Broken

Chapter: 6

Author's note: I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, put my story on their favorites list/story alert/favorite author! This story is for you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that relates to Harvest Moon, or their characters… just the story line!

…..b.r.o.k.e.n…..

I came home from school, wondering whether or not Mom was drunk. I hoped and I prayed she wasn't. She would say some awful things when she's drunk. It's been a few months since Dad left, yet she still waits for him at the door everyday, and every night she waits for his call; a call or visit that never did come. My clothes were beginning to smell, and tear, the food in the house was gone; replaced by booze, and I began to notice bills being stacked on top of each other on the counter each day. Almost every single one was stamped with something red on it.

I slowly opened the door, being hit with this horrid smell. Trash had piled across the floor, while Mom was passed out on the couch. I went inside to begin cleaning up the mess that had accumulated for the past two months.

It took me four hours to finish, and I had just put away the Windex when Mom woke up.

"Vaughn, go get me another beer," Mom groaned as she rubbed her forehead.

I sighed. "We're all out Mom. Mom…and we're all out of food. I didn't pack a lunch today, I'm a little hungry. Can we get food instead of beer?"

Mom was silent for the longest time. Then she got up off the couch and stumbled towards me, a creepy smirk spreading across her face. She walked closer and closer to me, until she was a few inches away from my chest. She bent down a little and smacked me hard across the face.

My cheek began to sting instantly; tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

"Never, will you tell me what to do young man. I say what we buy and what we don't buy, you understand me?"

"…."

She smacked me even harder this time.

"Y-Yes, Mother."

We were both quiet for a moment, each of us at a loss for words.

"Vaughn, where's your allowance jar?"

"I-It's in my room."

"Go get it for me. I need to get a few things from the store," she grumbled

Both my heart and stomach leapt for joy. Mom didn't mean to hit me like that… she was just tired. I quickly ran upstairs to get Mom my jar of money that I've been saving for a new toy. There was only twenty dollars, but it should be enough food for one night. I handed Mom the only money I had with a bright smile.

"This is it Vaughn? It's pathetic," Mom whispered to herself.

She shrugged, then snatched the money away from me, grabbed her keys and walked out the door. After she left, I wanted to do something nice for Mom, so I went outside to look for some flowers. I could only find a few daises, but they would do. I brought the flowers inside and set them on the kitchen table while I looked for a nice vase. I climbed up on the counter to open the cabinet that we kept all the nice vases and glasses. As I was grabbing the sky blue flower vase, a piece of paper flew out of the cabinet. I got down and picked it up, and out of curiosity, I began to read it.

A letter to Mom? It was Dad's hand writing… what was this?

Dear Clair,

I can no longer bear to keep this a secret any longer; I have fallen out of love with you, and now I have feelings for someone else. I have been unfaithful to you with this person for a year now, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Please know I really did love you, but that love I felt for you is now gone. We were probably never meant to be anyways. We were just stupid kids having fun, and you had gotten pregnant. We were too young to be parents, and it's just cruel to try to make this work; it's unfair to all of us. I'm only sorry I let it get this far… you have every right to be angry with me. You can hate me for the rest of your days, but please try to forget me. Forget us. It never was or will be anything. Tell Vaughn I'm sorry and that I love him. I'll send money every month. I give you full custody of our son. He's no longer mine… I'm giving up my rights as a father this day. Please don't call or write. I'll be leaving and changing my phone number. I'll be sending the divorce papers in a few days. It's over.

Sincerely,

-Grey.

I wasn't really sure what the letter meant, but I did understand one thing; Dad didn't like me or Mom anymore. He's never coming back again. This hit me pretty hard; with Mom constantly waiting for him, and saying he'll be back, I couldn't help but feel hope that he would be back someday. I tried my best not to cry, but a small whimper managed to escape my lips. Then, all of a sudden, Mom came storming back in with a few bags in her hands. It wasn't food; it was beer and a pack of cigarettes. She stood there in shock for a moment, soon realizing what I was holding. She glared harshly at me, then stomped towards me. She snatched the paper out of my hands and hit me so hard, I fell to the ground.

"How dare you read something that doesn't belong to you! How could you do this to me?"

I shook with fear; Mom never sounded this upset with me before… When I didn't answer, she kicked me in the ribs, so hard it seemed as if the bones had cracked right then and there.

"I want you to go to your room, and never come out. I hate you. I hate what you've done; this is your fault you know? You're the reason he left! I hate your hair, your eyes, everything! I wish you were just dead!"

She kicked me multiple times, and with each kick, I screamed out in pain. I reached for her foot, looking up at her with teary, sad eyes. For a moment, she looked sorry. But that was quickly washed away with a hateful gaze. Mom then glanced at the flowers resting on the table. She threw them on the ground, stomped on them, then spat on them in disgust.

