3 Heroes and A Villian

Chapter 7

Patton said, "Ann, love as much as we respect your space, we need to know what he was talking about." when they got home.

Ann looked at him and responded, "It's not a happy story."

"Few things are," Roman replied.

"Ok," he took a deep breath and began.

"I was named Virgil by my dad. My mom wanted to call me Angel, but my dad insisted that my name had to be manly, or whatever. I've never understood that man and I don't think I ever will, but that's not the point. 

It wasn't that bad at first. He mostly ignored me and let me hang out with mom while he tried to get ahead in the world with his shady buddies. The things he did may have been less than legal, but no one was getting hurt, at least I thought no one was, and me and mom had nowhere to go.

That all changed when I started school and started getting anxiety attacks. They started appearing, the shadows, whispering in my ears, making me believe the worse would happen. We tried to hide it from him, but we couldn't keep it from him, not forever.

I don't want to talk about what happened when he found out, but after that, I wouldn't my mother again. 

He trained me to hurt people with it, but the more I used it the less control I had until I refused to sleep because that's when they attacked. I didn't dare fight back. I was afraid of him, something about him was changing for the worse and it terrified me.

One day he told me mom was sick. He promised he would let me see her again if I did what he said. I wanted to see her again so badly that I was putty in his hands. Every time I asked he would say 'I need you to do one more thing.' There was always one more thing.

After a few months of this, I was feeling worse than I ever had. I was wondering what to do when I realized my mom wouldn't want this. She never wanted this life for me, and I didn't either, so one day I just sat down in the middle of one of the attacks and I stopped. I did nothing, but sit there and cry.

When I went back home there was a note on the door, 'You can come back when you prove you're not weak anymore.' I didn't care, I was numb. I got a job as a barista, changed my name to Ann, and never looked back.

Life didn't go as planned. I got a letter from him saying that mom's, really sick, and that I better prove myself soon or I wouldn't see her ever again. That's when I started doing crime again, and well, you guys know the rest," his voice was a mere whisper by the end of his tale.

"Oh, Ann. I'm sorry," Patton said, reaching out to hold Ann.

Ann smiled softly at him, but it didn't reach his eyes as he replied,"It's ok, it's out of your hands," 

Logan stated in an almost shy voice, "I have a question."

"Shoot," Ann said.

"Why Ann, why not Angel like your mom wanted?" Logan asked, the curiosity getting better of him.

Ann answered in a small voice, "My mother's name is Ann, and after the things I've done I'm no angel."

For the rest of the night, they said nothing, just held onto Ann and thought of ways to make things right.