TOXIC BLOODLINES 1/4

THE RABBIT HOLE

SARA

A month had passed since everything happened. It was the middle of October, and the last of the Autumn leaves had fallen. Everything was cold now, literally and figuratively. The town had fallen into a bit of a rut. Some businesses damaged by the quake didn't recover financially, and construction on the rebuild had slowed down significantly. Plus, people weren't going out anymore... They were scared.

Winters in Seventh Heaven sucked ass. Once the lake water froze over, everything stopped, the snow practically buried us for six months, and we didn't even see the sun most of the time. A couple of families had left town as they usually did to escape it while some left permanently... I didn't blame them.

Nobody besides Ian had spoken to me since the hospital. And after a minor incident involving me, a pig- I mean a cop! and the mayor, I decided to lay low.

From my solitude/ self-exile, I watched all the interviews, and I read all the stupid articles.

Ian and I took the fall because it was easier to blame us than tell them what really happened...the things we saw in the woods.

Our dicktator would pull Arik out and show his miraculous recovery; I saw that boy's face more than I saw mine, ngl. I did feel sorry for him; he looked so miserable – I could tell he was being scripted. Kim did a few interviews, but I knew those weren't her or her uncle's words. 'Pushing on' wasn't something she'd ever say about losing someone she loved, but that sound bite was enough to make everyone stop talking about it for a few days. 'It was just an accident.' Yeah, fucking right.

It wasn't a shock when my loser aunt kicked me out. That chain-smoking bitch had been planning it for a while, actually. She wanted me gone the moment I grew boobs; I was a threat to her. She didn't like how her pedo boyfriends would look at me; instead of taking it out on them, she'd take it out on her kids or me, mostly me.

I couldn't count how often I had to wear hoodies to school because she hit me. I didn't tell anyone about it because I feared they'd probably put me into the system and I'd end up with someone like her or worse. The 'Incident' was a blessing in disguise and the fact I was turning eighteen in November. I'd be free, and she wouldn't be able to use me to receive benefits anymore.

One day I returned from school and found all my belongings dumped on the curb; it was rainy, so everything was soaked. That evil woman sat on the porch shamelessly making out with her crusty, sunburnt biker boyfriend. They waited for me to come back like it was a celebration.

"Well, FUCK YOU!" I cried. "I never needed you anyway!"

"Bye bitch," she waved with a smile.

Humiliated, I packed everything I could carry and shoved them into my navy blue beat-up 2005 Camry my dad left for me. I kicked over her mailbox, threw a brick at her car, smashed the back window, and drove off as her boyfriend ran after me.

Good riddance.

I slept in my car for a week and used the school showers to stay clean. I had to figure something out fast. I had to bite down and take out the money my dad had put aside for college because who was I kidding? With my grades, I doubted college would ever be an option. I broke all my piggy banks. I added all the money together. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get me a small one-bedroom apartment far out of town.

The neighborhood was a bit forgotten. The apartment building had this chipped red paint that stood out amongst all the other dull buildings and shops, and something about how rundown this place was was speaking to me. It was charming in a haunting way.