Chapter 13: Storied Life of Mia Rogers
"But Mom…"
"Sweetie, it's just for a little while, until I can find us a place to live."
"You've said that a thousand times before and he still finds us no matter where we go…"
Mia Rogers sighs heavily in annoyance, tucking the phone under her chin as she sits in her grandparent's bedroom. She brushes some brown hair behind her ear… yet another reminder of how she looks more like her father than her mother. Even when she looks into her grandmother's vanity mirror across the room, all she can see is her father. Her mousy brown hair, her blue eyes, her imperfect figure… everything was a reminder that she was her father's child, not her mother's.
Her mother always reassured her daughter that she went through "the ugly duckling" phase too. When Caroline White-Rogers was in high school, she hated how she looked, saw every imperfection on her body, but she'd grown out of it and become a beautiful woman… a woman who attracted a monster. A monster who continuously pursued them, fuelled by his addiction to alcohol and a desire to harm those who "wronged" him.
"Why did you marry him in the first place?" the teenager asks.
"You know why," Caroline White-Rogers says.
"Mom, the only way we're ever actually going to be rid of him is if we leave the country, change our names, or outright kill him."
"Amelia Alexius Rogers…!"
"Come on Mom, you have to have daydreamed about it a few times."
"I will not listen to this."
"Mom, I can speak however the hell I want about that bastard! He's done nothing to earn the title of my father. All he did for you was to provide the genetic material. He's been a deadbeat since the day you brought me home from the hospital; he wasn't even there when you gave birth. He's never held down a job, he's slept with more women than any of us can keep track of (Lord knows how many other children he has out there), he drinks like the world is going to end, and the only thing he's ever given you or I are physical scars and lasting post-traumatic stress problems."
"Regardless of what he's done, I won't have you talking about taking another person's life."
"Why? He's talked to me about doing that to you since before I even knew the meaning of death."
There's an equally heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. Caroline lays back on the bed in her hotel room, desperately trying to reason with her daughter. She knew full well that both of them were victims of abuse and she was stuck in the abuse cycle; defending the monster who had given her the greatest gift in the world. She tries day in and day out to stop supporting this man who never earned the right to be a husband or a father. Her stomach turns violently in guilt, for putting her daughter into this complicated situation. Her life-long problems of abuse with her mother, made her think that yelling and hitting were considered "normal." Even after her mother's death and her being taken in by the Walter's, giving her a family and a sister in Sharon (Walter) Denbrough, the trauma was still there. She just seemed to be drawn to abusive people. It's a pattern she desperately wishes she could break for the sake of her daughter, but Joel's relentless pursuit to gain possession of the "only good thing he ever did," made it so hard. Even after restraining orders and the revoking of parental rights, Joel Rogers insisted on taking Mia away to hurt Caroline. It also didn't help that not even the threat of her adoptive father's rifle could keep the man away and off the family property. Joel might be an alcoholic, but he was smart and practically fearless.
Caroline had worked day and night to find a safe place for her and her "little girl" to live, to give Mia the stability she so desperately needed, but her lack of funds, her past with the police, her hatred of big cities, and the predator that was her ex-husband soured this. It was why Mia was now living in the countryside with her adoptive grandparents, in the hopes that they could provide safety until Caroline found a job and a house that could support both of them. However, Joel had found them and hung around the small town close to the family farm; preying like a shark and trying to grab his daughter when she was alone. Even if he wasn't allowed within fifty feet of his offspring, he still pushed the limits to find out what was illegal and what wasn't. The police couldn't arrest him if he kept that exact distance.
His threats of stealing his daughter and disappearing forced Mia to only be able to go two places; school and the farmhouse, and even then, several police officers had to escort her on and off school property and Grandpa Zeke had to be there at the bus stop with a loaded rifle. Caroline can't imagine the kind of toll this is taking on her daughter: she knew what it was like to be an outcast in high school and how hard it was to make any friends. The situation her daughter was in with this monster did not help at all.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry Mia, it just happens sometimes. I can remember a time when he was so sweet and caring."
