Maniacal Affection

Over a week has gone by. The funeral for your parents was short and bleak. A few of your friends did show up and comfort you. The disturbing issue was Fluttershy. She wasn’t there. There could be a lot of reasons why she didn’t show up. Maybe she didn’t want to see you so depressed or she would break under pressure. Like it matter, the entire thing was a close casket and the cremation was a couple of days later. Come to think of it, you barely even see her at school.

It’s one thing that you’re taking control of the animal shelter, but at school is just wrong. She would skip a day or two every few months. Lately she’s been absent for most of the week. You’re almost worried that she could be in trouble. Only to realize that she is the trouble. You don’t know. You’re better off leaving her alone. Whatever problem she’s in, she will find a way to get out.

You’re driving your mom’s car home. It’s the one thing that your parents left you. That and the $400,000 from the life insurance. Some of the money was used to pay off the house, while the rest was stated in their will to be used for college. You almost thought about taking the money and leaving the country, but you wouldn’t even go far. The feds would catch on pretty quick and there’s Fluttershy. At least you can live by yourself, but not for a long run.

As your phone vibrates, you stop in front of an abandoned apartment complex. The only reason that you pass by here is because it is the quickest route to your house. Get your phone and read the text message. ’Hey, I know that we don’t hang out that much, but I need to tell you that I’m around. I’ve always been there for Fluttershy, so I can be there for you. If you need to talk, just text me or something, I’ll listen to anything that’s bothering you. -RD’ A second message comes through. ’Also, there’s this arcade that we go to mess around. You wanna go? I was going with Fluttershy, but she wouldn’t pick up her phone.’ When you are about to text Rainbow Dash, you get a call from an unknown number. “Hello?”

”Anon! Anon, it’s me, Fluttershy!”

You almost jump forward, but stop at a dime from the seatbelt. Shit, did that hurt. “H-hey, what’s going on?”

”It’s not going well. I need you to come over to my place.” She pleas.

“Wait, like now?” You question.

”Yes Anon! I was able to call you from this pay phone because they let me go out to buy some things.”

“What happened to your phone?”

”Forget that and come over, quick!” You hear a metal clang before a steady tone.

You know where she lives, but you’ve never visited her. Hell, it’s time to test how well you know the city. But first, you need to send a quick text message to Rainbow. ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll be busy for the day. We can try tomorrow.’ Wait, tomorrow is a Thursday. You correct your mistake and replace it with “someday.” Send the message and toss the phone aside.

You pull up on the house with the chipped white paint and overgrown grass. You park your car a house away and walk closer. The tattered window screens and damaged concrete already shows how inviting the place is. One of the curtains moves away. Fluttershy waives her hand and points to the side of the house. You walk on the grass and trip on an above ground sprinkler. You regain your balance and follow along the wall to see two windows. The one that doesn’t have a screen opens up.

”Anon, get in here!” Fluttershy whispers out while waiving a hand out.

You get close enough to jump through. She grabs your arm to pull you in. When your body is completely in, you look around the room. It looks like it was designed for a little girl. The lined pink and white walls is smudged and cracked. The dresser and mirror desk is beaten down with a few markings on them. Her bed is the only decent looking area in the entire room. She helps you up while brushing off the dirt you received from the wooden floor.

”I’m sorry that the place is filthy. I was going through a lot of things.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m only worried about what you’re experiencing.” The both of you sit down on the bed. It gets comfy while you sink in it.

Her imminent hug surprises you. ”It’s been horrible here!” She cries out. You just sit there and let her talk. ”Both of my parents have been treating me poorly because I don’t do much here. They demand that I take care of them, just for taking me in.” You run your hand through a few strands of her hair. ”Tell me Anon; a-am I a horrible person?”

For the first time in your life, you don’t know. At first, you thought that she is some psychotic girl out for attention, but it’s all for a sense of compassion. You’re even questioning about the deaths from the last five weeks.

“No, you’re not.”

”I-I’m not?”

“You’re just misunderstood. There are a few things that we need to improve on, but you are a wonderful girl.”

Fluttershy looks at you, shocked and amazed to what she’s hearing. ”R-really Anon?”

“Yes Fluttershy. There are times that I’ve seen a harsh girl on the outside, only for her to finally get out the help that she needs.”

She lets you go from the hug and slides down to rest on your lap. ”Y-you don’t know how happy I feel.” Her head rubs against your lap.

You ignore that and look into her ocean blue eyes. Sometimes you forget she's innocent, just crowded into a wrong setting. She closes them and takes a short nap. You play with her hair while looking around the room. The mirror on the desk has a set of pictures stamped on. Some of them look like you. Actually ALL of them have you somewhere.

