Nicotine [Brendon Urie AU]

Chapter Six ✔

Chapter Six | "Memories"

[Content warning: Abuse and gore.] 

Five-year-old Brooke was awoken by light shaking on her shoulders. "Brooke?" She heard a soft whisper above her head. Without even moving, she winched at the pain in her side. Brooke didn't even know if she was still bleeding or not, but the pain was still there. There was a weight shift on the bed, as the almost sixteen-year-old took a seat on the bed. She didn't even know what time it was, but she saw the dim light of a flashlight in the room. It must have been extremely late at night since where the flashlight wasn't touching it, it was complete and utter blackness. 

"Ella is that you?" Stella was her first guess, that's the only person who ever ventured into Brooke's room. Stella reached over and smoothed Brooke's hair in attempts to comfort the young girl. Brooke rubbed her eyes with her fists, sitting up on the bed. Both of the girls noticed how Brooke whined when she moved, probably from pain. Stella had prompt the flashlight on her legs to use her hands. She clearly didn't want to alert anyone else besides Brooke of her presence, so she resorted to using the flashlight instead.  Brooke's eyes still tried to adjust to the lack of light in the room.

Stella patted Brooke on the back. "Yeah, sweetie, it is. I need you to be quiet, okay?" She soothed, trying to give off a calm appearance to the child. Stella brushed the auburn hair from behind her own ear, pulling the hair out of her eyes. The teenager had learned that act like nothings wrong when handling a child. She put a finger to her lips to amplify her words. Brooke, innocent at her age, put a finger to her lips and mimicking Stella's actions. Stella smiled, nodding. Lifting up the side of Brooke's shirt, she sucked in a fast breath, "Holy shit," 

"Swear."  Brooke hummed quietly in her innocent nature. Stella was the only one who she told not to swear, just because Stella promised never to curse in front of her. But, in this case, Stella's swearing was warranted. 

Deep gashes were in embedded on her right side. Clearly done with lash and a lot of force. Blood soaked the side of her shirt, some spots still damp. The wound was turning a nasty color, most likely to leave some sort of marking later. It was worse than Stella first thought, and felt almost sick to her stomach. Stella heard the screaming from Brooke coming from Ms. Ross' office, but she never realized how bad it was until she saw for herself. "She really did a number on you, didn't she?" 

Brooke couldn't see the wound in the dark, so she asked, with a little worry in her voice."I- is it bad? I am going to be okay?" Stella couldn't lie to herself; it was not pretty. It was a larger gash, and she knew that a simple bandage wouldn't do. But, since that's all she had, she pushed a light smile on her face to ease Brooke. 

"Shh, it's okay, you'll be okay. It's not that bad, trust me." Stella lied.  

Brooke nodded and continued to let Stella poke at her side. "What time is it?"  It must've been late, Brooke knew, but she was unsure of the time. Time seemed to slip away from the young girl, she had no idea what time she passed out or what time it is now. She knew how to tell time, but there were no clocks anywhere near them. The only two clocks were in the front room and in the office of Ms. Ross - only the one in the office working. 

"Around one in the morning," Stella said, guessing a little bit. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner, Ms. Ross was stomping up and down the halls." She said quietly, apologizing to the girl. Ms. Ross was making sure that no one tested her before she went to bed, which caused Stella not to be able to get to Brooke. Stella always rushed to Brooke's aid just to make sure that she was alright.

 Brooke doesn't want to make Stella feel awful for Ms. Ross' actions. "But you're here now." She hummed quietly. 

"Of course I am. Now, I'm going to fix you up alright?" Stella took a bandage wrap from her inside jacket pockets. It was something that she stole, but she knew that it might be enough to help her wounds. The teen was able to snatch it without anyone looking. "You'll feel a string but try to be quiet." The next to come out of her pocket was a sterile pad. It was the simple, packets that are given out at restaurants. Unwrapping it, she pressed it against the wound.