Page 22 of The Wronged Omega

My nightmare came true. I doubted Ellie’s things were handled so poorly.

Box after box, very few things remained salvageable. My clothes, my products, my Kindle… None of that really mattered though. I could replace it.

What did matter was the picture at the bottom of the last box. Inside the frame was one of the last pictures my parents and I took together. The glass was cracked and whatever liquid had been in this box soaked through, damaging the image. Their faces blurred and blurred more as tears sprung to my eyes.

How could they be so heartless?

I hugged it to my chest, letting the sobs out. I couldn’t stand it. I needed out. I needed to be free in the cold night air.

So I took off, leaving this shitty world behind.

Chapter 11

Mine

I knew this was a stupid idea the second I stepped onto the hard ground out front, but that didn’t stop me. I kept walking, heading into the woods but avoiding the main road. The chilled night seeped into my bare feet and through the thin blanket that I had wrapped around my body. The T-shirt and sweats I borrowed from Ellie did little to help.

Still, I didn’t slow down. I had nowhere to go and no direction in mind, but away from here was good enough for the time being. It had nothing to do with the people I left behind but what they stood for and their involvement in this shitty time.

I didn’t know what I expected. Actually, I did, but this was further than I thought they’d go. Ruining clothes was one thing, but my pictures… There was no doubt in my mind that they had dug up all the dirt they could on me, so they knew my parents had died when I was only six in a stereotypical car crash. I wasn’t with them. I’d like to say thankfully, but I wouldn’t mean it.

They spoke about their bad luck before it, leaving me with my grandmother to go on an outing just in case something happened. Years after they died, I remembered their words and always wondered if they felt something coming. By then, it was too late to ask my grandmother if there was something I was missing from that day. She died when I was fourteen, once again, after a string of bad luck, but this time, it was surrounding me.

And it never went away.

Now I was here, fleeing like I said I would, but in a much dumber fashion than I had expected of myself, but trauma, tears, and booze would do that to a person.

The ground was mostly dirt and pebbles with some nettles in between, so although it stung a little as each thing dug into my skin, I would live. The cold air zapped me, but the adrenaline fended it off for now.

The puffs of breath in front of me guided my way through the trees as there was little light coming from the moon tonight. I climbed over a log, snagging the blanket in the process. No tugging freed it, and there wasn’t enough light to see where the snag was, so I left it behind, letting my arms greet the cold.

I walked and walked, then stepped on a branch, slicing a gash on the bottom of my foot, but with my foot being so cold, I barely felt it. I kept moving, mindless as to where I was or was going.

Maybe they would notice I was gone and come after me, or maybe they wouldn’t. I wasn’t in the know of what their punishment would be for losing me. Gerard seemed pretty sure they’d never let that happen, but here I was, all alone and about to vanish.

I didn’t have any plans to die. That wasn’t the goal, but I was aware of it as a possibility due to my actions and bad luck.

If they didn’t come after me, what then?

If they did…

I shook my head, ignoring the what ifs as I had always done. They didn’t matter and only brought on anxiety. What would happen would happen, and that was the end of that.

It had to be nearly three in the morning now, but I didn’t really know. There was still no light on the horizon, and it was getting colder by the minute. Maybe I could survive the last few hours until dawn and watch the sun come up, then make a plan from here.

My feet stopped as I came across a clearing, allowing the low light of the moon to shine down. It was a lovely sight, and there was a small patch of grass that I knew would feel amazing on my aching feet. I made my way to it and gripped the blades between my toes as I sighed and looked up. There was a half moon tonight. At least I had chosen half well. It could have been a new moon.

I started walking again, weaving through the trees and enjoying my freedom. I had never done something like this before. I remember going camping once with my parents, but that was so long ago. It wasn’t my grandmother’s thing, so I didn’t go after they died. When I was shipped off to other relatives in a haphazard order for the next two years, they tried their best, but it wasn’t what I wanted, and the bad luck of my parents always followed.

Eventually, I gave up, accepting that I could only be around others for so long before bad things happened. I wondered how long I would have lasted here without messing things up for Odie and Cy. Maybe no one would have to find out.

The air rushed out of my body as I took another step and fell. For a second, I thought I had tripped into a small den, twisting my ankle, but I was wrong. I fell farther, crashing into the ground with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of me and dislocating my shoulder.

Sadly, screaming was not something my family could do, so silence left my mouth as tears billowed from my eyes.

My ankle throbbed, my shoulder felt like it had been ripped from my body, but finally, I gasped in air in time for the sobs to take over. Rolling on to my back, I looked up. I could barely make out the edge of the hole, but it was deep, maybe eight feet. Farther than six feet under like I’d seen on TV but I didn’t think it was quite as deep as a pool. I could stand up to get a better guess, but my body rebelled. It was exhausted and lathered in pain from the tip of my head to my toes.

Shivers started and stopped as my breathing became even and exhaustion took over. Just as I had literally done moments ago, I slipped once again into the dark, wanting nothing more than to see my parents whole again.

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