chapter 0.2

And I was runnin' far away
Would I run off the world someday?
Nobody knows, nobody knows
And I was dancing in the rain
I felt alive and I can't complain

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

2 years later, june, 2005

"I'm home!" Caroline shouted in a sing-song manner, entering the house after her additional evening math tutoring. She quickly got rid of her shoes, and threw her back pack on the kitchen island. The perky thirteen year old took a fast glance across the first floor of the house, finding nobody present. She shrugged and began to mindlessly rummage through the fridge. Picking out some dinner leftovers and heating it up, she headed towards her room upstairs.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard some pop punk music coming from the room across the hall. Surprised━because Jade is never home in the evening, at least on those days where their father is not home━she pushed open the already ajar door.

She found her older sister sitting by her vanity, applaying mascara on her deep, blue eyes that were already highlighted with black eyeshadow. The seventeen year old was wearing an oversized T-shirt of some emo band Caroline didn't recognize, under that she had a flared denim mini skirt, her legs were wrapped in gray-and-black striped tights, heavy combat boots bouncing to the music.

"Mum's not home." Jade said bluntly, preoccupied with her eyelashes. Liz Forbes was━shockingly━still at the sheriff's station, busy with some Mystic Falls criminal shit, that the blonde didn't care about. This town had no criminals. Not ones that were worth locking up, of course.

"Yeah? I didn't notice." the younger girl's voice was filled with sarcasm. Rolling her eyes, she added "She's probably sitting in that stupid station trying to kill time until daddy returns tonight." Jade froze in the middle of applying lip gloss, and turned her head towards her sister. "But seriously, is it so hard to sit at home sometimes?" Jade snorted at that.

"He's coming tonight? Why the fuck don't I know anything about it?" Jade's face was formed in a scowl. She sniffed her nose and immediately started to feel exhausted. Although that's impossible at the moment.

"What are you talking about? I told you two days ago! Were you even listening to me?" Caroline dramatically exclaimed, leaning on the doorframe. She took a glance across the room, it was pretty messy. There were clothes scattered on the floor, the entire desk was practically covered with various drawings and books, the bed was unmade and the smell of cigarette smoke began to hit her nostrils.

"It's hard to listen to you sometimes Carrie, so I tend to turn off my hearing when you open your mouth." Jade stated the obvious, raising her eyebrows, blinking rapidly. Two days ago... that must've been the day she and Vicki went to that college party in Richmond. Liz had a nightshift that day, so Jade came back around 4 a.m, clearly not sneakily enough. She doesn't remember talking to anyone though... flashes of stumbling on the stairs trying to find her room━yes, but no talking, no. Maybe it's because she was high as a kite and still had some leftover vodka on her tongue as a party souvenir.

Bitch. Caroline thought. The thirteen year old scoffed, taking a note of that weird eye twitch. "You can't even━you know what? I don't care. Where do you think you're going? You can't leave." Nerves were starting to get to her. Caroline instatly imagined what would happen if dad came home to find an absent Jade and winced at the thought.

She could not understand why her sister was treated the way she was. Sure━she was a bitch sometimes, but not on that level that she had to pay for it with bruises. She admired Jade for her tenacity, wishing to be more like her in the future. Well, okay, not totally like her, but you know what she means. She was a great actress, pretending every day that the mention of their father didn't move her. Caroline was thirteen years old, not stupid. She knew Jade didn't want to shed the burden of her father's anger, afraid she may infect her little sister with it. Younger Forbes was filled with gratitude for it, yet she didn't want her sibling to have to go through it all alone. Although Vicki annoyed Caroline, she was grateful that her older sister had someone to share her sorrow with.

"I don't know mum, can't I?" the seventeen year old teased with a dumbfounded expression.

„Can you be serious for one second?" Caroline says, already tired of her sister's teatrics.

„I don't think so, my hair is blond, not black you see━" her next sarcastic comment was interrupted by a bun thrown towards her head. „Okay, okay! I'm listening now." Jade raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. „Just stop wasting food. Do you know how long it took me to bake these fucking buns? It turns out that it's not as easy as it looks." she whined, sniffing.

Since their mother was always at work, Jade took over the responsibility of taking care of the food some while ago. She was also better at it than Liz, whose special dish was a reheated instant lasagna, so it worked out for everyone. The elder Forbes also drove her younger sister to middle school every morning and then picked her up couple of hours later.

