Post by Parnell LeBlanc on Jan 9, 2018 13:06:00 GMT -5
Sunlight filtered in through the cracked blinds, and Parnell's eyes were sore with exhaustion before he even opened them. It had been a fitful few nights of sleep. His family was back together again with the addition of Jude, but sleeping with the enemy at the Crowe Manor had irked even his subconscious. Everything was different now. Jude had changed in the three years that they had been apart, and his best friend offered no words of explanation as to why. Parnell couldn't even broach the topic with his formerly open friend; the one time that Parnell questioned his vague account of where he had been for the last few years, Jude slammed shut like a clam and excused himself from the conversation. Something had happened to him. Something bad. And because he had befallen such a fate on account of being stripped of his supplies and kicked off of the property, Parnell only felt more embittered towards the powerful family.
And with Jude cordoning himself off from Bubba, who had changed his tune about taking the blame in recent days, his friend spent most of his time alone. Parnell wanted to help him, but he didn't know how. And worse than that, Maddie's reunion with Bryce had swept both of them away to private quarters. He had barely seen his sister over the last few days, and it only made the sour wound from their blowout fight upon arriving even more festered. Parnell had always put family first, and so had she. To see her drop her entire group just to spend some time alone with her apparent boyfriend--a thought that made Parnell's blood boil-- was very much unlike her. Or maybe she was just a good actress, and Parnell had never seen this side of her because she was a good liar. Either thought made him sick.
Though, Parnell almost wished they would just stay away at this point. Over the past few days, the only interaction he had had with either of them was Bryce coming down without a shirt to grab some water, sporting red lines on his back and shoulders, or Maddie coming down with him, a girlish giggle on her lips. It made Parnell's stomach turn to see how well she fit in here, and how easily she walked around the house like she had been there many, many times. Perhaps she had and Parnell had just never known. The new knowledge of their hidden tryst made Parnell question everything. He doubted her past whereabouts, and where her loyalties laid. He was uncertain of every late night she had spent away from home before all of this. He questioned even her love now. And honestly, he was so angry with her that he wanted to let her have her cake and eat it too. He wasn't interested in partaking in any.
At least he hadn't been until last night. He had turned his back to try and find Jude for just a few minutes, and when he had returned, Brad was pinning Avery down and trying to rip her pants off. Parnell had flown into a fit of rage and beaten him within an inch of his life. The only thing that had stopped him from finishing the job was Boyd, the littlest brother, who pleaded with Parnell not to kill him. He reminded him, too, that he would have to leave if he were to take his brother's life, and Parnell suspected that Maddie wouldn't go with him. And so Parnell struck a counteroffer to Boyd: he could either have Brad at the manor, but he would kill him, or he would let him live under the condition that he would leave the manor. And Boyd, unable to get into contact with an indisposed Bryce, made the judgment call for him to leave.
Parnell had wasted no time chucking Brad out into the yard like old trash, and the sheer chaos that had erupted in recent days was enough for Buck to leave, too. Brad was his twin, after all, and even though they hadn't always gotten along, he couldn't just let his brother die. And with the piss poor condition that Parnell had left him in, he would surely die without Buck. His ankle was healing up well now, and Randi wanted to leave, too. It was getting too crowded and too crazy, and so the three took off in the evening. Parnell thought that it was a victory for his group, but the damage was already done. Avery was a wreck, understandably. She sobbed and was inconsolable. She was angry and lashed out, yelling that Parnell couldn't protect her, that no one could protect her. Parnell did his best to console her, and he promised that with Brad gone now, everything would be okay and nothing like that would ever happen again. She said that she wanted to leave, pleaded with him to go, but Parnell convinced her to get back into bed and try to get some rest. He couldn't leave Maddie, but he couldn't let Avery go off on her own, either.
And so she had spent the night with him, the two of them sleeping close in his bed. He had kept his arm over her for the entire night, wanting to make her feel safe, but as he started to awaken that morning, he felt that his arm was resting against the cool sheets. His hand was swollen and throbbing, his knuckles ripped open, and he must have slept through Avery awakening on account of needing the rest. But as he opened his eyes, she was nowhere to be found. The room looked different. It felt different. He sat up and looked around, trying to process the new information, and realized that the reason the room looked so different was because it was mostly barren; all of her clothes and supplies were gone. The keys to one of the Crowe's vehicles, the ones that Brad had tossed at him the night of their arrival, was missing from the bedside table. And as Parnell sat and swung his legs over the side of the bed, he saw it: a folded piece of paper with his name on it, resting against the lamp. He swallowed thickly and opened it, reading Avery's delicate handwriting.
'Parnell,
The world is different now. I don't expect you to understand. The only thing that gave me peace before all of this was the knowledge that Brad was locked away, and even then, I would still wake up scared in the night. To know that he is here now, and that no one can lock him away again, is too much to handle. You say that you can protect me, but I don't think you can. It isn't a reflection on you; Brad will always find a way. He's a bad, evil person. The only way that I can feel safe is if we leave and go far, far away. But you can't leave your sister. I understand that. She's family and you love her. You would die for her.
But I know in my heart that Brad will come back again and again. I know that he will rape me and hurt me again. I know that either he will kill me, or I will kill myself to escape him. If I stay, death is the only way out. You have become like family to me, Parnell, and I love you. I have loved you for a long while. And I will probably keep loving you long after you read this.
But I can't die for you. I'm sorry.
I hope that you can forgive me. I hope that you can understand. I hope that you can be strong and survive this terrible, terrible world. I hope that we can meet again some day under better circumstances. I hope that one day, when all of this is over, you'll be standing there among the ashes with everything you could ever want. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be there beside you. But even if I'm not, I wish you all the best things in life.
Thank you for protecting me until I was strong enough to stand on my own two feet. Thank you for showing me how to be strong. Maddie doesn't know what she's missing. Be strong, Parnell. Be safe and be well.
All the best,
Avery'
Parnell swallowed the lump in his throat and let out the breath that he didn't know he had been holding. He bit the inside of his cheek and set the letter down on the bed. Jude was locked away in a room by himself. Maddie was sealed away with Bryce. And now Avery had left. Everyone was so vulnerable. Everyone was so unprotected. Parnell wanted to help everyone, but it felt as though he was trying to save drowning people while standing in a boat filled with holes, all while they insisted they were on land. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a heavy, stressed sigh. He would look for her. He had to. He owed her that much. But he wouldn't do it alone. Parnell folded up the letter and put it into the back pocket of his jeans. He pulled a shirt on over his head and laced up his boots. He tucked a pistol into the back of his pants and holstered a knife on his belt. Brad was gone now; the primary threat was extinguished. Parnell wanted to show her that and bring Avery back to him. She was just scared, and she had a right to be. Perhaps if he found her with a familiar, friendly face, she would return.
Parnell left the bedroom and stalked down the hallway to where Bryce and Maddie were staying. He had gone a few times to try and make amends with her, but he had never gotten to the door. He was angered by the sound of little giggles or deterred by the sound of low, soft moans. But this morning would have to be different. He would have to face Maddie and put their differences aside for the greater good. And if Maddie didn't want to be a part of that, then he had bigger problems on his hands. He took in a silent breath and stopped before the door. He didn't hear much in the way of noise from the inside. Perhaps they were still sleeping. He knocked on the door three times, pausing a moment to let her get her bearings, whatever it was she was doing.
"Maddie, I need to talk to you." He listened for movement from the other side of the door. "Something's happened."
And with Jude cordoning himself off from Bubba, who had changed his tune about taking the blame in recent days, his friend spent most of his time alone. Parnell wanted to help him, but he didn't know how. And worse than that, Maddie's reunion with Bryce had swept both of them away to private quarters. He had barely seen his sister over the last few days, and it only made the sour wound from their blowout fight upon arriving even more festered. Parnell had always put family first, and so had she. To see her drop her entire group just to spend some time alone with her apparent boyfriend--a thought that made Parnell's blood boil-- was very much unlike her. Or maybe she was just a good actress, and Parnell had never seen this side of her because she was a good liar. Either thought made him sick.
Though, Parnell almost wished they would just stay away at this point. Over the past few days, the only interaction he had had with either of them was Bryce coming down without a shirt to grab some water, sporting red lines on his back and shoulders, or Maddie coming down with him, a girlish giggle on her lips. It made Parnell's stomach turn to see how well she fit in here, and how easily she walked around the house like she had been there many, many times. Perhaps she had and Parnell had just never known. The new knowledge of their hidden tryst made Parnell question everything. He doubted her past whereabouts, and where her loyalties laid. He was uncertain of every late night she had spent away from home before all of this. He questioned even her love now. And honestly, he was so angry with her that he wanted to let her have her cake and eat it too. He wasn't interested in partaking in any.
At least he hadn't been until last night. He had turned his back to try and find Jude for just a few minutes, and when he had returned, Brad was pinning Avery down and trying to rip her pants off. Parnell had flown into a fit of rage and beaten him within an inch of his life. The only thing that had stopped him from finishing the job was Boyd, the littlest brother, who pleaded with Parnell not to kill him. He reminded him, too, that he would have to leave if he were to take his brother's life, and Parnell suspected that Maddie wouldn't go with him. And so Parnell struck a counteroffer to Boyd: he could either have Brad at the manor, but he would kill him, or he would let him live under the condition that he would leave the manor. And Boyd, unable to get into contact with an indisposed Bryce, made the judgment call for him to leave.
Parnell had wasted no time chucking Brad out into the yard like old trash, and the sheer chaos that had erupted in recent days was enough for Buck to leave, too. Brad was his twin, after all, and even though they hadn't always gotten along, he couldn't just let his brother die. And with the piss poor condition that Parnell had left him in, he would surely die without Buck. His ankle was healing up well now, and Randi wanted to leave, too. It was getting too crowded and too crazy, and so the three took off in the evening. Parnell thought that it was a victory for his group, but the damage was already done. Avery was a wreck, understandably. She sobbed and was inconsolable. She was angry and lashed out, yelling that Parnell couldn't protect her, that no one could protect her. Parnell did his best to console her, and he promised that with Brad gone now, everything would be okay and nothing like that would ever happen again. She said that she wanted to leave, pleaded with him to go, but Parnell convinced her to get back into bed and try to get some rest. He couldn't leave Maddie, but he couldn't let Avery go off on her own, either.
And so she had spent the night with him, the two of them sleeping close in his bed. He had kept his arm over her for the entire night, wanting to make her feel safe, but as he started to awaken that morning, he felt that his arm was resting against the cool sheets. His hand was swollen and throbbing, his knuckles ripped open, and he must have slept through Avery awakening on account of needing the rest. But as he opened his eyes, she was nowhere to be found. The room looked different. It felt different. He sat up and looked around, trying to process the new information, and realized that the reason the room looked so different was because it was mostly barren; all of her clothes and supplies were gone. The keys to one of the Crowe's vehicles, the ones that Brad had tossed at him the night of their arrival, was missing from the bedside table. And as Parnell sat and swung his legs over the side of the bed, he saw it: a folded piece of paper with his name on it, resting against the lamp. He swallowed thickly and opened it, reading Avery's delicate handwriting.
'Parnell,
The world is different now. I don't expect you to understand. The only thing that gave me peace before all of this was the knowledge that Brad was locked away, and even then, I would still wake up scared in the night. To know that he is here now, and that no one can lock him away again, is too much to handle. You say that you can protect me, but I don't think you can. It isn't a reflection on you; Brad will always find a way. He's a bad, evil person. The only way that I can feel safe is if we leave and go far, far away. But you can't leave your sister. I understand that. She's family and you love her. You would die for her.
But I know in my heart that Brad will come back again and again. I know that he will rape me and hurt me again. I know that either he will kill me, or I will kill myself to escape him. If I stay, death is the only way out. You have become like family to me, Parnell, and I love you. I have loved you for a long while. And I will probably keep loving you long after you read this.
But I can't die for you. I'm sorry.
I hope that you can forgive me. I hope that you can understand. I hope that you can be strong and survive this terrible, terrible world. I hope that we can meet again some day under better circumstances. I hope that one day, when all of this is over, you'll be standing there among the ashes with everything you could ever want. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be there beside you. But even if I'm not, I wish you all the best things in life.
Thank you for protecting me until I was strong enough to stand on my own two feet. Thank you for showing me how to be strong. Maddie doesn't know what she's missing. Be strong, Parnell. Be safe and be well.
All the best,
Avery'
Parnell swallowed the lump in his throat and let out the breath that he didn't know he had been holding. He bit the inside of his cheek and set the letter down on the bed. Jude was locked away in a room by himself. Maddie was sealed away with Bryce. And now Avery had left. Everyone was so vulnerable. Everyone was so unprotected. Parnell wanted to help everyone, but it felt as though he was trying to save drowning people while standing in a boat filled with holes, all while they insisted they were on land. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a heavy, stressed sigh. He would look for her. He had to. He owed her that much. But he wouldn't do it alone. Parnell folded up the letter and put it into the back pocket of his jeans. He pulled a shirt on over his head and laced up his boots. He tucked a pistol into the back of his pants and holstered a knife on his belt. Brad was gone now; the primary threat was extinguished. Parnell wanted to show her that and bring Avery back to him. She was just scared, and she had a right to be. Perhaps if he found her with a familiar, friendly face, she would return.
Parnell left the bedroom and stalked down the hallway to where Bryce and Maddie were staying. He had gone a few times to try and make amends with her, but he had never gotten to the door. He was angered by the sound of little giggles or deterred by the sound of low, soft moans. But this morning would have to be different. He would have to face Maddie and put their differences aside for the greater good. And if Maddie didn't want to be a part of that, then he had bigger problems on his hands. He took in a silent breath and stopped before the door. He didn't hear much in the way of noise from the inside. Perhaps they were still sleeping. He knocked on the door three times, pausing a moment to let her get her bearings, whatever it was she was doing.
"Maddie, I need to talk to you." He listened for movement from the other side of the door. "Something's happened."