The Break

Claim

Reyna knocked on the door, unsure of what else to do. 

Seconds later the door slammed open, revealing Thalia. She was worse than Reyna pictured.

Short dark hair was messier than usual, bags underneath her electric blue eyes. Her eyes seemed duller, as if the electricity had been sucked out and left the skeleton of what she had been. Bruises were visible from her skin, everything but her face covered in long jackets and gloves. She wore baggy pants, some reddish purple stains randomly placed.

"Hey," Thalia said, her voice falsely normal. Reyna said nothing, and Thalia took it in stride. "Come in." she said, and the Hispanic girl did.

The house looked clean, though Reyna could sense the chaos in it. The paint on the walls seemed newly scrubbed, something no one would notice from a quick glance. No one would notice the floors were recently cleaned, the carpets washed recent enough to still feel dampness as Reyna took off her shoes. Even the ceilings were oddly clean, something no one would notice at all.

But Reyna did. She wasn't just anyone or no one. She was Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona Arellano and sister of Hylla Ramirez-Arellano. She was a girl of a hard childhood, a girl who had fought to survive another day before. 

And so she saw the signs: Thalia's thick clothing, clean home, empty house, no vehicles, dulled eyes. She could see them, because she too had shown off these signs, many times before, never once speaking of them to anyone.

She was led to Thalia's empty room, the beat up furniture looking more beat up than before. The dresser leaned to one side, slight indents explaining the abuse and fresh coat of paint brushed over it. The binds for the window were gone, replaced with rugged curtains that were too thick to allow her to see what the window looked like. The bed itself only had one leg, the others' snapped and gone, rough marks from sand paper showing the attempted hiding of the broken legs. The mattress itself was covered in a few thick covers, something she suspected hid knife marks and others. The room slightly reeked of bleach, and that itself was enough proof for the girl.

Reyna remained standing once Thalia closed the bedroom door and sat on the lopsided bed. The punk girl gave her a look, and she hesitantly sat down beside her.

They remained there in that silence for a while before Reyna whispered, afraid it would be too loud. "Can I see them?"

Thalia knew exactly what she was asking. Of course, Reyna had told her many times before of her rough past just as Thalia had done the same.

She sighed before standing up, keeping her back to the girl as she slowly but hesitantly unzipped her first jacket. Then another. And another. Until they were all gone and she was left with a long sleeve shirt and bra underneath, and Thalia hesitantly pulled the stained shirt over her head.

There was no skin. It was all scabs over scabs, not an millimeter spared. The tattoo that adorned her entire back was barely visible underneath the scabbing, the engraving having been made deep for this exact purpose. Thalia visibly shivered, even if there was no breeze or wind in the closed room.

Reyna hesitantly reached out, and Thalia's breathing cut short as soon as Reyna's fingers passed over the scabs. 

Thalia did her best not to flinch at the girl's touch, and it worked only because of her care and trust for the girl right behind her.

The tattoo was that of wings, sprouting from the center of her back and encasing her shoulders. It was still visible to the waistband of Thalia's pants, and Reyna wondered what that part of it looked like.

She lightly pressed the girl's side, careful to be gentle even as she tried to turn Thalia around.

Thalia held in her wince and hesitated. Did she want to show her what was there? Did she want to show her what her mother had carved over her abdomen and chest? Did she want to ruin what Reyna thought of her?