𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔－ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏

[Zoe Kravitz as Valentina Phoenix]

I 07. I

𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔

❝ valentina ❞

VALENTINA PHOENIX HAD LIVED A LIE HER ENTIRE LIFE. For years, her parents had told her it was all in her head, that she was crazy—a lunatic.

Never once did her parents ever believe her. Despite their differences, she couldn't help but love them, even if they saw her as a burden. And when they had to hear the jeers and jabs at their family name all because of her, she felt like their acceptance for her was dwindling by the minute.

It started when she was three. Clear as day, she recalled seeing a girl much older than her in her late teens. She wore a purple t-shirt with gold lettering, but she couldn't read at the time, so it was all jumbled and scrawled in her mind. Her hair was tied into a loose ponytail, and it was only colored a green color, one that reminded her of the trees at the local park a few miles away from her house.

She carried a bow and arrow, notched and pointed at a ten foot tall creature that stood before her. The arrow released, sending it into the creature's leg, causing it to roar so loudly it shook the house.

Valentina had been pulled away by her mom. And for the rest of the day she spoke of the tall creature and the girl with the bow, that was the start of her parents disdain for her and her imagination.

When she was ten she ran into a group of kids like the girl from years before. They carried swords and knives, packs on their backs as hey fought a giant dog, one with ruby red eyes and dagger like fangs that gleamed in the daytime. Overall, it was a sight that intrigued Valentina a bit too much.

As they fought the creature she gasped when one was cut down. They were sprawled on the ground as the monster dissolved into shadows, melting into the cold asphalt below their feet. Valentina wondered where it went, and if the teen was safe.

Blood pooled at the teen girl's side, both of her friends dropped to their knees. One of them spoke something into their hands, and a light burst out, which urged Valentina to move forward and see more clearly.

She stopped once the girl went limp. One of her friends stood, and when she shook a hand up at the sky, Valentina saw the sun in her palm, it glowed to bright for her to pay attention any longer. Once she opened them again, they were gone.

All Valentina had left was a wild imagination her parents didn't believe to be real.

When their neighbors began hearing their children tell stories of Valentina's sightings, they cried and complained to her parents of how she was damning them all. Which begun the endless cycle of abuse she received from everyone she thought she ever loved.