Prom Night – Keen on It
It wasn't easy to explain it
No matter how much time passed, Donna continued to be unsure of how to explain certain things to people.
Why she went home to her aunt and uncle, did she have any siblings, how was her prom, what about her teachers in high school, who was her favorite? For all that she could be very friendly and open, anything that reminded her of the truth made her face close off because it was impossible for her to forget. The moment her mind went back to everything she'd been through in the last few years, she could not control herself, and the best thing was to walk away.
It didn't make befriending innocent, kind people in college easy, not by a mile, but her friends died because of her, her boyfriend died because of her, her family had died because they loved her too much, even when faced with– With Fenton's ferocious psychosis. Her mere existence had made Fenton obsessed with her, she thought, and being around her had gotten people killed.
No, making friends after she went off to college was plenty difficult. She was across the country, as far away as she had managed to go, and no one had ever heard of the Prom Night Horrors, as the papers back home had shamelessly put it, they didn't know how one seemingly nice teacher turned into a serial killer, and because of one of his unwilling, sweet student.
"Wait, your teacher did what?" – the first person she felt she could trust asked in disbelief – "To your family?!"
She explained as best as she could, as best not to poke her dark memories too much, she told her all about finding her brother in his own room, about watching her mother get killed, about the way she locked eyes with her fearless mother, who confronted Fenton and gave nothing away. She wept when she got to the prom night, about the path of blood and destruction Fenton left behind in his quest to get to Donna, about the broken bodies he left for the police to uncover, for their families to bury.
All because of her.
Much to Donna's shock, the story spread like wildfire. Her friend, or so she'd considered her, had told one person, who told another and so on, and soon enough, she was the cursed girl, no one should come close to her, no one should be her friend, her roommate, and definitely no guy should even ask her out, someone might grab them and slit their throats in the middle of the night.
Thankfully, Fenton had prepared her for betrayal and how to deal with it, so she stuck to her guns, she took her medicine when things got too stressful, she told her aunt and uncle things were fine, she was fine, her classes were going great! Life was great! It wasn't that difficult anymore to pretend she could live her life with people whispering about her, fearing even passing by her on campus, much less speaking to her more than necessary, and neither her uncle or aunt noticed anything in her voice, or at least they never mentioned it.
Once college was over, with her being a good student despite the lack of friends, or boyfriends, she had to sit down back home and decided what she actually wanted to do with her life. Eventually, she went to talk to Det. Winn, the one person who had stood by her though he was the one person who had no obligation to be by her.
"Things aren't easy, huh?" – he asked after a few minutes of talk over an actually good cup of coffee at a café near the police station. His keen eyes missed nothing when on the job, and clearly, they were just as powerful outside of it.
"No, they're not" – she confessed for the first time.
"Kids can be rutheless, especially when they're stupid, and most kids are dumb"
"A person is smart, people are not"
"Learn that at your fancy school?"
"It wasn't that fancy, and I learned it first hand" – Winn made it easy to be honest for once, because he didn't pity her, he just nodded sympathetically.
"I can't say I'm shocked that this happened, it was a big story"
"I... Told someone, they... Told" – his eyes hardened for a moment.
"That definitely sucks, kid, but are you hanging in there?"
"I'm trying" – she attempted a smile and he chuckled.
"You are the single strongest person I have ever met, Donna, I don't think I would still be standing if I'd gone through even a tenth of what you have"
"No, I'm not... I'm not strong"
"Yes you are" – he made to touch her, but quick memories of Fenton made her retrieve her hand instinctively. Winn did not react, though his eyes softened – "Do not doubt it, kid, you are so strong, you're strong enough to survive, to live on, and you are definitely strong enough to handle anything life throws at you, so embrace it, don't bow your head, just take it in and spit it back out"
"Have you ever thought of becoming a motivational speaker?"
"Maybe, how do you like me so far?" – he smiled almost boyishly, despite being maybe the most masculine man she had ever known, and she grinned back.
In the end, despite her aunt and uncle's protests, Donna signed up to become a police officer. Winn supported her decision and even helped her with her tests and everything, even when other officers joked around and asked about their close relationship, which Winn was ever so quick and aggressive to refute. Donna silently wondered how they could be so callous, they were in her home town, they had to know about Fenton, they had to know that the mere thought of Winn ever– Of her and Winn–
She cried herself to sleep a lot those days, but come the next day, she was all the more determined to prove everyone wrong, to prove that Winn may assist her with his kindness, but she was going to make it on her own, she was going to beat the odds and the questioning looks and do what she had to do in order to achieve her goals.
"So, cop, huh?" – a guy she dated right after she passed her exams and started working asked – "What made you wanna do that? You don't look like the type, your parents cops too or something?"
"I..." – the face of her 'friend' in college came to her, and she wondered if she could trust this man. She was an adult, they were in her home town but he wasn't from the area, he didn't know, so should she? Would his whispers and fear bother her as much as it did once? – "I... Something happened when I was in college, and I met Det. Winn, he kind of inspired me to become a cop like him, I guess"
"Oh. That's cool, I guess. I hope it wasn't anything bad, though"
"What?"
"You know, you said– Like, how did you meet this guy"
"He... There was this thing, with one of my teachers, he– He was a little weird, and Det. Winn helped with that"
"Huh. Good guy then, huh?" – she sighed and smiled.
"The best"
He asked nothing more on the subject, he didn't question her lack of parents (he'd been raised by his grandfather and she didn't ask about his family background too much either), and they ended up dating for a few months until he had to move away for work.
"You upset the kid went off?" – Winn asked gently when he found out.
"No, it's fine. He was great, really, but. I mean, he wasn't– It wasn't really..."
"Love?" – he said softly, and she nodded, unable to say anything – "Donna..."
"Please don't"
No more was said on it. He clearly remembered seeing her holding Bobby's bloodied body, he'd seen her devastation at his death, and no amount of pep talks and therapy could help her move on from her first love, and Winn got it. Donna liked him all the more for it.
Eventually, Donna became a full fledged Detective, and Winn took the chance to grab her for a partner. She was happy for the opportunity to learn from such a seasoned man, and the hours they spent pouring over files and chasing down criminals was a total rush, and she could forget that he'd once cracked down on Fenton for what he did to her, to her family, her friends, and now she could help him take down other such monsters.
One day, she hoped it wouldn't hurt to see a man like Fenton getting away because there was no evidence, or the law wasn't enough to put him away before he did something serious, to see a victim cry and beg for help that she could not give, according to the law, to see the aftermath of a love crime. A few years into the police force, she'd hardened her heart to blood and death, but some days, she had to curl into a ball and shut her eyes really tight to forget, forget, forget.
"It'll be okay, kid" – Winn had told her after her parents filed the restraining order against Fenton, back when no one could've imagined he'd be capable of such violence – "You'll see, some day, it'll all be just a memory"
Back then, she'd believed him. Years later, she didn't know if she could, but she tried. She could only try, because they were all memories, and the only way out was forward.
I don't think the execution was that great, but I do like the background, this would've been a good thriller, if done right. Oh well.