Okay peeps. Final part. I know it was long but it was worth it! At least I hope it was. You get a huge look on Aria's past. The key things that were the most painful for her. Anyways enjoy.
Chapter 27: Following The Painful Path!
*Third Person POV*
Leviathan helped Aria relax before going.
"I've...never really talked much about my past. I suppose we'll start with before I moved here and work backwards to where it all began." Aria said as she sighed.
"I'll be here to help." Leviathan said as she smiled at him. The people in the room watched as they, too, wanted to know how bad Aria had it at home and why she didn't want to go back. Betty knew a little and Mary and Fred knew some while Jughead and Dilton knew a lot. Archie probably knew the most but she had yet to tell everyone everything. Leviathan and Aria went to the door and walked through it. Aria looked around and saw she was in her crummy apartment.
"This was the night before I left for Riverdale." Aria said with a sigh to follow. She walked out the room just in time to see a bottle get thrown at her and ducked.
"You're nothing without us!" My mother yelled at me.
"Mom stop! You're drunk again!" She yelled at her mother. She couldn't stop herself. She had to follow through.
"You constantly cheat on your tests, you break and ruin everything you touch, you're useless. Useless! I'm not sure why you're father and uncle agreed to this but the less I see your sorry excuse of a face the better!" She yelled at Aria.
"Mom calm down." Aria told her Before she ducked and soon the radio her mother threw smashed against the wall instead of her head.
"See? You just made the radio break! Good luck in Riverdale you piece of garbage!" She yelled as she stumbled out the door. Aria held back sadness as everyone in the room saw this.
"How can a mother do that?" Veronica asked in shock. Aria looked around for a door when Leviathan pointed to an open window with a light around it to show the right way. Both of them climbed through just as another sour memory popped up. Her 15th birthday.
"This happened on my birthday." Aria muttered as the memory started with a small cake on the table. She sat down and held the phone to her ear. She heard Archie on the other end.
"Okay. Ready to blow the candles out?" He asked her.
"Yeah." Aria responded with a weak smile.
"Go!" Archie yelled as she blew the candles out.
"I did it." She said with a very weak smile.
"Great. Oh? Huh? Oh sorry Aria. I gotta go." Archie said to her.
"Please don't." She said off script.
"Okay I love you too. Bye." She heard as the phone line was cut off. Aria put the phone down and knew exactly what was going to happen next.
"Aria!" She heard her dad yell.
"What's this? What's with this mess?" He yelled at her.
"It's my birthday dad." She muttered.
"You think I give a damn?" He shouted at her.
"Your mother just told me you broke a kid's arm!" He yelled at her.
"He groped me. I told him to stop and he didn't." She said.
'Slap!'
His hand met her face.
"Maybe if you dressed less like a whore then that wouldn't happen!" He yelled as he then went into her room. She ran after him and tried to stop him as he started ripping most of her nice clothes apart. He slammed her into the wall roughly as she slid down and watched him tear and burn most of her clothes and shoes. Aria started crying at this.
"This is a day you shouldn't have existed!" He yelled as he walked out of her room. Leviathan went up to her and gently held her hand.
"It's alright. They're memories. Once you leave you can make new and better ones." Leviathan said as he guided her to her feet and through her closet door. In the hospital room everyone was stunned at that.
"So that's what she meant by most of her stuff got ruined." Archie commented as everyone started to feel sorrow for her. Soon Aria arrived in a school area.
"Oh no! Not this one. I-I can't!" Aria said as she started shaking.
"I'm right here." Leviathan said as she went over to her next memory. Aria seemed to revert to a younger age, 13, as she walked to the school playground.
"Hey runt." One boy said to her. Soon she was surrounded by a group of boys dressed as thugs. Words were exchanged and soon a fight broke out. Aria fought back with everything she had and ended up drawing blood and breaking bones. Aria was then sent to the principle's office. Skipping to the meeting with my mother there.
"What did my mental daughter do this time?" Her mother said coldly.
"Well your daughter got into another fight with a group of boys." Principle Bullblood said to Aria's mother.
"They started it! I was defending myself! They were going to hurt me!" Aria screamed and defended herself.
"Hush you foolish brat!" Her mother scolded her.
"Now if it wasn't for the fact your daughter has wonderful grades she'd be expelled right now." Principle Bullblood said as if to defend Aria.
"Oh please! We both know she cheats. You should just start failing her because of her cheating." The mother said with a hint of disgust in her voice.