“Fluttershy?”

”Yes, sweetie?”

“What’s with the pictures?”

She jumps up. ”W-what pictures?” You point at the mirror on the desk. She springs out of bed and tears them down. ”They’re nothing, j-just some memorabilia.” You pick one up from the floor. It’s a picture of you with Rainbow Dash walking away from the bus stop. She takes it away from your hand and throws it into a drawer, containing the other photos. ”I’m telling you that they’re nothing!” You want to find it creepy, but you already know what she is. All you can do is get up and hug her. ”A-Anon? I’m sorry for—“

“I know.” Your hand moves around her back, causing her to give out a sigh of relief. The both of you sit back down to lie on the bed. After a few minutes go, you start to lose track of time. For all you’ve known, ten minutes or an hour went by. You could just sleep here and—

”FLUTTERSHY!” The yell of a grown man startles you, but strikes more into Fluttershy.

”Oh no, quickly Anon!” She pulls you off the bed and points at the small space underneath it. You ignore the bits of dirt and crawl into it. What you find inside almost makes you crawl back out. There was the assignment for class that you lost a month ago, the gym clothes that you forgot in class, and that bottle of root beer that you left on the lunch table. That burning stench you smell is coming from those pair of gym shorts that is beside you.

The door slams open, revealing a pair of tanned boots and washed jeans. ”H-hi dad!”

You watch the boots move closer to Fluttershy’s shoes. ”Don’t you fake that happy tone with me!”

Her legs start to shake. ”W-what—“ A loud slap can be heard, along with her shoes turning to the side. ”Oww.”

”Don’t you EVER lie to me.” You watch him walk around and stop in front of the desk. ”I see that you’ve given up on your crush.”

”Y-yes s-sir.”

He walks away from it. "I should have known that you were a quitter.” Flutttershy’s sniffles is the only noise in the room. ”Quit sniveling, you little shit.” You watch him swiftly turn to lean onto her. She stops, possibly threatened from another attack. ”And where is my beer?”

”B-but, I-I”

”Speak. Clearly.”

”They wouldn’t s-sell it to me.” A loud smack can be heard, along with a thud not too far away. You turn to the left to see Fluttershy on the ground. She tries to cover her face by turning her head away from you,

”You had one job, and now I’ll just get my fix another way.” As he goes for the door, you move your arm. It hits the bottle, causing it to fall and roll out. ”Did you bring another animal inside?” You get a better look at the defaced pair of boots that are now standing in front of you. They step away and turn around. ”Get off!” A loud thump can be heard to the side, followed by the bed shaking. ”Your mother is going to have a talk with you later today!” He storms out of the room and slams the door on his way out.

You don’t hesitate to crawl out of the bed to check on Fluttershy. Turn around to see her partially covered with the pillows. “Hey, he’s gone.”

”I wish he was.” She complains.

“Let’s not jump ourselves too early. This is just parenting that’s going on.”

She pushes the pillow aside. ”Whose side are you on, Anon?”

You bite your tongue and reconsider your thought. “I’m not picking sides. This will be over when you’re done with high school.”

”I won’t last that long!”

“It’s just a few more months.” She turns around and rolls up her shirt. There is a batch of bruises across her back. Some are circular, the rest are lines going across her back. “Fucking Christ.” You mistakingly say.

She lowers her shirt and turns back around to face you. ”I don’t know how long I’ll last in here.” She sobs out.

You grab her hand and move closer. “Time heals all wounds, Fluttershy. After this, I’ll be there for you.” You watch her mood pick up a bit. From miserable and desperate, she’s keen and spirited.

”I knew you would be the right one." You’re aware about the bruises on her back can still be irritating, so you wrap your arms under her armpits and bring her closer to you.

Are you… embracing this? Why? She killed your parents! But she was abandoned by her own.
She is insane! No, she is unloved and treated poorly. That doesn’t excuse the murder of a classmate.

”Anon?” Her voice draws you back. ”You have to go.” She slips out of your arms and stands up. You can hear some footsteps coming from the opposite side of the door. ”He’s coming.” She opens the window you crawled through. ”Go! I’ll see you later today.” You would ask what or how she will do that, but the doorknob is clicking. Jump through and land on your arms. Ignore the bits of dirt and grass on your body. Leaving here without being noticed by him is your priority.

The window behind you slams shut. There is some yelling coming from inside, but it’s muted. Don’t look back and run for your car. When you enter your car, you look through the mirror to see a middle aged man at the front of Fluttershy’s house. He is holding a hunting rifle with a finger on the trigger. You start the car and floor it, thinking to leave this fucked up place.

