Yo, how's it going. Welcome back!
There are some significant changes/edits in this chapter from what it was before.
"So, they've been getting worse."
A seventeen-year-old Trinity stopped spinning in the black rolling stool in the small doctor's office, looking up with her multi-colored eyes. Her long curly dark red hair fell over the school uniform she wore; a white collared shirt and navy-blue skirt. The old doctor sitting across from her tapped his pen on a clipboard filled with papers that mapped out her medical history. A copious amount of blackouts and hallucinations slapped Schizophrenia on every page. After all the doctor's appointments and brain scans, she was prescribed various medications that didn't help. Despite having to take a trip to see an old man in a white coat every few weeks, she didn't mind going. Everyone was friendly, for the most part. Each visit guaranteed a half-day out of school, a lollipop, and a spin in a rolling stool.
"Yeah, ever since my birthday last week. It's mostly at night, right before I go to bed. I usually don't remember falling asleep or even lying down."
"Is she still there every time as usual?"
"Oh, I'm sure. Even if I don't see the woman, I know she's there. Always watching, wanting me to follow her. I never do, though. She usually touches me. Never the other way around."
"Are you taking your medication? Be truthful this time."
Trinity gave him a broad smile, "Of course I have. Can't imagine how bad it'd be without it," she stated with a bit more sarcasm than intended.
Her doctor grumbled, jotting some notes down while she chuckled to herself. She hadn't been taking any medication for years; it just made her sleepy. After the third and final little rebellion when she was thirteen, she was forced to take it in front of her parents. That worked for about a week until she became an expert at spitting them back up. Her doctor knew that she was stubborn about taking the copious amounts of drugs he wanted her on. It seemed like he didn't care about whether she took them or not as long as she was under control. Unfortunately, that was about to change.
"The dreams? Are they still the same?"
"Yup. In the middle of the forest, a big stone temple thing, no one around, just me."
The doctor wrote a few more notes down, then pointed at the door. "Alright, go get your mother. I'll talk to her."
"Aye Aye captain." After the first couple of times of lying about the meds, the doctor felt like if her parents weren't in the room, she'd tell the truth. It worked for about a month until she realized there was no consequence either way. Trinity rolled to the door to let her mother in the room. Ella walked in soon after, "So, how are things?" She looked back and forth between Trinity and the doctor hoping for good news.
"We're going to increase the dose again; 800 milligrams of Seroquel a day."
Ella's face fell, disappointed. "Are you sure that will work? This is the third time we've increased her dose."
"These things happen, Mrs. Hale, especially in teenagers. Not only are they still growing, but their brains go through a lot of chemical changes. These increases will probably stop in a couple of years when she's older."
Trinity mimicked his mouth movement with a bored expression on her face. This was the same speech that was given every time the dose increased, not as it mattered to her. No matter how high the dosage got, she wouldn't take it. Ella sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "And how high can we go with this until we can't increase any more?"
The doctor grumbled a bit before responding, "Well, we're at the highest dose we can use at the moment. As she grows, we can increase to higher doses. We will also check her blood work on a more regular base to make sure she is on the medication regularly."
Trinity's head shot up, almost falling out of the stool. Checking blood levels was not good for her 'avoid taking medication at all costs' plan. She was about to speak up about it, but her doctor beat her to it.
He stood up slowly, heading for the door, "Your mother and I know about your unwillingness to take your medication. With your condition getting worse, we must make sure you are taking them. The blood work will make sure of this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients I have to see."
Ella sighed, "Alright, well, I guess we should get going too. Thank you for your help again, doctor. Come on, Trinity."
Trinity hopped out of the stool, "See ya Doc.," she mumbled.
As they walked out of the hospital and into the car, Ella looked at her youngest child. Her poor daughter had been on medication since she was five. The girl had a hard time in school because the drugs made her sleepy. She had difficulty making friends because of the blackouts and randomly yelling at hallucinations. All Ella wanted was a normal life for her daughter, but it seemed like that was getting further and further away from the older she got. Now her doctor wanted to increase her dosage, which might not do anything. Maybe they should look for another doctor. Dr. Wess was great, but he seemed disinterested in Trinity's case. She could only imagine. Trinity's continued unresponsiveness to medication was frustrating, to say the least. Many of her other doctors had already passed the torch to someone else. On the ride back, Ella glanced at Trinity, scribbling away in her sketchbook. She seemed unperturbed by the increase in medication.