"Perhaps so. She has been doing too good in her classes." Principle Bullblood pointed out.
"I have no reason to cheat!" Aria defended herself.
"Hush! You're mental and stupid beyond all reason! Everyone knows it!" Her mother scolded as they soon left the office. They went home and her mother started her drunk rants and smacked Aria when she smacked her back. Her mother then went into the house and soon her father came out and yelled at her for being mental and having anger issues. He smacked her and when he backhanded her for mouthing back she fell down the stairs.
"I remember I waited here unconscious for a few hours before they finally had me go to the hospital. Nothing broke but I did get hurt real badly. The cops convinced the doctors that it was from a fight with some neighborhood thugs and not my parents." She said as she felt a few tears fall from her face. In the hospital room everyone saw that, much to their horror, as they grew speechless.
"How could those cops not believe her?" Collins shouted in pure anger.
"Aria is not mental nor stupid! She never had to cheat!" Dilton yelled in pure anger. He remembered her telling him this but seeing it was worse.
"How can you make your kid fall down the stairs and then leave them there for a few hours?" Mrs. Donavon yelled in pure disgust.
"I could never do that to my boys." Mr. Donavon commented as he held the twins closer to him.
"What's happening now?" Archie wondered as no memory popped up for her.
"Hello? Leviathan?" Aria asked as she slowly got up.
"He's not here!~" She heard a voice taunt out in a hiss. She looked behind her and was soon face to face with the demon again.
"You again?! Seriously! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She yelled at him as he disappeared and re appeared behind her just to claw her. Aria screeched in pain as she fell and groaned.
"You're sadness if delicious. The pain you've endured! Your body will soon be mine to control!" He yelled as he went to swipe her again. That's when a shadow darted at the demon and fling him back.
"Aria! Run! Find the door! I'll find you later!" Leviathan shouted in his older creepy voice as the injured girl obeyed to the best of her ability and ran to find a door. Her back was on fire and she had no idea what to do or where to go. She suddenly saw a green door that looked like grass as she felt the urge to go to it. Aria heard the demon coming close to her as she bolted to the door and was soon through it. She was panting and gasping for air as she relaxed a little bit. Back in the hospital room Aria's heart rate went rocketing high up before it calmed down when she reached safety. Soon, though, they saw blood leaking from the bed and coming from her back. Soon a small team of doctors swooped in and bandaged her back up. No stitches lucky enough. The doctors allowed them to stay as they saw the ext horrible memory play. Aria was now 12 and in the park. She went over to a bench and sat there.
"I hate this memory." She muttered as Archie and his parent's eyes widened.
"Oh no. This is when she got her scar!" Archie yelled in horror.
"Scar?" Betty questioned.
"What scar?" Veronica asked.
"Aria suffered a burn injury and has a bad scar. It's why she never likes to swim without a tee shirt on." Archie said as he cringed at the memory.
"I only found out a few months ago when Aria fought Vinnie Wells at Pop's." Archie said.
"I remember that. She defended me and the cops came and questioned me to see if it was out of self defense and I admitted it was." Big Ethel said as the scene played out up to the cigarette landing right on her side that was soaked in vodka. Soon the fire started on her as she screamed in pain. Midge covered her mouth as Moose held her close. Betty covered her mouth and looked like she wanted to cry as well as Veronica. Archie and his parents cringed while Big Ethel looked horrified. The Donavon's covered the twins eyes while Pops looked like he was going to be sick. Reggie and the boys looked a mix of horrified and angry. Dilton and Jughead though, they looked the worse. They had a few tears run down their face and had a look of horror and anger on them. Soon they saw how her parents and the cops didn't believe her. The witnesses told what happened and the doctors ended up believing them. Aria was in her room, crying and rocking back and forth, looking like she would break.
"Leviathan." She muttered as she was frozen stiff. She still felt the pain of the fire as she held where her scar was. Leviathan soon showed up through her closet door and tried to get her to move.
"We have to keep going. We're almost there! I can feel it!" Leviathan said to her.
"I-I-I can't!" Aria yelled out as she started bawling.
"Aria please!" Leviathan begged.
"I've held in this pain for so long! It hurts so much!" She cried out.
"We're almost done though. Look! The door's brighter than it was in the beginning! We can do it!" Leviathan said as she didn't move.
