In the Service [WORK IN PROGRESS]

Two: End of Everything

Two. End of Everything

He stood quietly in the doorway, his head bent so that his old hat would cover his face, his body hunched over from years of hard work and a single act of betrayal. He knew she was watching him--it was uncharacteristic of him to not come home loud and exultant. He could already imagine the expression on her face: one thin eyebrow raised quizically, her lips forming a soft 'o', her forehead furrowed in worry. He wanted to run to her, to hold her like he used to when she was a little girl and tell her everything was going to be ok; but he couldn't move, he couldn't bear to tell her what he'd done.

"Daddy?"

He cringed, he felt his heart wrench inside of his chest, his cheeks drained of color. What had he done? He heard her take a step foward and, instinctively, he jumped backwards, ramming into his wife. He had completely forgotten she was there, and only now realized she was gripping his arm, not only steadying herself but trying to comfort her distressed husband. 

Vivian Foster sighed and pulled Edward inside, closing the door behind them, shutting out the light. She turned to face her daughter, who was directly opposite them. The dining table stood as a barrier between them and Diana stood clutching the back of one of the chairs. Why were her parents acting so strange?

"Diana," Vivian breathed. "We have something very important we need to discuss with you."

Edward snorted. "Discuss? If we were discussing, she would've been able to have a say in this," he mumbled.

"Have a say in what?" Diana retorted, placing her hands on her hips. "What's going on?"

Vivian opened her mouth, but no words came out. She was frozen. How was she supposed to tell her daughter they had just sold her away, as if she was a piece of old furniture? She turned to her husband, but he wasn't there: he was gone, lost in his own thoughts, buried in his own guilt. He stood with his eyes closed, his hands clasped tightly in front of him, his lips pressed together in hard line.

"Oh for God's sake, just tell me!" Diana pleaded and she threw her hands up impatiently.

Vivian sighed and pulled the now crumpled golden parchment from Edward's back pocket, noticing him cringe from the corner of her eye as she unfolded it and tried her best to smooth it out on the table. "We had no choice," she said quietly, and slid the parchment closer to her daughter, her eyes locked on some invisible crack in the table.

Diana took the parchment and scanned it over, immediately noting the huge title at the top that read "The American Bridal Company." There were two extremely long paragraphs describing terms and conditions and requirements; right below there was a description of herself written in tiny, messy letters; and at the bottom of the page was her father's signature in thick, black ink.

It took her a few minutes to realize what she was looking at. She lifted her head slowly, her jaw hung open in shock; she couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't see anything but that stupid piece of paper that had consumed her entire world in a single gulp, that had changed everything.

She swallowed hard, gripping the sides of the table as she glared angrily at her parents. How could they do this to her? Her own parents whom she loved and trusted; the only people on the entire planet whom she actually cared about; her own flesh and blood sold her for a meager  $120. She opened her mouth, a jumbled mess of hot, angry words ready to stumble vehemently from her tongue--until her eyes fell on her father: he swayed where he stood, his eyes squeezed shut to keep the tears from spilling over, he clutched his old hat so tightly Diana thought he might tear it in two. It was then that she realized how hard this must have been on her father, and she stood with her mouth agape, choking back the words she had just so desperately wanted to lash upon her parents. 

Vivian siezed the opportunity and cried out, "Please Diana, please don't be angry with us! You know if there was anything else we could have done, we would have; this was absolutely our last resort." She reached for her daughter but Diana flinched, and Vivian immediately retreated. "You have to understand, we had no other options," she said, more quietly this time. "There's just, not much left for us anymore." Vivian hung her head.

Diana scoffed and fell into a chair, resting her head in her hands. "And what about me, hmm? Don't I have as much say in this as you do? This is my life we are discussing here." She looked at her parents, but still, they refused to meet her gaze. She sighed and looked down at the table, at the cracks that began as one and suddenly split into two. Diana had been dreaming of leaving this filthy city for over three years. She had been concocting all sorts of ways that would get her to leave; but of course, none of them worked. And now, her parents were practically handing her freedom on a silver platter. The only problem was that a man she barely knew came with it.

She smiled crudely, and then she began to chuckle; her shoulders shook and she leaned back in her chair, laughing and laughing. Her parents looked at each other nervously. What was going on? Had their daughter gone completely mad? They tell her they've sold her to some strange man in some faraway place, and she laughs? They held their breath, waiting. Finally, Diana looked at her parents, crossing her arms.

"You know," she said, a thin smile playing at her lips. "I'm sure you could've sold me for a lot more than $120. I mean, just look at me!" she joked. Vivian smiled nervously while Edward continued to fumble thoughtlessly with his hat. Diana sighed and stood she took her parents hands in hers, causing Edward to flinch and jerk his head up. "Mom, Dad," she said. "I'm not mad at you. Well, I was at first, but now I realize you guys are doing me a favor. I've been dying to get out of this stinking city, and you've finally given me the wings I needed. And I thank you for that. Please don't think I'm crazy, for being happy about this, but I am. I know you guys did what was absolutely necessary, and I'm ok with it... Just promise me you'll try not to miss me too much, ok?" 

It was as if her parents were frozen: their hands were cold as ice, and they stood stock still, as if turned to stone. Diana took a wary step back. "Mom? Dad?" Suddenly, her parents seemed to melt away and in their place stood two, giant bears. They roared, and lunged at her, and all Diana could see was huge claws and a giant, sharp-toothed mouth making its way towards her throat. She screamed, but no sound came out. Her entire body was burning; the bears were tearing her apart, ripping her up piece by piece.

The last thing she remembered was a man bursting through the front door; a man covered in shadows killing the bears; a man's voice softly calling her name; a man's rough hands carefully putting her back together.