Chloe Redfield, a fifteen year old American schoolgirl, struggles to see eye to eye with her Uncle, Chris Redfield. Why? What's his goddamn problem? They used to be so close when she was younger!
Join the young Redfield as she is pulled into the horrors that her family have so lovingly tried to shield her from.
Please note; Reading Made In Heaven and Let Me Live previously is not necessary for reading this, but it will help. :) so go read them anyway XD
LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I hope you're as hyped as I am XD
This is a direct sequel to those two pieces, but it's not just going to be a teen angst fic, ok? Just in case that is the impression that is given ;)
As always, my Spotify has a playlist for this fic, find the link on my Instagram. Also! If you follow me on there through my fanfics, please drop me a message and let me know, it's cool to have an idea of who followed through here!
The early beginnings of a warm Summer bore down on the schoolyard as children ran playfully, and others stood in huddled groups, comparing the latest trends on their phones. Groups filtered in and out of the school cafeteria, and a group of 8th Grade girls sat hip to hip on the bleachers by the track, giggling and squealing over the newest heartthrob celebrity.
Many, if not most of the children, spanning all grades that the school had to offer, sat beneath the oak trees lining the edge of the asphalt, sitting crossed legged; some reading, some working on homework that was due for next period, and others just simply lay sprawled on the cool, shadowed grass, enjoying the birthing summer.
A select group of 9th Grade girls were also sat under a tree, the second closest one to the building. discussing the drama in the corridor right as lunch began;
"Did you see it? All four of them! Single handed!"
"Can you believe one of them took a craft knife from Arts class?!"
"It's crazy! Why did they think they could even take her on? She owned their asses!"
"She even got kicked in the face! But in the end she still beat 'em like a boss!"
"You know who her uncle is, right? He probably trained her in military level hand to hand stuff!"
"She has a first degree black belt in karate! I think she's testing for second degree soon!"
"No way?! How is she going up the grades so damn quick?!"
"Girl have you ever seen her in her karate classes?! She's a very quick learner! I used to do karate with her but I stopped at blue belt. She started karate really young, like four or five years old, but I don't know, I thought she'd have to be older to be a second Dan grade. Maybe she's a secret ninja."
"So karate is her thing?"
"Yeah she does karate, and yeah I think she is taking second Dan soon, but her uncle did also train her in military CQC. He doesn't grade her in karate though, she has a Sensei for that."
"Yeah but she doesn't get along with him much anymore, or so I've heard."
"What a shame, remember when she was really close to her uncle?"
"Yeah. She saw him as a dad, almost."
"He is a cool guy though."
"He's kinda cute too."
"Heeeeey, he's in his fifties, he's too old for you!"
"Yeah, calm down, babe!"
"But he's so cool! Remember when he rode up on his motorbike to pick her up one day?!"
"Oh that was EPIC! She's so lucky to have him as a family member! I can't understand why she doesn't like him anymore!"
"Me neither."
"Nope."
"It's really sad. I'd love to have a guy like him in my family."
The group of girls looked up in unison as a group of kids from the lower grades shouted and ran over, all holding coloured envelopes.
Meanwhile, over by the building, another small collection of 9th Graders; rowdy boys, kicked a ball against the school wall, and the thud of each impact shook the nearby window pane in its frame. On the other side of that pane, on the other side of that partially open window, was Principal Bateman's office, set into the first floor, seven windows (and many sharp corridor corners) in from the main entrance.
Away from the summer air, the giggles and shrills of youth, away from the scent of warm oak and the smell of sun baked asphalt sat a young girl, also a 9th Grader, with hair of auburn tied back into a ponytail like a flaming cascade, and eyes as azure as the very sky above the world. Her deep red Dr Martens squeaked as she rubbed the heels together underneath her flimsy plastic chair. Also deep red were the stains on her fashionably torn denim jeans, but she was at least marginally happy that the blood had eluded the denim gift that rested on her back and shoulders.
She fussed the corner hem of her new crimson denim jacket with one hand, and cautiously held a bloodied bunch of tissues in the other, hovering it at her chin. She switched her legs over, bounced her feet, and switched her legs back over to their original positions. That strange, subtle prickly feeling crawled under her skin again, akin to painless pins and needles. It would go soon, just not soon enough for her.