"So, what do you think about the dose increase?"
"I think I'm farthing my career in becoming a drug addict. Maybe I should start collecting and selling."
"I don't think that would be a very successful career," Ella laughed. No matter what was happening, Trinity always found a way to make it light-hearted. There was hardly a time when she saw her daughter depressed or upset about her situation. Ella was grateful for that.
"Ah, you're right. We both know I suck at math, not to mention cartels aren't much into anti-psychotics. At least I don't think so anyway." She stopped sketching, tapping the pencil on her bottom lip for a moment. "Maybe I should research that? It would defiantly pay the bills."
"Speaking of, you can stay after school for math tutoring tonight. Nathan will pick you up."
"Aw man, I was hoping he wouldn't want to during his vacation," she grumbled, going back to sketching.
"He had his complaints," Ella chucked.
"I'm sure. You're working late at the hospital again?"
"Yes, they need some extra nurses on hand, and we could use the money."
Trinity's mood slightly sunk at the mention of money. They wouldn't need the money if she weren't so messed up. She didn't realize that she was causing such troubles until middle school when her father had to get two jobs. Trinity thought about getting a job herself to help, but her condition deterred her. She would never express those thoughts out loud. Her parents had enough to worry about. They didn't need to know about the times she wondered about what she was going to do with her life. How depressed and lost she felt when she couldn't find a solution. The car went silent other than the scratching of pencil on paper.
"Have you thought about a college to go to? I know you still have most of the school year left, but seven months can pass by quicker than you think. Before you know it, you'll be scrambling as your brother did," Ella chuckled out, trying to lighten the mood.
Trinity stopped drawing but didn't look up from her book. A mixed look of thought and disappointment slowly formed on her face. It was almost like her mother knew what she was just thinking about.
"About that...I," she paused to gather her thoughts again, "I don't think I want to go. To collage, I mean."
Ella looked over to her daughter to make sure she wasn't joking around. The look on her face showed she was completely serious. Her mother thought about how to respond before answering. As a parent, she wanted to drill in the importance of furthering her education. On the other hand, as a mother, she knew coming at this with anything but comfort and support could worsen the situation.
"Why is that?" Her mother questioned. She decided to try and better understand the situation. The only way she could say it was a bad idea is if she could combat Trinity's reasoning.
"I just don't think I'd be able to do it."
"Trinity…"
"Mom, c'mon. I have frequent blackouts almost every other day. Even without the added hallucinations, no one would want me doing anything."
"Trinity, you can't just assume that. You never know with this new dosing you could..."
"Mom. It won't work, nothing ever works. I'm stuck like this. What's the point of even trying?"
Ella sighed, unfortunately, her daughter was right. No amount of medication has been helping her. Living a normal life was just about impossible for her now. It broke her heart, knowing that Trinity thought she was unfit to pursue a career. Silence befell the car as Ella pulled up to the red brick school. Before Trinity could get out of the car, her mother spoke up.
"Well, all I can say is that you have to try Trinity. I won't say that it will be easy, but giving up isn't the option either."
Trinity slowly started to put her book in her bag, still looking unsure. "I guess, but what would I even go for? I'm not that good at anything."
"Now we all know that's not true at all. Your drawings are amazing." The comment wasn't just her cheering her daughter up. Trinity had started drawing when she was six and hadn't stopped since. The continued practice naturally made her a fantastic artist.
"They're not that good." She had looked up professional concept artist and visual developers. There was no way she could compete with them.
"Well, you're very good at fixing things. How about a mechanic of some kind?" Ella remembered the time when Trinity fixed their washing machine by after watching a video once. The pipe was replaced and better than even within an hour.
"So, I can pass out in some heavy machinery. No, thanks. Besides, I'm better at breaking things, not fixing them." She couldn't remember a time when she had fixed something that hadn't broken soon after.
Ella paled at the thought. "Okay, well how about geography. It's your best subject."
"Way too boring. Besides, that's everybody's best subject. It's just reading maps."
"I feel like you're a bit unreasonable here." Ella sighed, rubbing her hand on her head.
Trinity stayed quiet.
"Listen, how about we talk about later. This weekend with your father. Maybe we can work something out."
"He's gonna be mad," Trinity groaned, looking at her mother.
"He won't be mad; I'll make sure of it. I'll see you later tonight, hun. Tell Nathan to pick up something for dinner when he gets you."
