DANGEROUS ⇛ Jason Todd [ currently on hiatus ]

4.

"Get. Out."

"Danielle-"

"No. You're lying."

"I wish I was," Jason sighs, raking a hand through his dark hair. His eyebrows furrow as he takes weary steps towards my shaking frame.

There's an ache in my chest. Not a stabbing or extreme pain, but a subtle and dull throbbing that only really hurts a little. I'll be honest, I'm not as torn up about Emily's death as I - being her younger sister - morally should be. Sure, it kinda hurts and I feel like my heart was just torn out of my chest but I was far worse when she had actually left our family for nothing. Mom and dad were both pained beyond relief that their first and eldest child had just packed her things and left without a second thought of how we would cope.

Dad started to drink. My father never even used to send a second glance towards any alcoholic beverage - he'd never even tasted it before she left. But the loss of a daughter and the realization that she wasn't coming back for us had driven him over the edge. He'd come home drunk every night, collapsing as soon as his feet touched the carpet of our home. He never became abusive or anything like that towards my mother and I, he mostly kept to himself and rarely ever spoke to us. Which was also uncommon. I understood what he must have been going through, he and Emily were so close they were basically best friends.

He snapped out of it once I had revealed to him that I was leaving Central City for Gotham. Dad had begged me to stay with them, to not leave them but I was hell bent on achieving what I had dreamed for; a happy life. Having said that, I was never an unhappy or depressed person, but I just wanted to escape everything that could make me become unhappy and the first step in doing so was to push everything that Emily had put my family through behind me and start up a career that I have wanted since I was a child.

I made my father promise that he would snap out of whatever depressed or alcoholic state he was in. To not only his benefit but his wife's as well as my own.

Mom was surprisingly alright after sometime, though she did tend to dig herself into her job and worked for hours. She had never admitted the affect of her child leaving her and probably never will. Mom was and still is the strongest of the Anderson's and I admire the amount of will power that woman has. My mother has been the only person to have stood by me throughout all of my hardships and she still is. I'm insanely thankful to have a parent like her. She had always been more supportive than my father. Don't get me wrong, I love him to death but ever since what happened with Emily he hasn't been there for us.

For all those years we had thought Emily was dead. We already mourned her death, we already grieved the loss of someone we loved. To say that I don't still hold her dear is a lie but I also hold a hatred for the girl who left us so suddenly for her own benefit without taking any care to the impact that she could have caused her family. At first I was just unhappy about her departure but after some time - after my father's mental health went down the drain and after my mother had spent an unhealthy amount of her attention on her job.

I understand that she must have had good intentions but in her attempt to play them out she had ruined the lives of the people closest to her - the people that hold her dearest. I admire that she acted to achieve and create what she thought would benefit and make the world around us a better place. But I can't help but blame her for the downfall of my family and that will forever make me bitter towards her. Even if she really is dead.