She knew she was going to be in so much trouble today, maybe not right now, but certainly later. She knew it, she could sense it. Her subdermal skin crawlies told her so. It always happens. She'll get home and she'll just go straight to her room, it was safer that way. Not that she was unsafe; she was perfectly safe, but she couldn't bear the fighting or the shouting any more. She decided right there and then that she'll lock her door, plug her noise cancelling headphones into her keyboard, and practise some Beethoven. Yeah, she'll do just that. She can't bear the fighting any more. Flight was her preferred option these days, at least at home. Everywhere else her fight instincts ruled supreme.
She looked down to her blood soaked jeans and sighed; would her Mom be able to get the stains out? She didn't want to lose her favourite pair of jeans. Maybe she should learn to get the stains out herself. She tugged gently at her smokey grey tank top; no blood stains here. Good. Her hand traced her sternum up to her collar bone, and she idly toyed with her necklace; a white-gold hollow heart, adorned with three little gemstones inside the right curve, and her name daintily etched into the left curve.
The middle stone was Pearl; she knew it was her birthstone. The other two either side of hers were differing shades of red; Garnet and Ruby. Her uncle had brought it to mark her first birthday, but only actively gifted it to her on her thirteenth birthday, two years ago. It felt like the outline of the heart burned into her skin, burned into the bone, and she frequently had to check that it wasn't doing so. She hated wearing it nowadays, but she couldn't understand why she found it emotionally impossible to remove; a strong, unknown and seemingly mysterious force fought back against her fingers every time she touched the little clasp. She sniffed. That's just nonsense, she scoffed in her mind, no force is keeping me from taking it off.
She sniffed again but felt a quick, hot pain in her nose, and she pushed the tissues to her nostrils, yet no blood poured. She softly touched the cartilage of her left nostril; it didn't feel out of place but-
A voice shouted from outside, and the glass in the frame smashed, sending shards flying across the room as the ball rolled clumsily to her feet. She didn't even flinch at the shower of glass; it didn't reach as far as the seat she sat in. She slowly shifted her eyes ahead to the now broken window, and a face emerged.
"Creepy Chloe! Give me my ball back!"
Keith. This kid was Keith Lanes, another 9th Grader like her, with his stupid 'Meet Me At McDonald's' haircut. Chloe thought that look had died out with flossing and Snapchat, like, ten years ago. Either way he made her life a living hell in class. Chloe raised an eyebrow at him as he stared at the ball by her toes, and she lifted her foot, slowly rolling the ball under her heel as a gesture of torment to him.
He loved kicking a ball about, or at people, he definitely preferred kicking it AT people. She wasn't his only victim.
She pressed down on the ball, never taking his eyes off him, and with less effort than she cared to admit she burst the ball as if it was a simple, weak water balloon, and the explosive sound made her ears ring briefly.
Worth it, she mused, he won't have another victim for now.
Keith's eyes widened after he composed himself from the loud noise, and he spat into the room at her. Of course she was on the opposite side of the room a few metres away, and the kid wouldn't exactly win a spitting contest.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must've misheard you. Do you want your ball, Keith?" she asked sarcastically. Her pins and needles softly subsided as she smirked at him. She flipped the deflated and limp ball up into her hand, stood up from the stupid plastic chair and paced across the room, and the broken glass crunched and cracked under her boots. Keith took a step back and swallowed hard as she approached the broken window, and she offered the deflated ball to him with a dry smile. She heard the door open behind her, and Keith looked over her shoulder.
"You're nothing but a freak, Chloe! You fucking ginger emo wannabe! No one likes you! Go back home to Momma!" and he ran into the schoolyard over to his group of friends with equally bad haircuts and attitudes. Chloe tossed the remnants of the ball out of the window, pulled at her woven bracelets and turned to meet the face of Principal Bateman, who viewed the scene of broken glass (and the green glob of spit near the window) with disdain before raising his eyes to Chloe.
"I didn't do it." she shrugged. He smiled thinly at her and removed his glasses.
"I know you didn't. I saw it happen on the cameras when I was watching back the footage of you-" he cleared his throat, and sadness rolled across his face like a looming tempest, "You did nothing wrong, sort of. You acted in self defence."
Chloe wanted to smile, she wanted to be happy that he acknowledged it wasn't her fault, but she knew exactly what he was to say next, and the creeping sensation under her skin returned.
"But unfortunately I can't condone your actions, nor the actions of the four girls who attacked you. You know that violence of any sort is against the school rules. That, and your broken nose is probably the minimal injury in all of this."
