(Tw: drinking/drunk teens, implied SA, religious themes/abuse, potential triggers for people with bureauphobia or scopophobia, disturbing activity/themes)
["You think you're special, but in the eyes of the government, you're just another name on the census."
The smeared words were drunkenly scribbled across Arianna's wall. Her curled form was leaning against it, one hand grasping the marker and the other grasping one of the many brown bottles around her. Black marker stained her cheek, as she almost seemed to nuzzle against the wall.
She had been being watched for the past month. Little eye emblems haunted her dreams. Strangers seemed to stare too long as she drifted by, their voices low in whisper while their phones stayed pointed near her.
Myra had been acting strange, too. Her gaze lingered far too long when Arianna wasn't looking. Not to mention, she had been notified of a new tracking item in her clothing.
Uncomfortable fear stole her mind away. Who was watching her? I mean, of course the All-father was, but who else? Why? Were they collecting information? What were they using it for?
Was she being hunted again? Was someone stalking her again? She didn't know. It wasn't the feelings that drove her fear - it was the lack of knowledge of what people were doing with the information they gained off of her. She had no control.
She couldn't take it. She couldn't take the idea of every move being watched, every conversation being listened to, every thought that passed through her head being seen. It felt violating to be known that deeply, to her.
So, she had escaped to the only place she felt truly safe.
Base wasn't safe. Not anymore. Not since daddy told her about the lies, the cameras, all of it. All of what they saw. And daddy always told her the truth. Why would he ever lie to her?
Everyone else was a liar. She didn't know who to trust - or who was watching.
In her dazed state, she looked around the room. Dark cameras, microphones, and blue eyes covered every inch of her baby pink room. The frills on her bed turned into tiny little eyes, the bows on her wallpaper into cameras, the wooden floors engraved with microphones.
Her chest rose and fell unsteadily, quickly. She rose the bottle to her mouth, muttering an apology to what she thought were angelic figures for her sins. But mindlessly, her hand kept writing. As if she had no control of it.
A voice called into her room. "My sweet Arianna. What are you doing?"
Her body instinctively tensed, but she wasn't sure why. Tears began to fill her eyes, as her slurred voice croaked out, "Da... ddddyy..."
Slowly, her head turned to look around. She wasn't sure where he was. Was his voice coming from the microphones in the floors? The eyes in her items? Or the hundreds of cameras crowding her walls?
"Little lamb, what are you doing?" The 'fatherly' voice hardened ever so slightly.
She sniffled, flinching. A soft whimper spilled out unintentionally, as tears began to helplessly pour. "Mm.. n-noth-thingg..."
There was a pause, before a gentle chuckle emitted. "Oh, my sweet girl, don't be scared! You can tell daddy what's going on! Just be honest with daddy, and nothing bad will happen." He tried to soothe the frightened teen.
A gasped sob escaped, her body shaking, "D-addy, I- I ssssinnned...." her writing hand drifted to her face, smearing more marker as she tried to wipe her eyes.
"Oh, my poor baby girl," he cooed with fake empathy. "Tell daddy what you did, and he'll pray for you."
"I- I- draa-nkk... Daddyyyy, I'mm- s-sorrry!" She pleaded, voice cracking as she choked on her tears. She buried her face in her hands. "F-forgive me... daddy, plea-se..."
"Shh, my angel, it's okay. Daddy's here. Thank you for being honest, you're such a good girl. But daddy's going to have to take that from you now, okay? ...What are you writing?" His voice took on a hardened tone after he finished comforting her.
She whimpered. "I- I dunno daddy, my... f-frrriend said it... t-to mee..."
"Are you lying to daddy?"
"N-nno! Neve-er! Daddy, plea-"
"Then tell daddy what it says."
Arianna hesitated. But, with a shaking breath, she tried to read through the wet drunken tears.
"It says.... ummmm.... y-you think-nk y-your'e sp-sp-eciaaal, b-but in the eye-es of t-the gov'ment... you-your'e jus' 'noth-therr name on- the- the ce-cen-sus..." her slurred voice could barely read the smudged, drunken handwriting.
The silence that followed was deafening. Dangerous. Something that used to make Myra flinch when she was here.
Arianna's heart skipped a beat. Oh no. Did she make daddy mad?
"I- dunno wha-aat it m-meanss!" Soft 'hic's interrupted her speech as she bawled. "I'm s-ssorry- dadd-yy!"
"... my special girl," His honeyed voice was laced with a poison Arianna knew, but didn't fully understand. "Daddy's gonna come in now. And daddy will teach you what that means. But you have to take an oath to not enlighten anyone else as to what daddy says or does. Okay?"
