The Secret Life of the Bad Girl

Chapter 22

*flashback*

I was sitting in a beanbag chair reading when I heard a knock on the front door downstairs. Ethan jumped up from his Legos to look at me.

"Someone's here!" He grinned.

"Leave it, E." I said warningly. "Mom said not to open it."

"But what if it is mom?" He whined staring at me with his big brown eyes trying to get me to concede.

"Then she'll let herself in." I shrugged. "Awe, don't make that face." I ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Awe, Lynn." He whined. "You messed up my hair!"

I laughed. "My baby boy is growing up so fast." I pouted.

"I'm not a baby! I'm ten!" He protested.

Heavy footsteps could be heard on the stairs and I began to worry. Mom didn't sound like that when she walked.

"Hey, E?" I asked worriedly. "Can you go grab some more Legos from your closet? I wanna play, too."

"Sure!" He grinned. Just as he disappeared into his closet the door to his room swung open. Outside stood three men.

"Hello cutie." One of them grinned evilly. My face paled and I quickly hurried to hide with Ethan.

"We only need the boy." A voice said gruffly, followed by the sound of a gun shot. I cried out as it struck my back and I fell to the ground.

"Lynn!" Ethan cried running out of the closet to where I lay on the floor.

"No, E! Run!" I screamed.

"I can't leave you!" He sobbed.

"Grab him!" The same man barked. Ethan screamed and thrashed as they carried him from the room.

"What about the girl?" The first voice asked.

"She won't last long." The gruff voice replied.

As the footsteps began to fade I started screaming. "No! Come back! Ethan please! Bring him back! No!" I sobbed on the floor in a pool of my own blood. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergency?" The operator answered.

"They took him!" I sobbed. "They took my baby brother."

*end flashback*

•••

I stumble over to the full size bed and climb to the top, and I cuddle with the ragged teddy bear perched on the sheets.

"Tommy, come." I pat the bed beside me. He eyes me warily before looking around the room.

"Whose room is this?" He asks confusedly. He glances around the room decorated with boyish things.

"Jay? Where'd you go?" Logan calls. He enters the room and drops the glass in his hand. It shatters on the ground causing both me and Tommy to jump.

"You don't need to be in here, Jay." Logan says sternly.

"Why?" I slur. "Because it 'sets me back'?" I make air quotations with my fingers. "You can't all just pretend he didn't exist!" I yell drunkenly, feeling my eyes well with tears. I climb out of bed and stumble towards Logan with the bear still clutched in my hand.

"Jay," Logan warns threateningly.

"You can't tell me what to do!" I cry tripping over my feet and falling onto the sharp shards of glass from the cup Logan dropped. "Ow!" I cry as it lodges in my hands and knees. The tears finally overflow and begin pouring down my cheeks.

"Shh." Tommy soothes picking me up.

"Take her to her room." Logan says quietly.

I cradle my hurt hand with the other and sob against Thomas's chest. This is why I can't drink.

"It's okay." He soothes.

"No it's not!" I yell. "He's gone. They took him and he's gone." I cry in anguish.

Thomas lays me on my bed and goes to find the first aid kit. While he's gone, I strip and change into a over sized teeshirt. I've just crawled back into bed when Logan and Thomas return, first aid kit in hand.

"Okay Jay. Let me see your hand first." Logan says pulling out some tweezers. I timidly stretch my hand out dreading the pain I know it's going to cause. I squeeze my eyes shut clutching the teddy to my chest while Logan begins to remove the glass from my hand.

"Ouch!" I thrash around trying to take my hand back. My mind replays the flashbacks. "Ouch stop!" I cry deliriously. Logan holds my arm down and I begin screaming. "Let me go!" I screech. I am momentarily released as brief panic breaks out around me before I see Logan come back with a syringe filled with a sedative.

"No please!" I beg. "Don't do it Lo, please."

He sighs. "I'm sorry Jay." He sticks my arm and injects the medication into my bloodstream. Almost immediately my senses begin to dull. My body goes limp and I feel Logan briefly press his lips to my forehead before continuing to patch me up. "I am so sorry."

"What just happened?" Thomas asks with wide eyes. He looks frightened and I don't blame him. I'm a monster. A freak. An absolute total nutcase.

"She had a episode." Logan sighs. "It happens occasionally when she drinks. She'll loose sight of what's happening now and what is memories from the past. Everything jumbles in her mind and she can't differentiate between the two." He explains.

"What causes it?" Thomas stutters, his eyes wide with fright.

"She had a traumatic experience a few years back and it's just scared her." Logan answers quietly.

I move my lips slightly trying to I speak but I can't. The sedatives lock me inside myself, shutting down my thought process. I attempt to fight off the drug but I can't. A final tear escapes my eyes before they drift closed...