„I'm going out with Vicks." She finally answered the long-standing question. „There's this annual bonfire party today in the woods. You know, the one to celebrate the end of the school year." she finished with an another nose sniff.

Caroline hummed, acknowledging the answer. "Sure, and what about dad? You know he's gonna flip when he won't see you here at midnight."

"Chill out, I'll be back before then. Don't you worry your little head." Jade grins and a minute of a comfortable silence passed. Comfortable to Jade, at least. Caroline spoke again.

"Since when are you doing it again?" she asked with a serious expression, fed up with the sniffs.

Jade froze for a second, slightly dropping her smile. Quickly putting on her mask of indifference, she turned her head again to the mirror and said. "I don't know what you're talking about." A lie.

"Oh, don't bullshit me. I'm not mum."

"Well you clearly━"

"Oh my god, Jade!" Caroline shouted.

"I'm not 'doing it' again." More lies. "Matt just got a cold and me and Vicki were watching him yesterday. Must've catch some of it, I dunno. Chill." she huffed starting to pack her bag.

"Yeah, let's say i believe you." I don't.

"Yeah, you should." You shouldn't.

A moment of silence passed and two sisters connected their gazes again.

"Is that all? Or you're still in my room to continue to annoy me?" Jade questioned with sass.

"I'm not in your room." Caroline responded looking at her feet, which were inches to her older sister's doorframe. She looked at the older girl with a satisfied smirk.

"Ugh, just get out, would ya?" Jade sighed, walking up to the door.

"But Jade I'm just━"

"Out!" in next second the door were slammed inches from Caroline's face.

"I'm just worried about you, you bitch." the thirteen year old mumbled under her nose and started to head in her original direction.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Couple of hours later, Jade and Vicki were sitting on a log in the woods, a bonfire long since lit, lots of teenagers dancing around. Two red cups in their hands, disgusting, cheap alcohol inside. The girls were swaying lightly to the music, the brown-haired one visibly a little downhearted.

"Keep looking at that cup like that, and you'll burn a hole in it." the blonde chuckled softly side-eyeing the girl to her left. Vicki snorted at that. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Vicki let out a deep sigh lifting her gaze from the cup to the bonfire. "Mom's leaving. Again." she said after a couple of seconds.

"Ouch, Vicks, I'm sorry."

"No━it's okay. It's not like it's something new." Vicki chuckled humorlessly.

"So, what's the new excuse's name?"

Vicki let out a snort and shrugged her shoulders taking a large gulp from her cup. "I dunno, I stopped listening after she said that 'she found the one.' Mike? Mateo? Mason? Who the fuck keeps up at this point."

Jade hummed "True." she commented, taking out a ciggarette and lighting it. She offered one to Vicki, which she took with a thankful look. "How's Matt dealing with it?"

"Same old, he believes every word she says. Keeps asking her some dumb questions like━you ready?━"So what's he like? Does he like football? Will he teach me to play it?"  Vicki said taking a drag from her cigarette. "I know better, of course, but it just breaks my heart when he lights up like that."

"God, that's just straight up sick." Jade let out with a disguisted look. "So it's just you two again?"

"Yup." Vicki nodded slowly, pronouncing the last letter with a pop, still staring at the bonfire. "But we'll be alright, we always are. I just got to play mom again." It was Jade's turn to nod slowly and look thoughtfully at the bonfire. Lost in thought, she kept smoking her cig.

Poor Donovans. Jade is always entranced with happiness when her father leaves, because it means she can experience some freedom and not have to worry about her perfect daughter façade. Vicki's case is different, she actually really loves her mother, despite her myriad fuck ups. She may say she gave up with her expectations, but her eyes tell a different story. She taught her that, after all. She's hurt by her mother's actions, each time wondering if she and Matt are not good enough for her to stay.

"Okay." Jade said with determination, standing up and turning to her best friend. "Enough wallowing for this night." Vicki looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I've got something that will make this night a bit better." The blonde added cheekly, putting her hand in her bag. Discreetly, she showed the brown-haired girl what she's talking about.

"Oh, you sneaky bitch. What about your curfew?" she asked with a smirk, lacing the last words with sarcasm.

"Fuck curfew." Jade replied with devilish grin.

