Born To Die | Vanessa Afton

1

"Kids! Pizzas here!" a parent shouted. Along with all the other children, you came running, pizza was always one of your favourite foods so it was no surprise you rushed. You sat at the table and peered behind you, your parents were busy talking to some other childs parents. You didnt mind, you were having fun. The child from next to you, a small blonde girl around the same age peered at you.

"Hi." She whispered, seeming to be quite shy. You weren't the most confident either but you managed to get the courage to respond. She smiled when you turned to her since she thought no one would want to talk to her as she held a plushie close to her chest, one that looked like a dog.

"Hi. Im Y/n." You said, grabbing a piece of cheese and tomato pizza and taking a small bite out of it. The girl in front of you seemed extremely happy to have someone to talk to, the smile on her face was ear to ear as she also grabbed some food.

"I'm Susie." She said, being able to gain some confidence in talking. It wasn't long until you had both finished your food. So far you had only played in the ball pit with some of the other children and had yet to look at what everyone calls the stars of the show, the animatronics.

They looked so real, that you had started to wonder how they were controlled or if they were controlled at all. They were all so cool. They scared you as much as they fascinated you, they looked massive and so real, like they... Could crush you. "Make sure you date your work so we can put it on the wall." A worker had said to you, making your thoughts sink away. You dated it, 17th May 1983.

"What do you want to be when you are older?" Susie had asked, making you look up from your drawing. His drawing included the animatronics, she was probably dancing over near them, that's why you didn't see her. You shrugged.

"A police officer, I guess." You had whispered, that it was the closest job to being a hero, and you wanted to save people. You watched as Susie picked up a red crayon and started colouring in a girl's clothes.

"I want to be a dancer." She expressed with a small giggle, looking over to the other kids who were dancing on the floor, "Do you want to go dance?"

"Sure," you said with scepticism. Susie took your hand in hers and practically dragged you to the dance floor, you were having the time of your life. You did a quick twirl before looking for your new friend. "Susie?" You called out but she was no longer on the dance floor. You shrugged and carried on dancing.

Suddenly, ten minutes later, your mother comes up to you and grabs your arm, a concerned and fearful look rests on her face. She shoves your coat over your shoulders, you turn around to see Susie's parents panicking. Where was she? Why had she just... Disappeared? "Mummy, what's happening?" you asked, your breath speeding up as you watched parents frantically look around for the child.

"Nothing, we are just leaving early, come on." Your mother tugged your hand and kept a very tight grip on it as she led you out of the pizzeria with no explanation at all.

"But I don't want to go yet!" You yelled at her, wanting to make sure Susie was okay in there.

"Y/n L/n." Your name was suddenly called. It took you out of your thoughts from the memory, you don't know why it seemed to always be in the back of your head. You thought it was because you were lucky and weren't taken that night, but all you could feel was mass amount of guilt every time you thought of it, even when reminding yourself that you were just a little girl, how could you have known? You both were only eight.

You looked up to the lady who had called your name out, it was no shock to see that it was your boss, Ellie Roberts. When you had come into work this morning and attempted to get the keys for a car, you were quickly denied by the officer at the desk and was told to sit. It felt like you were at school again, sitting outside the principals office, waiting for your punishment. All things considered, she was very nice when she wanted to be. You stood up and followed her into her small office and sat across from her, a very scared expression on your face.

"I am not impressed with the things I have been hearing about you." She said, a file that looked like it weighed a ton was in her arms, you assumed it was yours but you didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that it was so big. You looked down to where your hands were fidgeting. Sure, you weren't the best police officer around but you certainly wasn't the worst. She cleared her throat. "You called a mother irresponsible for loosing her child in the park."

"It was though, there were three kids there, only one was her's, all she had to do was watch the child." You sighed, defending herself. Roberts raised an eyebrow at your reasoning, you could tell she still thought it wasn't justified but you weren't one to sugar coat things, and she knew that.

"That's not the only one, you tazed a man because 'he came too close' even though witnesses said he was a meter away... What has gotten into you lately? It's like I'm seeing a whole new Y/n." She had paused after she said that, clearly studying your face for any signs of anything different. She sighed and leant back in her seat, closing your file as you bit the inside of your cheek.

"I guess you called me here to fire me?" You questioned and her face expression turned soft, she didn't want to do that. You had potential, lots of it. Plus you were still young, it wasn't like you were experienced enough to know how to act with everyone in the world. She seemed to lean forward, her arms resting on the table in front of you.

"No." She had stated simply at first. That didn't mean that you had gotten off with no punishment. She passed you a smaller file - one about a quarter of the size of yours. "I'm putting you with a partner for now to monitor you, she's around the same age so you two should get along just fine."

You had peeked inside the file to see quite a familiar name around this department. Vanessa Shelly. Sure, you hadn't met her in person yet but other people here have and they like to gossip. Some said that her background was sketchy or that her name was even fake. You took rumours with a pinch of salt until you actually meet the person so this virtually meant nothing to you. You passed the file back, not really interested in knowing more about her.

"You will most likely do late shifts, sometimes night shifts as usual and the only difference is that Officer Shelly will be with you." Roberts said, with a small shrug as if it was a small change. To you, it felt like you weren't a proper policewoman. You wondered how long this would stay for, weeks, months, years maybe? You couldn't deal with a random person for years.

"So I am being babysat?" You spat out almost unconsciously, you hadn't meant to talk to her in that tone. However, you were telling the truth, it did feel as if someone was babysitting you, but I guess it's not as bad as getting fired.

"I wouldn't talk back to me, I was the one who convinced everyone not to fire you." You nodded at her stern words. You knew you would have to play good cop for now. "This starts today, she's waiting outside for you."