My Life Closed Twice
Chapter 1: Quiet Life
Disclaimer: General Hospital and all its characters belong to ABC, Disney, etc.
Author's Notes: Thanks to my faithful beta reader. Please read and review!
My name is Kristina Davis-Ashton and I am 16 years old.
I was born in Port Charles, New York, but I don't remember ever seeing it. My parents and I moved here immediately after I was born. As far as I am concerned, I'm a native New Yorker all the way. I live with my Uncle Stephan and my mom. My dad was killed when I was 10. Someone broke into our home and slit his throat. Mom and I were out picking up a late night dinner. When we got back to our apartment Mom stopped suddenly and told me to go to Mrs. Strumen's until she came and got me. I stayed with Mrs. Strumen the rest of the night.
He died on Anniversary Day.
My mom hardly talks anymore.
You may wonder what Anniversary Day is. I don't know. It's a secret. There are a lot of secrets in my family. All I know is that on Anniversary Day for as long as I can remember I would go and visit my half-sister Brook- Lynn at her mom's house. It was Brook-Lynn who named it Anniversary Day. She said, "Alexis and Dad must be going out for a special adult anniversary date."
Maybe she was right. I know that even now Uncle Stephan and mom still go out on Anniversary Day and I still go to Brook-Lynn's house.
Uncle Stephan is my mom's brother. He came to take care of mom and me after dad died. I remember that at Dad's funeral Great-Grandfather Edward and Uncle Stephan got into a fight about us staying in Manhattan. Well really Great-Grandfather Edward yelled at Uncle Stephan and Uncle Stephan ignored him. The fight ended when Aunt Monica, Uncle Alan, Aunt Emily, and Lois (Brook-Lynn's mom) told Great-Grandfather to stuff-it. Cousin Nicholas personally thanked each of them as they bundled Great-Grandfather out to the car.
Mom just sat in a corner fingering her necklace.
That's pretty much what mom does all the time now. Occasionally she will talk, but most of the time it doesn't make sense. She usually says nothing and just does what she is told to do.
Uncle Stephan tried to keep my life the way it was before Dad died. We moved to a different building, but it was in the same neighborhood so I got to go to the same school as before, shop at the same stores, and play in the same park.
He didn't know what my life was like before so he didn't know how it had changed. How my friends didn't come over to play anymore. How I didn't dance to Dad's music anymore. How Mom didn't read to me anymore.
So life didn't go on as before, but it went on. I got new friends at school, even if they didn't come over to visit. I started to play the guitar in the park, even though I didn't dance. I began to read to Mom every day, even if she didn't read to me.
Uncle Stephan tried to be a good step-dad. Nicholas said that I was getting away with so many more things then he did. Nicholas' wife Gia, Aunt Monica, Aunt Emily, and even Lois tried to be good step-moms. Mostly though, I learned to handle stuff on my own. Like I said, my family has a lot of secrets.
I guess that is why I didn't think anything of it when Uncle Stephan left for an emergency business meeting leaving mom and me alone. I knew better then to ask Uncle Stephan about his business emergency. I mean he would either deflect the question, read secret, or tell me, read boring. Since he was only going to be away for two nights and it was summer, I was able to convince him that Mom and I would be fine alone. I am 16 now after all and don't need a baby-sitter. Like I said, I like to handle things on my own.
So Uncle Stephan left, I popped some popcorn and took my TV, a secret gift from Gia, into Mom's room. We had popcorn for dinner and watched a really bad movie. It was fun. One of those times I could almost forget how different my family was from everyone else's.
Then the news came on. I was cleaning up the bowls when all of a sudden Mom said, "Red is my color, my anger, my rage. She doesn't have the right to wear it."
I glanced at the TV in the false hope that Mom was making sense. It was just a human-interest story on AIDS charity efforts. So I turned off the TV and put Mom to bed.
The next day we stayed around the apartment. Ok, Mom never went anywhere anymore so it was hardly a change for her. I read to her and played my guitar, basically your standard day in our house.
That night I took advantage of Uncle Stephan being away by staying up way past my bedtime. It was very late when I heard a sound coming from my mother's room. As I walked down the hall the voice became clearer. It was a man's voice. So I grabbed the ugly vase off the hall table and inched closer to the partially opened door. I heroically burst through the door and hit the intruder over the head with the vase. Then I ran to mom. From behind me I heard the man groan. I swung around ready to defend my mother from the intruder. He staggered to his feet and gave me a slightly disgusted look.
"Jeez, why do all you Cassadine women feel the need to introduce yourselves by knocking me out?"
