Something of a Tragedy
Soledad - Home
My life has never been easy, I tell you that. But it's never been this hard, and I never thought it will be. Now...now I see the true worth in the world before me. Everyone was a glittering being, full of life and promise. This war had changed everything I see in life. There was no one I could trust, not Harley, not Seamus, not anyone. Trusting was risking. And in this world, risking was terribly bad.
My grandmother once told me that to risk was to live. She told me that risking everything gave you everything. And I believed her for awhile. That is, up until today. My grandmother had took the term risk too far. She risked everything, but she lost everything in the process.
The day my grandmother died was the day I ran the fastest I've ever ran ever before in my life. I did not want to see the face of my father, the face of my brothers, the face of my sisters. I refused to believe that she was dead, that she could die and leave me in this world alone. Even worse, leave my family suffering.
You see, my father had been an inventor for a company that sold medicine for pokemon. My father screwed up an order, killed the manager of Silph Co.'s baby Dratini. Helluva mess he got into. Lost his job because of it. My mother worked part-time at the local hospital, working as the secretary. Setsu, who was twenty-three at the time my grandmother died and my father lost his job, took up a job as a maid at the local motel by the gym.
Before Sammy was born, I was the baby of my huge family. My older brothers Sakeri, who was three years my senior and Sebastian (who was five years older than me) loved me to death. And then there was my sister Setsu, thirteen years older than me. The twins, Stephanie and Sterling, were two years older than me. Each of us were different in our own way. Setsu was the wiser, older sister. She was intelligent and witty, beautiful and elegant. Though she was very rude to my brothers, she was so nice to me and Stephanie. Then there was Sakeri and Sebastian. Both of them were buff and strong; however, they were both different. Sakeri, was...well, albeit strong, was soft and sweet. He was so protective of me. Even though he's a tough boxer, he's really nice. Sebastian, however, was nice, but only to me. And Sakeri. But he doesn't count. Whenever the twins said something rude to me, he would get so mad. He would threaten to lock them in the laundry room until midnight. Which he did on multiple occasions. He makes me wonder what he did to kids at his school when they irritate him...
Then there were the twins. Both of them were so distant from our family, like it was just them and them only. They were eerily similar. Both of them finished each other's sentences, both had the same dark red hair, both had the same likeness for Dark-type pokemon. They were creepy. But I loved them. I guess I had to though, as I shared a room with them. And my other siblings as well.
That's how poor our family was after the downfall of my father's wealth; we had went from a six bedroom, three story house, including a large pool and guest house, not to mention our exquisite living room, to a two bedroom house with a small living room and kitchen. I was too young to remember our old house, but I had sensed a difference in the family, a shift of mood. My father, then a wealthy, highly respected inventor and medical prodigy, now a mere security guard for the local gym. My mother, once a social butterfly, now a secretary. Our family name had changed. The Rush's? We weren't the family that everyone had once loved and respected. We were trash to them.
As a child, I grew fond of our lack of wealth. Our family was closer; Setsu did not have rigorous dance classes and recitals everyday, Sebastian did not have to accompany my father to boring and dull parties, Sakeri did not have to meet with Master Shinji every other day to train his already strong team of pokemon, the twins did not have to attend karate classes and gymnastics, and I did not have to take rapidash-riding classes and piano lessons anymore. We did have enough money for that. Instead, we all hung out in our cramped room. Imagine: a tiny room full of teens and tweens, all talking and laughing. I had felt safe.
Later that year, our lives changed again.
In Pewter, there was an old park smack-dab in the middle of the city. Technically, it wasn't a park; rather, it was a garden. But years passed and the owners of the garden converted it into a park. It wasn't much. A patch of grass misplaced in a big city was really what it was. Nevertheless, on November 8th, 2000, the twins and I decided to go to the park. As usual, Sterling and Stephanie left ten-year old me to play by myself. I knew this was going to happen. What I didn't know, was that my riding partner, Darius, was there. Darius was the other person in my age group back when I took rapidash-riding lessons. Naturally, I fled to him when I saw him. He was pleased when he saw me, and we chatted, and we laughed.
That's when shots rang out, the unforgiving echoes of bullets rushing through the air. I remember the screams that erupted from the park. People rushed out from the park, children crying, and it was complete panic. Darius dragged me out of the swing set and into the bushes.
The twins were searching for me. Sterling was calling out my name, and I failed to move. Stephanie was crying, calling out my name.
A man wielding a gun was behind her. I wanted so damn bad to shout Stephanie's name and tell her that a madman was right behind her.
"You're such a beautiful girl," the man had said. With a single press of the trigger, Stephanie was gone.
Our family gathered in the park that night.