Trinity got out of the car but didn't respond. Towards the woods, she could see the woman again in her purple glow, holding her hand outward. Her mother's calling voice echoing in her head an uncertain amount of times caused her to snap out of her daze, shaking her head. "Alright, see ya later, mom," Trinity spoke a little dazed as she trotted away. Ella watched her daughter walk into the school building then leaned over to see what Trinity was staring at. She thought for a moment that there was a purple haze fading away, but, in a blink, it was gone.
The school was never Trinity's favorite thing in the world, which was no different than any other kid. High school, thankfully, was nowhere near as challenging as middle school was, but it still had its faults. She couldn't escape the few that liked to pick on the oddballs, and oddball was her middle name. If it wasn't her mental illness, her eye color made for another easy target. She was no longer bothered by it anymore. Their opinion didn't matter. Thankfully, because of the large student body, the occurrences were few and far between. As Trinity walked down the white hallways to her locker while her best friend walked up to her waving. She waved back as he trotted over to her.
"H-hey T. Wha-at's up?"
"How's it going, Allen?"
Allen had a speech disorder, causing him to stutter on almost all his words. Trinity met him three years ago when he was being picked on by two morons. She acted like she had a blackout right in front of them, which scared the pants off of the bullies. After some explaining, they formed an unbreakable friendship. Despite his speech disorder, Allen was a confident, energetic young man. He was tall and lean muscled, along with short brown hair, hazel eyes, and freckles that went from one cheek to the other. Unfortunately, Allen was blind as a bat and had to wear glasses. That being paired with his speech disorder caused people to pick on him. It didn't help that he was friends with Trinity, either. Her reputation caused him to sink all the way to freak show status. He didn't mind one bit though preferring to have one true friend than a bunch of fake ones.
"I-I'm okay. Though I h-have sp-p-peech class t-t-tomorrow morn-n-ning."
"How about we switch. I'll go to speech class, and you can go to the hospital for me. I feel like it's a fair trade."
Allen chuckled, "A-as t-t-tempting as th-h-at sounds, I d-don't think-k I'll take y-you up on t-that."
"But they have needles and smelly old people. Who would want to pass up on that?"
"M-me, I do."
Trinity laughed, "Mmm, whatever you say." She gathered what she needed for her classes out of her locker. They both walked down the hall, falling into their regular routine. Allen would skip out on the last five minutes of his class to meet her. Then they would stay by his locker until classes started back up again.
"S-So, uh, I g-got another-r request." Allen dug through his pocket and pulled out a small folded sheet of paper. Trinity took the note, unfolding it reading what was inside. 'Locker 582' in messy handwriting. Trinity grumbled as she shoved the paper in her pocket.
"I-I know-w it's a-a-a bit sh-hort not-tice but they w-wanted it d-done as-sap."
"Well, it won't happen until next week. I ran out of supplies a few days ago."
"I'll l-let them-m kn-now."
A loud bell rung out, followed by the rush of students leaving classroom doors. The duo stopped at Allen's locker as always blending into the mass bodies.
"We'll probably need to stop this soon, you know. Seven more months, and we're out of here." Trinity turned her back against the lockers, looking at all the students walking back and forth.
"You-u th-hink anybody will e-ever fi-igure out-t that it w-was us the whol-le time?" Allen mimicked her stance, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Nah, and I hope it stays that way. I kind of like being the Batman and Alfred of the school."
"A-alfred not Robin-n?"
"Alfred is way cooler than Robin."
Allen snorted, but before he could comment, the bell rang again, signaling that class was about to start. The noise made Trinity groan.
"Y-you know wha-at could ch-cheer you up? The dr-rama c-club needs help ag-gain settin-ng up after sc-school. We c-could do that-t. Then-n laugh at a-all the bad acting and play w-with all the p-props once they l-leave."
"Sorry, Al, I'm gonna be..." she trailed off, staring over his shoulder. The purple lady was standing down the hall, calling her again with her hand reaching out to her.
"Damn, she's persistent today," Trinity growled.
Allen gave a confused look then looked behind him to find nothing, but the few students still left in the halls. "I-is it the s-same one you alw-ways talk a-about," he said, turning back. "T-that pur-purple woman?"
"Yeah, she's been annoying lately!" she shouted into the hall.
"E-ever thought about-t going with h-her? Ma-aybe, she's g-got some k-kind of cool a-alien tech-technology."
