I was sitting in the darkness, like usual. "Adaline," my mother called my name, opening the door to my room. I pulled out my headphones as I paused Netflix. I was rewatching Magi, again. "I'm going to work, you should come out of your room today. Maybe go see your friends."

"I'll try," I told her with a fake smile. I forgot what it truly felt like to smile. She returned one to me and left, leaving my door open. I stayed in that position until I heard the garage door close. I felt the tears slip down my cheeks. I hadn't left my house in months, my room in weeks besides to go to the bathroom.

I sighed sitting up out of my bed. I scaned my room, exactly how it always was. The blinds were closed, so the only light was coming from the open door. The floor was covered in a disarray rug, dirty socks, and a small pile of dirt clothes. My bookshelf was overflown with manga and comic books. My desk, which was home to a PC computer was coated in dust. My walls were covered in drawings, reaching all the way back to the seventh grade. It still looked like a teenagers room.

Going off that, and the fact I still lived with my parents, you would think I was a teenager, not old enough to legally drink. I was a disappointment, even to myself. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety since the fourth grade. It had always seemed to get better but just came back worse. No matter what I did it didn't feel right. When I graduated from highschool I really broke. It was like I lost the ability to feel anything but sadness and pain.

We've tried everything but nothing helps. It's not like I didn't want to get better, I did. I even forced myself to, which just cause me to fall deeper into the darkness. I wasn't done fighting, I was just taking a break. Within fiction worlds. "I should exercise before I shower," I told myself.

I just left my room, not caring about changing, as I slept in exercise clothing. I was going to head downstairs, to where the tredmil my sister begged my parents to get. I was even more guilty inducing that I was the youngest, both my siblings were successful, when I was a mess. My brother is about to graduate college and already has an amazing job lined up. My sister was finishing getting her bachlors and was figuring out which school to go to to continue her learning. When I dropped out of my technical college.

I stopped at the bottom of the first flight of stairs. The front door caught my attention. 'How about exercising outside today?' I thought. It wasn't a bad idea. All my friends were in college, and no one really pays attention to the joggers. I wandered around the house, getting everything I would need. I grabbed the door knob to the outside world, to freeze up.

"Come on Adaline," I talked to myself in a voice I hadn't heard in weeks. "You want to get better." I wiped the appearing tears out of my eyes and opened the door. I shut the door behind me. As I walked to the sidewalk I put in headphones to listen to music.

I started running. At one point in my life I would have been complaining, and barely able to go anywhere. Now I ran, watching my feet hit the ground. I just follows the sidewalk until my breathing became labored. I just stopped to take a break before I head back.

I was on the bridge. There was a river that split my town from the city. There were many conecting the land. This one connected a residential to residential, so I wasn't that large and only has sidewalk on one side. I would always pass this bridge when I was younger. My parents always told me not to pay on this one, as it was higher than the others. I guessed if you fell off it could kill you.

"You should face your fears," I mummbled to myself and approached the railing of the bridge. I grabbed the rusted and sticky railing. My hands were coated in sweat, nervous sweat. I looked over the edge and I swear the water was lower than usual. I'm not the most reliable source, I haven't been to the river in years. I was about to turned around and got back home.

I was pushed up against the railing, a strong grip on my back. The grip dug into my shirt and tossed me over. That was the last thing I felt, falling. Like when I was young and fell off the bed and felt it in my dreams. That was exactly what it was like. Instead of being greeted by being jolted awake, I was greeted by my body slamming into the water surface, breaking bones, jumpling my intestines, and knocking my breath out of me. I felt the water burn my lungs, I was in too much pain to do anything. I closed my eyes, letting my tears flow with t he river as I felt my life slip away from me. I was always joking when I said it, but I greeted death with open arms.

- • -

"I'm sorry my child," a soothing voice told me. I felt a hand on my head. The voice was faintly familiar, and comforting. It was male, I was sure of that. I tried to pry my eyes open, but I couldn't. "You are needed here. You need time to prepare for what is needed of you. I will make sure you are never alone, unlike in the past. If you ever do remember you are loved, by both me and your mother. Now, I'm sure you will find your way to me in time." The warmth that was around me disappeared, and everything was silent again.

- • -

I could finally pry my eyes open. Above me were stars. I tried to moved, but something was restricted me. I cried out for help, no words left my mouth. Just a howling sound that reminded me of a baby crying. Nothing came. I was alone again. Tears started streaming down my face and I actually cried out this time.

I couldn't hear the rushed footsteps over my own crying. Two people rushed over to me. A man and a woman, both in early twenties from my guess, so my age, except I was a baby. They started speaking in a language I had yet to learn. But once I had, I learned what they said that night they adopted me.

"Oh my, who would abandon a baby," the woman gasped. She reached down and picked me up. At that point I stopped crying, as I was trying to figure out what they were saying.

"Maranda," the man gasped, "Don't touch that thing. We have to get going." He grabbed one of her arms and started dragging her.

"I can't leave it for the soldiers to find," the woman, Maranda disagree, looking down at me with a smile, "We'll just take care of it until it can take care of itself."

"Fine," the man agreed. He didn't want to fight with his wife. "But if you wanted a child you could have just told me." They stopped running to kiss. I stuck out my tounge and made disgusted noise. They pulled apart and the woman giggled.

"Not a romantic I see,"she laughed and the couple started running again.