The Ties of Family (RotG Fanfic)

Chapter 58

Sophie turned down an alley, ran a little way further and turned down another alley, unsure of where she was going. She didn't care, though, as long as she got away from her mother and Jamie, though she knew she might not be able to escape the guardian. Couldn't all of them just leave her alone for once?

She ducked down a narrow alley and spotted cars zooming past on the main street up ahead. She skidded to a halt, not wanting to run out onto the main street and bump into someone she knew. Leaning against the brick wall, she dug into her pocket and withdrew a phone her mother had agreed to some time back. Alerts of new messages were flashing across the screen. Her grip around the phone tightened as she imagined what the messages would say. They would definitely be no different, or even worse than the emails she had received that morning. She had tried fighting back, but there were too many of them. It was like those idiots had invented some sort of cyberbullying machine that constantly churned out hateful messages and sent them through an automated system to their targets. She was about to just sink to the floor and wallow in her sorrow when she spotted a man standing across the street with a clear view of the alley. She couldn't wallow right there. She was in close proximity with human beings.

Leaving her current spot, she sought refuge in the back alley of a row of houses that had been almost completely destroyed by the blizzard. Jamie and her mom didn't seem to be anywhere in view and she hoped she had put enough distance between herself and them. She wondered about Bunnymund. Did he have tracking skills? Did he have a any object like North's snowglobe?

Sophie righted a fallen trash can and hid behind it, oblivious to any stench it was emanating, and began scrolling through the messages on her phone, deleting them as they came, but they were similar to the snow during the blizzard; they just kept coming, piling up till it was almost impossible to get rid of them all at once. But the snow stopped and the blizzard slowly came to an end. Sophie wondered if the messages would end.

Overcome by frustration, she flung her phone at the opposite wall where it shattered into pieces which fell with dull clinking sounds on the asphalt. Sophie sat on the ground, clutched her head and rested her forehead on her knees before doing what she hadn't done for so long; cry. There was a heavy weight on her heart which she longed to be rid of. She wanted to scream, but that would only give her away in that alley and lead to unwanted attention, so crying seemed to be the best option. Her sobs were silent, almost unheard, though it was all quiet in the alley. Sophie thought of all the funerals being held for those who perished in the blizzard right at that moment, and somehow wished she had met the same fate as them; somehow she wished Jamie and her mom were back at home, lighting candles for her.

"Sophie?" She kept her head down, recognizing the voice. There was a moment of silence before it continued. "Ya know, I pointed Jamie and your mom down the wrong road."

Once again, in spite of herself, Sophie smiled, and finally looked up. In her peripheral vision, she spied the Easter Bunny standing several feet away to her left. Good old Bunnymund! At least Jamie and her mom were out of the way for a while.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked, slowly getting to her feet.

"Since ya smashed that gadget," the guardian replied, gesturing towards the shattered phone.

"How did I not see you?" she questioned, her eyes fixed on the broken phone. Now that was out of the way, too. But she doubted she could fully disconnect herself from the cyber world. And even if she managed, how was life going to be like in the only accessible school in Burgess at that moment? While the public high school she had been going to was being reconstructed, she attended another one in Burgess as well, though it was a little further from her home. And that was where it all started.

"You stopped believing in hope a few minutes ago, ankle-biter. That was when I faded from your view."

Something similar to fear gripped Sophie, as she imagined what her life would be like without the guardians and immediately chided herself as she couldn't help thinking how dependent she was on them. What about the other teenagers? They didn't believe in the fairytale guardians. After the blizzard, some of them have even lost their lawful guardians. She thought of Pitch. If he was the mastermind behind nightmares and fear in children, could he possibly be causing depression and whatnot to teenagers as well?

"Just like frosty didn't bring the blizzard, Pitch isn't the one behind things like this, Sophie," Bunny said, as though reading her mind. He gestured once more at the shattered phone. "I may not be a guardian of teenagers, but I can tell you've been hearing things ya don't like."

"Yeah, congratulations, Bunny, you're a genius," Sophie responded, in a flat, monotonous voice that didn't contain a trace of enthusiasm. She sank onto the asphalt again. "Please leave me alone, just for now." She waited, but the Pooka didn't leave. "I'll head home later, okay?" she assured him. "I'll see you on Easter Sunday." She faked a smile and turned back to wallowing. Bunny gazed at her for another couple of seconds before a hole opened up beneath him and he disappeared through it. Sophie watched as a plant took root and grew at an alarming rate before a flower blossomed right after the hole closed up. She giggled.

#

Jamie couldn't believe it. "Did Bunny lie?" he wondered aloud, incredulous. That was crazy. Why would the Easter Bunny lie about his sister's location? Did he know where she was? What was he planning?

"Maybe he wanted to give her some time alone?" Mrs. Bennett suggested, causing her son to explode into fits of frustration.

"He did not just do that to a young, naive teenage girl!" Jamie half-yelled. As his mother tried to calm him down, he held her by the shoulders and looked into the eyes he inherited. "Giving that girl some time to be alone is just the same as saying 'here, take some time to go do something horrible to yourself'!" He released his mother and slumped forwards in the car seat.

Mrs. Bennett stared up ahead, at the houses with candles, seeming to be lost in thought, her hand on the steering wheel. Jamie sat up and peered at her. "Mom, are you okay? Look, I didn't mean... no, I meant... ugh, Sophie won't do anything stupid, okay? She's not that type. She's not going to give up without a fight."

"What if she already tried to fight... and lost?" Mrs. Bennett responded, worry filling her face.

They both sat in silence, wondering what to do, where to go. After what seemed like an eternity, Jamie finally spoke, "Let's just go home. Maybe she'll be there. I mean, Easter is coming really soon. She won't miss it."

Sorry if the writing seems to be a little... juvenile.