She’s sat on the backyard porch stairs. Everything is quiet.
She hated the quiet, but she also wanted it.
Lyssa is alone. That’s never what she wanted, before. She hated being alone when she was back at home. That was why she always clung to her father, but now there wasn’t anything to cling to anymore. There wasn't anything or anyone.
She’s alone, and little Lyssa Arlott just wants to go home even though there’s nothing left there for her. She hates having these memories. If she was just not mad and listened to Dad, then she wouldn’t have been hurt, and she wouldn’t be here. If she had just listened
“ Interesting. I never thought I’d get you alone, little beast. ”
A chill runs down her spine but she can’t move. She’s staring at the ground but she was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice the footsteps getting closer. Blue eyes go wide. She can’t breathe, and this time it’s not because she can taste metal in her mouth.
“ You usually make things quite difficult for me, but it looks like you’re finally cooperating. ”
No. No, no, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He sounds so close, too close. A little voice inside screams and begs for her to run and Lyssa recognizes it as the monster. It sounds scared. Finally, she can recognize that fear because it’s what keeps her stuck in place.
“ Nothing to say for once? Your little quips are usually quite amusing, I must say, but I don’t mind your silence. After all, you should have never been allowed to speak a word in the first place. ”
She has to run. She has to get up, she has to get back in the house, she can’t stay here. There’s a hand that grips her wrist and she’s being pulled up and away from the stairs, and finally, Lyssa can find her voice and her fight and she can look up.
“ No. ” She’s trying to pull herself away for the first time and it hurts. It hurts that she has to get away from the first person who promised to keep her safe. The man halts and he turns, mouth open to say something, and there’s a look in his eyes as they meet hers that terrifies her until it
...vanishes. His face is blank. He’s just staring at her and it’s quickly making her uneasy. Everything is so still and quiet and it feels like time has stopped. She thinks, for a moment, that maybe, she is safe. Little Lyssa Arlott, for a moment, wonders if she can see the man her father used to be in the eyes that reflected her own.
And then hopeful thinking is shattered as Mr. Arlott grips her by the collar of her shirt and that horrifying look is back in his eyes and so violently does he pull her closer, until their noses are almost touching(vaguely does she register that her feet are off the ground, but she really had other things to worry about at the moment).
“ How dare you, ” the words come out in a strained hiss. Lyssa can feel the barely-contained rage simmering beneath the surface in the way his hands shake with how hard he’s gripping her and she doesn’t understand why he’s so angry.
But it’s one question later that she does.
“ Were you truly foolish enough to think that stealing my daughter’s appearance more would save you? ”
He thinks she’s pretending. He thinks that that she’s the monster. Why does he think that she’s the monster? Why
“ My daughter is dead, and no stunts you try to pull can fool me into thinking otherwise you foul little creature. ”
Oh no. He still thinks that I’m gone.
There are no more words after that. He releases his grip on her shirt and she’s back on the ground and Lyssa crumbles. Why can’t she move? This is her chance to run, isn’t it?
He’s grabbed her wrist, pulled her up to her feet again. He’s trying to pull her away from the house.
Why can’t she run?
