a letter to elise || lrh

chapter 2

New Jersey; 2011

Elisiana took a deep breath, watching the people pass her by. It was a Friday afternoon and she stood there at the train station, clutching her bag against her chest. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins, filled with excitement and nervousness from what she was about to do. She didn't know if this would work or what the consequences might be, but she was ready to take the risk.

She and her mother had a huge fight last night. They usually fought ever since she was 10 but something was very off that day. Her mother's tone was different, seeping with pure anger directed towards everything and everyone to the point Elisiana actually felt afraid. She hated her mother with fueling passion and if it wasn't for her promise, she wouldn't have stayed.

But that day, she knew she was done.

She quietly cried to herself the night before, keeping in the sobs to herself until sleep has taken its toll on her. She didn't dream that night, for dreams were only meant for people who were alive-something she wasn't ever since the day everything went wrong.

She woke up at three, just laying there and staring at the ceiling. She turned on the radio, a gift given by her best friend, and lowered the volume down to the point where she almost couldn't make out the words. She listened for a while, not really caring-just wanting to have something to distract her from the silence, until a certain song on the radio caught her attention. At first, she wasn't really listening. She just hummed along to the melody once she picked it up and when the chorus came, her stomach tightened.

"Run away train never going back

wrong way on a one -way track

seems like I should be getting somewhere

somehow I'm neither here nor there," the voice sang.

12 year old Elisiana thought about this...What if she ran away? What if she ran away, even for just a short time, just to know what it feels to be finally free again?

No, no, this way wrong. She wouldn't do it.

Would she?

She thought about it for maybe an hour, weighing the pros and cons of the decision she was about to make. Of course, it had more cons, obviously. She pondered onthe cons carefully in her head, counting them all one by one. 1) She wasn't familiar with the city 2) she wouldn't know where to go 3) she didn't know anyone 4) she only had forty dollars with her and 5) she can't ensure her own safety.

She frowned once she counted up to five, shaking her head slightly, before moving on to the pros of the situation. She thought as hard as she could and it made her brain hurt...but she could only think of one good thing to come out of all of this.

1) escape

And she thought that was a good enough reason to runaway.

She slid down from her bed, crossing her legs beneath her. She grabbed her backpack from the corner of the room and emptied it, replacing the past contents of the bag with all the things she needed to survive a one week trip. She spent the whole remaining few hours before school started wondering where she wanted to go. She decided on New Jersey...she didn't know why but why not? She didn't need any reason for that. She just wanted to.

And that's how she ended up in the train station, standing there and rubbing her hands repeatedly together to produce warmth as she waited for the train to arrive. She checked her wrist watch, "4: 25," it read. Only just five more minutes.

She spent those few remaining minutes on preparing herself. She bought three ham sandwiches from the booth beside her in case she got really hungry on the train ride. She stood there again, waiting for the train to arrive. Her phone rang and when she checked the caller ID, it was her mom. She sighed deeply, trying to calm herself and ease her conscience.

She looked up and saw two headlights shining from the dark path of the rail tracks...

Elisiana took three deep breaths just as the train sped towards her and after a few seconds, the train slowly came into a halt and the mechanical doors opened wide, inviting her into a very unlikely adventure.

New York; Present Day

Elisiana stayed quiet on the car ride home. She didn't know what to say or do-hell, she didn't even move an inch-becaude all her pride's lost when she called her up. The least she could do was stay quiet and pretend like she didn't care when she absolutely did.

"How are you?" The sound of her voice made her tense up. She wasn't used to hearing that after she's been away for so long. She mustered up the courage to open her mouth.

"I'm fine," the words came out rough from not speaking in a very long time so she tried it again. "I'm fine," she cleared her throat. Her mom kept her eyes locked on the road but nodded nonetheless.

"Where did you go this time?" she asked in a firm voice. It was really surprising she wasn't screaming her head off at her.

Elisiana just shrugged and looked out the window, "I don't know." Her mother sighed deeply, out frustration and anger that she'd been trying to tame. Elisiana watched the city around them-the city lights illuminating the dark night. If she didn't live in New York, this would probably be her city escape. Everything fell quiet again-the way they think it should be.

As soon as they reached their house, Elisiana immediately got out of the car and ran up to her room.

a/n

guys i know u might think it's a bit boring but pls hold on

thank u @loveyourselfxox for the cover ilysm

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-athena