[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: .6px;"] daphne, above all things, tried loving everyone well. she could remember her mom always talking about, sitting on the couch as she ran her hand through daphne’s hair as she laid her head in her lap. “i think they made a mistake, they gave you a body too small for your heart.” her mom would murmur to her in a soothing tone, wiping the tears from her cheeks. ever since she was little, she never knew when to stop giving, treating every person like a plant that was in desperate need of water and tender care. “as much as it is beautiful, it can be dangerous. some people don’t deserve the love you give, daph.” she was right, of course.
she tried to tone it down, to not overwater the plants that always threw it back up into her face. it never seemed to stick. it only took a few days before she would be back to carrying every burden she could on her shoulders, trying so desperately to help anyone that needed it. she hoped it would be something she would grow out of like old clothes as she got older, but it only grew more as she did.
maybe it was because of her family, not that they were terrible or anything. she just never quite felt like she had a place within them - within the family business. was that such a terrible thing? that she felt out of place in the world of crime? her mother would disagree, but daphne always felt as if she was letting everyone down. she wasn’t as brave as the rest of them, never as cutthroat when the time was right. she was delicate, at least that’s what they told her. she couldn’t help the feeling of self doubt that came around when her family had discussions about their victories. they were building an empire. an empire that daphne felt she had no grounding in.
as years went on, daphne slowly came to terms that she just wasn’t the right fit to do everything that the others did. she would stick on the sidelines and be their cheerleader, always congratulating them on their victories. she was proud of them, but in the end it hurt to be around the constant reminder that she just wasn’t good enough, so she left. not permanently, just for enough time to try and find herself. daphne had no clue on how long that would take, but she was patient.
it had been a few months since she last saw her family, now traveling with some friends she grew up with that wanted to explore just the same. daphne followed after them, her arms hugging her body tightly. they had been making their way east with no particular destination in mind, completely unaware of the trap they would soon find themselves in.
her friends were laughing at a joke when they heard the first scream, making them all stop in their tracks. “did you hear that?” one of her friends asked as they all exchanged worried looks. before they could answer, another scream could be heard, begging for help. daphne instinctively started for the tree-line where the voice was coming from, one of her friends grabbing onto her arm in an attempt to stop her. “are you crazy? we don’t know who’s out there.”
"they need help-" she began to say, frantically looking from her friends and back towards the dense forest. "what if they’re hurt?" another scream yelled out, this time more desperate and frantic. "come on, please!" she ripped her arm away from her friend, giving them a pleading look to go and help. once they seemed to all agree, daphne tore off and began to run into the forest. "where are you?!" she yelled, trying to spot the person in need. the yelling picked up, this time from a different direction than the last.
daphne stopped running, turning to look at her friends only to realize that they had stopped following her at some point. she let out a shake breath, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to do. the forest was eerily quiet now, leaving an uneasy feeling that started to overwhelm her. she began to take a few steps, pausing again as she heard a branch snap. "hello?" her voice was quiet as she called out in attempts to find someone. “please help me!” the voice called out to her again and against her better judgment, she started towards it, finally making out a figure standing in the distance. "i’m here! i wanna help you-" daphne froze.
as she neared the girl, her attention immediately landed to the knife she was holding in her hand. “oh, thank you!” this time the girl’s voice sounded amused, an amused laugh ending the sentence. as daphne took a step backwards, she could hear movement behind her and as she whipped around to look her heart began to race as she saw more people beginning to step out from behind trees, all of them holding various forms of weapons.
this time when daphne took off there was no hesitation in her run, unaware that she had been playing right into the role she was suppose to and further trapping herself in the dark forest. for awhile, it seemed as if the footsteps had been catching up to her and only pushed her to run faster as stray branches scratched at her skin. it felt as if she had been running forever, but eventually the steps behind her began to disappear. daphne ran a few more yards before ducking behind a tree, trying to catch her breath as she leaned into it. who the hell were they? her hands were shaking as she pushed her hair out of her face, frantically looking around to see if they had still been after her.
when she looked around, all she could see in every direction was the dense forest she found herself lost in with no sight of an escape. she couldn’t help the terrified tears that began to pool up in her eyes, her weight starting to feel so heavy as she slowly slid down the tree and onto the ground.
her big heart was going to get her killed.