Chapter 1: Quiet Life
Disclaimer: General Hospital and all its characters belong to ABC, Disney, etc.
Author's Notes: Thanks to my faithful beta reader. Please read and review!
My name is Kristina Davis-Ashton and I am 16 years old.
I was born in Port Charles, New York, but I don't remember ever seeing it. My parents and I moved here immediately after I was born. As far as I am concerned, I'm a native New Yorker all the way. I live with my Uncle Stephan and my mom. My dad was killed when I was 10. Someone broke into our home and slit his throat. Mom and I were out picking up a late night dinner. When we got back to our apartment Mom stopped suddenly and told me to go to Mrs. Strumen's until she came and got me. I stayed with Mrs. Strumen the rest of the night.
He died on Anniversary Day.
My mom hardly talks anymore.
You may wonder what Anniversary Day is. I don't know. It's a secret. There are a lot of secrets in my family. All I know is that on Anniversary Day for as long as I can remember I would go and visit my half-sister Brook- Lynn at her mom's house. It was Brook-Lynn who named it Anniversary Day. She said, "Alexis and Dad must be going out for a special adult anniversary date."
Maybe she was right. I know that even now Uncle Stephan and mom still go out on Anniversary Day and I still go to Brook-Lynn's house.
Uncle Stephan is my mom's brother. He came to take care of mom and me after dad died. I remember that at Dad's funeral Great-Grandfather Edward and Uncle Stephan got into a fight about us staying in Manhattan. Well really Great-Grandfather Edward yelled at Uncle Stephan and Uncle Stephan ignored him. The fight ended when Aunt Monica, Uncle Alan, Aunt Emily, and Lois (Brook-Lynn's mom) told Great-Grandfather to stuff-it. Cousin Nicholas personally thanked each of them as they bundled Great-Grandfather out to the car.
Mom just sat in a corner fingering her necklace.
That's pretty much what mom does all the time now. Occasionally she will talk, but most of the time it doesn't make sense. She usually says nothing and just does what she is told to do.
Uncle Stephan tried to keep my life the way it was before Dad died. We moved to a different building, but it was in the same neighborhood so I got to go to the same school as before, shop at the same stores, and play in the same park.
He didn't know what my life was like before so he didn't know how it had changed. How my friends didn't come over to play anymore. How I didn't dance to Dad's music anymore. How Mom didn't read to me anymore.
So life didn't go on as before, but it went on. I got new friends at school, even if they didn't come over to visit. I started to play the guitar in the park, even though I didn't dance. I began to read to Mom every day, even if she didn't read to me.
Uncle Stephan tried to be a good step-dad. Nicholas said that I was getting away with so many more things then he did. Nicholas' wife Gia, Aunt Monica, Aunt Emily, and even Lois tried to be good step-moms. Mostly though, I learned to handle stuff on my own. Like I said, my family has a lot of secrets.
I guess that is why I didn't think anything of it when Uncle Stephan left for an emergency business meeting leaving mom and me alone. I knew better then to ask Uncle Stephan about his business emergency. I mean he would either deflect the question, read secret, or tell me, read boring. Since he was only going to be away for two nights and it was summer, I was able to convince him that Mom and I would be fine alone. I am 16 now after all and don't need a baby-sitter. Like I said, I like to handle things on my own.
So Uncle Stephan left, I popped some popcorn and took my TV, a secret gift from Gia, into Mom's room. We had popcorn for dinner and watched a really bad movie. It was fun. One of those times I could almost forget how different my family was from everyone else's.
Then the news came on. I was cleaning up the bowls when all of a sudden Mom said, "Red is my color, my anger, my rage. She doesn't have the right to wear it."
I glanced at the TV in the false hope that Mom was making sense. It was just a human-interest story on AIDS charity efforts. So I turned off the TV and put Mom to bed.
The next day we stayed around the apartment. Ok, Mom never went anywhere anymore so it was hardly a change for her. I read to her and played my guitar, basically your standard day in our house.
That night I took advantage of Uncle Stephan being away by staying up way past my bedtime. It was very late when I heard a sound coming from my mother's room. As I walked down the hall the voice became clearer. It was a man's voice. So I grabbed the ugly vase off the hall table and inched closer to the partially opened door. I heroically burst through the door and hit the intruder over the head with the vase. Then I ran to mom. From behind me I heard the man groan. I swung around ready to defend my mother from the intruder. He staggered to his feet and gave me a slightly disgusted look.
"Jeez, why do all you Cassadine women feel the need to introduce yourselves by knocking me out?"