A/N: Here's chapter 6. Enjoy, people.
After Iris said goodbye to Harry- which was a lot harder than she thought it would be- with bitterness in her heart and murder on her mind, joined her 'family' in the kitchen.
They were solemnly seated around the dining table, dolefully poking at their plates of spaghetti. Lisa tried to start a conversation but after receiving taciturn responses, gave up quickly.
There was an empty seat next to Brandon and opposite Damien with a plate of warm food. Iris reluctantly lowered herself in the chair, happy that she was at least the furthest away from her father as possible.
"So, Iris," Elijah decided to try and stir up a conversation, "how have you been the last few years?"
She stared at him blankly, unable to fathom how dense a person could be. Read the room dude.
"Uh, what are your hobbies?" Oscar tried a different approach.
"I'm very good at getting rid of pests who annoy me." Iris stabbed the spaghetti and twirled it around with her fork, her cold gaze swept over everyone pointedly.
"Anything else?" Oscar asked hopefully.
"I like reading. And fighting."
Will perked up. "You read?"
"You fight?" Damien scoffed at the same time.
"Yes and yes." Iris said with a pointed glare at Damien.
"I doubt it." He mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"I will fight you right now."
"I don't attack defenceless kids."
"Scared you'll lose?"
Damien kicked Iris's shin and she retaliated. Oscar was whisper-chanting 'fight fight fight!' while Elijah looked exhausted. Julian was prepared to film in case something interesting happened.
"Enough!" Lisa roared, standing up and slamming her hands on the table. An instant hush descended over the room. "Can we get through our first family meal without bloodshed?"
"She started it." Damien muttered.
"Did not!" Iris hissed, grip tightening on the fork. Lord, give me patience because if you give me strength you're gonna need to give me bail money too.
"Everyone, listen to your mother." David decided to chime in, glancing up from his phone.
"My mother is dead." Iris growled back. "So who am I supposed to listen to?"
Silence.
What an effective mood-killer, Iris thought drily, taking a sip of water.
"Well," Oscar swallowed a forkful of pasta, "this got awkward quite quickly."
Iris pushed away her plate and stood, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I'm not hungry anymore."
A tight ball of emotions had formed in her throat. The scene before her morphed into her mother's corpse, lying limply at the bottom of the stairs, the needle and syringe only a short distance away. Her beautiful green eyes were glassed, pupils blown wide with angry red veins deeply etched on the sclera.
Iris blinked and the image flickered away.
"You have to eat, Iris." David frowned. "You must keep your strength up."
"I'll eat in my room if needed. This was a huge mistake." Iris picked up the plate.
"No!" David exclaimed. "We will eat like a family!"
But we're not a family.
A wave of tiredness crashed over Iris and pulled her in its murky depths. She breathed out, eyes fluttering close for a moment. David was ranting about something, but his voice sounded muffled- like he was underwater. She tried to focus on his words, but couldn't gather any meaning behind them.
As if on auto-pilot, Iris sat back down. Her expression was as smooth as stone and betrayed nothing. She ate bite after bite, but could not taste the food. Damien was kicking her chair, but Iris could not muster up the energy to retaliate.
"I'll show you to your room." Elijah said while Brandon gathered everyone's plates.
Iris nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what caused this change to occur. All she knew was that she felt so very tired.
Elijah opened the door to her room and kept talking, probably more waffle that served as a useless attempt to get closer to his younger sister. Iris had to practically slam the door on his face to get him to leave. For a second, she felt bad, but that feeling disappeared like a shadow in the light- as if it had never been there in the first place.
Iris slid down the wall and clutched her head, body wracked with silent sobs. Tears slipped down her face and no matter how many she wiped away, their flow would not stop. She pressed her knees to her chest and covered her mouth to hide the shuddering breaths.
Iris's phone rang, buzzing with notifications she could not see through blurry eyes. She picked up the device and squinted at the screen, seeing Jax and Harry's name coupled with well-meaning messages. Feeling slightly guilty, she cleared them all and switched her phone on silent.
Why does this hurt so much?
*******
Iris: This is the worst day of my life!
Me, the author : Worst day of your life so far
I hope you guys liked it!
Stay safe and thanks for reading :)
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Going back
ActionA socially awkward teenager with a love for weapons must work with her ex-family in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. ** After the unexpected death of her mother, Iris is forced to go back to the family that abandoned her. They're e...