"Or maybe she wants to turn my brain into soup."
"O-or you could-d be t-the next step in h-human evolu-lution and she's here t-to find out what-t makes you spe-special."
"Or she could rip out my eyeballs and sell them to her ghost friends."
"I'd b-buy your eyeballs."
"Would you give them back?"
"Mmm, t-that's a go-good question. I'll t-think on it-t."
Trinity chuckled only to be interrupted by a nearby teacher. "What are you two still doing at your lockers? The bell has rung, and you're going to be late," she scolded as she scurried down the hall!
"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson." Both of them droned but didn't move from the lockers.
"Guess we should go to class, huh?" Trinity sighed.
"W-we could, or we could-d j-just st-stay here."
"She's going to come back."
"Just do the same thing we always do," he quipped back, nudging her shoulder.
Trinity sighed, "Someone is going to catch on to that," she grumbled. "By the way, to answer your question seriously, no, I've never gone with her. Even when I was little, it always seemed like if I went willingly, something would change."
"M-maybe a ch-change is what you need. May-maybe if we f-figure out w-what the p-purple lady wants, s-she'll go away."
"Or my eyeballs, remember. Open your locker." Allen turned to his locker without any protest opening it. Trinity grabbed a small screwdriver from her pocket using it to remove the pins from the two hinges of the locker door. With the pins gone, the door started to fall forward until she caught it with her hand before it could fall.
"Yes, yes, your e-eyeballs. I g-get it, but w-what if that r-really gets-s rid of her? N-no more tor-torment, a-a-a normal life. W-we could go to the s-same college."
"Al, we already talked about this." Allen knew about Trinity's fear of her future. Ever since she told him, he would try to come up with solutions to her problem. It was sweet, and she appreciated it, but nothing would work.
"H-how about I-I go with you? I may n-not be able t-t-to see her, but i-if it helps you out then-n I'll go," Allen responded.
"Aren't you terrified of ghosts?"
"N-n-no..."
"I feel like that stutter was more out of fear; also, your legs are shaking."
They both looked down at Allen's legs, quite visibly shaking. "F-fine I'll b-be scared b-but I'll g-go anyway; j-just for you."
"Well, you're braver than I am. I don't want to go anywhere near that woman. I really don't want to go on whatever adventure she would drag me into."
Just as Allen was about to speak again, Mrs. Jackson came back around the corner. "Are you two still here? Do I have to bring you to class myself?"
"Of course, not Mrs. J. My buddy Al here got his shirt stuck in his locker door right as you left. We had to fiddle with it a bit to get it open. Unfortunately," Trinity removed her hand from the door, causing it to fall to the floor. "We went a little overboard."
"My goodness!"
"M-my locker h-has a bad h-habit of doing this. J-just call the jan-janitor, L-lenard. He k-knows how t-to fix it," Allen informed as they both started to walk away.
"Y-you put the pins b-back in-inside my locker, r-right?" he whispered.
"What do you take me for, an amateur?"
Allen scoffed, "Y-you've for-forgotten before. So, I-I guess you c-can't make t-the drama club thing-g huh?"
"Oh yeah, sorry, gotta go get by brain melted after classes."
Allen laughed, "Math."
"Math."
"A-Alright well, I g-guess I'll s-see you later."
"Sure thing, bro."
They both walked away to designated classes. The rest day passed by like a blur. She never really paid much attention in school these days. When Trinity was younger, she wanted to prove that she could excel just like any other student, but as her condition worsened, she just gave up. What was the point? Life was already complicated enough without being knocked out for most of it. By three o'clock, she was sitting in her tutoring class, looking out the window with her mind in a daze. She didn't know what the teacher up front was talking about, nor did she care. A particular purple light started to flicker outside the window, snapping her out of her daze. She squinted, moving closer to get a better look. The purple woman formed out in the distance by the woods holding her hand out to her. She was saying something, but Trinity couldn't hear her. She got closer to the window, hoping that her voice would be more evident. Her name started to echo in her brain, getting louder and louder. Was she saying her name?
"Trinity Hale!"
Her teacher's voice slung her right back into reality as she looked up wide-eyed. When did she stand up? How long was the teacher calling her name?
"Trinity, do you know the answer to the question on the board?"
She looked up at the board. There was an equation that looked like it was written in Mandarin.
