Arabella D'Angelo is just a shell of a girl, a mere presence floating through the halls of her Los Angeles home. Her once bright grey eyes and sunshine-like spirit was crushed by the weight of her abusive parents.
Living in a constant state of fear...
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The morning sun peeked through the tall windows of the living room, casting golden streaks across the marble floor of our living space. The warm glow should have been comforting, but I still felt cold.
Not physically, but deep inside, like something heavy and unsettling had latched onto my chest and refused to let go.
I tried to shake it off. I tried to remind myself that today wasn't about me.It was about Ezekiel and his special day.
But no matter how much I forced a smile, no matter how much I laughed along with the others, my mind was still trapped in last night.
Lies run deeper than blood.
That damn note.
I had read it over and over again last night, hoping that maybe, just maybe, the words would start making sense. But they didn't. They just sat there in my mind, taunting me with questions I couldn't answer.
Who wrote it?
Why was it in my room?
How did they even break into my room to begin with?
Was it a warning? A threat? Or was it all just some sick joke?
And if it wasn't a joke, then what lies was it talking about? I didn't want my mind to wander off there, but it did anyways. What if the note was hinting at my brothers?
No.
No, that didn't make sense. I knew them. I knew them enough to know that they were anything but monsters. They wouldn't-
Would they?
A deep pit settled within my stomach, my fingers gripping the fabric of my sweatshirt as I stared at the coffee table, pretending to listen to the conversation happening around me.
They were bickering about something again and as much as I wanted to focus on them, to let their familiar arguments drown out my thoughts, the weight in my chest wouldn't go away.
I should have told them. I should have told someone. Probably Elijah, seeing how he was the most approachable and understanding one.
But I didn't.
Because what if it really was nothing? What if I was overthinking it, making a big deal out of something meaningless? The last thing I wanted was to cause unnecessary worry and make a fool out of myself, especially today, of all days. I didn't want to ruin Ezekiel's birthday.