// written on mobile n i haven’t checked for mistakes DIDJFJF so i will tomorrow and edit if i need to
she tried to tone it down, to not overwater the plants that always threw it back up into her face. it never seemed to stick. it only took a few days before she would be back to carrying every burden she could on her shoulders, trying so desperately to help anyone that needed it. she hoped it would be something she would grow out of like old clothes as she got older, but it only grew more as she did.
maybe it was because of her family, not that they were terrible or anything. she just never quite felt like she had a place within them - within the family business. was that such a terrible thing? that she felt out of place in the world of crime? her mother would disagree, but daphne always felt as if she was letting everyone down. she wasn’t as brave as the rest of them, never as cutthroat when the time was right. she was delicate, at least that’s what they told her. she couldn’t help the feeling of self doubt that came around when her family had discussions about their victories. they were building an empire. an empire that daphne felt she had no grounding in.
as years went on, daphne slowly came to terms that she just wasn’t the right fit to do everything that the others did. she would stick on the sidelines and be their cheerleader, always congratulating them on their victories. she was proud of them, but in the end it hurt to be around the constant reminder that she just wasn’t good enough, so she left. not permanently, just for enough time to try and find herself. daphne had no clue on how long that would take, but she was patient.
it had been a few months since she last saw her family, now traveling with some friends she grew up with that wanted to explore just the same. daphne followed after them, her arms hugging her body tightly. they had been making their way east with no particular destination in mind, completely unaware of the trap they would soon find themselves in.
her friends were laughing at a joke when they heard the first scream, making them all stop in their tracks. “did you hear that?” one of her friends asked as they all exchanged worried looks. before they could answer, another scream could be heard, begging for help. daphne instinctively started for the tree-line where the voice was coming from, one of her friends grabbing onto her arm in an attempt to stop her. “are you crazy? we don’t know who’s out there.”
"they need help-" she began to say, frantically looking from her friends and back towards the dense forest. "what if they’re hurt?" another scream yelled out, this time more desperate and frantic. "come on, please!" she ripped her arm away from her friend, giving them a pleading look to go and help. once they seemed to all agree, daphne tore off and began to run into the forest. "where are you?!" she yelled, trying to spot the person in need. the yelling picked up, this time from a different direction than the last.
daphne stopped running, turning to look at her friends only to realize that they had stopped following her at some point. she let out a shake breath, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to do. the forest was eerily quiet now, leaving an uneasy feeling that started to overwhelm her. she began to take a few steps, pausing again as she heard a branch snap. "hello?" her voice was quiet as she called out in attempts to find someone. “please help me!” the voice called out to her again and against her better judgment, she started towards it, finally making out a figure standing in the distance. "i’m here! i wanna help you-" daphne froze.
as she neared the girl, her attention immediately landed to the knife she was holding in her hand. “oh, thank you!” this time the girl’s voice sounded amused, an amused laugh ending the sentence. as daphne took a step backwards, she could hear movement behind her and as she whipped around to look her heart began to race as she saw more people beginning to step out from behind trees, all of them holding various forms of weapons.
this time when daphne took off there was no hesitation in her run, unaware that she had been playing right into the role she was suppose to and further trapping herself in the dark forest. for awhile, it seemed as if the footsteps had been catching up to her and only pushed her to run faster as stray branches scratched at her skin. it felt as if she had been running forever, but eventually the steps behind her began to disappear. daphne ran a few more yards before ducking behind a tree, trying to catch her breath as she leaned into it. who the hell were they? her hands were shaking as she pushed her hair out of her face, frantically looking around to see if they had still been after her.
when she looked around, all she could see in every direction was the dense forest she found herself lost in with no sight of an escape. she couldn’t help the terrified tears that began to pool up in her eyes, her weight starting to feel so heavy as she slowly slid down the tree and onto the ground.
her big heart was going to get her killed.
// written on mobile n i haven’t checked for mistakes DIDJFJF so i will tomorrow and edit if i need to