You made it, and without a scratch. You can only wish that the same went for Fluttershy. Your car is fine. It was almost turned into a pile of scrap when you were leaving the neighborhood. But you know that was instinct. You couldn’t fight a guy who was more fit than you. The unbalanced part was when he was holding a gun. You go inside and take a shower. After a good scrub, get out and jump on your bed. Even if you still can’t shake the thought of how is she doing, you shut your eyes and rest.

Someone is pounding on your door. You feel a slight dizziness, but damn know where you are. Get some random pieces of clothes on and answer the door.

“Holy fuck.”

There are a few scratches on Fluttershy’s arm, with a bright red bruise on her left cheek. She welcomes herself in and sits down on the sofa. Close the door and run to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

”No, I’ll be fine.”

"I left you back there, and new I want to help.”

She grabs your arm. ”I will be fine.”

You pull away and leave the kit. “If I’d knew about this, I—“

”You couldn’t do anything.” Her weary voice and limp posture shows how you would have ended as.

“We can do something about this.”

”We don’t need to. I’ve already done it.” She couldn’t… She just could not get away with this one. Fluttershy grabs the TV remote to turn it on and flip through the channels to stop at a local news broadcast.

”—local house was burned down at Lamerson St. with two victims caught in the intense blaze. As firefighters were doing their best to control the fire, it was too late to save anyone. In the wreckage, was a man and a woman found burned, but reports from the police stated that the woman was dead long before the fire. Police found a stash of heroin inside the bedroom under a stack of male shorts. What can be expected was that the man beaten her in a rage, and calmed himself down with heroin, but forgot that the stove heating up a pot in the kitchen was still in use.”

Turn off the TV and drop the remote on the table. “I’m not gonna ask how you did this.” Sit right beside her and stare at the television.

”Did I overdue it? Trust me, they will never find out that it was me. I took caution on…” You fade her voice out and listen to yourself.

Was this even justified? Did they even deserve to die? Of course they do. Just look at her, do you call that quality parenting?
It did keep Fluttershy from hanging out with the wrong crowd. Does that even matter right now? Thanks to that, they’re dead. And good riddance for that. Wait, you’re actually going that their death was justified? You must be developing Stockholm syndrome. Still, that doesn’t correct how bad those people were. Fuck them.

You’re moving left and right, but you aren’t doing that. ”Anon, Anon, snap out of it!”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

”Did you even listen? I said we will be fine.” She leaves a hand on your shoulder. ”Time heals all wounds.” You are getting sick of this. What is right? Is the gain worth more than the lost? You’ve had a long day. All you want is just for it to end. Not just this day, but everything. ”Anon, I need to tell you something.”

“Whatever it is, it can’t be anything new.”

”It’s actually something that I’ve been hiding from you for some time.”

“Did you practice by killing some animals, or did you start fucking them and then killing them?”

She grabs your hair and pulls your head closer to her. ”Did you listen to Rainbow Dash and her bullshit!? They aren’t true! I swear if she told you about those stories, I will rip her lungs out and force her to eat them! Do you hear me!? That blue bitch doesn’t even know what I’ve been through, and she never will!” Oh fuck, don’t mention that ever again, not even if you were joking around. You decided to say nothing and just stare into her heated eyes. She calms down and leaves your hair alone. ”Sorry.”

“Don’t be, that was my fault.”

”I’ve just had a rough day.”

“It was more than that. It was your childhood.”

”You’re right. With you here, it will be nothing but uphill from here on out.” Her voice picks up.

“Yeah, from here on out…” You mumble out the last part. “What did you wanted to tell me?”

”Remember that we did ‘a session’ on that day when your parents, ‘passed away’?”

“What about it?”

”It’s that… you impregnated me.” Fluttershy mumbles out the last part.

You wait around and question her. “…What? But, that day you tied me up—“

”It didn’t work. I kept this act going on, making sure you still believed in it. After that day, everything is back to the way it was!”

It stays silent as you process on what she meant. Before paranoia took over, you needed to be absolutely sure about it.

"You checked this? Like, multiple times?" You hesitated as if she was wrong. Her only response was a simple nod. “I have no one to blame but myself.” You let the sinking feeling take over and continue the night.

"Don't put it all on yourself. It will be better, trust me. All it takes is time to pass on." But for how long? That is all you ask yourself. When you would tell Fluttershy the same question, she wouldn't know what to say. There wasn’t much after that. Both of you just ate dinner and slept in your old parents’ room. A bigger and softer bed means a greater chance to get some shuteye. Some things change for the better. Although, that’s what you keep on reminding yourself that night.