Demons Control Us All

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His 20th birthday. It was a mere two weeks away; so close, yet still so far. Time had seemed to slow down, the past six months- since Amelia had hardly been around. So, honestly, Johnnie was just counting down the days. Mom said that he could get a new tattoo for his birthday, and he had already planned this one out. He was going to get a fierce, geometric wolf on the inside of his forearm. The wolf was his favourite animal, and he hadn't yet got a tattoo like this. He was excited for this, and it was the first thing he had been excited for in what seemed like forever.

Johnnie was sitting in his room, halfway through an intense battle on his favourite computer game, Smite (even though literally everyone in the world things that it is the worst thing that has ever been created) when he heard his window open and the soft thud of feet landing on the carpet that covered the floor of his room. Pausing the game, he turned around to see Amelia, who was now sitting on his bed, looking apologetic. "Johnnie, I--" "Amelia, save it okay? I haven't seen you in forever. And you didn't even tell me where you went, or why you left. We are supposed to be in a relationship, for Gods' sake! I love you, Amelia! But I can't do this if you keep on leaving!" Johnnie was getting agitated now, and he turned back to his computer and got back to his game. "And I love you, Johnnie. I do. I just need to tell you something...and don't hate me, okay? Right. So, um, you know last year, when I told you why I came here from Cincinnati? About the bullies? Well...its not true. Parts of it are, yes I was in an orphanage and yes those kids did bully me....but they didn't rape me, and I didn't kill any of them. I just made it up. And I'm sorry. I really, really am Johnnie..." her voice trailed off as Johnnie slowly spun round in his chair.

A tear rolled down his cheek as his mind raced through what she had just said, but instead of replying, Johnnie sighed, and turned back around. "I get you're annoyed at me, but I'm not leaving again. I promise. If you want to talk to me again, ill be back in my apartment..."

Amelia climbed back out through the window, and left Johnnie to contemplate the information. And that's what he did, for days, stuck in the same position, until there was a faint knock at his bedroom door. Looking up, he saw the door fling open, as his younger brother and sister ran and jumped at Johnnie. At first, he was taken aback, but then he embraced the two kids and they all talked over each other, but the gist of their conversation was that they all missed each other. His sister, who was freshly 17, had piercing blue eyes, and now had pastel lilac hair that reached down to her thighs. She too was skinny, but not as much as Johnnie, and she wore light, soft colours with an undertone of gothic-ness. And her name was Tiger-Lily, from their parents favourite book. But she was known to everyone as Tiger, because she could definitely be feisty. In the corner of Johnnies eye, he saw another girl in their doorway, who turned out to be Tiger's girlfriend Juliet. She was pretty too, and they were the ultimate couple goals. Johnnie's younger brother Josh was almost 15, and he was the preppy one of the family. He used to play for the Agloe soccer and football team, as well as baseball. And he had good fashion sense. But he was still single? Even with his deep, hazel eyes and sandy, wavy hair? Johnnie messed up Josh's perfectly groomed hair as he hugged them again.

His siblings being here meant one thing; so was his dad. So Johnnie made his way out of his room to see him. "Johnathon!" a deep voice bellowed from the kitchen. "It's Johnnie dad, please, don't call me Johnathon" his dad apologised, but he sounded sarcastic the entire time. Johnnie hated him, because he was the one that walked out, he was the one that took his siblings. He was the one that severed all ties with them. And Johnnie could just not forgive his father for that.

And, for the first time in 3 years, Johnnie celebrated his birthday with his entire family. His mom, dad, brother, his sister and her girlfriend. He saw Amelia that evening, where they sat up on the roof and drank until they couldn't see straight and smoked until the air around them was thick with the grey smoke from their cigarettes that were held softly between their fingers.

All in all, a pretty decent birthday. That was, until, he got some unexpected and unwanted news.