6. Tears of Truths

Melissa chewed at the corner of her lip and fought back tears. The same tears she had been fighting back for weeks. Being in the same room with a woman who had nurtured her since she was a little girl made her walls crumble; and the tears went with them. Gladice, for being in her late sixties, shot up from her chair and pulled Melissa into her as the tears began flowing.

"Shhh. It's okay my dear. Granny is here." 

Melissa couldn't stop the tears from falling once they started. She felt Gladice rock her slowly as she cried for several long minutes until the tears began to recede. 

"Tell me what happened Lisa." 

"He...beat me." She sniffled. "When we got a place together he started...being aggressive and...violent." She said between sniffles of pain. 

"Oh honey." Gladice said as she stroked Melissa's hair. "Why didn't you leave?"

"He said he would hurt me if I tried." 

Gladice stopped for a moment as her own tears began running through her wrinkled face. 

"When the cops showed up it was evident he had beaten me and they arrested him." 

"Where is he now?"

"In prison. Where he is going to stay for the next five years." 

"I'm sorry sweetie. I'm so sorry. If I had known about any of that-"

"It's okay Granny. I shouldn't have let myself get into that situation. I know better now."

"Next time you let Granny have a good look at the guy before you go out with him." She said as she rocked Melissa slowly.

"I don't think there's going to be a next time Granny." Melissa said.

Gladice moved away from Melissa and looked her in her green eyes.

"Now listen here Lisa. I know it's hard." She rolled up her sleeve revealing a scorched mark.

"My first husband used to put his cigarettes out on my skin. He was a very jealous and angry man." Gladice said.

"Granny, I had no idea." 

"I was afraid to leave him too but I did and I too wanted to close myself off from the world. I nearly did. Until your grandmother said something to me." Gladice moved over to the other side of the desk and sat back down.

"She told me that just because I bit into a rotten apple doesn't mean I should condemn all apples forever. I just need to look at the apple a little more thoroughly." 

Melissa frowned and nodded. She wasn't ready to accept that truth. Her wounds were too fresh, too real and open for her to move past how they came to be.

"That's when I met my current husband. If I hadn't opened myself back up I'd never have gotten all this." She gestured to the pictures around her. Memories of blissfully happy moments caught in perfect stillness. Melissa smiled.

"I'm not ready yet Granny." She said.

"I know sweetie. But just give yourself some time. You are too good of a girl and too sweet of a person to close yourself off. Promise me you'll come talk to me if you feel the need to close off?" 

"I promise I will." Melissa said.

"Good girl. Now you better get going. Those boxes won't unpack themselves."

"Would be nice if they did though." 

They shared a laugh and a kiss on the cheek before Melissa walked out and headed home.

*****

Damian's room sat down from a short little hall across from the bathroom. Adjacent from his room was the 'common room' which was open to the entire household. It had a brown couch against the wall which faced the fifty inch flat screen television. Across from that was the kitchen which looked out over the front yard. Oak trees were spread out across two acres of green grass.

A small cluster of local deer feasted on the fresh damp grass. Damian's room was set up slightly different from most. His king sized bed sat against the far wall under the window that looked out into the forest. A tall black dresser stood against the wall opposite of his bed. At the head of his bed was an octagonal bed table with a small red lamp held up by a female vampiric figurine in a blood red dress. Across from the foot of his bed was a pair of sliding doors.

Hanging on a long wooden rod were his clothes. All of which he aligned in order of attire. On the left he had nine pairs of pants, all of which were black with various styles of studs and chains. All were wide legged and some had skulls or roses on the pant legs. Next over were his shirts. Most were short sleeved and plain. However he had a few dress shirts that were black with red flourishes along the seams.

Next to the shirts were two jackets, both long black trench style. One had long triangular spikes at the shoulders and collar while the other had metallic studded shoulder pads. Hanging from a hanger were three belts. One with a snarling wolf head, the other had a scowling skull and the last had a row of low silver studs. Damian got out of bed, stretched his arms wide and glanced out the window.

The sun lit up the horizon as it pushed back the darkness of the night. Every morning he woke up at five. It was his internal alarm clock and he didn't work until seven but it worked out in his favor. He got up and gathered up his clothes putting them on hangers before he put on his gym attire. Black shorts with a black sleeveless shirt.

******

Melissa sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked over to the black out curtain and at the light shining at the edges of the window. Judging from the dim light she knew it couldn't be any later than six. She yawned, stretching her arms out wide and slid out of bed into a pair of fluffy slippers. It was at that moment that she felt something move across her foot. She froze and looked down.

Her pale skin showed through the darkness like a glow in the dark sticker and there, across her foot was a red centipede. Seven inches long with dozens of legs that moved across her cold bare foot. Melissa let out a loud scream as she kicked it across the room. Almost immediately she heard two pairs of footsteps. One running up the stairs and another running down the stairs. Damian rushed through the door and once more she shrieked.

She wore a pair of silky black shorts and a tank top that did very little in hiding her braless breasts. Damian sniffed the air and caught the scent of the poisonous centipede as it scurried along the wall trying to find the area it had crept in from. His eyes flared and she was stunned to see his amber eyes shimmer. Like a predator's eyes shining in the darkness. A moment later and Haley rushed in.