Hey! Danya! Leave Those Kids Alone!

KamiKaze · #1

((Elodie continued from Goblin Castle))
((TW: Allusions to abuse))

One movie that everyone was surprised Elodie liked was Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

It was, obviously, a far cry from the usual things you’d expect Elodie to like. It wasn’t a fantasy movie, it was a dark exploration of one man’s psyche and why he closed himself off from others. She’d first watched it when she was young, way too young to watch that sort of thing. One of her foster parents loved Pink Floyd, and would play their albums a lot. Elodie never really got hugely into them herself, but she had a soft spot for The Wall, even if she saw it when she was around 9 and didn’t understand what was happening. Then, during quarantine, she visited it again. It resonated with her in a way she couldn’t explain.

It felt like a lot of people didn’t get The Wall? Sometimes, when she tried to talk about it, people were like ‘ooh that’s weird,’ and move on. But the things in that movie weren’t random. The story behind its inspiration was, apparently, a fan had the frontman, Roger Waters, spit in his face. And the fan liked it. And the band contemplated a wall across the stage. So Waters reflected on it, thought he was becoming cold and destructive to everyone around him, and so the band made an album, stage performance, and eventual film about a figurative wall, about dark personal experiences, about fascism, about fan worship, about unhealthy relationships, about the aftermath of WII, about so many things.

One sequence that always stood out to her was the school. “Happiest Days of Our Lives”, followed by “Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2”. A lot of people thought it was critical of education as a whole. It wasn’t. It was about the rigid education style that someone would have grown up with at that time, which was very British, very conformity-endorsing, very difficult. How it reduced children to ‘another brick in the wall.’

At least, that was her read! The Wall was one of those things that a lot of people could look at the same material and come to a different conclusion, honestly.

Point was, the reality was that many adults, like the teachers who would get beaten by their wives, then insult a children’s poetry and beat them, were really just like that. The sort of people who would take their frustrations out on vulnerable kids because their life sucks for some reason or another. There were really certain teachers, certain foster parents, certain case workers, certain adults, who would hurt the children every way they could. And sadly, Elodie knew from experience. She was honestly one of the luckier ones, but sometimes she heard… stories.

And each time she’d play ‘Leave those kids alone!’ in her head, regardless of context.

So… when she heard the announcement, and what happened to Iliya in particular, she clenched her fist, grimaced. Felt her body tremble.

And thought: Hey! Danya! Leave those kids alone!

It was funny to realize that she was probably one of the last people who saw Iliya alive. In another life, if the gunshot hadn’t gone off and that group hadn’t scattered, maybe she would have been with them when it happened, or maybe Iliya would still be alive.

What would have happened? If she stuck with them? Could she have prevented it? Stopped it? Or would she have seen it?

How much of a risk was she taking right now? Spending time with Millie and Olive, then splitting? Olive had her first aid skill, of course, and Millie seemed like a willful sort, if a bit impulsive. But then, they split to see if the snowmobile was nearby. Still no luck.

And…

Elodie wasn’t sure if they could stay split, or if it might be better to split for good.

The reality was, it was dangerous, and the worst thing she’d experienced so far was the gunshots, sure, but she wasn’t a dummy dumb to realize that eventually, she’d have to make a choice, and that it meant ripping off a bandage in some form or another.

Get attached, and if they die before you it’ll hurt more.
Don’t get attached, and you’re missing out on things you need to survive.

They had the same decision to make, too.

Eventually, she had another thing to add to the list.

Elodie had found Tana.

She’d been laying there inside, covered in sheets and pillows that had maroon spreading from a core source. Elodie had looked. She wished she hadn’t. Her face was greyed out and patchy, her expression contorted by time. The blood around her neck had crusted and dried. It’d been a while since she’d died. Elodie wasn’t sure what more she could do for her, other than cover her back up out of respect.

What was Tana like? She might have gotten along with her. She liked cryptids, too, and ghosts, and all sorts of paranormal things. Maybe. Elodie would have never known at this stage if she’d reached out and was friends with her.

But Elodie stomped down the stairs, her heart still pounding and a pit in her stomach. It was really more gruesome seeing a corpse in person than just hearing about it. She sat down on the ground near the steps, her heart pounding.

That could have been her. That could be what it was like for Iliya. It was like Monsieur Perez and Mr. Ramos right now. That could be Millie or Olive in the future, perhaps even right now.

Elodie put her arms around herself, feeling a tremble.

She could be the last person, one of the last people, who ever saw Millie or Olive, too. She didn’t know if what was better, not seeing the bodies, or actually seeing them. She’d already watched Monsieur Perez and Mr. Ramos die, and it wasn’t much better.

Elodie could take care of herself, in theory. She had plenty of survival skills. It’d just take a while, and then… and then what? Until she’s the only one alive? Until help comes? It was uncertain. She’d been taking care of herself for a while now.

…

No, she hadn’t.

She had Bridgette.

Oh Bridgette, Bridgette, how was she holding up? Her heart must be breaking. Did she know by now, was she hurting? Was Trisha taking care of her? Was she taking care of Trisha? She’d been… so protective. Elodie wondered what it would have been like, had she been separated from Bridgette for good.

Bridgette would go back. Bridgette would return, take care of Olive and Millie, and make sure they were safe. Just like she took care of Elodie.

Elodie stood up.

Breathed.

If she couldn’t find a snowmobile, she’d continue her plan of finding other things they needed on the way. That was why she was upstairs, after all. You never know what you’ll need some time in the future.

By the time Lara had shown up, the house was empty again, save for a girl resting quietly inside a closet.

((Elodie Hailey continued in The Hunting of the Snark))