I sat in between Sakeri and Sebastian. My parents were crying, and so was Setsu. I was shocked and confused...six girls shot dead that night. Six out of the seventy-two girls at that park. Six. And one of them just had to be Stephanie. Sterling was sitting on the stump near Stephanie. Her eyes were shut, her body perfectly still.
I overhead an officer ask my parents to identify her.
"Ma'm you have to identify the body," the officer reasoned. He repeated it over and over calling her "it" or "the body."
By the time the officer had called Stephanie "the body" for the seventh time, Sterling had screamed at the top of his lungs, angry tears streaming down his face, "She's not an it! She's my sister! She is not just a dead body! She's my fucking sister! Her name is Stephanie Rosalie Rush and she's my fucking twin sister! She was born December-freaking-19th-freaking-1988 and her favorite color is red. She has a Honchkrow named Nyx and an Abra she named Lia!"
The police officers asked my parents to confirm this. I swore if Sterling lacked self-control, he could've ripped the head off that guy.
The summer of 2001 came quickly after Stephanie's death.
We headed off to Hoenn in a mess. Sterling didn't talk to anyone once in that seventh month period. Seven months of silence and sadness. Setsu moved out in Janurary, Sakeri heading off on his long-awaited pokemon journey. Sebastian and my father intended to spend the summer looking for jobs and possible places to live in Slateport.
I was the only one that was not busy and completely, emotionally competent for the whole summer.
Harley, as usual, was elated to see me.
I, unusually, was not.
Sterling and I were forced to share a room.
That night, as Sterling sat, knees curled up to his chest, I did not sleep. I stared at the ceiling in wonder, counting the mareep that did not disappear from my mind. One, two, three...
"You're not supposed to be here," he said quietly, speaking the first words he had ever spoken for the last seven months. I did not answer. I was terrified. I don't know why, but I was. "I know you're awake. But stay quiet."
Silence.
"I know mom and father made you sleep with me. These walls are rather thin."
Silence.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never told you that its not your fault Stephanie is dead. I know the last few months were complete hell for you."
He laughed, then, he said, "Soledad, can I tell you something?"
The silence answered for me.
"I can sense things no-one else can. I can sense negativity and positivity, lies and truth. No-one 'cept Stephanie knew. Consider yourself special," he sighed, then said, "Soledad, I want to say that I hate you. But I can't. You're my sister. I love you. Like how I love Sakeri, Sebastian, and Setsu. Like how I loved Stephanie. Good night Soledad."
On June 17th, 2001, I sat on the beach.
It was three days after my eleventh birthday. I was far from the house, and I didn't want to talk to anyone. I was in one of those, deep-in-thought moods.
I let my feet dig into the sand, letting the waves crash against my skin. I wanted to just run, run as fast as I can. To the market, to the bike route, to anywhere but where my family was. I hated them. So much. Why did they have to do this? Why did they have to force me to come? I hated Harley. I hated him. I hated that slut Karina.
The more I thought of that scene, it replayed in my mind. Sitting under a palm tree, the three of us sat; me, Harley, and Karina. We were laughing, smiling. I went to get water for the three of us. I came back. Harley was sucking the face off that Karina. All I remember was dropping the water, my laughter turning into tears, running as fast as I could to that cove by the same spot Harley became friends.
I sat there, in the same spot, for four hours.
I was not crying. I was counting the dolphins splashing in the endless sea. Fifteen.
And I remember how I did not say anything when Earnest took a seat next to me.
I didn't mind the fact that Earnest was sitting next to me. I didn't mind the awkward silence. I simply sat there; knees curled up to my chest, hands locked together, eyes set straight ahead on the endless sea and the sun that bled into the ocean. Earnest, dressed in a suit and tie, sat on the sand next to me.
"You're family's looking for you, Miss Soledad." He had said this with a solid tone, as if it was unimportant that I was deemed missing to the Rush's. I did not reply. Instead I had glared at him. How dare he address me as if I owned him? Had that man consider me a person he was entitled to serve and bow down to? Had he have any self-respect or dignity?
"Don't call me miss. I don't own you! You're older than me!" I had stood, my tiny figure looming over Earnest, "Come on, Earnest! I'm not even your employer!"
"Miss Soledad, I do believe you are hiding from your fears," Earnest did not look at me. He just stared blankly at the oceanic scene, ignoring my eyes. I stood puzzled. "You are hiding from your family, from Master Harley."
"What do you know? You're just the butler! You don't know me! You don't know anything!" I snapped, stomping my foot on the sand.
"Miss Soledad, do not say things you don't know," he whispered quietly, "I've known your family for a decade and a half. I know you as well as your father knows you. Maybe a little more."
"Don't belittle my father! I hate you, you poor filth! You don't know anything!" I had screamed, turning on my heels and dashing into the cove. I ceased running and fell to my knees, the rocky surface digging into my skin. The sand stung my newly formed scratches From the corner of my eye, I saw the butler stand up. He dusted off the sand from his suit, gazed sadly at the cove, then walked off. His footprints marked his path along the beach, and for awhile, I stared at them guiltily. I had realized that I had insulted the man I considered a father.
