Don't Let Me Go

Chapter One: It's Not My Fault

MASSIVE TW: Panic Attack, Abusive Language, Graphic Descriptions of Gore and Potentially Upsetting Content, please proceed carefully!
Veronica's POV:

I can't sleep. I want to sleep but I can't. Something is keeping me from sleeping. My room is dark. It's pitch black. My phone buzzes. It's three in the morning. Who the hell is texting me so late? It's Lawrence, apparently.

"Veronica, please come to Tia's house." The message lights up my screen. I rub the last bits of sleepiness out of my eyes, and I change into regular clothes. I go downstairs and I grab my keys. I go out into the darkness, the stars doing little to illuminate the sky.

I sleepily hobble over to my car and I get inside. I can barely see where I'm going, even with my front lights on. I drive as quick as I can over to Tia's house and text Lawrence when I arrive. I go out of my car and Lawrence opens the door of Tia's house.

Inside is a nightmare. There are bits of shattered porcelain decorating the floor. The wallpaper is peeling off over the walls. The place looks like a goddamned crime scene. The tables and chairs are all knocked over. I can't tell who the villain here even is.

The TV is broken. Still endlessly playing static. The sound is grating on my nerves. The stairs' carpet is all torn up and torn apart. I don't like it. It looks really scary. Lawrence looks completely numb. I hear a blood curdling screech coming from upstairs. I go to investigate.

Tayce is the one screaming. She's throwing things around the room and screaming bloody murder. She's throwing anything she can find. She looks about ready to tear her hair right out of her scalp. I wish she would stop screaming, she's gonna scare Tia. If she hasn't already, that is.

Tia's bed was flipped over, presumably in Tayce's rage. Lawrence told me Tia flipped it over when she was having a breakdown. They look stone cold. Emotionless. Quite a drastic change compared to Tia and Tayce. Tia and Tayce, their names both begin with the letter T. That doesn't matter.

"You fucking bitch! All we're doing is trying to help you, you ungrateful little bitch! Maybe we should leave you and let you spiral. Alone. With no one to come help you. If that's what you want." Tayce spoke. Her voice is cold and steely and I don't like it.

The atmosphere is made scarier from the TV static emitting from this TV. It's shattered and yet still playing. I'm shivering. The cold air whistles in the room and tears through the deafening silence. I step next to Tayce and gasp at the sight in front of my eyes.

Tia is trembling on the ground. Her arms are sliced up. The cuts don't look very deep, but they are very grizzly. There's a bit of glass embedded in her left cheek. Her hair is tangled and messy. Her eyes are dazed and glassy. This isn't Tia, that's not what she looks like.

She then turns to me, finally making herself aware of my presence. She stands up on wobbly legs and stumbles over to me. I step back in shock. Her hair is matted and her eyes are bloodshot. But her arms are the worst part, her poor, poor arms.

The cuts are bleeding. And some have scarred. There's scabs decorating every inch of her arms. Tayce notices my expression and pushes Tia back. I snap my head back to look at Tayce. What the hell is she doing and why was she hurting Tia? I didn't like it.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I shout at Tayce. Tayce scoffs and rolls her eyes dismissively. I'm infuriated. She has no right to treat Tia in such a horrible way, I don't care how she defends herself here.

"Ask her what her fucking problem is! All Lawrence and I are doing is trying to help, but she's being a bitch!" Tayce screeches. I turn to Lawrence who just answers with a stone cold shrug, zero emotion behind their eyes. Tia immediately starts bawling her eyes out. I gasp.

"No, Ronnie, they wanna send me away. I don't want them to send me away, I wanna stay here!" Tia chokes out. I run to her side and wrap my arm around her shoulders. She turns to me and sobs painfully into my chest, her body violently racking as she sobbed.

I hug her tight. Her throat is probably raw and red and bleeding at this point from all the crying and screaming she's been doing. Just like her arms. Raw, red and bleeding. She's gonna lose her voice if she keeps this up. I turn to Lawrence and Tayce.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I ask, my voice is as stone cold as Lawrence's expression. Tia looks up, watery eyes gazing straight at me. She shakes her head violently. She's gonna hurt herself. She already has. She's gonna get even more hurt than she already is.

"It's her fault, Veronica. She's the one bitching and not letting anyone help her!" Tayce shouts at the top of her lungs. Lawrence shakes their head with a heavy sigh and solemnly leaves the room. I tilt my head. Why did Lawrence leave and how the hell is this Tia's fault?

"You're wrong, Tayce. You're wrong!" I shout back at her. Tayce looks absolutely infuriated that I'd even suggest such a possibility. Tayce scowls and shakes her head. Her eyes are somehow emotionless and also held a sea of rage in them. I'm not intimidated. I can be just as surly.

"Whatever. You think you can help her? Go ahead." Tayce spoke lowly. She turns on her heels slowly and walks out of the room, presumably to find Lawrence. I look at the still bawling Tia and I hold her close. Her quiet voice suddenly speaks up.

"It's not my fault."