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Chapter Nine: Fall To Pieces

Ellie picked her head up from where it was resting on her knees. A sliver of sunlight peeked through the canopy of trees and alighted on the patch of ground before her. It was morning already. She had to go home; her mom was going to kill her. She wearily stood up and slowly made her way through the woods.

Finally, she reached her house. It was hard to believe that she had left her home happy and excited. The whole thing seemed so long ago. She stared up at the no-longer welcoming site in apprehension. She had blown off her mom and it had all been for nothing. Hopefully, her mother was asleep. Ellie was an expert on avoidance anyway. She entered, and softly shut the door.

Ellie turned around and flicked on a light. Immediately she knew something was very wrong.

"No!" she cried in anguish as she beheld the sight before her. "No, no, no, no. This isn't happening." She pinched herself just in case but she knew that this was real.

---

Craig shook his head in disgust at himself. How could he have been so stupid? Ellie had left him and he had let her. He knew that it was better that she have some space, but he couldn't help wonder if he had just lost her forever.

He angrily turned to the dumpster in front of him and gave it a good hard kick. He continued to punch and bang the metal, screaming in frustration and letting everything out. Finally he stopped as he found he couldn't breath anymore and ran to his car. Only once he was safely in it did he finally start to cry.

---

Ellie angrily swiped the empty bottles off the table and onto the floor. One of them shattered, spilling glass fragments all over the carpet, but she couldn't bring herself to care. How could she do this to her?

She marched up and furiously shook her passed out mother. The drunken women finally awoke and blearily squinted at her daughter.

"Eleanor?" she slurred, vaguely happy.

"How dare you? You said you were better. You...you promised me. I guess that was all a lie, wasn't it mother," she said, laughing bitterly and turning away.

"Wait!" Mrs. Nash cried desperately, her broken smile gone now. "Your father..."

Ellie spun around and looked at her fearfully. "What about him?"

"He's missing. Presumed dead."

---

Paige continued walking, not even looking where she was going. She glared at the couple in front of her. It wasn't fair they were allowed to be happy and she wasn't. She stopped suddenly. Why had she given up on him so quickly? That wasn't like her. She had fought hard to get him in the first place. Now she couldn't let him leave without her having a say. She whipped out her cellphone and started dialing. Just then someone bumped into her, causing her to tumble out of her grasp.

"Oh, no." She cried as she attempted to put her broken phone together. "Not now!" She looked up as a familiar ex-boyfriend knelt down beside her. "Spinner?"

"I am so sorry, Paige," he said shyly as he gently took the pieces and tried to jam them together. Finally, he gave up and rocked back on his heels. "Here, you can have mine."

"What?" Paige was really confused.

"Take it. It's my fault anyway," he explained shoving his phone into her hands. Before she could react he had gotten up and quickly backed away before sprinting off. She stared after him, then shook her head and looked at the phone. First, she would find Matt, then she would deal with Spinner.

---

Ellie sunk to the floor, staring in disbelief. She precariously clutched at the floor as the phrase repeated over and over in her mind.

"He's missing. Presumed dead."

Sure she knew that war was dangerous, but she had firmly believed her daddy was invincible. She had been proven wrong once again. Suddenly she hated them all: her father for leaving her all alone, Sean for not caring and Craig for caring too much. Her musings were interrupted by an uncanny sensation of something caught in her fist. She uncurled her hand and stared at the offending object. It was a long, sharp shard of glass resting on her palm.

She discreetly stood up and made her way past her now passed out mom and into the bathroom. Then she locked the door.

TBC