She whimpered, nodding, "Y-yes, daddy..."
Slowly, the door creaked open. A pure, almost heavenly light from the hallway gave the illusion of a glow, in Arianna's eyes. It made it easier to see her daddy.
However, the echo of light seemed to make her room grow darker. The bottle slipped from her hands as he approached.
All eyes were on them, listening as he bent to her height, placing a comforting hand on her upper thigh. Ari leaned into the familiar grasp, as his fingers moved closer inwards...]
Anaya shot up with a gasp. Her eyes were glowing sharply. Her flame-like magic 'hair' sparked into what looked like fire.
Her mind spun. This was the first time she had ever accidentally seen into Arianna's past. Actually, this is the first time that she's had a reverse-prophecy dream in a while. It had been a few weeks since her magic had impacted her.
She stumbled to her feet, throwing her blankets off swiftly. Her Soul was racing, chest heaving as she launched to reach the door handle.
Her body slumped against the wall. Adrenaline overpowered every feeling of being hungover from the night before. Dazed, but determined, she used the wall to push herself forwards.
She threw the door open in an instant. Questions buzzed around in her slowed mind. Fuck, where was Delta right now? Was Ari still in the house? Does Myra know? How long ago was this? Was that actually her father speaking? What was he doing to her?
Luckily, a pair of matching orange eyes met hers across the hallway.
Delta knocked on the wall to make himself known, and heavied his footsteps. "Naya? What're you doing up? You need something?"
She flinched at the suddenness of his voice. But she gasped out, "Arianna! W-where- is she?!" Her voice was barely below a whisper. He always seemed to appear when things were wrong. As if he knew ahead of time where to be.
Delta looked surprised. "Whoa- okay, okay, take a breath. Sit down, you look like you're gonna collapse. Tell me what happened." He spoke calmly as he approached.
The mention of her physical state made the feelings all the more clear. Almost immediately, he knees gave way, still aching from the night before.
But still, Anaya sputtered out, "No- it's- it's Arianna, something's wrong, you need to go check on her!"
Delta nodded. "Okay. I'll be right back." And with that, he teleported off.
Anaya caught her breath. Her hands trembled, pushing back the hair-like magic exploding from her head. How could she explain this? Was it something he already knew?
Within the next few minutes, Delta returned. He crouched next to Anaya, "Hey, I checked on Ari. She's breathing, vitals are stable, and there's no one in her room. I also tracked the cameras, and there has been no movement aside from her own. Nothing I saw near the windows, either. Now tell me what's going on?" His tone was much gentler than the teen was used to.
She jumped at his sudden presence. But, she answered, "I- I had a dream- she was fucked up! She was calling someone daddy! She was- w-was writing something on the wall, and she was drunk as shit! Fuck, what was the- it was something about the government?!
There were eyes and microphones and cameras, it was really fucking weird! And h-her room was- it was like it was made for a fucking baby! And her- whoever she was speaking to was talking from the fucking ceiling or walls or something! And when he came in, he-..."
Delta's face grew stoic, as a dangerous glow began to grow around him. It made Anaya stop.
"... what else did you see." He spoke in a hushed voice. But in spite of the soft volume, there was a certain viciousness to it. He knew there was something she wasn't saying.
She hesitated to say it. But she knew he wouldn't let it go. "... he- he touched her. On her thigh. And then... um... he started moving it up."
The energy around them grew darker. "Where." He growled.
"I- I don't know. The dream ended before I saw where he touched her. But, um... I think... I think we know. What he did." She mumbled, avoiding his sharp gaze.
Delta nodded. "I'm going to kill him." He stated rather calmly. But the violence in his eyes betrayed his demeanor.
Anaya tensed. "Should we tell mom?"
"Not yet. We need to see what Ari has to say about it in the morning." He answered, standing up. "I'm going to go double-check the windows and cameras. You wanna come with me, or do you wanna go back to sleep?"
"... i don't wanna go back to bed." She whispered, holding her arms close to her.
Delta nodded. His gaze softened slightly, and offered her a hand. "Alright. Let's get you up, then. Your head hurt? You need meds?"
She gratefully took his warm hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet with ease. "Yeah. Got any on you?"
"No, but we can stop by my room." He answered, letting go of her. "Let's go."
Anaya glanced around, before her eyes landed on her room. She stared uneasily at it, before turning back to Delta. "Yeah... let's go."
@0ceansatlas @fortunatelysporadicfun
