Bullied, But not Broken

6. Enough

TW: Substance abuse, attempted suicide and open wounds*

Sasha

After a particularly long day of being bullied and a crappy day at the diner with the problems following her to the diner from school, Sasha was grateful when she could go back to her house to end the day. Everyone has had bad days, right? She just had to push through it.

Steele-Ground had messaged her a few times that day, like he tended to do every day since he had got her number, but today she hadn’t had a chance to answer any of his texts. When she trudged into the house, she found her parents passed out from alcohol and drugs again and she sighed tiredly. Where did they even get the money to get high? She was working her ass off and she could barely eat and save some money for her future?

Trudging up the stairs, she stopped short when she saw her door had been broken through and it hung timidly on one hinge; the lock torn through the hollow door. Her room was in a mess and she realized half of her stuff had been removed. The furniture she had meticulously picked up from beside the road and fixed had been removed along with most of her birthday presents. Her parents had sold her stuff to get high - again.

Tired tears of frustration and grief spilled over and she sobbed brokenly. She’d had enough! She’d tried constantly to hope and dream, to find a way forward, but everything just seemed to be forcing her back into the black hole that was her life. She gave up; there obviously was no way for her to move on; she just had to give up.

Tears still blurring her vision, she turned and ran. She ran out of the house that stunk of failure and dejection, away from the street she lived in. She kept running while she sobbed brokenly. She wanted out. Finally, when she couldn’t run anymore, she was sobbing in between her gasps for breath and she eventually looked up to find herself near the old train bridge that ran high above the river.

Sasha moved forward tiredly and leaned on the cement railing of the bridge while she stared forlornly out over the dark inky waters that had the occasional light flickering onto its surface from nearby street lights and the moon. She didn’t want to fight anymore.

She was tired of working and having everything taken from her. What was she even doing this for? No one would probably even miss her if she just disappeared, so why did she keep fighting this losing battle? Staring into the inky blackness of the water, it seemed to call to her, welcoming her, and she was ready to heed the call.

Her eyes still focused on the ebony water below her, she climbed onto the cement railing that stood between her and the release from the hell that was her life. When she stood on the pillar she stared down at the water for long moments, waiting to feel something other than acceptance of her choice to end it all, but there was nothing.

Taking a deep breath of the cold night air, she raised her eyes up to the stars and spread her arms out beside her as if she could fly into a different realm away from this wasted life. Then she stepped forward and made to dive head first off the pillar to the water below her and she felt the cold air push her hair out of her face and behind her when she gained momentum.

But suddenly something caught her arm and hand and she heard a grunt and something scraping over the ground on the bridge. Whatever caught her arm before she fell held her from falling and her momentum swung her back towards the bridge.

Instinctively, she used her free arm to protect her from the impact and she cried out in pain when she felt the sharp impact on her forearm before it went numb. It took her a moment to realize that it was a person that had caught her a moment before she would be free.

Raising her eyes up to the person whose face she couldn’t see where it was shrouded in shadow, she stared beseechingly at the stranger, tears running down her cheeks once more. “Please, just let me go!” She sobbed.

The stranger grunted in exertion, but he didn’t hesitate in holding onto her; in fact, he was reaching out in an attempt to pull her up from where she hung precariously.

“No, I want to die, please, just let me go!” She screamed through her tears but the stranger only grunted while he pulled her closer to the top part of the railing.

Sasha tried to find purchase for her feet so she could kick away from the bridge, but she was sure he was keeping her far enough away so she couldn’t kick herself away from the bridge and out of his hold.

Before she could even account for the time, he dragged her over the edge, pulling her onto the ground and pinning her with his body so he could catch his breath, while she attempted to get away from him. But the feeling was returning to her left arm and she cried out in pain when she tried to push him off her.

“Shit...” She heard the man mutter when he glanced at her arm and she followed his gaze to see that her forearm was fractured and had pierced through her skin and the sleeve of her shirt.

The sight made her feel sick and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to throw up or faint. She started hyperventilating at the sight, knowing that she couldn’t afford to go to the doctors for treatment. And then the black spots started to take over her vision before everything just went black.