It wasn't until the footprints washed away that I summoned enough strength to walk back to the house I called hell.
For seven days I was sentenced to stay in my room. Sterling was moved to Harley's room for that week.
Seven days I stayed there in solitude. Seven days of pure bliss.
The room, I had came to realize in my seven day stay banishment, was much more than I had first expected it to be. The yellow paint was not only yellow; it was, in fact, an amazing swirl of white and bisque, mixed in with a hardly noticeable ray of orange. It was a nice touch.
Next, there was the love seat. It was squishy and soft, and I had not sat in it prior to my imprisonment, for I was too busy with my thoughts I had thought up in my bed to sit in the lavender seat. Then, there were the two, very hidden secrets. One of them was the trapdoor mystery that haunted my family for years.
According to Marla (who was my only visitor), the beach house was built accordingly to Mr. Willis's plans. He planned every single room, window, door, wall...you name it. And, he made sure every room had something easily accessible, yet hardly visible. As in, a door leading to the outside world. Intended for emergency purposes, it was never supposed to be used. However, my brothers were bent on finding every single trapdoor. And they did. Except for the yellow room's trapdoor.
Which, incidentally, was the one I found.
It was hidden quite cleverly. I never thought about the door, as my thoughts were focused on many things, Harley as the main topic. I was staring blankly at the wall in front of me, tapping my feet against the wooden floor in a rhythm I had come up with in my boredom. As I tapped my feet accordingly, I noticed that the center-right plank sounded off. Like, it was hollow. And it was. So I spent hours on end trying to tear that wooden plank out of the floor. Soon, I managed to rip it off, revealing the dark abyss of the trapdoor. A little frightened, and a little excited, I closed the plank, unbeknownst to my young mind that in the years to come, it would be not only an escape to the beach life of Slateport City, but a total escape from reality.
The other secret I discovered was really on accident. Adjacent to the bed was a bookcase. A natural reader by heart, I longed to read every single book. Of the books were a variety of children's, young adult's, adult's, and non-fiction. The three books that caught my interest, however, were the Book of Arceus, the Bible, and the Torah. Honestly, I didn't even know the Willis's were religious, with Mr. Willis's high-demanding job as the CEO of Harper-Willis International (didn't the last name tip you off that Harley came from a long line of breeding masterminds? HWI is, of course, the company for breeding needs and wants.) and Mrs. Willis's busy life as a social butterfly. Not to mention the prestigious co-ed private academy Harley attends during the year. So, whatever, the Willis's are as pious as the next family. Big deal.
I cracked open the Torah, flipping through pages of Hebrew, not understanding a word it said. After all, I only knew English and Japanese, the same as every other kid in Japan. It was strange, how no one in the house knew how to speak and read Hebrew, let alone be Jewish. As I reached the middle of the book, a paper dropped out of the pages. Curious, I had picked it up and read it. And the message inscribed on it had made my hairs stand up and my blood boil.
The message had simply told one and one thing only.
I love you, Jenna Rush. -Daniel Willis
My mother, once a weak and broken being, burdened with the death of a daughter, financial trouble, and a long line of shame following her, now entangled a love affair with one of the most powerful and wealthiest men on Earth. I kept this fact to myself—I intend to for the rest of my life. But every time I saw my father and mother together, my heart sank.
Of course, I don't need to worry about it now. My parents are dead. But that just makes it worse.
The train roared through the tracks as the morning sun rose into the sky. I spent my morning alone; Harley had went to sleep soon after the incident. We were headed to Sunnyshore, that much I knew. I'm hoping Seamus tags along; a nice guy is what we need.
I sat on the platform of the caboose, waiting for Harley to wake up. But at the same time I didn't want him to wake up; I was scared. I wanted things to be the same between us. I knew that's not going to happen though.
We spent a week on this train. Worst week ever, in my opinion.
"So, uh, some night, huh?"
I looked behind. Smiling in a cocky way, his head turned to the side, revealing his deep blue eyes and blond hair. Seamus St. Riley. Oh, how little I knew about him, yet so much I could relate. He walked over, took a seat, and hummed. Hummed a tune I knew so well.
Without thinking, I sang softly, "Come take me home tonight, come take me home...Oh I need you now, I'm lost without you..." I looked at Seamus, who only smirked.
"So, Soledad. How's life? Good, bad, crappy..?"
I laughed.
He laughed.
"Good," I said, "Just fantastic."
And I meant it.
Guess the song? Haha chapters-updated every two weeks folks!
Seamus chapter next, then Drew, then...SAMMY! Sammy's will be explaining the Rush's family life more thoroughly though...reviews(:
