalking its prey. Lyde tried to shrink down even further. Isabella was furious; how dare they treat her brother like that, and especially when she was around.

She growled at them, a warning to back off. "Oh look, if it isn't the little twerp and his beast of a sister. How does it feel to have a girl protect you. Honestly, I mean, how pathetic can you be if you need your sister to defend you?" Rishel smugly said.

"Leave him alone you asshole!" Isabella snapped at him.

"So the bitch finally decides to talk?"

Isabella didn't want to deal with it today. She grabbed Lyde's hand and started to walk the other way mumbling under her breath a "prick" just to be even.

"No wonder you're such a bitch, you never had a mother in your life did you! Not that it would matter much, I highly doubt your Mom would even be a good one at that!"

After Rishel said that Isabella couldn't control herself. Before any of them could realize what exactly had happened, she had ran to where Rishel was and docked him straight in the nose hearing a satisfying CRACK.

"OW YOU CUNT!" Rishel yelled holding his hands up to his nose.

Rishel's goons tried to attack her but she dodged one and bit the other one in the arm after he punched her. She was too focused in the fight (which she was winning by the way despite it being a three on one) to see her brother cowering in the corner no doubt having a panic attack or the door to one of the rooms open and a teacher step out.

"What's going on here? And—" the voice cut off after seeing Lyde curled up on the floor and the teacher rushed to him. The rest of the kids stopped to see Mr. Estons trying to calm down Lyde, his daughter Evelyn timidly poking her head out from one of the rooms and her elder brother Elias trying to pull her back into said room.

Isabella immediately felt bad. How could she have been so distracted as to not notice when her twin was having a panic attack. She felt shame was over her as Mr. Estons told her and anyone else involved in the fight to go to the principal's office.

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Isabella sat in the principal's office looking sad and gloomy. How was she supposed to say sorry to Lyde for totally overlooking his needs or what was she going to say to her father who constantly worked as hard as he could to make sure his children were provided with a happy and safe environment?

Isabella knew well and well that being a single parent was a hard job to do and she didn't need to be adding to her father's lists of worries. She looked up once she heard the door open only to immediately look back down once she saw who it was.

She felt like she'd disappointed him and she really didn't like that feeling. In a voice quiet as a mouse Isabella mumbled out "Hi Dad."

1034 words.