"Please! You were brave to face me when I was angry. Even when you were scared you were still brave! I know you're scared and I know it hurts. Please! We're close! You need to get out of here!" He yelled to her as she finally listened to him. She slowly got up.
"That's it! You're a brave and strong girl! You can do this! I'll be here to get you out!" He shouted just as they heard a demonic laugh followed by claws scraping against a hard surface. It was coming from her closet.
"We need to go! NOW!" He shouted as they bolted to the door and were soon through it. Aria was panting and looked terrified.
"She's never looked that scared before. Not even against the werewolf." Ronin commented.
"We need to be ready in case that demon follows her out." Doctor Beaumont said as he prepared a circle to trap it in and send it back to that realm. Aria looked around and saw her home again, except cleaner and in better shape.
"I remember this one. When dad first made friends with those cops." She said as she walked forward. Soon a 10 year old version appeared and started cleaning up.
"No no no! You're doing it wrong! God you're such a lazy fuck!" Her mother came out with a beer bottle in her hand.
"But I'm cleaning like you wanted. How is it wrong?" Young Aria asked her only to be met with the bottle being thrown at her. It broke and hurt the girl. She had a couple small cuts and a bruise forming. Soon Aria started crying.
"Enough you baby! Enough!" She yelled at her but Aria didn't stop.
"If you wanna cry like a baby then I'll give you something to cry about." She said as she soon started to beat her. She then held her down and started to choke her with one hand while the other punched her face and ribs. Aria tried to beg her to stop but she only did when the father came home with a few cops. They soon explained to them that I always misbehaved and tried to steal mom's drinks or attack them. The cops sat down and had a few beers while little Aria, all bruised up, watched from the creaked open door from her bedroom. She watched how they all drank and how her mom acted weird with the cops, dancing on their laps and such, while she silently cried.
"Why do they hate me?" She muttered as she was then reverted to her adult self.
"This was the day everything got worse." Aria muttered as she cried a few more tears. Leviathan crawled under her arm and hugged her. She looked at the boy and gave him a weak smile before gently hugging him back.
"I never knew the pain was this bad. I never felt it this far." He told her as she sighed.
"I think there's one more left." She said as she looked at the now glowing kitchen door outside her room.
"We need to go there. That should be the last one." Aria whispered as they got up and quietly sneaked into the kitchen.
"That's just plain disgusting! How could they do that?" Mary Andrews scolded as she held back a small amount of tears.
"Aria is such a kind and wonderful girl. I never would've believed it if I wasn't seeing it for myself." Pops said as everyone silently agreed. Aria and Leviathan looked around.
"Where are we know?" He asked her.
"The first time my life spiralled down the drain completely before my move to Riverdale. I was 7. After my 7th birthday my parents started drinking and being cruel. This was the point where it became neglectful and abusive." She said as she hesitated.
"I-I-" She stuttered until she felt Leviathan hold her hand.
"It's alright." He reassured with a genuine smile on his face. Aria couldn't help the smile that formed on her face.
"Alright." She whispered as she went over to the phone. Now she appeared as an adorable little 7 year old with big eyes and her hair short to her shoulders wearing green footsie pajamas.
"Merry Christmas Eve to you too Archie! I'll talk to you tomorrow! I still have to put cookies and milk out for Santa!" She said in an adorable voice. Everyone awed at her voice.
"She looks like a little doll." Veronica commented.
"I love you to Archie! Bye!" Little Aria said as she used the chair she stood on to hang up the phone back to the wall. She then hopped off the chair and pushed it back. Little Aria soon reached for the plate of cookies and the glass of milk as she went into the living room. Her parents were drinking red wine and laughing.
"Why are you still up? And what are you doing?" Her father suddenly scolded her.
"I was saying goodnight to cousin Archie! I always do on Christmas Eve. You know that daddy." She said to him.
"And what are those for?" He asked in a taunting way.
"There for Santa!" She said proudly as she sat them down on the table.
"Santa? Santa! What's so great about a fat imaginary man! He shouted at her. Little Aria scrunched up, clearly scared of him, as she soon found her voice.
"But Santa's real. He brings joy and peace." Little Aria squeaked out. Soon her father stood up.
"Why does the imaginary fat man get more respect than I do? Hm? Why?" He suddenly got in her face and yelled at her.
"He is real! He is!" She shouted as he the smacked her so hard across the face that she fell onto the floor. Tears soon spilled from her eyes.
