Witchling Academy Semester Eight - Avery Song Page 0,16
the threads of sympathy in her eyes that mimicked mine. "They...they said Leia deserved what happened to her. That's not true. She didn't deserve to be abused...tortured...raped. She was just a lost girl who had her own hopes and dreams. She was forced to do what those in power over her instructed her to do. It doesn't mean she deserved that type of end. It's not fair.... Where's her justice? Why won't people see what I see? Why won't they look past the show she put on and see she was vulnerable like anyone else?"
Mother blinked back her own tears as she pulled my head forward so I could rest my forehead against her chest. I tried hard not to sob as I let the flooding thoughts out.
"Why did they do that to her, Mom? Why...why didn't anyone help her? You're telling me no one heard her screams? No one thought she deserved to live? No one saw whoever did this enter the council room? The halls were busy because of the exam....and you can't just teleport in there. So no one...no one...dared to try to save her? What kind of world do we live in that it's okay to ignore what's right? What world do we live in that everyone can turn their head when someone's in need because they're afraid of getting involved? If even one person tried to stop what happened...or even reported strange activity, maybe Leia would be alive. Why...why...is this world so fucked up?"
I sobbed harder as Mother rubbed my back. More tears streamed down my face as I hiccupped and gripped the book for dear life.
"Now they're mocking her on the blogs. Belittling her...like her life didn't fucking matter. She breathed like us. Had hopes and dreams like us. She thought...she was going to Dubai and would get funds to aid her sister's medication bills. Now...she's gone. No one knows jack shit about her struggles. Or what she hid behind her ‘Oops, sorry’ banter. Fuck...even if she was on the wrong side...it doesn't mean...doesn't mean she deserved what they did to her. It's not fair, Mom...it's just...not...fair."
I cried harder then, my emotions spilling out of me with no way of stopping them. I couldn't help but be haunted by the image of her hanging body. To think of how bright and sassy her smile and personality were, only to now see her sickly pale body filled with wounds hanging there like she was truly nothing but a doll.
She didn't deserve to be executed like a murderer. No one was given the judge's gavel to tell the world she was guilty of that final punishment. Yet, on social media platforms where everyone hid behind keyboards and electronic screens, anyone could say what they wished and thought. Anyone could go and talk shit and belittle someone they knew nothing about.
I bet none of these people knew who Leia was. They didn't know if that was even her true name. They had no clue that she was forced into a sex cult, or that she'd been a victim of whatever shit she’d dealt with prior to all of this. They knew nothing but acted like they knew everything.
That's what drove a blade into my damn heart.
It hurt the most because I knew, without a doubt, that such ridicule could happen to anyone. This wouldn't be the first or last instance where someone's death was nothing but a laughing moment of 'tough luck' and 'she deserved it' because of ABCD.
She's a slut. She had fake breasts. She was an immigrant. She was merely trying to get a paid position in the industry.
So many assumptions. So many lies. And no matter how hard I tried to ignore the bullying of Leia, I just couldn't let it go. Making fun of a dead girl seemed to be the most pathetic thing to do, but it was unfolding before my eyes to the point that multiple people out there wanted to bring my and Jax's name into the loop and frame us for the taunts and spreading lies.
What if I didn't have parents in law? What if my sister wasn't the top agent Witchling had ever seen? What if Jax's family wasn't at their level of success? Or better yet, what if Jax and I didn't have good reputations?
We would be minding our own business, and someone would be okay with ruining our lives without us realizing it. All by faking a few profiles and beginning a keyboard war of lies.