Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍
𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 was curled up in a ball crying. She'd been like this almost every single day for the past year straight. Alone and locked up. The only times she had left the room was when strange men would come in to take her for tests, which she had no idea what they were for.
She barely remembered anything about what had happened to her parents or her life before she was taken away. Wicked had snatched that memory from her like everything else. All she remembered was seeing her dad plummet into complete madness. Still, the pain of their separation swallowed her. An ocean that had sucked her under, its coldness and depth never ending.
She lay on a bed in her small room, legs tucked up to her chest and a small teddy huddled in her arms. Her sobs came in unsteady motions as she gasped for breath. She was only seven years old yet her only glimpse of the world had been darkness and pain. All she wanted and needed was her big brother but she hadn't seen him since the day she arrived at this strange place. She clung desperately onto the memory of his voice and touch to comfort her at night. He was the only one who ever really knew her.
Her door buzzed then immediately popped open. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and faced away from the entrance, her trembling hands clamped over her ears.
"No!" She screamed shrilly. "I don't want to come with you anymore!" She felt a gentle hand cling onto her shoulder but she didn't budge. She began to flail her legs and arms around aimlessly, wanting rid of whoever was there. "Please, no more! Please!"
"Maddy! Stop it, you're hurting me!"
In disbelief she stopped resisting and slowly opened her eyes. There stood her brother. It was like everything she had endured for the past year disappeared for a split second. Her mind finally went quiet. Nothing else mattered now he was here.
"Tommy!" She sobbed out in relief as she flung her small arms around his neck.
"It's okay." Thomas soothed as he ran his hands up and down her back gently. "I'm here now."
He pulled backwards to take a look at her face. His heart shattered into a million pieces when he looked into her eyes. A mirror one so full and clear, only now broken into small shards, never to be the same again. The eyes that once held all the light and joy in the world now held nothing but misery. Guilt ate away at the prominent hole in his chest when he realised how good he'd had it compared to her, and the fact he had done absolutely nothing to prevent it.
Madelyn let out a quiet sob as Thomas softly wiped away her tears with his thumb. His warm touch was enough to make her crack a smile for the first time in a year. He was the light at the end of her tunnel. "I missed you so much."
"There's that smile." Thomas grinned, reaching out a hand to tuck a stray strand of her brunette hair behind her ear. "I missed you more than you know."