"He's a made up man that doesn't exist. He's fake. He doesn't deserve those cookies or your respect!" He yelled as he dumped the milk oh her and then crumbled the cookies on her little body. The mother just laughed at all of this.
"I'll do this every year if you keep this up! Grow up!" He yelled at her. Aria got up and ran to her room in tears.
"Run little cry baby! Run and cry!" Her mother yelled at her before she laughed. Aria ran into her room and jumped on her bed with tears in her eyes.
"You never should've existed!" They both constantly yelled before it finally died down. She looked around as Aria was now in my normal aged body form.
"Leviathan?" She called out and began looking for him. No doors. No windows. Back in the hospital room everyone was in shock.
"He lost his job and had to work a dead end job. He found out his wife cheated in him but still stayed with her. They both even turned to booze. Instead of accepting what had happened she had him blame Aria for being born. It's horrible." Fred Andrews said as everyone had no idea what to say or how to act. Aria's body was fidgeting and soon moved violently. Aria was in a panic. She was roaming around the room trying to scratch at the walls. She soon heard the growling sound and saw the demon had her cornered.
"No escape now." He taunted as he then chuckled. Aria screamed and panicked. Soon the demon attacked her. She tried to fight but ended up being held down, arms above her head with one clawed hand, as the other caressed her cheek. She struggled and panicked as tears rolled down he cheeks.
"Cry all you want. I don't mind." He said as she saw chains appear. He was about to bind her and the chains together when Leviathan in shadow form burst though the wall and attacked.
"Aria run! Go through the hole! You'll be back home!" He shouted as he and the demon were tossing each other around. Aria had no choice but to comply as she ran through the hole. Soon she was sent hurdling in her body and that's when she jolted up from the bed, in a sitting position, and shrieked lightly. She panted as she looked around to see her friends and family looking at her. Before anyone could say anything there was a growl sound. She looked up and saw the demon above her. Aria screamed when Doctor Beaumont chanted a few words and, after a bright glowing light, the demon was gone.
"He won't be coming back." Doctor Beaumont commented.
"I'm glad you made it alright." Everyone heard a child's voice. Aria looked in front of her, and everyone else looked in the direction she looked in, and saw Leviathan, as a child again but with no wounds and a more natural color to him, as he smiled at her. He ran up to her and hugged her. She hugged him back.
"I'm sorry I put you through all that! I was selfish and should've crossed over a long time ago." He said as she stroked his hair.
"It's alright. I'm not mad. Even though I had to relieve all my worst memories I'm glad I did." She told him. He pulled away and looked at her.
"Why?" He asked in curiosity.
"Well. I met a wonderful boy who was lost and needed to find his way home. That's all. And I'm glad I did all that to be with people who really do care for me. I see that now. More so than before." She admitted to everyone.
"I need to go soon." Leviathan told her.
"I know." Aria replied with a smile.
"Before I go. Can you finish the story?" He asked sweetly. Aria smiled at him.
"Red stepped closer and closer to the woods until she heard a branch break behind her. At first she shrieked because she thought she saw a big black bear. But when she fell over and got a better look she realized it was just a cub, using the shadows to look bigger, as he stared at her.
"Are you Levi?" She asked him.
"Indeed I am. I'm glad to meet you Red." He said to her as he hopped on her chest and hugged her.
"They're mom is here. She's taking them from your home now." Levi told her.
"But what of you?" She asked him.
"I cant go home. Not without something I lost." He told her.
"What did you loose?" She had asked him.
"A feather to help me go home. The feather shines like silver." He told her.
"Oh! I had found a feather like that not to long ago! It is in my home." Red exclaimed as she carried the bear cub to her home. She saw the mother bear outside her home with Landon and Duncan.
"You must be Red. I've heard so many nice things from the yellow bird in the woods. Thank you for caring for my cubs." The mama said as red smiled at her.
"Always happy to help." She said as she went inside and grabbed the feather. She then saw two silver pendants, one with a blue gem and one with green, put on a silver chain each. Red then decided to grab those too. She went outside to the other cubs.
"So you never forget me Landon gets green and Duncan gets blue." Red said as she put the necklaces round their necks to show them proudly.
"Thank you Red! We'll miss you!" The twin cubs said as they hugged her. She hugged them quickly before letting them go and setting Levi down.
"And here is your feather Levi. I hope you may find home now." Red said as she gave him the feather. Soon he sprouted silver wings and smiled at her.
