Someone Out There Loves You (Adopted by Frank Iero)

18

ALEXA

We were gathered in the rec room for a movie. Sometimes, the nurses decided that everyone could sit back, relax, and watch something fun in the evening. We would get to vote on a movie. They were all kids movies, but it was still enjoyable. That might have been because Andy and I would sit up the back talking shit in whispers and giggling the whole time, but since he was no longer here I settled on actually watching the movie. Tonight we were watching Toy Story.

It was about half way through when a girl got up. She looked shorter than me and probably a few years younger. The nurses had left the room but said we were free to go to the toilets or to our rooms if we wanted. A couple of people had already left so this wasn't a big deal.

Or, it shouldn't have been.

"Sit the fuck down!"

I flinched in my seat and turned to see who that came from. Judging from the people sitting to my right, my guess was on Mason.

As it turned out, Andy was right - it seemed like he did have anger issues. While I didn't doubt Andy, this was my first time witnessing it.

The girl looked petrified. "S-sorry," she stuttered, sitting back in her seat.

"If you were sORRY you wouldn't have stood up in the FIRST PLACE!"

The room felt like it shook. My eyes were wide and I felt frozen, too scared to move. The tv continued to play, and I couldn't help but find it funny how he was fuming during a kids movie. A laugh threatened to escape my lips. If I wasn't so goddamn terrified it definitely would have, purely at the absurdity of the situation.

"I-I uh..." The poor girl was at a loss for words, as you would be. She hadn't done shit.

Suddenly, Mason was up and jumping over the empty chair in front of him, lunging straight for the girl. For someone so big, he could move quickly, and soon the sound of fists hitting flesh filled the room. He was easily twice her size, and he didn't look like he was holding back. Everyone was frozen in their seats, unable to move, watching someone unable to defend themselves being beaten mercilessly.

It started with a bump, and then suddenly I was on the floor. With my hands out in front of me, I caught myself so my head didn't hit the ground, jarring my wrists in the process. I screwed up my face in pain, whimpering slightly, and tried to stand back up. This didn't get far because I was kicked in the back, sending me back to the ground on my stomach, hair covering my face and blocking my view of who was doing this to me.

I didn't need to see them though. I knew who it was. It was the usual group. They got off on beating kids like me up.

This felt different though. This felt angry. This felt like there was meaning behind it, not just for fun. They wanted to hurt me. The worst part was I didn't know what I had done to deserve it.

"Please stop!" I begged, only to have a kick land in my stomach. I coughed from the impact, spitting out blood on the floor. The one who kicked me then crouched above my head. I thought this would've been a good place to end it, but they brought their fist up, and it then crashed down into my jaw, blood immediately pouring out of my lip which had split. The back of my head hit the floor from the impact, the splitting pain overtaking everything else. My vision was getting blurry, but I could make out the silhouettes of the six figures huddling over me, beating any available space they saw since I couldn't shield my entire body at once.

"Someone help me! PLEASE!" I screamed. I had never raised my voice like this before, especially not at school. I was far too embarrassed to do that. But right now, I felt like I was going to die. Staring death in the face does something to you. You can hate your life as much as you want and hope to die, but survival mode kicks in when death is right there. I was screaming for my life.