Unfathomable

Mom's Addiction and Dad's Mistake

TRIGGER WARNING
"Mommy! Mommy!" Riley's screams filled the quiet house. It was well past 11pm when Tina opened the door to their late Victorian era house to see her little girl coming down the stairs in her pajamas and her monster slippers. She hadn't seen her child in over three weeks due to a business trip in Georgia. An unneeded business trip that could have easily been an email. 
For a tech company there were many meetings and useless trips that could have been emails. They had slowly been looking down the path to bankruptcy and were looking for ways to save the dying company. They just decided to take her for three weeks to decide ideas and projects determining the future of their company. She would have refused but her boss hinted that if she were to repudiate she would be back on the job market looking to use her skills elsewhere.
 So she attended and missed out on three weeks with her eight year old daughter and had to leave her with a babysitter that looked too young to have at least a dozen facial piercings and dyed hair that would make Rileys' chalk drawings on the driveway jealous. As much as she didn't like the babysitter whose name she never seemed to remember, Chloe or Carol, something with a C at the beginning. She didn't charge much and she seemed to like Riley and Riley was fond of her. So she made the call and she would be the one taking care of Riley till she got back. 
Three exhausting and excruciatingly boring weeks went by and Venessa walked up the steps to her home. Everything looked the same, the grass was overgrown and the hedges needed some trimming but not too much damage had been done while she was gone. She already thought about the next day and not being able to relax because the yard needed to get done. But right then was not the moment to be thinking about the hedges, she was meerley 10 steps away from her daughter and she couldn't wait to see her.
When she finally walked in the door to see her daughter she was as happy as the day Riley was born.
It had been a long three weeks and Riley was ready for her mommy to come home. She had spent most of the days coloring and playing games with Cori which included house, doctor, and her personal favorite Vets. Riley would bring over her favorite stuffed animals and would bring them to her assistant Cori telling her what tools and objects to bring her.  One of her favorites was a Pink Rabbit that she had named Roger after watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" She loved that silly rabbit and that ended up being her favorite movie so it would only make sense to name her very own rabbit, Roger.  
Her mother had given her Roger on her 6th birthday and ever since then she carried him wherever she went. He has seen some wear and tear and had a few new stains on what was once a bright pink stuffed body. Nevertheless he was her absolute favorite and he got the honor of being the star patient when they played any type of game. 
He was also there whenever mommy and daddy would tell Riley to go to her room and not soon after she would hear her parents voices raise into the stairwell through her door and into her plugged ears. The fights had become worse and more frequent and more violent. One night it got so bad that Riley had run into her closet and buried herself with her stuffed animals and blankets to try and drown the screaming out. She waited a few minutes and the screams instantly stopped and everything went quiet.  She hugged Roger tighter in the unnatural silence. 
She heard a single shout which was more like a scream and then a really loud bang, like the fireworks she saw that summer in the park with her family. That was the last time they felt like a family at least.
There was no sound except for her own breathing. A single tear fell down her soft cheek. Then two more. Lanes of tears came cascading down her face.
Right when she was about to go out and see what happened, her mother came rushing into her room to find her small fragile little girl with fresh tears falling down her face. There was little specks of blood on her mother's face and she looked like she had been crying. She was as pale as the snow outside. Her eyes said more than words needed to, something happened that would change their lives forever. She picked up her small daughter and told her to look down and don't look up no matter what. Riley wrapped her arms around her mother's shaking shoulders and hung onto Rodgers soft arm.  
She walked down those old and creaky stairs as calmly as she could to try and not frighten the poor girl beyond what she already couldnt handle. Riley cried into her mother's small shoulders, feeling the fabric against her face and holding on tightly to Rodgers arm. Venessa could feel her daughters wet tears soak into her blood stained blouse, she descended into the open living room and saw the damage that was done. Red was everywhere.
Everywhere. 
It covered the carpet, drapes, and worst of all her weak and shaken body. The man she had once loved laid sprawled out on the floor with a gun next to him. The gun that she had begged him not to get just a couple of months ago. She never thought he was capable of something as dark and diseased as this. 
She looked at his mangled body that she once held. His empty and cold eyes that she used to look into for hours. They no longer held the same warmth that could comfort her on her darkest nights, what they hold now was dead cells and rotting memories. Her husband's freshly dead body frightened her but also provoked her. How dare he leave her with an 8 year old girl on her own.
That little 8 year old girl couldn't resist looking over her mother's shoulder. The moment she did she would never be the same. Her father's lifeless eyes blinded hers. She had never experienced this before. Had never seen such sad and dull orbs. She witnessed the repercussions of her father's growing sorrow and self detest. Those empty dark eyes would leave a mark on Riley. A scar unlike the one her mother would receive after this. 
No.
 She could feel that sharp blade of confusion and loss go through her skin and singe what was left of her innocence and childhood. This cut was so deep Riley felt it in her very soul. Sawing through her mind and devouring her happiness. Piece by piece. She couldn't take her eyes away from her father, which was now just flesh attached to bone. 
It was like a car crash that you just can't look away from. Riley stared intently at the lump on the living room floor as her mother carried her out of the house and the contagious sadness it injected into your mind. The depression that seeped into your feet through the floorboards. The fear that each dark corner put into your core that makes you feel unsafe in your own house. This was no scary story used to frighten kids into behaving. This was real and she was living it. 
    She had lived it anyway now she was sitting there hugging her mom with Roger in her other hand. 
"Thank you for watching her it means a lot Cori" Venessa said to the teenager who was grabbing her bag. "Of course! I love Riley, shes so sweet and is very good company" Cori said while winking at Riley. Venessa handed Cori the money for watching her and Cori put a note in her hand. She gave her a wink and walked out the door. Venessa opened up the note and read

"I know that youve had a rough few weeks
, so theres a little something upstairs in your bathroom for you. 
Thanks for letting me watch Riley.
Love, Cori."

She looked at this and processed it for a second.
What could she mean by this,? Vennessa thought to herself while walking up the stairs with Riley attached to her leg screaming with excitement and telling her everything that she did while she was gone.
Venessa replied to her every now and again but Riley was lost in her own world of words.
She reached her bedroom door and opened it looking at the bathroom that connected to her room. She started to feel unsettled. Shifting her weight in her shoes she walked towards the door. Her hands started shaking and a lump of muscle clogged in her throat.
The sense of dread grew as she opened the bathroom door. She looked at the dust covered sink and exhaled the stale air that had been inside her too long as she saw a bottle of Xanax sitting on the counter. She smiled slightly and made a mental note to give Cori some extra cash next time she watches Riley. She hesitantly grabbed the bottle, opened it and took one...