"Thank you Red. Now I can go back to the clouds to continue watching over the cubs." Levi said as he flew up before he stopped.
"Here is a gift for you! As a thank you!" Levi yelled down as a piece of cloud soon appeared in front of her. When she touched it, it turned into a stuffed black bear with silver wings.
"When you feel sad or alone just talk to it. I'll hear you and send you a message any way I can." He said to her.
"Thank you!" She shouted to him as she held the bear close to her with one arm and waved goodbye to him with the other. Levi soon flew up into the clouds while the mother bear took her twin cubs back into the woods and to their home. Red would never forget that night. She would never forget her friends. She has grown old now with kids of her own but still lives in the same home. Every night she still talks to the toy bear and when she was lost of needed help Levi would always send her a sign if she looked hard enough for it.
~The End!"
Aria ended the story as Leviathan smiled up at her.
"I liked that story." He told her.
"I knew you would." Aria replied with a smile.
"Here. So you can talk to me when you feel alone or scared at night." Leviathan said as he handed her his stuffed bear.
"You need him more than I do." He added in as Aria looked at him, then the bear, and then held it close to her as she looked at him.
"Thank you Leviathan. I'll treasure it for as long as I live." I told him as he smiled at me.
"I know you will." He said as he turned and went to the Donavon's.
"I'm sorry I caused you a lot of trouble. I was just alone for so long." He said as the twins hugged him.
"We understand." Mr. Donavon said to him.
"If my son's and Aria can forgive you then so can I." Mrs. Donavon told him.
"I have to go now. My best friend and grandma are waiting for me." He said as he walked over to a wall. We all saw a light but only Aria saw the stairs that lead to the gates of heaven.
"I'll wait for you Aria. Maybe you can be my mommy when it's time." He said as she nodded lightly to him. He smiled and said goodbye to everyone as he started walking up the steps. Once he went through the gates, AKA has crossed over, the light soon disappeared and left peace behind.
"I hope I didn't worry anyone." Aria said as they soon bombarded her with hugs and tears. Dilton and Jughead kissed her cheeks and make sure she was alright.
"Thanks to my orb we saw everything. Well except for heaven All we saw was a bright light." Doctor Beaumont said as Aria's face paled and her eye grew wide.
"S-so. Y-you s-saw?" She started to ask but Archie interrupted her.
"Yeah. All your horrible memories. It was painful to watch. It hurt us just to see." Archie explained as everyone slowly agreed.
"Aria why didn't you ever tell us it was that bad?" Her uncle asked her.
"It was hard to prove. I never thought it would escalate like that. I didn't know what to do. I'm glad I'm not there anymore though." Aria confessed. After a couple hours, and Aria telling Reggie his 2nd great grandfather says hello, Aria was well enough to go home. Everyone seemed to baby Aria and she had to ask them to stop. Once she got home she insisted on writing the mystery with Archie and, after a few minutes of protesting from Archie and his parents, they finally agreed.
*Aria's POV*
"And so this one was the most painful and tear jerking mystery we've encountered yet. ~Archie. Due to me not wanting many people to know my past and memories we've decided not to say much except each one was worst than the last. But it was worth so much to not leave my friends and remaining loving loyal family sad and alone. ~Aria. Sometimes thing are not what they seem. This vengeful ghost was just a lost and lonely child who wanted love. While this might not be the case all the time, Aria was right to decide to help Leviathan and risk a lot to help him find happiness and prove to him he wouldn't be alone in heaven. ~Archie. Heaven really is a warm and kind place. I can guarantee that if you continue to do good things and help when you can, no matter how small, you can see it and be there. Also know that you will never be alone once you get there. ~Aria. It's nice to know that you won't be alone there. It's also nice to know that no matter where you are you will never be truly alone. ~Archie. ….Especially in a little town called Riverdale! ~Archie and Aria."
We wrote the article and saved it as I yawned and stretched.
"Are you really truly happy Aria?" Archie suddenly asked me. I looked at him before I straightened myself and smiled at him.
"More than you think Archie. Even with bad days and other problems I can still appreciate the happiness I have here. And no I won't become a religious nut job on you." I told him as I then assured him about the religion thing.
"That's good. On both things." He said. We hugged each other and said goodnight as I went to her room. I looked at the bear and brought it with me to bed. I tucked myself in and turned my lamp off.
"Goodnight Leviathan. Sweet dreams." I whispered in the Bear's ear as I soon fell asleep.