Authors Note: This is going to be one of the best chapters I think I've written so far. I bet you'll all like it alot. Enjoy!
Claudia had been very upset since Alessa had died in the fire. She had spent the rest of her summer going to just therapy at first, until her doctor felt she should stay at the hospital for a while until she got over the shock. She remained in the psychiatric ward until she appeared to be back to normal, she decided to start her schooling after Remembrance Day, November 11. She had learned her work while being tutored in the hospital by some of the staff. She was caught up on all of her work by the time she was ready to go back.
She had been suffering for months from the death. No one seemed to know how the fires had started but everyone speculated it was Dahlia. Claudia hadn't spoken to Dahlia for months so she wasn't quite sure what to expect from her. She missed Vincent very much; she couldn't help but to think of the night of the fire. He had held her so close to him that she wished he never had to let her go. It was a bitter sweet bliss. He told her to contact him if she could, she felt bad because the nurses wouldn't let her contact anyone, just her father.
Claudia didn't want to go back home, she knew what was waiting for her there. Her father paid a lot of money to put her in the hospital and to give her the proper treatment she needed. She knew he would be very angry with her. She was numb, but acted like she wasn't.
She walked home with her father. He was angry at her, he had hated her. He didn't like spending money on her. He hated doing things to help her. She knew as soon as she entered that house, as soon as she took off her shoes, she'd feel it, the burning fear in her chest as she begins to yell. The slap across the face. The belt across the back. She'd been there before. She didn't like it, but she knew she had to keep on going; there was no use hiding from it.
"Claudia….. You put me through a lot after your stupid friend died. I had to pay for everything for you! I had to waste all my earnings as a preacher to give to a sinner like you!" Leonard yelled when they got inside.
"Sorry father." She said almost robotically.
"Sorry will never cut it." He yelled.
She felt a pain in her cheek as she fell to the ground. She had been slapped. He pulled her hair up so she had to face him. "Why couldn't you have just died like your mother?" He whispered.
He dropped her and stormed to his room. She couldn't move, and she didn't cry. She was surprised by the little effect this took. She decided to get up and go to her room. It was eight, she needed to wash herself and then get to bed. School was tomorrow.
She walked to school, her cheek didn't bruise, but her cheek still hurt from yesterday. She walked into her school. Everyone began whispering as she walked down the long halls to her new class. She plunked her books down on her desk. She sat there through class and got her locker and her work done. Claudia hated school, but it was apart of life. She walked downstairs where the halls were clearer and stood in amazement. Vincent had his hair beautifully done, his acne was completely gone and his braces were replaced by amazing white teeth. "Claudia." He smiled talking a little better without the braces in his way.
She smiled at how handsome he was. He walked over and gave her a hug. "I missed you. How are you?" He asked letting her go.
"I'm fine." She lied.
Lucy walked by and looked at them both loathingly. "What's wrong with your girlfriend?" Claudia asked.
"What girlfriend?" He smiled.
Claudia could hardly believe it, he wasn't with Lucy anymore. Claudia followed him to the lunch room. "Why did you break up with her?" Claudia asked.
He smiled and laughed softly. "I'm surprised you don't know." He looked at her.
She looked puzzled. "I won't tell you, until you figure it out." He smiled.
She shrugged it off and ate lunch with Vincent.
Claudia made it successfully through her first semester and was coursing well through her second semester at school, but even still, not all was well. She found herself suffering through multiple mental breakdowns. She would cry every night, wishing for the salvation she had lost in the horrible fire. She missed talking to her best friend, she missed hugging her, she missed everything about that wonderful girl. She was so lonely.
She cried alone in her room. She had to pull the pillow over her face to stop the shrieking madness still blaring in her skull. She finally calmed herself down for one night, but nothing she did could ever make the screams go away forever. She lay down in her bed.
She had talked to Dahlia a lot during the last week, and Dahlia only encouraged Claudia to pray, and do what's best for her health. It appeared that Claudia was the only one who cried over Alessa anymore, Dahlia didn't appear sad at all anymore. Claudia wiped away her tears. She sat there.
She had talked to Dahlia today. Dahlia told her she would help her on the road to salvation. Claudia wanted to travel that road one day, but only if she accepted Dahlia's offer to teach her. Claudia knew her father had become extremely bothered by Dahlias behavior. She talked of nonsense all the time. Claudia was supposed to let Dahlia know by the weekend. Claudia had three days to decide. She was going to talk to her father about her decision this morning. Claudia walked down the stairs. "Father, I have a request." Claudia said knowing, that this would probably be the end of her life.
"What?" He wondered grumpily.
"I would like to accept Dahlias offer to be taught how to follow the road of salvation. She would love to teach me, I would love to learn. Please father, may I accept?" Claudia wondered.
His face grew red. She felt the air in the room grow hot. "How dare you ask me that?" He said so calmly it was terrifying.
She knew he was raging, he only sounded calm when he was about to hurt her badly. Claudia was sick of his control over her, she was seventeen in a day, and she deserved to make her own decisions. "I ask you, because it's what I want." She replied almost surprising him.