"No, I don't know, but it's probably a number value of some kind," she joked.
"Haha, very funny. Please pay more attention."
Trinity nodded, sitting back down, looking forward instead of out the window. Her teacher, Mrs. Wolfe, was very much aware of her condition and tried to help her out as much as possible. In truth, Wolfe was one of Trinity's favorite teachers because she wanted to understand her more rather than just ignoring her problems. Trinity surmised it was because she was relatively new to teaching wanting all of her students to pass. Wolfe was also young. Being straight out of college, she was closer in age to her students than some of her co-workers. She effortlessly related to their troubles, finding solutions, though Trinity was a unique case.
"Probably talking to busy talking to ghosts again." One of the kids in the class whispered. Most of the others snickered while one student mimicked someone fainting.
"Guys, that's enough. I don't see any of you answering the question, either," Wolfe scolded. The teasing and bullying were nothing new to her. Ignoring it would be best for now. She once again tuned out the class looking out the window. Wolfe didn't bother her for the rest of the tutoring session. By the end of the lesson, the students made their way out of the class while Trinity dragged behind.
"Ms. Hale, come up here, please." Trinity sighed through her nose and sauntered toward the desk. "You got distracted again."
"It was because math is so enlightening that I had to focus on something else. My brain could melt out of my ears if not."
Her teacher rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah, all jokes aside, you need your math credit to pass this year. You have to pay more attention."
"Yeah, I get it. It's been harder for me to focus lately," Trinity groaned, rubbing her eyes. With the purple lady's more frequent visits, she could barely keep up with any of her classes.
"So, they have been getting worse?"
Trinity nodded, "The Doc's going to increase my meds again, not that it will help."
Wolfe sighed, stood from her chair, and walking over to Trinity's side. "How about this, you and I can meet privately without the other students. Maybe the one on one will help you focus better."
"You don't have to do that. She doesn't bother me that much. I just need a kick in the shin every now and again."
"Well, as much as I would love to go around kicking my students in the shin, it's illegal, and I'll get arrested."
"I'd bail you out."
"With what money?"
Trinity thought for a moment scratching her chin. "Okay, so I might have to rob a bank first, but I'll get you out."
Wolfe laughed, "In all seriousness, I want you to pass. I know you're a smart girl. How about we meet again tomorrow after school. Go over the same stuff."
"Yeah, I can do that. I'll get my brother to drive me, I guess."
"Great."
Trinity began to walk out of the room, but her teacher spoke again. "Do you want me to do anything about the other students. I can send them all to the principle if you want."
"Nah, it would just come back to haunt me later."
"Fine, I'll just scold them as anyone else would," she droned back sarcastically.
"Please don't make it a big deal. I'm not bothered by it. I've been dealing with it for years. A few more months won't kill me."
"You shouldn't have to deal with it at all, but I won't do anything to crazy like destroy school property." Wolfe raised an eyebrow Trinity while just smirked.
"Now, why on earth would you do that?"
"Stop destroying the lockers, Trinity."
"But they're fixable," she tried to reason, backing out of the room.
"If I hear another locker door has fallen off, I'm turning you in," Wolfe warned, crossing her arms.
"Won't happen again," Trinity yelled out of the room, trotting away.
Trinity waited outside the school for her brother to pull up. Being by herself always worried her. It was when she was alone when things started to appear. Sitting on the front steps that led up to the school, she counted. Counted the bugs crawling on the ground, the number of stitches in her shoes. Even going as far as counting how many bumps formed on the concrete. Anything to keep from looking up. She was scared but not for reasons most people might think. Many people would be scared because a ghost or hallucination had been tormenting them for most of her life. Just the thought of an entity following anyone around for an extended period was terrifying, but that wasn't what she was scared of. No, Trinity got used to that feeling of being watched long ago. The blackouts she would get, she admits, those are scary too but not too bad. Once again, something that she got used to overtime. No, what terrified her most was how the purple woman drew her in like a fish on a hook. No matter how hard Trinity tried, no matter how hard she fought, she would always find herself following her. It's like she would go in a sort of trance. The fact that she would lose control of her body going where ever the purple lady was; that was scary, and it was getting worse.