"I hate daises almost as much as I hate you."

Mom sighed then grabbed the bag full of beer and cigarettes and walked upstairs.

I laid there on the floor the rest of the night, blaming myself for everything that has happened.

…..b.r.o.k.e.n….

The next morning, I almost forgot that I was safe. I no longer had to worry about being hit, or about going hungry… I could finally lead a normal, happy life with people who really care about me.

The smell of waffles and the sound of laughter soon filled the air. I rolled out of bed and made my way down the unfamiliar stairs.

Chelsea and her parents were sitting around the table, laughing and enjoying breakfast. Hikari smiled sweetly at me.

"Well good morning sleepy head! I hope you're hungry, I made plenty of food."

I bowed my head in respect then sat down. "Thank you Mrs. Furukowa."

Chelsea wiggled in discomfort in her new school uniform. She pulled at the gray outfit and gave a disgusted expression.

"These things are so annoying! It's all boring and grey. I wish I could just wear my overalls."

Gill shook his head in amusement while he sipped his coffee. "It's a school uniform, Hun. They're not supposed to be comfortable or exciting- which reminds me. Hikari bought a few new school uniforms for you, Vaughn."

I was surprised, but happy. I was defiantly ready to get rid of my old raggedy clothes! I thanked them, and then chugged down my orange juice. After Hikari pointed them out to me, I grabbed the new uniforms and went into Chelsea's room to change. I was pulling off my borrowed pajama shirt when Chelsea came in the room.

"Vaughn, Mommy told me to-"she paused. Chelsea stared at the bruises that were still healing, the scars that never faded, but most of her attention was focused on the gash, now sown up with stitches, which stretched across my stomach.

She lowered her head; sadness written all over her face. She balled up her fist then bit her lip before she looked back up at me. Chelsea slowly made her way to me, and then gently placed her hand on my cut.

"You're Mommy did this to you?"

I nodded.

A tear slipped down her pale cheek. "Did it hurt?"

"Yes."

Chelsea was crying, yet she made no sound. "Does it still hurt?"

I didn't want to say yes, even though it did in fact, still hurt. I wiped away Chelsea's tears and shook my head no. Chelsea smiled.

"I'm glad then."

I put on the rest of my uniform while Chelsea ran downstairs to grab our lunches.

Is my body really that bad? I pulled my shirt up and inspected myself in the mirror. Even I couldn't look…. I sighed, pulled my shirt back down and hoped all my injuries would heal soon.

Chelsea and I walked to school together like any other normal day. But as we passed my house, I still stood there; frozen; unable to move, or speak.

"Come on Vaughn, we're going to be late," Chelsea whispered.

I ignored her and continued to stare at the old house.

"Vaughn!"

I jumped. I turned around to see Chelsea with a worried expression. I didn't want to upset her, so I continued to walk, despite the desire to stand there all day, remembering the past.

When we got to school, both kids and teachers whispered when they saw me.

They would say, "There's the boy who was almost killed by his own mother," or "I heard after being stabbed by his own mother, he took the knife and killed her!"

Chelsea glared daggers at all of them, and I could tell she just wanted to punch their lights out.

I decided it was just best to ignore them and go to class.

I sat down in my seat and began to write down the math problems Mrs. Woods assigned to us. I had this weird feeling someone was staring at me… I turned to see a skinny, mousy-looking girl with giant glasses staring at me. When she noticed I caught her staring she blushed and turned away.

"What a weird girl," I whispered quietly to myself.

…..b.r.o.k.e.n…

When we were dismissed from recess, Chelsea and I walked out together, and made our way to the swing set. But then we noticed we were being followed….

A group of kids I've never seen before huddled up, whispering. Two of them looked like twins; the boy seemed older, yet shy with pinkish looking hair and big round glasses. The girl had similar pink hair, but she looked pretty tough. Then another girl, about the same age as the pink twin girl, with long straight blond hair and bangs stood there giggling. A tan boy with curly black hair crossed his arms, trying his best to look cool. Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"What do all of you want," Chelsea asked, extremely irritated.

The pink twin girl placed her hands on her hips. "To make friends. Duh."

Chelsea softened a bit. She chuckled then stuck her arm out for the girl to shake.

"Sorry about that. I'm Chelsea, and the guy next to me is Vaughn. We'd be happy to be your friends!"

… We would?

The girl smiled. "I'm Natalie; the nerdy guy is my brother, Elliot. Nice to meet you!"

The giggly girl clapped her hands cheerfully. "I'm Lanna! I can't wait to be you guys' best friend forever!"

The other guy patted my back while he laughed. "And I'm Denny! It's nice to meet the guy everyone's been talking about."

