Second Chances Prologue

I wonder who decides what people are worthy of getting second chances. Did you have to do something incredible in your life? Know the right people up above? Surely people couldn't just be chosen at random, could they? These were questions I constantly asked when I was younger, but the more I grew, the more my thinking leaned toward the latter. 

If good people were deserving of a second chance at life, then surely my parents, my grandparents, everyone else out in this godforsaken graveyard would've gotten one. They didn't deserve to be murdered by my aunt. Sure there was no proof, but I knew she did it. Deep down I knew.

It made me sick that my parents trusted her enough to leave me in her care if anything were to happen to them. How did my mother not know her own sister was so horrible? I had heard rumors that my aunt had, had a child previously that was taken away, but not much was known about that. If she had one child taken away, why did she get to raise another?

At first, I was determined to hate everything about Strangetown when I was forced to move because I was forced to move because of HER. I spent months just going to school, coming home, and hiding in my room. I'd sneak out and make myself meals when the coast was clear and scurry back to safety. I kept my childhood toys there. They were the only things left I had from my parents, and I was never going to get rid of them.

It didn't take long, though, for me to realize Strangetown maybe wasn't the worst place in the world after all. At school, I met a boy named Ripp Grunt. Ripp and I bonded over the fact that we lost a parent, and we were both stuck in a miserable living situation. His father had been horrible, especially to him and his younger brother, after his mother had died. We made plans to runaway from this place when we were old enough. Leave it behind and never look back. Ripp was my first friend. Well, maybe a tiny bit more than a friend.

Of course all good things couldn't last forever, or at least that's how my life seemed to be. One day I decided to have Ripp over to HER house, I refused to call it my own, because I knew she was at work. Typically we met up at the local community center after school because neither of us wanted to go home.

 Ripp was shocked and appalled by all the graves. I didn't blame him because it was like she left them out as trophies to remind her of her kills. What I wasn't expecting was for Ripp to find his mother's grave. In a cruel stroke of fate, my horrible, twisted aunt had been responsible for the death of his mother. 

Ripp lashed out at me, not that I could blame him. He had been hurting so bad due to the loss of his mother, and he felt betrayed to find her in my backyard. I knew that deep down he didn't consider me responsible, but I understood his pain and anger. Where once there once friendship, there was terror, and mistrust, and confusion. 

After that, I didn't see Ripp again. Sure we'd pass each other in the hallways at school, but we didn't acknowledge each other. He looked even more broken than before. I wished there was something, anything I could do to help, but alas I could not. All I could do was hope that Ripp escaped Strangetown like we planned. That he'd have a wonderful life ahead of him once he got out of this miserable place.

After Ripp, I was back to being alone again. What was the point in making friends if they were just going to leave you? If your friendship would be destroyed by horrible circumstances out of your control? 

Though I tried to keep to myself, Johnny Smith decided to make it his mission to draw me out of my shell. Johnny was a sweet guy. He lived a pretty much perfect, idyllic life. Two parents, a kid sister, even had a white picket fence around his house. Johnny knew about the horrible things my aunt did, but he didn't care, though to be honest it's probably because he wasn't affected by them. Still, it was nice to have someone like me despite who I was related to. Johnny was so worried about my safety, he even offered me a place to stay. Maybe it was impulsive, but I jumped at the chance.

Johnny's family was a bit apprehensive. Even his little sister Jill knew my aunt was a scary lady. Still, they let me stay with them. The Smith family was kind.

I settled into a comfortable routine at the Smith house. It was surreal. It was almost like having a family, my family, again. We'd have family meals together, go on outings, his parents would help me with my homework. It was as if I had a perfectly normal life again. If this was everything I wanted, why did it feel so strange? Why did I feel almost uncomfortable? I tried shake those thoughts from my brain every time they began to creep in. Be happy, Ophelia, I told myself. Be grateful for what you have.

Johnny and I grew closer too. Like I said, he was a sweet guy, and he had done so much for me. It would have been impossible not to fall for him. We started dating, and we did typical teenage couple stuff. We went to the movies, out to dinner, went to school dances together. My senior year, we were even crowned prom king and queen. 

The more normal things became, the more I constantly felt queasy, had a knot in the pit of my stomach. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair. I didn't deserve to have a life like this where everything was sunshine and rainbows. My aunt killed my parents. I lost my best friend because she killed his mother too. There were so many more people in those graves in her backyard who had loved ones who were missing them terribly. Logically I knew I wasn't responsible for any of this, but it didn't stop me from feeling guilty and sickened by it all. Here I was enjoying a perfect fairy tale life, while others were suffering.

One night, the summer before I started university, I just couldn't take it anymore. Plagued by constant anxiety and guilt, I knew I just had to leave Strangetown behind if I wanted to really heal and process what had happened to me. I couldn't be in the same town as my aunt. I couldn't be in the same town where so much hurt and pain was caused.

It was hard, but I told the Smith family goodbye. The understood that I was going to leave sooner or later, but it hurt to see the sadness on their faces. With Johnny, it was even worse. I had begun to wonder if the only reason I had feelings for him at all was because he was kind of like my savior, a knight in shining armor when I was in desperate need for comfort. It wasn't fair to stay with him if I wasn't sure my feelings were genuine. He said it didn't matter. That he wanted to be with me anyway, but I just couldn't do that to him. We agreed that if we were meant to be, our paths would cross again. He was certain this would happen. I, however, was not, but really, who knows where life will take you?

So, as painful as it was, I left the Smith house late one night, and I didn't even look back. I think this was how things were always supposed to go.

Since most of the people I knew from Strangetown were going to La Fiesta Tech for university, I decided to go somewhere further away, Academie Le Tour. I was giving myself a second chance, whether I really deserved one or not. I hoped that now that I am free from Strangetown, I can begin a new life, a happier life. One I don't feel guilt over because I'm no longer surrounded by the ghosts of my past. 

Even though it was raining, I couldn't help the huge grin that came across my face as the photographer took my picture during welcome week. I felt like maybe, just maybe I'd found a place I could belong.