𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢💛 (FIVE HARGREEVES X OC)

• prologue •

• WEDNESDAY •
* TODAY *

When I was a little girl, I love my parents, just like any other normal kid.

They treated me like a princess. I got almost anything I wanted—but I was still disciplined well. My parents rewarded me for good behavior and usually just grounded me for bad behavior.

My mom and dad had been my favorite people in the world up until I turned ten years old.

I remember the day so clearly. You'd think the memory would be gone after around 70 years on earth, but it never left my mind.

It was October. Three days before Halloween. One of my friends had invited me trick-or-treating with her, and I was bursting with excitement to ask mom and dad if I could go. I had gotten an A+ on my last few tests, so I knew that they were going to let me go.

The yellow school bus hurled me up at the end of my block, leaving 10-year-old me to walk for about 10 minutes to my home. I practically skipped there, I was so excited.

When I used my key (or "big girl key" as dad called it) to open the door, the first thing that I heard was yelling.

A frown formed on my face, but I still decided to continue as normal. I set my backpack and shoes down by the door and skipped over to the kitchen, where mom and dad were.

When I found them, they were fuming at each other. I had never, ever, seen them that mad looking.

Mom's face was deathly pale with tear streaks on her cheeks. Her eyes were blood-shot and puffy, voice hoarse when she yelled once again. Her hair was up in a messy bun, a few hairs sticking out.

Dad's face was redder then blood. His eyes were scrunched up in anger/mild confusion, regret lurking in the shadows. He was chugging what looked like whiskey.

"Mom, dad?" I began. "What's wrong?"

Dad turned to me, his eyes flaming. "Go to your room."

Little old me turned to obey. This didn't look like a fight for a 10-year-old. But my mind continued nagging at me, telling me that I needed to fix this fight.

"You need to get over it," Dad muttered to mom, taking another swig of his drink.

"You fucking cheated on me with a 20-year-old whore!" Mom screamed.

"Stop fighting!" I shouted. I was feigning calm, for I was actually extremely shocked. My dad cheated on my mom? No way.

"I told you to go to your fucking room!" Dad said to me, causing me to flinch backwards. He was actually scaring me now.

"No!" I told him and mom defiantly. I almost wanted to giggle. It was fun, playing the savior in my parents relationship. "I'm not leaving until you two stop fighting."

Any traces of laughter left my body when a firm slap was delivered to my left cheek. It was so quick and hard, I didn't see it coming at all. I felt tears spring to my eyes when I turned to face my mom, who was the one who hit me.

She didn't even look guilty, or remorseful or anything. I turned to dad, hoping that he would speak up about this, but he just nodded solemnly at mom. He didn't even care. "Go to you room. That's the last time I'll tell you."

I didn't hesitate to run upstairs. My cheek was still stinging, quiet sobs exiting my mouth.

I'd heard about child abuse about a million times. No one is supposed to treat their children like that. No one. You're never supposed to hit anyone.

And that was the day it started.

I thought that maybe it was a one time thing, but it wasn't. Mom and dad didn't stop after that day, and I succumbed to the fear. They scared the shit out of me a million times, until that fateful day at the bank.

That moment was the only thing running through my mind when we grabbed each other's hands.

•

prologue is up! i wanted to give you all some sort of backstory and a kind of warm up for the actual story. hope you all enjoyed and i hope you guys are excited for the actual story!

-maya💛