Forest Sisters

Newspaper Article

Ivy's POV

I walk towards the cabins, hiding behind my walls. I'm used to keeping these walls up all the time, they're what protect me from getting hurt, but I guess I had let Hugo in. My mistake. Now I am left picking up the broken pieces of the shattered feelings that I don't even fully understand yet. I make it to the center of camp when I notice the crowd. There are about fifteen campers being led by none other then Samantha her self.
I start to walk faster, hoping they won't notice me. Just then Samantha yells to the crowd, pointing a shaking figures at me. "There!" She shouts. I keep walking. "That's why I don't feel safe. I thought this was a safe place for us, away from monsters, but then you let her in? How am I supposed to feel safe when she's in the camp?" I keep walking, trying to ignore her. "How can I feel safe when you let a killer into the camp?" My entire body freezes, not even my heart beats for a couple seconds. I don't move, staying even more still then most statues. No, no, no. Please no!
I hear someone sigh. "Samantha, is this another one of your lies again." She turns to the speaker. "No! She is a killer. Don't you wonder why she never even talks about her past? Not once, not even a single word." Some people whisper to each other. One speaks up, "Maybe she's had a hard life. Most of us can relate." There are some nods, but I know too well what comes next.
"Don't you understand?" She screeches. "How can we be safe when she killed her own parents? She killed them, then burned down her apartment." I feel my whole body start to shake. No, no, no!
Another camper opens their mouth to say something, but before he can Samantha shows the papers she had been carrying. When I see them, my blood freezes and I become dizzy. I start shagging again. I had hoped never to see those papers again, but the past always seemed to be able to find me.
"Look at this! I'm not making this up." No one speaks up this time. The crowd had tripled in size, but not a single one dared to speak. Samantha starts to read off the paper. "The Forristers were a beloved family, known for there charity and exotic gardens shared with the public. They were a family of three, living in a small apartment with their younger daughter, Iveryne, age seven, when disaster came upon them. Both Mr. And Mrs. Forrister died, their apartment burning down on top of them, leaving only Iveryne behind. Witnesses clame to have seen all three Forristers go into their apartment on the fifth floor and later saw a small figure running away from the scene, after the fire was started. The door was bolted from the outside and the fire escape had been broken several weeks before hand. At first it appeared the young couple burned to death, but through further inspection officials say they were dead before the fire got to then. Exact cause of death is unknown. The young Iveryne was found in the streets soon after the fire started. When officials later questioned her, she told demented stories of a flying dog saving her, then later on said it was a cat that was the one to rescue her. The story changed several times, disceobing different creatures saving her from the fire, then disappearing without a trace. Young Iveryne was the leading suspect in the investigation of her parents murder, accused of killing them then starting the fire to cover up what she had done. By lack of proper evidence, the court was unable to press charges against the child, even after she received interesting feedback from the psych exam. This information was classified and the exact score was not shared with the public.
The child had no family that was willing to take her in, and so he stare was forced to later send the child to protective services where she was brought to the new homes, two of which mysteriously burned down. Now the child is being bounced from home to home." Samantha stops reading and looks up at me, a satisfied smile on her face which only I can see. I look around and every one has made a wide ring around me, backing as far away from me as possible. They all look pail and some are even crying. The look in their eyes tell me that the tears aren't from sympathy, but pure terror.
They are terrified of me.
I'm shaking, looking around desperate for someone, anyone who might believe me, but I know that no one will. This has happened many times before, someone finds out and tells everyone. I know too well the fear in their eyes, the looks they give me and whispers to each other when I pass them in the hall. After they find out, it's never long before I'm forced to leave and go to another home. I had hoped this place would be different, a place to hide from the past, but I know no one can run from the past. No matter how fast you go, how well you hide, it always catches up with you.
I want to scream, to shout and tell them what really happened, to plead my innocents, but I learned a long time ago that it wouldn't do any good. I turn in a circle, looking for something, for someone, but that's when I see him. He stand there, closer to me then anyone else dared to stand. Hugo looks at me, but the hope I felt when I first saw him vanish when I see his eyes. They're full of doubt, and behind that, there's fear.
"Ivy," he whispers, his face akin of all the color it had when I last saw him. "Is that all true?" He looks at me with such raw feeling. I know he'd believe me, I feel like if I just told him he would fight for me. I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. I've spent so long running that I guess I can't stop. I just can't bring my self to trust him, or anyone else. After so many times having my trust broken and thrown back ah my already would heart, I couldn't bring my self to go through it again.
"See, she doesn't even deny it." Samantha says. I look around and reach out towards the crowd, maybe hoping someone would fight back, but all that happens is more crying, guys wrapping their arms around crying girls, protecting them.
Protecting then from me.
I can't take it anymore. I do the one thing that I've always been good at, the thing that kept me alive, what I have always done and will always do. I turned and ran.