Disclaimer- I do not own anything, except for my characters and the idea ^_^

Chapter 21- His Fault

(A/N: Please rewind the setting back to the day of Freesia's graduation. You sort of have to in order to understand this chapter.)

The sun was shining brightly that day… the day of Freesia's graduation.

James Strike straightened his tie and got out of his car, putting on the dark shades that he just bought that day. James' parents thought he had gone to a job interview, but they all knew what day it was. It was Freesia's graduation day. As James walked towards the entrance of the outside garden, he glanced and recognized the car he was parked across from.

It was Sebastian Acer's car.

James pulled out the graduation ticket from his back pocket and handed it to the exhausted old woman standing there. "Thanks," he spoke as she took his ticket.

The old woman tucked a strand of silver hair behind her ear and smiled at him. "No problem."

James continued to walk in and he stood along in the back of the outside area, where he was unseen. And just in time too.

"And here to make a speech for us is- Freesia Strike!"

The whole crowd erupted into cheers as Freesia Strike strode onto the stage, her curled hair bouncing on her shoulders as she stepped behind the unusually large podium. James cracked a grin; Freesia was always a little short for her age. Her speech began and she paused several times (as if she were catching herself) when her speech accidentally drifted onto the subject of her family. James' heart tore at the seams and he looked away, ashamed of himself and his decisions. His little sister's speech ended and she raced to her seat, wobbling dangerously on the high heels that she wore. James noticed that she had dark bags under her eyes…

The graduation ended and James began to search for his sister within the crowd, until she was gone. He headed out to the parking lot and saw her standing with Sebastian and another boy. James was about to run over to her until a firm, yet gentle hand touched his elbow. He turned to see the old woman.

"Dear boy, could you help me with something?" she asked. It was the same woman who took his ticket.

James was slightly impatient, but he was sure that if he just got this one thing done he'd have just enough time to talk with them anyways. James nodded and helped the old woman load the tables and baskets of money and old tickets into the car.

"May I ask your name?" asked the old woman as James loaded in a second table.

"My name is James Strike," he said as he dusted his hands off from holding the dusty table.

The woman once again pulled the strand of silver hair behind her ear and smiled at him sweetly. "You must be Freesia Strike's brother."

It wasn't even a question, and that terrified him for some reason. "I don't deserve to be called her brother…" he muttered.

"No," sighed the woman, "I guess you don't. But, then again, you should be because you came to her graduation, when her parents did not?"

James looked away as he loaded a foldable metal chair into the back. "I suppose… Tell me… Did she tell everyone about what happened?"

"Oh goodness, no!" gasped the old woman. "Sebastian Acer, the strapping young boy who she's been living with? He came out and told almost the whole school about her. And she was okay with it! The poor darling was so beaten up. Not to mention that she looked so unhealthy. I heard that her parents sent her to an insane asylum… Is that true?"

James stared at her evenly for a moment and nodded. "Yes. She was there for most of her junior year."

"What was the reason?" asked the woman out of curiosity.

James closed the back of the car door. "She was insane. She thought that video games were real and that Sebastian was truly a good person when we later found out that he cheated on her more than once. She began to write a thousand times in her journals 'I will wait for you'. When we asked who this person was, she never answered. All she said was 'Dark'."

"Maybe Dark was a name?" the woman guessed.

James shrugged. "My parents worried for her. She began to go on walks in the middle of the night by herself… She never ate as well. Freesia almost seemed too wrapped up in her thoughts to even think about food. My parents grew irritated with her when they discovered that she was hanging out with Sebastian. They almost seemed jealous of him…" James wandered. "But the asylum wasn't my doing. My parents forced her to leave the house and I haven't seen her since then."

"In that house she lived through dark times, James," the woman said gravely. "She had the darkest bags under her eyes… Yet she was an honest and quiet girl. She told the school that she was still not ready to come back yet, and Sebastian said that the main reason was because they pumped her up with so many drugs…" the woman looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "The poor angel couldn't walk straight for the life of her. She didn't dare go into any of the classrooms because the walls were painted white. The doors remained propped open at all times. Now tell me, James, what cruel and unloving parents would do such a thing to their child? Especially someone like her?"

James didn't look the woman in the eye. "Do not judge me by their decisions," James spoke quietly. "I've only discovered so much so far… My parents kept me in the dark and fed me lies." My only mistake was that I left her in the hands of bad people… I left her in that mad house…

"My dear boy," said the woman, "I don't believe anyone can forgive what your family has done to that poor girl. The new family she has now is Sebastian. He's the one that saved her from that house in the first place. Only the boy was too damned modest to tell us that fact."

James sighed. "Well, I've got to go… I was planning on visiting my younger sister to begin with… uh… I'm sorry though, what was your name?"

The woman sighed as well and opened her car door. "Impa." She stepped inside and closed the door behind herself. The ignition started and Impa drove off.

James stood still for a moment, thinking over the conversation he just had with Impa. It was his fault. His fault that his sister was afraid of closed doors and white walls. His fault that she was sent to that house. His fault for keeping his damned mouth shut when Freesia screamed his name as she was being carried away.

It was his fault.

James turned around, hoping to see Freesia still there, but she was gone. All that was left was the blue hat on the ground. The diploma and degree was in the car, and a rose petal rested not far from the hat itself.

Once again, Freesia Strike was gone.

A/N: I know some of you are going "WTF" right now. If you are in a good way, then good. But if it's confusing you, don't hesitate to ask me any questions. I'll be glad to answer them at the beginning of the following chapter. Please review!

Also,

I don't really know what its like to be in an insane asylum or how you get in there to begin with. I only just came up with this idea because it seemed fit and tragic. So for people who have been in one and... yeah. I'm sorry if this upsets you in any way, but please remember, this is just a story, and I'm just an obsessed fangirl that's too clean for her own good. Thanks :) And once again,

PLEASE REVIEW!