Destroyed in Pieces - Lady and the Flies Sequel

Chapter 2

Hi guys! Surprise! I'm not dead! I know I haven't updated in a while and I will try to be better next time, I have just been busy but also unmotivated! Hopefully you enjoy chapter two! Thank you as always for all the support!

xoxo,
NeverlandsDreamer

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A light to burn all the empires
So bright the sun is ashamed to rise and be
And I'm in love with all of those vampires
So you can leave like the sane abandoned me

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Time seemed to stop as Clare's fingertips grazed the stiff edges of the pristine envelope. It was Clare's very own Pandora's box, its contents could lead to wondrous adventures and everything she had been working for this past year, but also great disappointment. Clare glanced briefly at the return address to ensure that she had previously read it right. The words Oxford University written in silver pen gleamed back at her, almost gleefully, as if it was tempting her with a taste of satisfaction.

Coming back from the hospital two years ago was rather an tumultuous experience. Her father wanted her home immediately, but his desire was not immediately granted. Whenever the word "home" was uttered from his mouth, Clare would break down into tears and sling her arms around Ralph with a desperate ferocity. In order for Clare and Ralph to be separated, they both had to be sedated or else panic and desperation would ensue. This meant that they needed to be sedated without the teens knowing, which meant the sedatives would be put in their food. Consequently, Clare and Ralph had no knowledge that their seemingly normal dinner conversation would be their last.

She didn't even know his home address or last name, so she couldn't look him up in the phone book because believe it or not there was a god awful number of men named Ralph in England. She never saw Jack or the others even in the hospital. Funny how you think you know so much about a person but never learn their last name. Five months they spent together on the island, that hell, and so much she could forget. She often doubted if his eyes were truly blue or if it was the reflection of the seawater in them.

Trauma also affects a person's memory, causing them to become more forgetful because their mind is trying to block it out. That's what her therapist had told her anyways. She rarely visited her these days, but in the beginning, their meetings occurred multiple times per week. Therapy was hard, and subduing Clare's rumination was comparable to taming a wild beast. Many panic attacks and anxiety pills later, she was finally untangled from the memories of that godforsaken place that seemed to wrap around her body like vines. Instead of being trapped by the island's tantalizing clutches, Clare used her hurt and rage to fuel her studies. She consumed knowledge and read until her eyes hurt and she wrote and wrote and wrote. She wanted knowledge to fill her mind and replace the haunting memories that seeped into its crevices and infected her cerebrum. She created essays, journals, and finally her college applications. Clare had taken an interest in Anthropology and Psychology, which was not surprising considering the events that she had experienced.

And now here she was, her trembling hands clutching the edges of her college acceptance letter and contemplating if she should discover its contents or run from it. She decided to be brave and not do the latter no matter how appealing. She mustered up the courage to break the blue seal, imperiously stamped with the University crest, and her eyes started to read before her brain could comprehend the importance of the words.

"Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you that you have been offered admission to Oxford University's class of..."

With those words she felt freedom rush upon her. She was free from the murder, free from the chaos, free from Jack, free from the haunting memories. She had prevailed, and with a whisper sealed her fate.