⚠️[possible trigger warning sorry]
Adelaide had pondered upon the thought of Gilbert leaving on her cold walk home.
It's not that she was upset, because she didn't think she had a right to be mad with him. She just felt that something between them, that could grow to be something beautiful, would be ripped apart if he moved away. As always, it didn't matter because her opinion never truly matters. Everything was always out of her control and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Adelaide knew that her care for Gilbert had started off as a mere flower, now had grown into a full, lush garden. He had opened her eyes to what wonders the world can bring in such horrible times. Nothing could match the joy Adelaide felt when she even caught a mere glimpse of the curly haired boy.
As she smiled at the thought of Gilbert, Adelaide's snow covered boots carried her up the last step of her porch, right up to the front door. She took one last look at the beautiful setting sun. Only the tippy top of it remained along the horizon. She smiled at it and reached for the door handle.
Adelaide's smile dropped when the door creaked open without her pushing against it. The door had been open, but why? Her mother was smart enough to know not to accidentally leave the front door open, especially in the evening. Adelaide's pulse quickened as she pushed it opened fully. The house was dark, so Adelaide quickly grabbed a candle off of the table and lit it hastily.
"Mom?" Adelaide called out with a shaky voice. Alice was nowhere to be seen downstairs. Heading to the staircase, Adelaide froze when she noticed the little white pills that had been spilled down the entire length of the staircase. A small voice inside of her head told her to stop there, and run to get some help, but Adelaide's stubbornness got the best of her. She reached for the pill bottle that sat upside down upon the bottom step. Her hands were shaking, so much they could barely hold the bottle.
Taking a closer look at the small print on it, she squinted to read the words.
ALICE MONROE
ANTIDEPRESSANTS
TAKE ONCE A DAY
Adelaide gripped the bottle hard before dropping it onto the ground. How could she not have seen all of the signs earlier? There were so many indications of Alice being depressed, but Adelaide was too caught up in herself to notice.
"Mom?" Adelaide called out again. She slowly stepped up the staircase, not caring about the pills being crushed underneath her boots. Each step she took signaled more chills to run through her body. The candle was her only light source, and at the rate her hand was shaking, it would probably go out soon. The dark could almost consume her, as the sun had finally descended beyond the horizon.
Making it to the top of the stairs, Adelaide jumped as she heard a thump come from the furthest room; Alice's room. She would have called to her mother one more time, but fear had snatched her voice from her. Forcing her paralyzed limbs to move, she creeped towards the closed door at the end of the dark hallway. A sliver of light could be seen from underneath the door, giving Adelaide hope.
It took almost all of her courage to open that door, and she almost wished that she wouldn't have. So many things would go wrong in that short amount of time.
Adelaide creaked open the door and audibly gasped. Alice King, or Monroe, whichever you might call her, sat on the dark wood floor, more of the pills scattered around her. She had a few candles lit around the dim room, allowing Adelaide to see what she had in her hand. A shiny gun was grasped firmly in Alice's palm, and she was pointing it at herself. A piece of paper was also on the floor next to her, and Adelaide couldn't quite make out the scrawled writing on it.
"Mom, what the hell are you doing?" Adelaide cried out in a small voice. Alice shook her head at her daughter, barely noticing that she was there. Tears had started running down both of the girls faces.
"I'm so sorry, honey, I never wanted it to be like this. I never wanted you to get hurt, hell, I never wanted anyone to get hurt." Alice waved the gun around as she spoke. Adelaide made sure to take a step back, not knowing just how dangerous her mother could be at this point.
"What do you mean, you never wanted to hurt anyone? Who did you hurt, mom?" Adelaide felt her body freeze as she pondered this thought.
"He hurt you, baby, I couldn't let a monster like him cause harm to anyone else." Alice slurred her words. Adelaide covered her mouth as more tears streamed out. She knew that she needed to get her mother out of here, to somewhere that could help her.
"Mom, please, just give me the gun, we can talk more about this later." Adelaide took a step closer to her mother, but jumped back as Alice threateningly pointed the weapon at her own daughter.
"What are you doing? Mom, please stop." Adelaide cried and put her hands out towards Alice.
Adelaide's scream echoed as her mother fired a warning shot at a vase that sat atop the nightstand.
Alice turned the gun around once again, and said her final words to her sobbing daughter.
"I'm sorry it had to be like this. I love you, Adelaide." And the last gunshot rang out, bouncing off of the walls of the house. Adelaide stared in shock at the scene in front of her before quickly grabbing the piece of paper next to her mother. Stuffing it in her boot, she slumped back against the wall and let her emotions out. She let every single raw feeling that she had bundled up inside of her. She screamed like she never had before, putting her energy into it.
By then, the Gillis' had heard the commotion and were quick to rush over when they heard the gunshots. Ruby's father was the one to enter the household, seeing that the front door was wide open. It was a matter of seconds after he heard the scream that he made it to the room where Adelaide now sat against the back wall, staring blankly at the gory scene in front of her. No more tears could come out- she had emptied all of them previously. She didn't even notice the man who had entered the room, gasping lightly. He scooped the young girl up into his arms before jogging back down the stairs outside. The townspeople had gathered by then, and police were on their way. Adelaide was set down gently onto the porch.
Nobody dared to ask her any questions, and she was quite a sight with the emotionless stare and blood spatters across her face.
It was only a few moment later when the policemen arrived. She was lightly questioned, and she gave the best answers she could. Adelaide told them that she had walked in on her mother saying she's sorry, and then she shot herself. Adelaide said she had no idea about the pills, or anything about a depressive disorder. She told them nothing about the paper, for she didn't want the death of George Monroe to deal in this at all. She didn't want some of her mothers last words to be examined and exploited by the police.
Gilbert showed up eventually. He couldn't get a word out of Adelaide, but nobody other than the select policemen could. All she did was stay in his arms, hoping that this was all just a dream. Her thoughts weren't registering correctly, as if someone had altered them without her knowing.
One thing, though, was crystal clear in her mind.
She and Gilbert shared the same thought without expressing it to one another. What would happen now? How would Adelaide move on from something as tragic as this?
damn wtf I'm sorry I've been planning this for a while now but I didn't think it would be this sad idk what's wrong with me I'll explain everything in the next chapter and I'll include the note sometime don't worry
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wondrous • gilbert blythe
FanfictionDifferent was the only word you could use to describe the girl known as Adelaide King. She never fit in with the other girls her age, and absolutely hated following rules. Adelaide was forced by her mother to wear fancy dresses and act as proper as...