Usually, she could snap out of it. Here recently, she'd find herself taking a step forward-leaning closer and closer until darkness hit or she ran into something. So, she looked down, and she counted. If she couldn't see and kept her brain focused, she wouldn't follow. The sound of a car pulling around stopped her counting as she looked up. Trinity watched as the vehicle drove past her to pick up another kid waiting, then watched as it drove away. Just before she was about to go back to counting, a light caught her eye. She knew what the light was and she shouldn't have looked, but she couldn't help it. Off in the distance, the brightly lit lady stood with her hand extended. Trinity stared back; her body felt numb. As she stared, the purple lady seemed to get closer and closer, calling her name. Trinity. Trinity. Trinity.
"Trinity!"
She snapped out of her daze and looked around. Nathan was there in front of her in the middle of the street.
"What the hell are you doing?"
She took a couple of quick breaths before focusing on Nathan's face. "Nothing, nothing…um, let's go."
Trinity made her way to the car without a second thought while Nathan stood there for a moment. He looked around before getting in himself. They drove away from the school in silence. Nathan kept his eyes on the road while Trinity looked out the window.
"Mom told me to pick up something for dinner. What do you want to get?"
"Not hungry," she muttered back.
He chuffed, "You say that now, but you'll go straight to the fridge when we get home."
"Not true."
"Completely true."
"You'd do the same thing."
"No, I'd go get something to eat before I got home as any normal person would."
"Well, we both know that I'm not all that normal."
"Well, if you cut down on the number of times you stand in the middle of the street, maybe you would be a little more normal."
"I didn't mean to follow…" she stopped before saying any more. She noticed Nathans' hands tighten around the wheel as an awkward silence fell over the car.
"So, the meds aren't working?"
"You know why they won't work."
"It's not real, Trin," he growled through his teeth.
"Pretty real when we were kids."
"Yeah, when we were kids. Not now."
"You don't understand," she sighed, turning away from him.
"What is there to understand? You have a mental illness, and we are trying to treat it."
"That's not what it is."
"How? Explain to me how this is anything but Schizophrenia."
"Because there's more just two symptoms to Schizophrenia Nathan! You should know this, going to medical school."
"You probably don't have a severe enough case," he muttered.
"Not a severe enough…!" Trinity stopped herself from yelling, clenching her jaw tight. He had no idea how hard it was for her. "Your right," she said after a minute. "I am hungry. Just stop by McDonald's or something."
"Whatever," he grumbled.
"By the way, you'll have to pick me up from school again tomorrow."
"What why?"
"I have a meeting with one of my teachers that I can't miss."
Nathan rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever, just make sure your out on time."
The two siblings walked into the house, not saying a word to each other. The house hadn't changed much since they were kids though they no longer shared a room. The only sound coming from the home was coming from the television in the living room. "Dad, we're home," Nathan called out while Trinity took her bag of food straight to the living room.
Victor was sprawled out on the couch, snoring, with a random television show playing on the TV. Trinity smiled, walking over to him, setting the food on the coffee table. She knelt in front of him while Nathan stepped into the doorway.
"Don't wake him," he growled in a hushed tone. Trinity looked at Nathan with an eyebrow cocked. "Dad," she somewhat shouted, causing Victor to jump with a loud snort! Nathan rolled his eyes while she laughed.
"Oh, you kids home already? What time is it?" Victor yawned with a stretch, his bones cracking.
"It's almost five," Nathan spoke up. "I'm going back out for a few hours, I'll be back," he said, turning back to the front door to leave.
Once the door shut, Trinity stood and sat next to her father. "Got you some food." Victor immediately started digging through the bag, grabbing some fries.
"Your mother would kill me if she saw me eating these," he said with a mouth full of french fries.
"I'll make sure I tell her everything."
Victor chuckled, "I'm honestly surprised."
"Whys that?" Trinity dug through the bag, snacking on some of the fries herself.
"You two made it in a car for more than five minutes without killing each other."
Trinity snorted, "We came pretty close."
"Hmm, no use in trying to get you guys to get along, huh?"
"Nope, he's a diii- jerk." Trinity corrected herself.
Victor cocked an eyebrow then sighed, leaning back against the couch, "Yeah, he can be a dick sometimes."
Trinity cracked a smile. "You know he probably gets that from your mother's side of the family. Always so serious and worried and caring..."
"Dad..."
"and loving..."
"Dad stop,"
"and family..."
"Okay, okay."
"Listen, I'm just saying that even though your brother is an ass sometimes doesn't mean he doesn't love you. He just has a strange way of showing it." Victor nudged her shoulder, causing her to flop over on the couch.