Too excited for dope, she forgot one small point, namely who would be visiting the Forbes' residence tonight.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The party was on going for some time now. The drug influenced friends were dancing with someone around the campfire, without a single thought in their heads. Jade pulled away from her dance partner and shouted to Vicki. "I'll be right back! I need a smoke." The brown-haired girl simply nodded and returned to canoodlimg passionately with some guy.

The Forbes girl skipped her way to their log, quickly finding her bag and beginning to rummage through it, finding a vibratting phone. She looked at the time, then at the caller's ID and froze.

Oh fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckingfuckfuck. Fuck.

Not good. Absolutely not fucking good.

One in the fucking morning. Father's been home for a fucking hour.

Fuck my life.

She flipped her phone open and sobered up instantly. Okay, she didn't sober up at all, she was still high as a kite and completely drunk. Horrified━she looked at the screen and saw that she had a total of 54 missed calls. 28 from Caroline, 25 from her mother and... one from her father.

Flooded with cold sweats, she got up from the log and ran towards Vicki with light speed. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, partially from the drugs and partially from terror. Finally being close to the girl, she grabbed her sharply by the arm and pulled to a semi-secluded spot. "It's fucking one!" She whisper-shouted through gritted teeth.

"So?"

"What the fuck do you mean 'so'?!" The blonde ran her sweaty hands through her knotted hair in a desperate manner. "I just fucking remembered that my father's coming back tonight." Jade exclaimed with wide and pupil dileted eyes. Vicki let her mouth drop. "Correction━he is currently in the house and is probably preparing a shotgun." The blonde ran her hand through her face and looked up at the stars. "I'm good as dead." she laughed nervously, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

"Oh shit. Oh... fucking... shit. You just remembered?" Vicki exclaimed, gesturing violently with her hands. "Jade━"

"I have to get back right the fuck now. Caroline's in the house, maybe that will get him a little under control. Jesus fucking Christ, I'm so stupid." she huffed, walking quickly to the log to gather her belongings.

"Jade, I need to tell you some━"

"Later. I need to go before he blows my mother's head off with said shotgun." she interrupted her nervous friend, not noticing her strange manner.

Vicki shifted nervously in her position, nodding abruptly. "Just please call me, okay? I need to know if you're alive."

"I'll try, but can't promise to that alive thing."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

At this point, it was 1:28 a.m. On the way home, the Forbes girl tried to sober up as much as possible. She drank probably a liter of water, puked out half her stomach and rubbed her eyes the whole way hoping that her pupils would magically return to their original state. Chewing gum to prevent her jaw from chattering, she put her keys in the lock and turned it twice to the left.

Passing through the doorframe, she saw the same view she had imagined all the way home. All the lights were on, her mother was standing in the kitchen, her eyes burning a hole in the countertop, Caroline was sitting on the stairs with her back against the banister, eyes closed, and her father was sitting in his chair with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a peaceful look.

She stood for a moment, watching everyone present closely, anticipating the slightest movement or sound. Yet nothing happened, their positions did not change, they looked like a display in a museum. Trying as hard as she could, summoning her inner Oscar-worthy acting skills, and praying to all the gods that no one would suspect anything, she spoke up.

"Well, hello to you too, I guess."

Her sister's and mother's head snapped abruptly in Jade's direction, although her father's remained in the same place, refusing to acknowledge firstborn's presence.

The silence has returned again. Still no one spoke even a word. All the women present were terrified of what was still to come. Jade looked at her sister first, quickly looking for any injury or any sign of their father's anger. Finding nothing in particular on her body, she turned her gaze to her face━her rosy cheeks were covered with already dried tears, eyes red and eyelashes glued together in a few places.

Oh, little Carrie, She's so sorry. It's her fault, you shouldn't have to suffer because of her, you didn't do anything. She is so sorry. She's so sorry.

Don't cry, please. She doesn't deserve those tears. It's not your fault you have her as your big sister. You don't deserve this. She is so, so so sorry.

Her glassy eyes broke away from her sister and turned toward her mother. Liz's posture was slumped, her body leaning against the kitchen counter. Eyes ripped from life were fixed in one place, tears begging to be shed.

Don't be afraid mommy, nothing will happen to you. Only to her, but that's nothing new, right? Just the last eight years on a constant loophole, no way out. What are you afraid of, mommy? Her? What she has become? What she was forced to become? Are you proud of her? Are you disappointed in her? Are you disgusted with her? Fuck, say something! Whatever, mommy! Don't stand by indifferently, she's begging you.

