Ava Jones

•9•

I sat on the ground silent, with my hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe what was happening, it couldn't be true. Was I dead? No, I can't be. But, how else could my dad be standing here right in front of me, alive? It didn't make sense.
"Ava, it's okay. It's me." He placed his hand on my shoulder and lifted my chin up.
"Dad? Is it really you?" I stared into his eyes. He looked different. His face looked tired and worn out. I could tell in his eyes that he had seen things. Experienced things that were indescribable.
"Yeah, baby. It's me." I jumped up and he embraced me in the tightest hug I had ever had. I could feel his shirt becoming wet from my tears. But I didn't care. I closed my eyes and smiled, soaking in the moment. But, then I realized what was happening and I pushed my dad away from me.
"I can't belive you. For six years I thought you were dead. Now here you are very much not dead. So, you've got some explaining to do." My dad nodded his head and looked down at his feet. His eyes were wet, like he was about to cry or had been crying.
"I know. I know I do. But, believe me when I say this, for six years all I wanted to do was come back to you and your mom. For six years all I could ever think about was seeing your face. Now I'm sorry for the pain I caused you and your mom, but everything I did was to protect you."
"I don't understand."
"Come on. We've got some catching up to do." My dad flicked his head towards some logs set up across from each other. We both walked over and sat down on the logs so we were facing each other. "Before I say anything. Can you please tell me how you are doing? How your mom is doing?" My dad asked.
"Well, I'm graduating this year. Me and my boyfriend are going to college together."
"You have a boyfriend?"
"His name is Andrew. He moved here from Greendale two years ago. We instantly became friends then started dating after six months of friendship."
"So you guys are going to college together?"
"Yeah. We both got accepted to Stanford. He's really excited about it." I smiled thinking of my future with Andrew.
"You're really in love with this guy aren't you?"
"Yeah. I really am." I smiled and my dad smiled back at me.
"So I guess you know about Alison now. How old would she be? About five?" My dad asked.
"Oh my gosh. You don't know."
"I don't know what? What happened?"
"Well after you were declared dead mom, she wasn't okay. She tried to kill herself three times. Once with a knife, once with a handful of pills, and once with a gun." My dad made a fist and bit down onto his fingers.
"Oh my god what have I done?" He murmured.
"I really don't know what would have happened if I wasn't there to stop her. But anyways she lost the baby." My dad stared down at the ground, tears rolled down his face. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."
"Is....is....she okay now?" He asked. Almost scared for the answer.
"Not really. When you "died" both of our worlds stopped. Mine started back up again, but hers never did. She's supposed to be taking these pills to help with her depression but she's too depressed to take the pills." My dad wiped a tear away from his face as more continued to fall. "Most of the time she just lays in her bed. She still works at the register, just does everything from home." My dad pulled his hands through his hair.
"I should've been there for her. This is all my fault."
"So why weren't you there? Where did you go for six years?" 
"I've been coming back every now and then. Stealing little moments. I saw you run Claire's gauntlet. I was watching from behind that bush over there." He pointed to a large bush over by the edge of the lake. "You make an amazing serpent queen. I'm so proud of you." I blushed and looked down at my toes. "Since you are the serpent queen, I'm guessing you know who the goulies are." I nodded my head. "What about Penny Peabody?" He asked.
"Of course. That woman is fifty years old and she's still a pain in the ass."
My dad chuckled at my statement.
"Well, when Penny and the goulies found out about you, they wanted to take you away from me. The first time they came for you, you were probably about sixteen weeks old. I remember that night. Your mom was out of town for business, and it was just me and you. At around four in the morning I heard you start screaming. Then it got quieter like someone was trying to muffle your crying. I ran into your nursery, and Penny was standing there with a blanket shoved in your mouth." My dad paused for a minute and took a deep breath. "That scar on your leg. She gave that to you." I knew exactly what scar he was talking about. I had a large scar going straight across my thigh. I always had it, just never knew where it came from. "She looked right at me when she cut you. She gave me a devilish smile pulled out her pocket knife and without even looking, sliced your thigh. I'll never forget the sound of your little voice screaming. The tears rolling down your cheeks." My dad shook his head. "I grabbed a lamp and smashed it over her head. She went unconscious, and I dragged her out of the house, put her in the car and left her in an alleyway. You co-slept with me and your mom for the next month. I thought you were okay, that the goulies got the message. But they came for you again when you were three. Then again when you were five. When you were ten they tried to take your mom." My dad wiped a tear from his eye. "I really thought it was over. That we were safe. But the night after your twelfth birthday they broke in again. I wasn't able to sleep that night, so I caught them before they caused any damage. This time it was the whole gang. All of the goulies and Penny were there. They wanted to take you and your mom. I told them that if they took me, they would have to promise never to bother you guys again. After all I knew I was who they really wanted. They agreed to this deal. Two goulies threw a burlap sack over my head, knocked me out, and dragged me out of the house. I woke up in a dark empty room. The floor was dirt and the walls were cold wet concrete. In one of the corners of the room sat a dead body. Some guy I never knew. There was a huge metal door locked from the inside, and a window on the other side of the room. The window was pretty high up on the wall and it had big metal bars on it. The bars were so thick that you could only see outside if you pressed your face against the bars and looked out with one eye. I used to look out the window every night. When I would look at the stars I would think of you and your mom. It was the only thing that kept me going, knowing you were safe." Mid way through his story my dad started to stare at the ground. He never looked up or blinked. Just let the tears fall. "The goulies, they would torture me. Not for any reason, just because they wanted to. Then one day to piss me off, Penny told me she got you and Betty. I punched her in the jaw. I couldn't help but smile when she screamed and spit out blood. They threw me back into my cell, and I started to make a plan. A plan to save us. I took the corpse in the corner and cut off it's hands and feet. The man was bald, so I cut off most of my hair and threw it on the body. I didn't care if it looked good, I wanted it to look like I killed myself. So I sliced my hand and put my blood on the body. I slipped my hat on to the guys head, and then I hid. The next morning the goulies opened the door and saw the body there. Of course they were dumb enough to believe it was me. I remember when they saw the body they just laughed. They left the door opened and walked away. I carefully walked down the hall looking for you and your mother. I checked every single cell in there. I freed a pregnant teen, an old man, a woman with two young children, and a bunch of other people. But I didn't find you or your mom. That's when I realized they lied to me. And you were safe at home. To ensure your safety I went into hiding. The goulies didn't want to be arrested for my death so they dumped the body by Sweetwater river. That's where I was found by the police. I never thought they would be stupid enough to believe my suicide though." My dad was silent. It all made sense now.