I huffed. They've been here a day, and they've already heard the rumors. Chelsea could tell I was already getting annoyed with them, so she tried to lighten the mood a bit.

"So where are you guys from?"

Lanna sadly kicked a rock, and Natalie frowned.

"We all used to live on a pretty island, but we had to go because of the bad storms," Lanna stated.

There was an awkward silence until, Chelsea suggested we play hide and go seek. We all agreed happily, and Chelsea went over to the oak tree and began to count. I wasn't very familiar with this game, but I tried my best to find a good hiding spot. I finally hid in the old library that no one uses anymore. I put my back against a dusty bookshelf, smirking to myself, knowing I would never be found. That's when I heard someone sneeze.

"Who's there?"

No one answered…. Ok I was officially scared.

"C-Come on out. I'm not afraid of you!"

The same girl who was staring at me in class walked out from behind a book shelf.

"Jeez kid, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

The girl held a book up to her face and shook her head no. "I-I'm sorry… I-I didn't mean to scare you."

I shrugged. "No problem. Hey what's your name?"

"S-Sabrina."

I smiled. "Well, Sabrina, would you like to join me in a game of hide and go seek with my friends?"

Sabrina blushed and nodded her head gently. I explained the game to her, and about five minutes afterwards, Chelsea found us.

Today, I made five new friends… My new life was really… happy.

….b….r…o….k…e…n

On the way home from school, Chelsea and I were laughing about some stupid fight Elliot and Natalie got into about milk. But as we passed my house, I was once again in some sort of daze, where I could neither move nor speak. Soon, everything around me disappeared, except for the house and I. Then I saw Mom walk out onto the porch… calling out my name.

"I'm coming Mom…"

So slowly, I made my way to the house full of memories and nightmares. I could feel Chelsea pulling at my sleeve, but I merely ignored her.

"Vaughn, come back!"

I'm sorry Chelsea… I have to go, I thought to myself.

The stairs on the porch creaked as I stepped on them just like they always do. I ducked under the yellow police tape, and opened the door…

Everything was just like I left it. Nothing had changed. My heart began to race as I made my way to the basement where everything ended and began. It was dark, but I could still see the blood steins on the floor. The police had taken the knife as evidence, yet still... the blood remained…

All of a sudden, I had this horrible pain shoot up my entire body. I held my stomach, where the stitches were. And I could swear blood came trickling down my stab wound. Images of that night came flooding back to me… I was loosing myself in this hurt I could not explain.

"Vaughn! Vaughn, where are you?"
Chelsea? That's right. We were walking home together. Her sweet voice began to pull me back to reality, but it still wasn't enough to take me back entirely.

I heard the basement door being slammed open, and small footsteps make their way towards me. "Vaughn! There you are!"

For some reason, I didn't turn around. I just continued to loose myself in the memories of that night.

I could tell she was right behind me. She didn't do anything… but sigh.

"Come on Vaughn. It's time to go home now."

"…"

Chelsea moved in closer, and wrapped her arms around me. I shivered, and begged her to let go of me, which only made her hold on tighter.

"Please tell me Chelsea! Why did this have to happen to me? Why couldn't things get better; why did Dad leave?"

"I don't know Vaughn. But you have me know. I'm your friend; I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

After that, we left the house… never looking back. Chelsea grabbed my hand and pulled me towards our secret lake. When we got there, the stars were already out, and it was so cold we could see our breaths.

We decided to climb the tree and just sit and stare at the lake.

The leaves began to rustle and Chelsea's hair began to get blown back in the breeze. Her sapphire blue eyes twinkled when she gazed up at the sky.

"You know Vaughn? I'm really happy we met," She said softly.

"But, that night… I heard screams. I went to your house, and I found you on the ground. I thought you were dead. I was so scared. Promise me you won't die, Vaughn… please?"

I knew as well as she did; everyone dies. But she had such a frightened and sad look, I couldn't refuse. "I promise."

This made her smile brightly. "Then, I promise you that one day, were going to leave this town together, and find some place new and fun. Where no one gets sad or hurt… or even dies. Pinkie Promise."

Chelsea held out her small pinkie, and we wrapped our tiny fingers together, promising each other the impossible.

"Look Chelsea, a shooting star!"

"It's so pretty! Hurry make a wish!"

I closed my eyes tightly… and made a single wish. My wish was that I could somehow, keep my promise to Chelsea, and she could keep hers.

"I really like you Chelsea," I whispered.

She gleamed. "Me too, Vaughn. One day were going to get married. I just know we will!"

We both blushed as we found each others hands and my fingers intertwined with hers. We continued to make empty promises and watched the stars disappear as the sun began to rise.

Pinkie Promise huh? I heard those things are supposed to last forever…..

…

Author's note: Yeah… not one of my best chapters, but I hope you still liked it!