"You sound like your mother." He growled throwing the chair aside.
She jumped but refused to give into his rage. After the last time he tried to beat, the night she came home from the hospital, she hadn't felt the pain anymore. She was convinced she was used to the pain now. "Try and stop me father! I'm growing stronger than you can control!" She yelled back.
He sat there stunned. She was enraged; she was tired of being wrong. She could feel the fury of hell traveling up her body. She hated her father; she hated her school, her classmates, and her teachers. She hated them all. Her father always told her she couldn't be happy, she couldn't be pretty and she couldn't be loved. She wanted to rebel for once. She climbed the stairs fast and ran to her room.
She had been given many gifts from people at the hospital. She received makeup and some jewelry from some of the friends there. She had been told never to use them by her father, but today was the day. She was sick of her face. She looked in the mirror; she began applying the short black eye pencil to her eyes. She was giving herself the look of a cat. She looked at her eyes when she was done, they were beautiful. She pulled out the light red lipstick. She rolled it over her lips and gave them some colour. Her face was missing something. She looked at her raiser she usually used for her legs. She looked at her eyebrows. She hated how the girls at her school looked at her. They crunched up their eyebrows as they looked at her. She furiously shaved her left brow. She began to so the same to the other side. This looked much better to her. She looked neutral, not surprised not sad. She was mysterious now. She placed the friendship bracelet her friend from the hospital gave her on her wrist and put a beaded matching necklace around her neck. She brushed her hair so it bounced out beautifully. She loved how she looked now. She was beautiful, and no one could stop her from feeling this way. She grabbed her school bag and ran downstairs. Her father was holding his chest. She didn't care. She ran out the door and to the school.
Everyone stared as she walked down the hall. She watched as Vincent began to follow her. "Claudia, you look beautiful." Vincent said to her.
"Thanks, I was hoping so." She carried on.
He didn't follow her do to the crowd gather behind her as she walked. All the men at the school stared in wonder while the girls stared in disgust. Vincent pushed up his glasses and walked down stairs.
Claudia made quite the impression that day, not even Lucy wanted to deal with her. She walked out of the school by herself. "Claudia!" Vincent's voice strained as he tried to catch up to her.
She turned to look at him. "Vincent, I'm so glad to see you." She smiled.
He smiled. "I remembered that your birthday is tomorrow. Would you be able to spend the day with me?" He asked her.
Claudia was flattered. She'd never had anyone want to spend a day with her. "Why, yes. I would love to spend the day with you." She smiled with a glow in her beautiful face.
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled pushing his glasses up.
Claudia smiled and began to walk home. She stopped suddenly. "Is this a date?" She wondered.
She practically skipped home. She was so happy; she was going to see Vincent. Tomorrow was likely going to be the best Saturday of her life. Claudia entered herself to hear the silence. Her father was no where to be found. When she walked upstairs his room was closed tightly. She figured he was resting. She left him alone, but became incredible curious when he didn't emerge from his room for dinner. She didn't' mind, she didn't want to see him all too much anyhow.
When Claudia woke up the next morning she was wide awake and ready to see Vincent. He had phoned her last night to tell her he would come and get her. She decided she wanted to look just as beautiful as she had yesterday. She put on a light pink skirt and a long white sleeved blouse that buttoned up at the front. She had emerged from her shower soaked and wet, but quickly dried her hair and combed it straight. It looked beautiful. She applied less makeup compared to yesterday but she still wore enough to notice it lightly around her eyes and on her pale lips. She snapped the lid on her lipstick. Her lips sparkled lightly but didn't stand out. She walked downstairs and began to wait for Vincent to come knocking on her door. She smiled to herself. She was so happy Lucy was now out of the picture. She had the opportunity to have him one day. She just didn't know if she had the courage to tell him how she really felt about him. Three consecutive knocks on her door broke her from her thoughts. She glided her way to the door and opened it. Vincent locked eyes with her. He was dressed in black pants and a white button up shirt. He was absolutely breathtaking. "Claudia, I'm glad to see you're ready." He smiled shyly.
"I wouldn't want to miss this. Of course I'm ready." She replied.
"Come on, I'm going to take you to the amusement park like you wanted." He said.
She smiled. She wanted to go to the amusement park; it seemed like a fun idea. She loved watching the kids on rides and eating the bright pink cotton candy. Finally she was going to have a chance to do what those kids do. She walked out her door with him. "I'm really happy you asked me to go with you." She thanked him.
"Claudia, this is your birthday, of course I wanted to see you, and be with you on your seventeenth birthday." He assured her.
"What should we do first? Throw up then eat, or eat then throw up?" He joked.
"Hmm, throwing up first seems more appetizing." She smiled.
Vincent took Claudia on all the rides she wanted to go on. He even lit a candle on top of a cupcake for her. She loved it, because she hadn't blown out a birthday candle since she was little. Vincent wasn't much of an amusement park person, but for Claudia, he could deal with it. "Are you going to be ok? Do you need some time to recover?" Claudia asked looking at Vincent's sick face.