"Self defence. You said it yourself." Chloe remarked. Retreat of the crawlies.
"I know, Chloe, I know."
"Am I going to be kicked out of school?" And the crawlies are back.
"What do you mean?" Principal Bateman asked, and Chloe shuffled her hands.
"Well, isn't this strike three?" she asked, waving three fingers at him. Damn…her black nail polish had gotten chipped... She slowly inhaled; gotta keep it together, Chloe, she thought. The crawlies receded.
Principal Bateman tiptoed around the glass fragments to his desk and rolled the chair back. He viewed the seat and clicked his tongue, before pushing it back to the desk.
"Glass on my chair. It was only new last month…" he grumbled. He went to lean his hands on the wood, but quickly pulled away after seeing glass there too. He instead ran a hand through his short dark blonde hair, peppered with grey flecks of his age.
"Chloe. You're right. This is the third time. However I'm not going to expel you. I will have to speak to the superintendent regarding all of this. He MAY want to suspend you. If this is the case, then I'll be sure to suspend Nicola, Stacey, Tara and Skyla too," he rolled his eyes upwards to the ceiling, "if Stacey comes back before summer break with that broken arm. Saying that, the fact that you broke another student's arm, stabbed another in the leg with a pencil and drew blood on the other two should almost definitely net you an expulsion."
Chloe sat back down in the plastic chair and held her face in her hands, careful to avoid her sensitive nose. Spiders under her skin?
"But," the principal continued, "On the other hand, they all punched you unprovoked, and Stacey pulled a knife out on you. You took what you could get hold of; a pencil. Now that I think about it, they should be all in line for an immediate expulsion. You spoke to a cop earlier, right?"
Chloe nodded, but said nothing. It's not the first time she has had to speak to the cops.
"You're a very bright young woman, Chloe Redfield. You excel at everything the school has to offer. Beyond your wild and often rambunctious nature you are a kind, caring girl, you look out for others, and you're quick to defend those who are vulnerable. You selflessly put the needs of others before yours. You'll find that, beyond the bullying that you endure, and contrary to what Keith Lanes said, you are in fact a very popular girl. You're not afraid to stand up for yourself, not afraid to stand up for others, you're probably the bravest person I know, but unfortunately you have a horrid tendency to let your actions speak louder."
He paused to give her an opportunity to speak, but she decided to remain silent.
"It would be a waste of your capabilities if I were to expel you. You're much better than that. You don't have a single bad bone in your body, Chloe. You're flying through your exams, your core work is above par. You're incredibly talented and gifted. You'll certainly graduate and move over to the senior high buildings on campus, I have no doubt. I have the utmost respect for you. Most kids break when under pressure, yet you, you thrive when you're under pressure." He walked to the side of his desk, still looking at her, "I'm sorry that one of your classmates threatened to stab you, Chloe."
Silent descended on the little room, but after a dab of her nose and more feet shuffling, Chloe looked up.
"You called home, right? Who answered?"
"Your uncle. I spoke with your uncle." he replied, and Chloe winced. Uncle? She bit her lip and folded her legs over, and back, and over again.
"Is he coming to collect me?" Chloe uttered, and her heart fluttered like a million butterflies trapped in a net. All in addition to what now felt like a hatched spider's egg underneath every inch of her skin. Principal Bateman breathed in to speak, but was cut off by his intercom. He reached over and pressed the button on his desk phone.
"Yes?"
"Chloe Redfield's mother is here to collect her." spoke the voice of Ms Peck, the school secretary. Chloe exhaled heavily and tilted her head back, the millions of butterflies broke free from the net in her heart and fluttered away to freedom, and most of the spiders under her skin vanished.
"Alright, I'll escort her through." He let go of the button and turned back to Chloe, who, by this point, was fighting back tears. He tried to ignore it, and he beckoned her to the door. "We'll go to your locker and collect your things. Did you leave anything in the classroom?"
Chloe sniffed hard, but flinched at the ache in her nose, and she weakly shook her head. She stood up and marched out, still fighting back the tears, and her lungs burned from holding her breath. She could hear Principal Bateman struggling to keep up with her quick pace.
