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Started by @CW-BornConfuzzledLeftILoveYa
tune

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@CW-BornConfuzzledLeftILoveYa

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Drugs, underage sex, losing a loved one, suicide
“Come on, Turtle, it’ll be fun,” Annie said, shoving the box of pink hair dye toward him. The nine-year-old boy looked up at her with wide, frightened eyes. His sister smiled warmly down at him, strands of soft golden hair framing her pale face. Freckles lightly dusted her nose and cheekbones, making her look younger than she was.“Ma and pa will be mad,” he mumbled, fiddling with strands of his dark brown hair.“No they won’t. They let me dye my hair all of the time,” she argued, pushing him toward the bathroom. “C’mon, please? Make your sister happy.” The boy huffed, making a face and letting his sister guide him to the sink.“Fine.”“Yay!” She said, jumping a bit. Her blue eyes were lit up with excitement, and the child tried to hide a smile. He loved seeing his sister like that. These days, she rarely let a smile touch her lips.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His mop of wavy hair fell in front of his tired blue eyes. Turtle blinked, confused. He looked far too exhausted for his age. He looked stretched thin and broken, years of pain staring back at him through the piece of glass. With a sigh, he turned away from the mirror and reached for the bottle of pink hair dye, but it was gone. The boy’s eyes widened, and he whirled around. Annie was gone, too.“No,” he said quietly, eyes filling with tears. The lights flickered. “No, you can’t leave me like this. Not again.” His voice echoed in the empty room. The temperature dropped, and he shivered, falling to his knees. “Not again.”Even though the room was filled with the sound of his ragged breathing and mumbled words, it was too silent to him without Annie’s soft voice. Too dark without her warm smile, too cold without her comforting presence, too empty without her there. He curled up on the floor, hugging himself and sniffling, as the world crumbled away.
Tyler woke up with a gasp. It had only been a dream, but the empty, longing feeling lingered, just like it always had. It was there from the time he was a 9-year-old boy, when his sister ran away from home and ended up dead. Tyler sat up, looking around. A girl from his school was sprawled out on his bed, blue sheets tangled around her legs. Tyler’s face turned red as he realized that she wasn’t wearing much. He looked around the room. Crushed pills and empty syringes were scattered over his table. There was white powder and unfamiliar stains on his carpet.
It looked like the aftermath of a usual night for Tyler. But his headache was getting more and more painful. It felt like the worst hangover he’d ever had, time one hundred. Something was wrong, this time. Within minutes he was curled in a ball crying, wishing it would stop. His body felt like it had been set on fire and tazed, searing heat and cold rushing through his skin. His body began to convulse, and the noise around him fading into static. The world seemed to fold and combust, then fold again. White light flashed over and over again. If Tyler could scream, he would, but the noise got caught in his throat. He sat there in silence, pain overtaking him until darkness finally washed over him and pulled him into unconsciousness. He woke up with a groan, feeling groggy. Unfocused blurs of gold color swam in his vision. He sat, up, rubbing his eyes and blinking at the figure in front of him. A voice soft as velvet filled his ears.
“I’m sorry,” it said. Tyler recognized the voice instantly. His eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, squinting at the figure. It was a young girl with golden hair that brushed the tops of her shoulders, those same faded freckles he remembered from when he was a little boy. She smiled sadly at Tyler.
“A-Annie,” he stuttered. His voice was much higher pitched than normal. “Wait-but you’re-you can’t be-you’re not-”
“I know. I’m dead,” she whispered, providing the words for him. Annie stepped forward, and Tyler stepped back, not sure what to think. “But… I felt guilty, leaving you the way I did. I know that I told you that I ran away. Looking back, that might not have been the best idea, but I didn’t know what else to say. You were so young, I didn’t think that you could’ve handled it if you knew that I had…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her boots. Tyler scowled.
“What, you thought it was a better idea for me to think you were still out there? I spent six years hoping you were alive, looking forward to seeing you someday. Two years I looked for you, only to find out that you were dead the whole time.” Tears fell down his face. “I… I went crazy.”
“I’m sorry,” Annie said, frowning. “I never wanted to hurt you.” Her words made Tyler feel bitter, anger stirring in his core as he scowled at Annie.“Maybe you should’ve thought things through before killing yourself and letting me think that you were still alive.” “I know. I was wrong. I’m sorry.” “Then why are you here?” he hissed. For a moment, there was silence.
“Turtle… there’s a pit in your soul. A huge gaping void. It’s been tearing you apart, and when you found out what really happened to me, it got worse.” He looked down at his shoes, not saying anything. “But I want you to know that I’m not really gone. I never was. I’ve always been here with you, and I always will be.” She smiled at him warmly, stepping away from him. He just looked down, not sure what to think.“Annie… I-” Suddenly, the room filled with bright light. The feeling of painful heat filled his body again and he yelled in surprise, rushing toward his sister. “Wait, no, not yet!” He cried. He might've been upset with what she did, but he wasn't ready to let her go again.“It’s okay!” She yelled, surging forward, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder. “You won’t see me, but I’m still here, it’s okay…”His arms reached out toward her, but then stopped as his body began to shiver again, the universe, folding and unfolding, pressing and stretching his body in painful ways for what felt like an eternity.
Moments later, Annie was gone, and Tyler was in a hospital bed. He blinked, confused and astonished at what had just happened. A steady beeping sound filled the room as he was lulled to sleep. A warm feeling blossomed in his chest, filling up the empty space that was once there. The silence in his life was finally broken, and his life was filled with a comforting warmth. Before he slipped away into a peaceful dream, he thought, ‘I got to see my sister again.’