"Yeah yeah, I know."
Both of them went quiet for a minute. "On another note," Victor interrupted the silence.
"What?"
"Your mom told me something a little interesting."
Trinity scrunched her face. What could she have told him?
"So, what's this about no college?"
"Dad, please," she groaned.
"Trinity just," he sighed, "what are you thinking." Unlike her mother, Victor was always adamant about school. He had one too many family members mess up their lives due to a lack of education. Victor was undoubtedly not going to let his children suffer the same fate. Though he understood why it was difficult for Trinity to pull off the grades her brother did, that didn't mean she couldn't pass at all.
"I just...I don't think I can."
"Can what? Learn?"
"It's already hard enough to focus on anything. College sounds stressful, maybe even impossible."
"Trinity just because things are difficult doesn't mean you give up."
Trinity sighed, "Can we talk about this, this weekend. Mom said we would."
"Trinity, I don't think..."
"Please," she pleaded.
Her father grumbled at the response, "Fine, but this weekend we're having a serious talk about this, okay?"
"Yeah, I got it." She got up from the couch and started to make her way down the hallway to her room.
"Trinity," her father called out to her.
"Yeah."
"Just because you have a disability does not mean any less smart or capable than any other girl. I want you to remember that."
Trinity only nodded, walking to her room. She shut the door behind her as she walked in. Though the place had been her own for about three years, she hadn't bothered to make Nathan's side her own. Her half-covered in posters, drawings, and furniture. His portion was barren, with only an old dresser and desk he didn't want. Trinity flopped over on her bed, staring at her ceiling. She thought about what her father had said to her. Her disability didn't mean she couldn't do what she wanted. It was hard to believe that. Her condition already hindered her to the point of almost failing high school and having only one friend. It put a strain on her own family. Because of all her medications and doctor visits, her parents took in all the hours they could get at work. There wasn't a time when she didn't see them exhausted. It was all her fault. Her brother didn't want to be around her anymore. He not only didn't believe her about the purple lady anymore; he almost seemed to have a complete aversion to the problem in general. This was not only frustrating for Trinity but also a little heartbreaking. She didn't even know if her brother loved her anymore. Despite all of this, she didn't cry about it. Crying would get her nowhere. She closed her eyes and began to count.
"One, two, three, four..."
As she counted, she could see the light begin to appear and brighten from the inside of her eyelids. She was here.
"Five, six, seven..."
Trinity counted louder, not opening her eyes. Her voice started to shake slightly as the light got brighter.
"Eight, nine..."
It was getting harder to keep her eyes closed. Something was willing them to open. Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, her breathing increased rapidly through her nose.
"Ten..."
Her eyes shot open. A glowing purple hand reached in front of her, just barely brushing her forehead. Everything went black.
It seemed like less than a minute between when everything went dark and when she opened her eyes. The night sky full of stars looked back down at her with nothing to hide. By now, Trinity was entirely used to landing on the same forest floor. She picked herself up off the ground heading in the same direction she always did. The stone temple was mostly unchanged. Large roots and vines now covered every inch like the earth was trying to drag in the back underground. Like she did several times before, she made her way up the stairs up to the top of the temple. The sounds of the forest were her only company. Once she reached the top, she looked around for anyone.
"Grey," Trinity shouted out, but it only echoed across the temple's stone walls.
She looked over at the entrance that she was too scared to go through her first visit to the forest. It had been covered in giant vines, ones that needed to be cut with a blade to get through.
"Is anyone there?"
Grey had been missing from the temple for several years now, and no one else, person or animal, was ever around. This didn't stop her from calling out for someone to answer. Maybe she would get lucky. Perhaps, someone would be passing through. After a few minutes, Trinity sat down at the edge of the temple, waiting. The amount of time she would spend here varied from a few minutes to a few hours. Afraid she would get lost, Trinity never ventured away from the temple. The stone building seemed to help bring her back. The few times Trinity did leave the building, it took longer for her to get back to the real world. So she would sit, listening to all the strange noises that came from the forest. They were always different. Weird clicks and growls echoed against the sound of bamboo stocks smacking each other in the wind. Eventually, she closed her eyes, trying to sleep, unaware of the two shadows staring at her from the trees.
Alright, so Avatar world stuff will be happening in the next chapter. It was previously in this one, but I had to set up a few more things first. Thanks for reading :)