Giving Harper Hope

Chapter Four- Liam

Liam closed the door to his house behind him as he looked down the hallway. There were paintings on the walls that he hadn't bothered to pull down. They were paintings of stormy skies, still-beating hearts on the floor, and other things of the sort. He took off his coat and hung it on the rack to the right of the door. It was strange, how the last person that lived here put such depressing paintings on the walls. Even if the house was large enough for a family of eight.
   Liam was starting to believe that something bad happened here. The house had cost barely anything, but it had nothing wrong with it. He took off his shoes and started walking to the kitchen.
   He poured himself a cup of milk, leaned on the fridge and guzzled down the liquid. Liam set the cup into the sink and walked to the living room.
He plopped on the couch and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. The TV wasn't huge, but big enough to see from a distance. He turned it on, and the ROKU logo showed as it powered on. He turned on Hulu and browsed through the shows that were recommended to him. There wasn't many that caught his attention, so he added the ones that did to his library. That included American Horror Story, 911, and other things like those.
Liam fell asleep watching the second season of American Horror Story that night.
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The TV was still playing when he woke up. He cursed himself for not remembering which episode he was on and turned it off. Liam got off of the couch sluggishly and walked to the bathroom. He turned on the shower and glanced in the mirror before he took off his clothes. His hair was a mess, tangled and just like any other bedhead. He mumbled his annoyance and started taking off his clothes so that he could get rid of that horrible stench that came from him.
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Liam walked out of the bathroom, now in a white shirt and some gray sweatpants. He was about to go to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast, when there was a knock at the front door. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and groaned as he walked to the door. The window revealed a brunette looking back at him. No escaping it now. He opened the door, and she raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, Harper. What're you doing here?" He asked, opening the door wider so that he could see her fully. She smiled at him, but that happiness did not reach her eyes, which looked empty and dark. "Yeah. I thought you would like to hear what happened, and I was bored, so here I am." Harper said, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "You want to come in?" He gestured to the hallway behind him. An emotion appeared in her eyes. Fear. She shook her head. "I would rather tell you by the tree instead of in the house itself." She met his eyes. The fear in her eyes was gone. He nodded. "Let me get my coat and I'll meet you out there." He guessed that she already knew where it was. "Yeah." She turned and started walking around the house. He shut the door and took a coat off of the rack and pulled it on along with his boots. He was only going to be out there for a little while, so he didn't bother putting on better suited pants.
   Liam walked out the back door and to the tree, where Harper was already leaning against it casually. She looked at him, and he could almost swear that she looked into his soul. A shiver ran down his spine as he walked over to her.

DISCLAIMER: IF TALK OF DEPRESSION BOTHERS OR UPSETS YOU, PLEASE SKIP THE REST OF THIS CHAPTER.

—HARPER'S POV—
"So, this tree is the tree that a woman hung herself on a year ago. She had a complex form of depression that took away all emotions and made it so she could only feel her own suffering. Her husband had left her years before for a woman. A woman much more young and beautiful than her. The woman had abandoned her friends, her family, her daughter, everything. She had left them, just because she was selfish enough to kill herself just because she snapped. She never thought of how her death would effect them. She didn't care. She was already worthless and had no hope for herself. So, she killed herself. I suspect there was a greater force that took part in her death, and that this house and this town had something to do with it. This woman was a mother, a friend, a provider. And she gave it all up because she was selfish and wanted to end her own suffering before she stopped anyone else's. That depression could have been cured, and she could have lived until she was old and wrinkly, but she was blinded with the need to end it. She left her daughter with the same depression and left her alone with no parents, no friends, nobody. It just doesn't make any sense. This house has been the scene of many deaths like hers, overdoses, hangings, cuttings. None of them anything but harming themselves and no one else was involved. Some were just bullied at school, some had just been insulted. That need to be gone was multiplied in a matter of weeks, and then they were dead. This woman had endured 30 years of depression, and still killed herself. I... I don't know if I'm right or not, but it's still strange." Harper said, a hand on her heart. "Oh my god, Harper." Liam gaped at her. She had barely remembered that he was there. "Sorry if I went too far." She turned her head to look at him. "No, I would have never guessed that you are the daughter." He said, and she stiffened.
"Sorry." She repeated, and waved goodbye before walking back to the road.

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Hello! I hope you liked this chapter, and it didn't bother you. I'll have to end it here, so I'll see you in the next chapter. Byeeeeee!