"I know Mom, you've told me" the young girl sighs, rolling her eyes. "But let's face it, even those memories were fake, and the guy will not stop unless he's stopped."
"I just want what's best for you sweetie."
"Most moms do," the teenager agrees.
"I have a few interviews coming up in the next month, better-paying jobs that might give us the fresh start we need."
Like I haven't heard that before, the girl thinks to herself, rolling her eyes. "Is it with the military or selling weapons? Because that's the only way we're ever going to be safe from him."
"Mia…"
"Mom, this is driving me insane! Why are you even bothering?! Just let me stay here until I turn eighteen and then I can go wherever the hell I want, and that bastard won't be able to find me!"
Her daughter's desire to just escape breaks Caroline's heart a little bit. She wanted to watch her daughter graduate and go off to college, but she wanted to spend a least little more time with her baby before she moves out. She knew the constant separation and moving made that so hard, which is why it made her so sad that her daughter just wants to leave.
"Well, clearly the farmhouse is no longer an option, which is why you're going to move to Hawkins to be with your Aunt Sharon."
"Mom, small towns don't work, he'll find us."
"I'm sorry Baby, but she is the last person we can turn to… you know that."
Mia can hear the pleading in her mother's voice. The desperation and exhaustion are clear, the woman is at the end of her rope in trying to keep her daughter safe. Every other relative or close friend that the girl had stayed with became so frightened by the bastard Joel, that they kept sending her to live elsewhere.
The teenager stays silent, letting the tears fall from her eyes. She hated her life. It just sucked so badly. She'd love to trade for anyone else's normal existence. She can't have a family, she can't have a home, she can't have friends, she can't even have a boyfriend because of that bastard. She can't even feel safe wherever she lives. He's taken everything from her, and it hurt so badly.
Just then, the lamp next to her grandparent's bed flickers a few times and pictures on the nearby dresser shake a bit. Even her grandmother's rocking chair begins to act up. Ignoring this, Mia pounds her fist against the bed in frustration and shuts her eyes to squeeze out more tears.
"I'm sorry Mom, but like you… I can't take this anymore."
"I love you, sweetheart," her mother says gently, knowing this is all she can say.
"I love you too."
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, make sure you start packing."
"Yes Mom," she groans before hanging up the phone.
The teenager than stands up from the bed and brushes past her grandmother's rocking chair, stopping it from creaking back and forth. Weird stuff like this happened all the time; but the farmhouse was old, lights didn't always work, and the place shifted and settled. Honestly, if this stuff meant anything, it was probably the demon that haunted her and made her life a living hell. A manifestation of her father's anger, that she carried with her wherever she went.
She leans in front of the vanity, staring at her reflection.
She hated what she saw: an ugly duckling with a hellish life and with no end in sight.
"What are you looking at?" she hisses at her reflection, glaring at herself.
She then looks onto the table of the vanity and finds her parent's wedding photo, but with Joel Rogers now having been ripped out, leaving one-half of the frame empty.
"You ruin everything," she mutters at the ripped section of the frame. "There's a special place in hell for people like you."
She grinds her teeth and tosses down the photo. She clenches her fists and lets the anger rush through her.
Just then the vanity mirror shifts backwards as if by some invisible force. It slams against the wall, taking Mia by surprise. She looks at herself in the mirror for a long moment, sort of spooked, even if this wasn't uncommon anymore.
"Mia dear, can you please come down make a salad for dinner?" her grandmother's sweet voice calls up to her.
"Sure Nana," the girl says, before leaving her grandparent's bedroom.
She clenches her hands into fists one more time, wishing beyond anything in the world that her life was different.
A/N: An introduction to Mia Rogers. It's clear that her life is pretty bad right now, but things might look better when she moves to Hawkins... we never know. Let me know what you think about her by following and leaving reviews.