Chapter 3

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"Who said school dances were fun?"

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Season 2 Episode 18

"The Last Dance"

Holly had gotten used to waking up in the morning drenched in sweat. It was some form of a routine that had formed over the years. Trauma and scars from her childhood that still lay raw inside of her heart were something Holly had no luck in healing. Or erasing for that matter.

Her brothers are highly aware of her terrors. It was hard not to notice when her screams echo through the house. Gut wrenching, horror filled screams that would tear into the soul of someone incapable of feeling. Sometimes, they would stay up and keep watch on when she would begin, so one of them could immediately comfort her. The more time she spent inside of her own mind, the harder it got, the more it drained her mentally.

Damon was the one who had held her last night. There were no words exchanged between them as she cried into his chest. Like a child just wanting to be loved. The small whimpers that escaped her mouth caused his heart to clench inside of his chest. His sweet, baby sister, the one he would seek security within, the girl who would hold herself up despite her soul giving in, was crying on his chest from holding on for so long.

Her heart was breaking under the pressure of all the memories that were surfacing. The scars of her past still lived and she had no way of escaping them. Upon seeing his strong sister break like a porcelain doll over their father's past abuse, Damon no longer hated Stefan for killing him.

It was hard, to pull herself out of bed every morning and plaster a wide smile on her lips. Pretending like everything was fine, spitting the lie every single time someone would notice the bags under her eyes that were the clear indicator something was off. As much as Holly hated lies, she hated being a burden more.

Her father had convinced her that every time she shared her problems, every time she talked to someone over what was happening in her head, she was burdening them with troubles that she should be able to solve herself. So Holly instead shut herself off. The more time that passed the more the walls around her heart grew. Holly didn't want to annoy her friends who already had troubles over their heads, so she suffered in silence.

Looking into the mirror, Holly no longer saw the bubbly teenage girl who was happy with the life she had. The girl who looked forward to her future. Instead of wanting to end her present.

The girl looking back at her was a stranger. Someone who had been living inside of her mind ever since she was a child. A woman with no warmth, no tenderness, simple dullness that occupied her wreckage of a mind. Her eyes no longer had the same glimmer, her skin was more pale than usual and her bones were showing. Her hair did not have the same volume it once did, and her body more fragile than she remembered it.

𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧, /niklaus m.Where stories live. Discover now