He nodded slowly looking a tiny bit green. Claudia assumed the spinning tea cups weren't a good idea twice in a row. "Vincent, I'm having a lot of fun." She said to him.
"I'm glad." He looked up and smiled at through his illness.
"I've never had a nice birthday." She said not looking at him, but at a rock on the ground.
"Why?" He asked puzzled.
"My father, he's never given me a good birthday. He finds it a perfect day to… Well, never mind." She said feeling her emotions growing stronger with sorrow.
Vincent was now fully recovered and looking at her with a look of fury and wonder. "He did what to you Claudia?" Vincent asked in an angered tone.
She looked down. "Nothing Vincent." She smiled at him.
He was about to say something when she stood up at pointed. "Could I get some? I love cotton candy." She asked.
He nodded decided not to push the question. He bought her the cotton candy and they both decided to leave the park. "The beach is beautiful at sunset." Claudia said as they traveled along the coast of Lake Toluca.
"Yes, it is, only it looks like the fog is going to roll in." Vincent pointed.
"Oh, I don't mind at all." She said plainly.
"I like the fog; it gives a lot of privacy. That day I fell in the lake, I was surrounded in fog. I was at peace until I fell in of course." She told him.
Vincent sat staring at the beach. He remembered that day so well, she had a black eye. It was an awful sight. He looked at her. "Claudia, that day you fell in, you had a black eye." He paused watching her close her eyes in defeat.
"Does your father beat you?" He asked ignoring the choking feeling in his throat as he asked her.
She paused. "Yes, Vincent. My father has been beating me for a long time." She felt tears.
"Why don't you stop him? Why don't you tell someone?" He tried to hold back his outrage.
"I can't stop him, I'm weak. The only person I ever told is dead now." She let a tear roll down her cheek.
"Claudia, please don't." He said watching her face hold back sobs.
"Oh Claudia!" He grabbed her around the waist and held her close.
"I hate to see you cry, someone so beautiful shouldn't feel pain or suffering." He stroked her long, straight hair.
"You think I'm, beautiful?" She asked.
"Yes, I always have, from the moment I saw you standing there in your living room, that day I came for the bible." He confessed.
Claudia began to feel a release. She stopped crying and now stared at him peacefully. "Vincent, you know that Lucy was only with you because she knew how I felt. Everyone could tell." She looked down feeling stupid.
"Claudia, I don't care if Lucy had feelings for me or not." Vincent said.
Claudia stared at him. "She's not the girl I want to be with." He pushed his glasses up.
They both felt stupid talking about how much they loved each other, but they just felt so alive and free saying it. They found themselves surrounded by fog. "You know, I never really loved Lucy." Vincent confessed.
Claudia looked at him. "No?"
"No, she just seemed so desperate I couldn't say no. Besides, she wanted more from me than what I wanted to give her." Vincent said.
"What did she want?" Claudia wondered.
"Lets just say the farthest I wanted to go was kiss her. She wanted to go much further than that." He pushed his glasses up resentfully.
Claudia looked down foolishly. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"I've never kissed anyone before." She blushed.
He smiled slightly. He touched the tip of her chin with the end of his finger to prop her head up. She felt the tingle inside her chest. She knew what was coming, and she was so happy. They closed their eyes. He pressed his lips against hers and they both enjoyed the softness of their mouths pressing against one another. Vincent began opening his lips slightly. Claudia did the same and allowed his tongue to pass through her lips. They remained connected through the mouth for a few minutes before slowly pulling away. Claudia held her eyes shut and turned in the other direction. Vincent was smiling broadly, although he looked somewhat funny like that. He looked up at Claudia. "Was it that bad?" He wondered.
"No, it was wonderful I can't believe you just kissed me." She said still not looking at him.
He leaned to the side so he could see the red glow of her cheeks. "You're really beautiful when you blush." He tried to make her blush more.
She turned to look at him. "Vincent, I'm not going to be at school anymore if I can follow through with my goals." Claudia told him.
"Why not?" Vincent wondered.
"I'll be training to be in the church with Dahlia." Claudia told him.
"Will I be able to see you still?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm sure I can still see you, just not all the time." She explained.
"Look, the fogs getting so thick, I can barely see anything." They both noticed as it surrounded them.
"Should we leave?" Vincent asked.
"No, I want to be here n the fog with you. I love how alone we are. I've always wanted to be like this with you, but I never wanted to tell you." She smiled.
Vincent leaned down to kiss her again. Claudia felt urges she couldn't control. She kissed him more passionately until she was on her back under him in the sand. "Claudia." He panted.
She gazed up at him blissfully. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked in fear.
"I want this. I really want this Vincent." She said to him.
He looked down. He wanted this too, but he was afraid to hurt her. She turned his face so he'd look at her. "If I didn't want this, I wouldn't still be here." She convinced him.
He leaned down for one last kiss before they carried on, under the covers of fog and the atmosphere of peaceful bliss.
(I was thinking of going into more detail, but I'm not sure if that would offend you, so review me and tell me what some of you think.)