After three turns and a halfway walk down one of the many, long corridors she reached her locker. New dents had appeared, like someone had kicked at it, some of her anime stickers had been ripped off, and in red permanent marker pen were several derogatory and disgusting insults regarding her hair colour, her family, her music tastes and her fashion style. Her homemade One Piece sticker had been destroyed too! It was of all the Straw Hat Pirates! In its place was crudely scribbled words, in fact, they were the lyrics of the One Piece theme but altered;
CHLOE! Just give it up Redfield CHLOE Just give up resisting CHLOE! Just give up on BREATHING! CHLOE! JUST GIVE IT UP GIVE IT UP GIVE IT UP GIVE IT UP!
She scrunched her face and entered the code, threw her bag over her shoulder and snatched up her many portfolios in their clear plastic cases. Fuck this shit. She wasn't sure what pissed her off more; the bad lyrics (she wouldn't call herself a fan of the English dub of the opening… Pirate Rap, was it called?), the insult to her silky, flaming red hair, the insult to her lack of a father, or her favourite anime and manga stickers being defiled in such a way.
She slammed the locker closed as the crawlies nibbled at her again, and the metallic noise echoed out down the halls. She turned on her heels and headed for the main entrance, but a shout behind her stopped her. Half a dozen kids ran over, two from her class, and the rest from lower grades. One of the girls from her grade was Janine Ito, her best friend since kindergarten.
"Chloe…I-" Janine gasped for breath, and she finally straightened up, pushing her long black hair back up with her rolled up bandana, "We wanted to stick these to your locker, but Stacey's boyfriend was kicking the hell out of it, pulling the stickers off, going whole hog with a marker pen, and we didn't want him to destroy them." She held out a thick wad of envelopes; various colours from pastel shades to neon hues. Chloe slowly accepted them, and turned them over in her hand with curiosity.
"Janine…there's gotta be at least fifteen here." Chloe whispered.
"Some of them are signed by whole classes!" exclaimed the smallest kid as she spread her arms wide to emphasise the "whole" part of the sentence. Chloe had seen her in the corridors but didn't know her name.
"Yeah, they couldn't find you so they came looking for me instead. I wanted to get hold of you before you left." explained Janine.
"Don't tell me that these are birthday cards?" Chloe asked, bemused.
"Yup! All of them!" the little girl squealed again.
"I know you've had a bad day Chloe, but please don't let the actions of a few undermine the actions of many." said Janine, tapping a finger on the wad of cards.
"Happy birthday, Chloe. You're awesome!" the girl yelled.
"Keep being yourself, Chloe!" shouted another kid, a baby faced boy. The rest of the group nodded and wished Chloe a happy birthday in varying tones and levels of enthusiasm, and Chloe went from fighting back tears to fighting back a smile. Janine wasn't stupid; she knew her best friend well, and she hugged her, being careful to avoid the broken nose. The other 9th Grader, Martina; another close friend, joined the embrace.
"We love ya, Chloe, we hope the rest of your birthday is better than this morning." Martina smiled. Chloe finally broke her stony demeanour and smiled, speechless at their gestures of kindness.
"Thanks, everyone. Really." She mumbled, and with a brief flush of her cheeks she turned and continued down the corridor. Principal Bateman caught up and slowed to a walk, turning his head to her.
"I told you. You're very popular. More than you'll ever know. And Miss Ito is right. Don't let a few people rule your day."
They rounded two more corners before Chloe saw her mother slowly pacing by the waiting area. She felt the crawlies tease her again as she tried to read her mother's face, but they soon shrivelled and died away when her mother pulled her into an embrace.
After a few seconds, and a hum at the sight of mother and daughter from Ms Peck, Chloe's head was tilted up. Her mother's blue eyes shifted side to side and she observed the damage to her nose, before raising her eyebrows at Chloe.
"Nose ring? Did it get pulled out?"
"I…took it out a few days ago. I don't want to give kids any more ammo to use against me." Chloe shrugged. Her mother creased the corner of her mouth and pulled her into her chest for another hug, kissing her on her temple.
"Kids are…" her mother stopped, remembering she was in a school setting., "Kids are jerks. You'll always be beautiful, Chloe, piercings or not. Outside and inside you're a beautiful person, you need nothing to make it so. C'mon. Your hairy, howly brother is waiting by the car. The groundskeeper wanted to have another flirt with him!"
The song for this chapter is Firework by Katy Perry.
Look, I had to pick a song, ok XD First chapters are always tricky to pick a song!
Let me know how the first chapter was for you!