Sally opened her eyes at the sound of someone entering the room. Turning, she saw a petite latina nurse carrying a bundle in her arms. The woman walked over and gently set the swaddled infant into Sally's arms. The new mother looked at her child and took in their appearance. They had bright sea-green eyes and a tuft of dark black hair was sticking up at the top of their head.
"Congratulations Mrs. Jackson, you have a daughter!" The nurse said from Sally's side with a bright smile.
"Thank you," Sally replied with her own smile, but there was something about the smile that the nurse didn't notice. How it seemed a little too-tight, a little too-forced. The nurse carried on though.
"Have you picked out a name yet?" she questioned.
"Persephone," came the reply.
"A beautiful name!" the nurse shot one more warm smile Sally's way before exiting the room.
Sally looked back to her child, but she didn't feel anything special. She couldn't bring herself to smile, because all she could feel was growing hate for the infant. Hate because all she saw when she looked at her daughter was a reminder of how she had been used as an affair, then left on the streets piss poor, as if she was worthless. A reminder of how foolish she had been to believe the promises of grandeur and love made by Him.
No, Sally Jackson would never be able to love this child.
-:-
3 Years Later;
Sally sat in one of the rotten, uncomfortable wooden chairs at their small table. Persephone, now three, was on the ground a few feet away examining a leaf she found outside. Sally cracked open a beer and started chugging, catching a glimpse of her worn face and bloodshot eyes in the small mirror that hung in the hallway, just across from her seat. She was almost completely broke even though she was working two jobs, and all they could afford was this crap rundown place with just under 200 square feet of space. The rent was due next week and she didn't have even close to enough to pay it. She needed money, fast. There were only a few ways she could think of to get it, most of them made her want to barf just thinking about them. That left pretty much only one option.
She needed a boyfriend.
-:-
Sally made her way into the bar to meet Gabe Ugliano. She had met him online and he said she could move in with him. Sure he was a piece of shit, but she had no options. She had just gotten evicted because of failure to pay rent too many times in a row, and she didn't fancy living on the streets. Their stuff was in bags which she had hidden safely, along with Persephone who was hidden in a bush and knew better than to move, so Gabe could pick them up later. She smelled the fat pig before she saw him, sitting over in the corner. Sally crinkled up her nose.
It would have to do.
-:-
They had been living with Gabe for a year now and Sally would do anything to get away from him. So it was on a cold January evening Sally packed a suitcase quickly and started running, Persephone be damned. She had never loved the child but she had also never done anything to her. Now she was just done. She was leaving the brat and Gabe and not coming back. Ever. As she ran through the small living area, something grabbed her ankle. Sally looked down to see a confused 4 year old.
"Mommy where are you going, am I going?"
"Be quiet you little shit!" She whispered looking back towards where Gabe was sleeping nervously. She could hear him starting to stir.
"But mommy-"
"Shut up!" Sally kicked the small girl off her ankle and sent her stumbling back a few feet before falling down and scraping her palms.
Persephone closed her mouth and scooted back towards the wall more, tears welling up in her little eyes. The girl hugged her knees to her and watched as her mother ran out. She sat in that spot all night, not going back to her bed on the moldy couch.
And so the child waited for a mother who was never coming back, sniffling quietly.
-:-
The next morning when Gabe woke to find Sally gone, saying he was furious would be an understatement. Seeing that she had left her child made it worse. So he took his anger out on Persephone, kicking her in the ribs harshly. The satisfaction he got from that one kick was enough that he sent another, and another, until the toddler was lying bruised and bloody, whimpering.
Persephone didn't know what she did, but it must have been bad, so she apologised.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she screamed.
"You better be you waste of space," Gabe growled.
And that was how it started.
-:-
It was Persephone's first day of Pre-K, and she had strict orders to 'act normal or you'll get the belt when you get home you little shit.' Her legs and neck were still sore from a beating she got yesterday for burning Gabe's toast. She had a scarf wrapped around her neck to cover up the handprint mark, nevermind that it was August. She felt great though, because Gabe was being careful, and not hitting her as much to avoid the teachers asking questions, he even let her take a shower last night, and it was like all of her aches and pains went away! It might have just been her imagination, but the bruises looked a lot lighter.
Persephone got to her classroom and looked around in wonder, eyes sparkling. The teacher, Mrs. Runder, was a very nice lady and showed them all their spots on a carpet. After they all remembered where their spot was and Mrs. Runder talked a little about herself, the class got into a circle. The nice Mrs. Runder said they were playing a game, they would each say their first and last name, something they liked, and something they were good at. Persephone perked up at that. She was very good at making eggs, the first few times trying to make them had been hard, but since then she had never once messed up on them. She winced, though, at the memory of the beatings she got for those first few times. Persephone thought of the shower she had last night and decided she very much liked water.
They went around the circle and the child listened intently to everyone's answers. She didn't know if they were important, but she didn't want to risk making Mrs. Runder upset at her for not knowing. It finally came to her.