Unable to endure the sickening silence any longer, Jade started heading toward the stairs, preferably to lock herself in her room and die there. She only managed to take three steps when she heard a voice she never wanted to hear again in her life.

"Where have you been, Jadie?" her father said softly, without taking his eyes off his glass. "I thought that when I came home after such a long absence, I would meet the whole family at home. And yet, I didn't find you. So I ask again━where have you been?"

Jade tried to swallow the large lump in her throat, no success though. She fucking hated that nickname. He knows this, only he calls her with that atrocious name, especially when Jade has done something very wrong. He is trying to play on her fears. He succeeds.

The 17-year-old stopped and slowly turned her head towards her father. With voice that was still hoarse from repeatedly vomiting fifteen minutes ago, she spoke up. "At the bonfire. It's annual, everyone from the whole school goes to it." She gulped and continued. "My phone died and I didn't notice what time it was. I'm sorry, father." she said, afraid to meet his eyes. He hummed eerily in response. Jade's little hair on her neck stood up.

Bill suddenly rose from his place in the chair, the whiskey glass still firmly in his hand. A shudder went through Jade. Caroline also stood up, watching her father's precise movements. Liz  observed the scene unfold from her place in the kitchen, still in her uniform.

"Your curfew begins when the sun sets behind the horizon. You don't need to check the time for that. Do you see any sun right now?"

"No, father." She said quietly, looking at the floor. Her teeth were clicking so hard that she felt like they were going to fall out. She just didn't know if it was because of her father's proximity or the amount of drugs in her system. Her nose was begging for a hard sniff, or at least to be wiped with her hand and her eyes couldn't focus on one spot.

"Jadie, look at me." She didn't move. Not a centimeter, not an inch, not a minimeter, nothing. She just stood there, completely frozen, screaming inside her head.

"I said━" The next move was too fast for anyone to register. He grabbed Jade violently by her bony jaw, forcing her to look straight into his eyes. "━look at me." After a few agonizing seconds of intense eye contact, Bill pushed her jaw back, forcing her to stumble black onto her younger sister. "And there it is."

Jade quickly grabbed onto her younger sister, pushing her protectively behind her. Sharp eyes now looking straight at her father. "Drugs. Really, Jadie? Have you fallen that far? And don't even try to pathetically deny it, I can see your dilated eyes now and I also found that under the mattress of your bed." he uttered venomously, pulling out a couple of empty string bags and a couple of half-full ones and tossing them on the countertop next to her mother.

The elder Forbes' girl looked at the expression on her mother's face for a moment, quizzically, as she saw no surprise. The question was━did she expect this, did she find out on her own or perhaps from someone else? No time for that now. She returned her eyes to her father's. Adrenaline was pumping so hard through her veins that it suppressed all of the fear. She took one step forward toward Bill, and hissed.

"Are you surprised? This and Vicki are my only escape from this twisted family." She tightened her grip on Caroline, saying wordlessly that she was excluding her from the statement. "No, sorry. From you. Mum's just too afraid of you, who wouldn't be? If you can do unimaginable things to your daughter, what could you do to her? How does it feel, hmm? Being such a monster that your own wife━no, the sheriff━can't stand up to you? Probably fucking awesome. Being above the law and morals."

The man did not respond to this statement with words. In a blink of an eye, he grabbed Jade's hand, with this move disconnecting her from her sister. He began dragging her toward the cursed basement. Jade, already knowing where this was going, broke free from her father's iron grip. "Well, sure! You're at a loss for words, huh? The only thing you know is fucking up defenseless girls?" Bill's face was now red with fury. Then he hissed. "You've sharpened your tongue in my absence, eh? Maybe you could use a reminder of manners." With this sentence he hit the girl's face with the back of his hand.

"Dad!" Caroline let out a gasp, shocked at the sight, since it was the first time she was in a front row of one of her sister and father's fights. When tears began to gather in her eyes, she looked desperately at her mother. Liz's lips were trembling, eyes glossy already. "Bill, stop this right now!"

The girl stumbled slightly at the impact. Then, the teenage maniac began to laugh, completely ignoring other voices. "In your absence? Is that what you call fucking someone behind mum's back?"

