Embracing the Abyss

Chapter 2

Anne was nowhere in the house this morning. She’s probably out somewhere blowing all of my money on one of her boyfriends. I opened the fridge and saw 2 tupperware containers with mold growing around the lids, a few expired condiment containers and a pint of milk that had maybe 2 sips left in it.

Closing the fridge door I thought about going back to the shop. Hopefully Nico was alright and in a friendly enough mood to let me get something to eat. Showered and dressed I hastily ran out the door. Not wanting to see Anne. Last time we fought she nearly shoved me out of my window. Luckily she was already high and didn’t have much strength in her.

Crisp fall air filled my lungs and gave me a new hope for the day. The shop's open sign was off. Taking a deep breath I opened the door. The same bell ringing through the empty room.

“Nico?” No response.

Dropping my bag behind the counter I walked to the back, entering the kitchen. There was Nico making breakfast sandwiches.

“Hey,” I said, feeling more nervous than I did the first day I got the job here.

“Morning,” he nodded his head to a sandwich that was on a plate.

I ate my breakfast in silence watching him work.

“You can work the rest of the week,” he sighed.

“I’m sensing a but,” I walked to the sink and rinsed off my plate, placing it in the dishwasher.

“I’m gonna have to let you go after”

“What? Why?” I shouted, fear evident in my voice.

“Do you know who you were talking to yesterday?”

“Some asshat. I don’t know”

“Aria,” his voice was calm, “don’t talk like that about him”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Leo and it’s best if you avoid him”

“Leo?” The name sounded very familiar.

“Yes. Leonardo Veranzian. His family owns this building. Practically every build in this town”

“So what? He got mad that I wouldn’t accept his money and now he’s firing me?”

“You insulted him yesterday infront of his colleagues”

“He deserved it!”

“That’s not how it works. I’m suprised he let you walk out of here. It could’ve been worse”

“Nico,” I ran my hand through my hair, “I need this job. Please. I’ll work double shifts on weekends. I’ll even come in before school and clean out the freezer”

“I’m sorry,” he handed me a breakfast sandwhich wrapped in foil.

I held back the tears and walked up to the counter, grabbing my things and leaving the shop. Making my way to give John his food. He wasn’t in his usual spot so I held onto it, keeping my hands warm. My whole life seemed to be spiraling. Nothing was going as planned.

The school parking lot was packed with vehicles and students. I wove my way through them when I felt a tight grip on my hips and my back was pulled into someone. I knew it was Braxton right away from the smell of his cologne.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the freakin mall? What does it look like?”

I elbowed him.

His hand wrapped around my wrist tightly, lifting it up.

“What’s this?” He grabbed the food out of my hand, “bringing me breakfast,” he let go of me.

Taking this chance I kept walking towards the building.

“Who the hell is John?”

He read the name off the foil. His hand tightly holding the back of my neck, pushing me against a car, his friends blocking us from the view of others. His hand slid from the back of my neck to around my throat.

“You got yourself a little boyfriend?”

“f**k off,” I tried with everything I had to shove him away.

“Listen here. No one is going to take you from me”

“I’m not yours,” I struggled to say as his grip was getting tighter.

He smirked.

“And who do you think would want you? Your nothing but the offspring of the town whor-“

I spat in his face. He smiled, wiping off the spit from his face.

“You can either tell me who he is or I can find him myself. Starting with John Morse in first period”

John Morse was a timid guy. I started hanging out with him when my parents divorced, but after a while he started ignoring me. I couldn’t let this i***t hurt him.

“John is the homeless man near the bridge. I give him food before I come to school”

“Seems like his day is going to get a whole lot worse,” he let go of me and walked away, his friends in tow.

“Braxton!” I shouted as he walked back to his truck, hopped in and sped off.

The bell rang for the start of the first period. I was torn between going to school and going after them. I wouldn’t be able to focus without knowing if John was alright. Ughhh. I started running as fast as my legs would go, praying that John still wasn’t there.

My lungs were burning and my nose was so cold it felt like it was burning. Slowing down when the bridge was in sight I bent over, resting my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

Walking the rest of the way I saw that John was sitting in the same spot, the roads no busier than usual. Dropping my bag I sat down next to him, catching my breath and trying to warm up my hands.

“There you are,” I said through winded breaths.

“Where have you been? I’ve been out here starving the last hour”

“Where have I been? Where have you been? I was here same time as always”

“Couldn’t have been. Well where is it?”

“Huh?”

“My food?” He leaned over stretching out his hand to receive the food that was taken from me.

“Some bully stole it”

“Bastards,” he huffed. His stomach let out an audible grumble.

My heart went out to him. I knew what it was like to be hungry. Placing my hand on his knee I gave it a small shake.

“Don’t worry. I’ll walk to the shop and get you another,” I stood up, dusting off the dirt and slowly jogging to the shop.

Before I arrived I started thinking about what excuse I was going to tell Nico for skipping school, but luckily for me he wasn’t at the counter.

“Nico?”

No answer. Going to the kitchen I didn’t see him there either. Opening up the warmer I pulled out one of the breakfast sandwiches and wrapped it in foil. I didn’t want him to be angry that I took one without asking so I went to the counter and quickly wrote him a note, ‘dropped John’s food, had to get a new one -Aria’ leaving it on the cash register for him to see.

“I’ll be back later,” I shouted again in case he could hear me and was just busy.

I walked much slower this time, but something was telling me to get to John fast. I was just being paranoid I thought. Till I saw the dark blue truck.

“No,” I whispered.

The sight I saw made my stomach turn. Braxton and his friends surrounded John, kicking him relentlessly.

I ran full force at Luis, knocking him to the ground, both of us roiling on the ground. I got up and jumped on Braxton’s back, clawing and biting at anything I could. He flipped me over his shoulder, making me land flat on my back. All the air left my lungs and I felt like I was never going to breathe again. Owen and Jonas looked over at us, confused about what they should do now.

“You b***h!” Braxton said, spitting out blood and kicking me hard in the ribs.

I heard a crunch and screamed as I felt the sharp pain radiating through my right side. He had to have broken a few ribs.

I got on my knees, clutching my sides, when I saw him turn back to John.

“Don’t,” I crawled to John, trying to shield him with my body.

He was unconscious, blood dripped from his mouth and eyebrows.

“You care more for this human garbage than you do me?” Braxton questioned.

“I would care more for a disease infested rat than you,” I wheezed.

He grabbed my arm with one hand and his other wrapped tightly around my throat, lifting me up against the stone rail of the bridge. My feet dangling above the ground. I tried scratching at his arm, but it was hard through his thick coat.

“Braxton man, let’s just go,” Luis said with panic in his voice.

“Shut up!”

“Look if she narcs on us-“

“You think someone is going to believe a bastard daughter of the town w***e. We’ll leave when I say”

My vision was blurring and white sparks were appearing. I was losing consciousness fast. He leaned me over the bridge.

“You deserve every bit of this,” he whispered.

The last thing I heard was the screeching of tires on the pavement. The sensation of falling and then smacking the hard surface of water below. He really tossed me over the bridge.

The freezing current numbing every inch of my body. This was it. I never cared much for being in the water so I never learned to swim and stayed clear of any deep bodies of water. Yet I always admired it from a distance. My lungs burned as I gulped water, begging for air. Everything faded as I sunk into a black abyss.