"So sweety, would you mind telling us you're first and last name, something you like and something you're good at?" asked the teacher.
Persephone nodded energetically, "Well, I'm really good at making eggs, I've only messed up a few times," she puffed up proudly a little, "Um, well I really like the water, and my name is Persephone." At the end of her answers Mrs. Runder was looking at her a little odly.
"What about your last name honey?"
Persephone's brow furrowed a little at this. Last name? What was her last name? She thought back to a long time ago, and thought about the woman in her memories. The woman in her memories had a last name. Jackson. So that must be her last name.
"Jackson," she answered after a moment, "Persephone Jackson."
Mrs. Runder nodded, "May I ask, why are you wearing a scarf Persephone?"
"Oh, um," she looked down at the scarf wrapped tightly around her neck nervously. She couldn't tell them the real reason, because that wasn't normal, and then Gabe would be mad at her. "I like scarves," she answered lamely. Mrs. Runder accepted the answer though and dismissed them all for free time.
The other kids ran off to go play with toys immediately, but Persephone wasn't sure what to do. She'd never played with any of these things before. So she wandered off to a corner of the classroom where there was some paper and crayons. She started coloring with a pretty blue one experimentally and smiled at the color it made. It reminded her of water. So she colored, and colored, until the teacher said it was time for lunch.
Persephone smiled at that and grabbed her little bag. Gabe had given her an apple, a piece of ham, and some bread for lunch, which was way better than what she normally got. Nothing or just some bread. Gabe didn't believe in three meals a day. He gave her breakfast and dinner and that was enough according to him. Getting in line she skipped off to lunch. Today was the best day ever!
-:-
Mrs. Runder had been a teacher for many years. 23 to be exact. And she had come across some very strange Pre-K'ers, but none quite like Persephone Jackson. A child who could make omelets and thought water was amazing. Who said she liked scarves but didn't really act like she did, and who had to think to remember her last name. Not to mention how utterly tiny she was for her age. And now, Amelia Runder thought, gazing down at the crayon picture, who could draw better than most adults.
The picture she had seen Persephone working on all day was a detailed image of a beach. There seemed to be a large cruise ship off in the distance with storm clouds hanging over it. Amelia set the picture down before going back to her desk. Something was off about the young girl, and she wanted to know what.
The 47 year old sighed. She needed food. Getting up to run to Wendy's for lunch she paused in front of the cafeteria. Persephone was sitting there eating a piece of bread. That was it. An apple core was sitting next to her but other than that it seemed she had no other food. Mrs. Runder shook her head. There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for it. She was just being silly and paranoid. But still…
She left her spot by the cafeteria door to go get her lunch, tired of thinking about strange Pre-K'ers.
-:-
Everything was going great in school until one day about a month in.
It was all because of an activity to draw what one of your parents did.
"Mrs. Runder? What does it mean what your parents do?" Persephone asked.
"It means to draw their job, what they do to earn money," Mrs. Runder replied.
"Oh, okay!" Persephone replied. That was easy, Gabe always played that game with cards and chips and that bad smelling drink to get money. So that's what she drew. First she started with the big table they played on. Then she drew a can of the bad smelling drink. After that she added all the cards and chips, and some chairs around the table in the dimly lit room she put as the background.
If only she had known the trouble that would cause.
-:-
Two days after drawing the picture of the poker game Persephone returned home to a furious Gabe.
"What the hell is this!?" he yelled, holding up her picture with a note attached to it. She backed up into the wall, eyes wide.
"I said, what is this you worthless brat!?" He smacked her hard across the face.
"It's just, just my drawing! Of the game you play to get money!"
"Are you trying to get the police on me? Huh?! Trying to get help you shit?" His face began turning red.
"N-No! No I swear! I didn't know! I DIDN'T KNOW! I'M SORRY!" Persephone started screaming frantically as he stepped forward. She scrambled to get away from his advancing figure.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorryI'msorryI'mSORRY" She was backed into a corner. Gabe started taking off his belt and she began crying.
"Get your shirt off bitch, this is what you get!" He barked. Still sobbing she pulled it off and screamed as the first blow came down, ripping open her upper back. Then another, hitting her right side and lower back. The blows kept coming until her whole back was broken open and swollen. When Gabe finally stopped and left the room she gave into the darkness
That was when the sickness started.
-:-
DO NOT READ CHAPTER TWO YET! Read! A/N
A/N; Okay guys, so what I was planning to do was re-write all of the chapters and post them at the same time, but because I'm making them longer they're taking longer to write. I don't want you guys to have a huge wait, so I'm just going to post the fixed chapters one at a time as soon as they're done. I'll remove this A/N when the next chpt is done and put pretty much the same note on chpt 2 but saying not to read chapter 3. And so on until I'm caught up to chapter 5. Make sense? Then I'll remove the A/N chapters. See you later guys!