And this sentence was the one that made Bill stop in his tracks. Did he just looked at her with surprise? Or was it... regret? He finally tore his frantic gaze away from Jade and looked at his wife. His expression changed, was it guilt? Oh, cry me a river. "And for your information, I've always been like that, dear daddy, I just got tired of pretending."

Liz looked at Jade with a shocked expression on her face, then at her husband with the intention of saying something, yet was prevented from speaking by Jade's shouting. Everything was happening too fast. Bill grabbed Jade by her hair and slammed her head against the wall, holding her there. "You think you're seventeen years old and suddenly you're the smartest one here? I'll teach you something valuable right away, instead of talking without permission."

Jade kicked her father in the stomach, causing him to loosen his grip on her hair. She ran toward the kitchen where the rest of the family members were standing. She grabbed a knife from the countertop and pointed it in his direction. "Stay the fuck away from me." she said, her makeup long since smeared across half her face. Liz looked horrified at the scene before her, hiding her youngest daughter behind her. Discreetly, she began to reach for the gun hidden in the belt of her uniform.

"And what do you think you're going to do to me with that? You can't even hold it efficiently. It's because of the shit you have in your veins at the moment, isn't it? What is it this time, meth, coke, crack? Probably all at once." He said, slowly approaching his daughter. Fuck, he's right, Jade's hands were shaking so hard, that the knife threatened to slip out of her hands.

"And here you are. The firstborn of the Forbes family. A fucked-up junkie, the embarassment. You know, I've been wondering for some time now what was God's plan when he shed me with such a burden. I just wanted you to be the pride of the family, but no, it can't be that easy. But you didn't go down just now, no. Your downfall began when your first shook your hand with the Donovan's spawn."

"Don't you fucking dare bring Vicki into this." Jade said slowly, with as much venom as she could muster.

"Why not? Who do you think told your mother about your little powder problem?"

And that sentence caused Jade to stop in her tracks. What the fuck? He's lying, there's no absolute fucking wa━

"Cat got your tongue?" He chuckled mockingly. "Victoria was here recently, telling your mother about your little problem. Only the poor girl didn't know I was home too."

That's not even a fucking option. Vicki? What? Jade couldn't even put this sequence of events together in her head. Why? That was the only question that was on her mind right now. But one thing was certain, her father had learned about the drugs not from Jade's condition, but from Vicki's mouth. Betrayal and anger was the only emotions that flowed through her veins. How could she? How could she do it, knowing the consequences? What the fuck? Vicki, her best friend━sister from another mother━ratted her out?

What the absolute fuck?

"You're lying. I never believed any word that came out of your mouth, why should I start now?" She didn't know if she's telling that to him or herself.

"Oh, by all means! Don't believe me. It's not like you would see sun in another week, let alone her."

With that he tugged Jade by her shirt, the knife flew out onto the floor, and started dragging her toward the basement again. Caroline, noticing the knife, quickly picked it up and pointed it at her father.

"Leave her alone!" she screamed, trying to stand in defense of her dear older sister. Tears poured down her cheeks, her hands holding the knife shook so much that the knife almost started to slip out of her small hands.

"Oh, Caroline, put it down sweetheart, you'll only hurt yourself."

Jade stared at her little sister with exasperated eyes, shaking her head to stop her from doing something stupid.

"No, leave Jade alone! Can't you see that this is all your fault!?"

Upon hearing this sentence, Bill threw Jade to the floor, and directed his walk towards the thirteen-year-old. He easily took the knife from her and was already about to say something, when Jade threw herself between her father and the younger sister.

"Touch her and I'll kill you." she spat, and Bill only laughed. "I don't know when, I don't know how, but I'll find a way and I'll kill you."Jade said slowly, carefully pronouncing each word. Her face was inches away from her father's, hard eyes looking straight into his cold ones.

Bill pointed the knife at Jade and all that could be heard in the Forbes residence was the loud bang of a gun.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"No mom, I can't handle being under the same roof with that fucker any longer. Eight fucking years too long." Jade hissed, packing all of her essentials into a duffel bag.

"Jade, please, my guys are already on their way here. They will take him away, everything will be fine. He will never set foot in this house again" Liz pleaded with her daughter desperately, trying to stop her.

"It's not even about that! Everything in this fucking house reminds me of him, I won't be able to live a normal life here! Please, just try to understand." she said.

