fortuitous odds

[22] plushies, pool parties and pills

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Half Taehyung's life had been spent within the confines of a glass cage whilst the world spun on around him. Years spent hoping someone would come along to shatter the restraints of physical and mental. Now Taehyung knew that was something only he was capable of.

Sometimes the glass cage was to protect him and other times a prison to hold him back. Sometimes a self inflicted curse, othertimes forced upon him. It should've been easy to shatter like the memories and the mirrors had been. But this constrained state was stronger than anything he'd ever fought, a creation determined to keep him away from the world.

Not even the tint on the glass could hide their true colours. A place that should've been secure, breached by a six year old desperate to get a glimpse at the way out. Right now it was a way in, forced upon child after child. Some dragged in with effort, others carried in with a sorrowful acceptance. Children who knew of the monsters under the masks versus children who believed they were the monsters.

Which was he?

Blink and the reflection changed.

Something sharp pricked his skin, muscle tense under the burning tight grip. Words that were sweet. Plushies for good behaviour, pool parties on weekends and ice cream after pills.

Then a slap, strong and swift, followed by the tender touch of a soft hand. Soothing words that sold his own guilt. "Such a waste." So he didn't waste it again. Dose after dose put to use.

The screams hit.

Were they real?

No. Just a reflection of history, reminding him why the glass cage existed.

Because if it didn't he wouldn't be alive right now.

Once again he was on the sidelines watching a body float on a gurney, wanting to hold her hand, wanting to scream. But he wouldn't scream. When she passed he reached out a hand but the glass stopped him. Then he spotted the guns, shrivelling away from the warped ripples of warning.

Don't scream.

Stop screaming! This time he was the one to plead. Restless amongst the blankets, using plushies to block out the night shift noises.

Tune it out. Tune it out. Stay in your cage. You're next.

"Hey! It's me you want right?!"

His own reflection stared back now, staring at the loss of self. Hands holding clumps of thick black hair.

Gone.

Why was such a fickle thing as hair his breaking point? Not the skin that threatened to tear, or the vomit that filled the sink. But the hair that he'd style in the mirror every day. The shattered mirror because he didn't need it now. Not to see but to feel. Now with blood in his hands holding jagged pieces of the mirror, an ironic use of the damaged to create something violent.

The cage began to crack from within. What started as a small fracture, spreading and tracing complex lines across the glass. Now ready to break and release the fractured soul.

Through the broken glass window Taehyung watched. Sun hit the reflection, creating light fractures that felt like a visual reminder of the promise he'd made in his soul the second he'd seen the bodies of his family returned in the arms of a traitor.