Macha froze. She hadn't given Ace a choice. Am I doing this all wrong? How bad was his childhood? She bit her lip. He listened to me, and was there for me. I want to be there too., she decided. "Only share what you're comfortable with sharing.", she said gently, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "I'll listen to whatever you tell me."
"Okay." Ace looked into Macha's eyes, and upon seeing reassurance, started. "I stayed in my village for days, I know it sounds creepy, hanging around a bunch of dead bodies, but I was a kid and I didn't know anyone else and I didn't even know the world outside existed. Anyway, it was starting to get bad, and I couldn't just pretend everyone was alive. I had to accept that……They were dead and there was nothing I could do about it." Ace shifted his position. "I was hungry and I was desperate, so I decided I had to leave. And I did. Zodiac carried me around until I saw people. That's around the time I discovered that I needed money and I took up a job, as a busboy in a restaurant." All the times he'd gotten whipped at that place soured the memory. "It wasn't that great, but at least I had food. I lived on the streets, and on the side I tried to fix up my chest wound, but it would never heal. And then one day, I was in a shooting on the street and that's when I decided I had to leave." Ace looked down at his hands, "I was 9 by then."
"Oh, Ace.", Macha said, furrowing her brow sadly and cupping his cheek in her hand. "You've lived with that wound for that long?"
"Yeah. It doesn't hurt that bad though. You kinda get used to it." Ace said softly. "After that I walked around and then I got this feeling inside me, like I had to go somewhere, so I went to the harbor. turns out it wasn't the kind of voice you get that's a blessing, it was a person, going into my mind." Ace shuddered, "I got knocked in the head and when I woke up, I was on a ship, inside of a cargo box, with a lot of other kids. The kids told me that we were captured by illegal slave traders. Macha, it was so bad, they were all crying and five kids were already dead and everyone was so hungry and sick." Ace took off his glasses and buried his face in his hands to cool down his face. "The slave traders, they shaved off my hair and branded a tattoo on my arm." Ace looked down at his tattoo: the number 059. "They sold me and I was thankful, but not for long. The people that took me in…….I don't really want to talk about it." Blood, my blood all over. The baseball bat that had caused so many bruises. The needles they used to prick holes all over my body. The gun they'd used to shoot a hole in my leg. The pole they'd tie me to whenever they whipped me. "I escaped a few months later, hurt and bruised, but, thankfully, not dead, and got hundreds of miles away until I visited a tattoo charm shop got a tattoo on my skull, to keep from someone controlling my head. You can't see it now, since it's covered by my hair." Ace took a deep breath.
I just read the whole thing in 2 hours and O.M.G. everybody here is an amazing writer
(@Kannor Wait, everyone? XD I suck at writing, though. Thanks, I guess. ^~^)
@Mish don't put yourself down like that, you're an amazing writer!
(@NERD Well….okay…maybe I'm kinda good at writing. I mean, I do know how to write well, as I've taken several classes…I'm just not confident in my skills, is all. ^~^)
Wait, you can take classes for writing?
(Well, they weren't like REAL classes. They were like club meetings at this lady's house–she's an experienced writer/author and a good family friend of ours–where she'd teach around 15 or so teens about writing and how to write well.)
(ooh!)
(@Kannor, thank you!)
Macha's heart ached as she listened to Ace's story. She had been bracing herself for the worst, but this? It must have been a nightmare. "Ace…", she whispered, heart breaking for him.
(XD @Mish. I have no experience whatsoever in writing. No classes. I just wrote an essay for school one day and thought, "Hey, I like writing." And I make up stories in my head all the time. So yeah.)
Dani looked at her phone and saw a text from Josh. Joshua: Hey, did you tell the Director about your new friends? I know you're probably working now, but text me when you can, okay? Dani smiled. Dani: He met then already, but thanks. How are you and Ana doing? I'm on my way to the apartment now with Niki and Blake.
(@Lil-Owl, I think it’s your turn)
Ace stared at the wall blankly, the memories he'd been burying for so long, awakened. He kept on talking, "I took up a job at that tattoo charm shop and I supplied myself with tattoos over the years. I met all sorts of people, but one day, as I went to the shop for work, it'd been destroyed and everyone inside, buried beneath the rubble." Quinlan, the only person who'd been nice to me. He'd invite me to dinner with his wife and give me new clothes and he let me sleep in that little shop of his. Happiness doesn't last long and Quinlan, the very person I had adored, had gotten his throat cut and his body bruised and battered from the remains of his shop. "I was 11 by then. Quinlan, the owner of the tattoo charm shop had been homeschooling me, so I would know stuff. He got me caught up to the kids in school, but then he went and died, buried beneath the shop he'd poured his whole life into. I knew by then, that someone was following me, so I decided to go to the most remote place I could find that still had civilization, Greenland. I attended public school there and slept on the streets, mainly because shortly after I'd arrived, some idiot that I'd trusted, took all of my money, clothes, and food. My life wasn't too great and I had to resort to thievery. I stole food, mostly, but sometimes clothes and other stuff." Ace stopped, waiting for his mind to catch up to his mouth. He looked at Macha and realized that maybe he shouldn't be talking about this stuff. "Macha, I'm sorry if I've been laying it on too thick. I'll stop if you want me to. Anyone who listens to my entire tragic backstory might need intensive therapy, I know I do."
Macha blinked, shocked. "Laying it on thick?! Ace, don't apologize! I'm here for you. I know how hard it is not to have anyone to talk to, I'm here to listen. And, I already need intensive therapy, so might as well continue."
Should I go over the Ebony part quick? Macha might not deal well with it. After all, past love, right?
(sure, go ahead! Macha will probably feel a tiny bit jealous, but quickly clamp down on it and it will evaporate, leaving only empathy)
Ace sat there, stunned, and cleared his throat, "Fast-forward a few years, when I'm 15 and I met a girl, when I was breaking into her house, and her name was Ebony. I loved her, but she died, and it was my fault." Ebony, thick black glasses that matched her thick black eyelashes and her bright green eyes that sparkled, even in the dark. She would sing and I would sit there, listening to her sweet voice and then kiss her her soft, pink lips. "I couldn't stay there anymore and I left for Austrailia. Zodiac loved it there, me, not so much. I lived in a state-ward home, sharing a dorm with a guy named Crynn and we went to high school together. They released me when I was 17, after getting an anonymous letter on how they would burn the home down if they didn't kick me out. After that, I got into a few……Troublesome situations. Only a few though." Let's see, captured by pirates, almost eaten by ogres, cursed to dance for three days by a wizard, and then, everyone's favorite mess, getting drugged and jailed for a crime someone set you up for. "I was stopping in Seattle, for a rest from running, until," Ace leaned in incredibly close to Macha's face, "I met you."
(@Natsha That's awesome! ^-^)
Josh nearly dropped his phone.
[Joshua: WHAT!?]
Josh looked over at Ana, who was seated on the couch, seemingly lost in thought. "H-hey. Dani's coming back. She's bringing Nikki and B–uh–some, guy over."
Blake followed Dani submissively, his wings dropping over his shoulders. He wasn't quite sure where she was leading him, but there were so many hallways that Blake knew he'd never find his way out. The place seemed like a maze to him, but Dani obviously knew the way. He wasn't used to putting trust in someone so blindly, but Dani was gentle and kind. She couldn't be that bad. She reminded him of that boy Josh he'd met awhile back who'd taken care of him. I wonder where he ended up?
Hmmmm…………Blake and Dani……………….
(Uh oh. @Nerd please don't say what I think you're going to say.)