Jade was contemplating packing up her entire room when Caroline entered the room. "Mom, leave her."

Jade turned on her heel at the speed of light. Liz burned at her younger daughter with a shocked look on her face. "What?"

"Leave her. Let her go." Caroline walked over to her older sister and said softly, looking her straight in the eyes. "Go. Go and don't even think twice. You need this like no one else."

The elder Forbes looked at her tiny sister with tears in her eyes and, without a moment's hesitation, pulled her to her chest.

"Sweet little Caroline, defender of the oppressed as usual." she let out a wet laugh full of sorrow.

"Yes, yes. Don't you dare forget about me, wherever you are." she muttered, closing her eyes and absorbing her big sister's scent. Jeez, how she's going to miss that stench of cigarettes.

"Forget you? It's not fucking possible. Who else is going to get on my nerves like this, if not you?" Jade sighed, content in her's sister embrace. It's probably the first hug they shared in... a long time.

Liz looked at her daughters sadly. Her gaze joined Jade's, to which she simply stuck out her had to join their mother in a hug.

Oh god, and that never happened, like ever. It's a weird experience.

Jade sighed, pulling away from the group hug. "This is all nice and all, but I have to make one more stop along the way, so I'd better get going."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Jade drove her car through the streets of Mystic Falls, millions of questions running through her blond head. When she pulled up in front of a very familiar house, she turned off the engine and sighed deeply. She glanced at the clock. It was now well past two in the morning, but somehow she didn't care too much. She cared about almost nothing at the moment. Demanding an explanation, anger barely holding in, she got out of the car and slammed the door behind her.

She glanced around the Donovans' driveway, noting the absence of Kelly's car. She must have already left. Heh, that made a few things easier, such as the fact that she could scream all she wanted.

Jade walked up to Vicki's window and threw a small stone at it. Nothing. Waiting a couple minutes, she repeated the action and noticed that a small light came on. After a moment, she saw her best friend in the window, a puzzled and.... frightened? Look on her face. She was afraid, that's good. She should be.

"Jade? What are you doing here? Do you know what fucking time it is?" Vicki whisper shouted, tighting her cardigan, after coming out from the back door. After seeing the state of her friend━face smeared in makeup, eyes glassy, tears begging to be shed━she winced, already having idea where this is going to go. Jade's clothes were tattered, a few red, soon to be purple marks on her body. She didn't even bother to change her clothes; after packing her things, she said goodbye to her mother and sister, spat under her hand-cuffed father's shoes and got into the car.

The blond girl simply looked her best friend in the eye. Her body was slumped, tired from the whole day and its events. A minute of silence, broken from time to time only by the sound of crickets and wind.

"Jade, I━"

"What the fuck, Vicki?" Jade asked while shaking her head slightly. The gaze she gave the brown-haired young woman was the most sincere she had ever seen. No bullshit this time. Her eyes were full of betrayal, disappointment. If Vicki had strained her hearing a little more, she might have heard the sound of her friend's heart breaking. "Please explain to me what the fuck went through your head to go to my mother. And please tell me that you recently found out you were sick in the head, because that seems to be the only explanation that makes sense in my mind."

"I-I was worried about you."

"What?"

"I was worried about you! You were overdoing it! Every day when I saw you, you were high off of your shit. Even without a party! Before school, at school, after school. Our supply was disappearing three times faster at Fell's! I just started to worry about you, it wasn't normal!" Vicki shouted, gesturing violently with her hands.

"It wasn't normal..." She repeated with disbelief. "Guess what━I'm not normal! Nothing in my life is fucking normal, and you know it well! You had no fucking right." She exclaimed, pointing her finger at her friend.

"I had no right to worry about you?"

"You had no right to go to my fucking mother with this!" she hissed, full of venom. "Okay, mother is nothing. You don't even know what you did, do you? How could you though, you never think before you act." Vicki looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, waiting for an elaboration.

"Funny story. Next time you want to rat me out, make sure no one else is home." Jade let out a humorless laugh. Vicki's eyes widen like pennies. "While you were too busy telling my mother about my secret life story, daddy deariest was listening intently a few meters away." She faked smiled.

"Jade, I didn't━"

"And then" She looked at her wrist, pretending to check the time. "About an hour ago, dear old daddy started beating the shit out of me, calling me a junkie, I started threatening him with a knife, obviously. Then he beat me again, then Caroline threatened him with said knife, then he beat me again, then he took the knife from Caroline and started waving it in her direction. Then I threw myself in front of her and he started pointing the knife at my heart this time. I think he would actually do it this time. Then my mother shot him in the leg." She enumerated on her fingers the events of the moment before.

For the first time in her life, Vicki didn't know what to say. She had no idea that she could have led to something like this. All she wanted was for Jade's mother to help, to force her to finally react, instead of standing idly by. Aware of what she had done, tears began to fly down her cheeks.

"J, I'm so sorry." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't bother." Jade look at her with a dead expression. Vicki's heart shattered. "Okay, I got what I deserved. A bit of punching, slapping, banging my head against the wall, cool." She shrugged. "But." She looked into Vicki's eyes so hard, and with so much anger, that the girl got chills. Jade had never looked at her like that, except when she talked about her father. "Because of you, Caroline almost got stabbed. I could have lost my little sister today." she exclaimed in a whisper.

"Well, okay, maybe he wouldn't do it, whatever." She shook her head, taking a few steps toward Vicki. "But, because of you, what I probowed to avoid all these years happened. My little sister finally got a taste of my father's wrath. And I hate you for that." she said slowly, now only a step away from her friend. Ex-friend?

"Jade, I didn't know. You know this!" Vicki shouted, grabing the blonde's arm.

"Oh, I know. I'm just pretty petty." She replied calmly, shrugging off the girl's hand.

"So." Jade walked past her ex best friend, taking a deep sigh. "Fuck this, fuck him, fuck this hell hole of a town and fuck you. I'm so glad I won't have to see you again."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Vicki was flabbergasted, what the fuck was happening?

"Oh, you haven't got the memo? I'm leaving."

"What? Where? When?" Vicki could not believe what was happening right now. Had Jade gone completely insane?

"I dunno where, I thought I'd figure it out along the way. And when? Right the fuck now. This little chat between us was the last stop."

Vicki was in a complete shock. She couldn't do this, could she? "You can't do this. Jade, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would turn out this way! Please calm down and let's talk. I-I can't lose you, you are currently the only good thing in my life. Please, J." She took a shattered breath. "I'm so sorry J... don't leave me, please." The last part was spoken in a pleading whisper.

"Goodbye Vicks, I hope you choke on a stick." She said firmly, leaving her broken ex-sister behind and head out back to her car.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Currently, it was a little after four in the morning, the destination still undetermined. Jade sped on the highway, cigarette in her right hand, listening to the radio loudly, humming to the music.

New York? Jade had always wanted to visit Manhattan, thank her Friends' obsession. How about Paris, jump off that damn tower? She was going to do it with Vi━no. How would she get to France by car anyway? Hmm... maybe Atlanta? No, too close, mother will send one of her minions to spy on her. Los Angeles? No, too cliché. Vegas? Definitely fucking not, not now anyways.

She was going frustrated now. It all seems easier in the movies. A girl quits her old life and starts a new one in some new city. She improves her life, returns to her home and shows everyone how awesome the new she is. So easy. But how the fuck to choose where?

She let out a loud grunt of frustration, taking a drag from her cigarette. "God, Satan, whatever, if any of you are out there, give me a fucking sign, because I did not foresee that my stubborn and overthinking ass would fuck with me right now." She threw herself back on her seat, looking like a maniac at some sort of a sign━God, if only Caroline saw her now, she would never let this go.

After a few seconds of searching like a crazy person of some sort of━she didn't have a fucking idea what━letters in her head? A word? Some road sign? A magic vision? She gave up. Letting out a big sigh, she turned up the radio. She narrowed with eyes at the song, widing it instantly, when she recognized it.

"Yes my favorite place to be

Is not a land called Honah Lee"

"Fuck me sideways with a hot poker without lube." She mumbled in disbelief, registering the couple verses of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song.

"Mentally or physically

I wanna be in New Orleans"

She let the whole song play out before saying anything. "Huh." The gears in her brain were fuming right now, if you'd squint, you could actually see the smoke.

"Well, let's get to it then." She mumbled under her breath after a while, taking a sharp turn towards the state of Luisiana.

a/n: im sorry this chapter's so longgggggg (over 6k words) i just didn't see the point in dragging it into the next chaper, just wanting to get to present time (maybe a few flashbacks)

new orleans huhhh ??