Post by Serenity Holmes on Sept 23, 2023 4:51:08 GMT
I'm used to betrayal, but the people closest to us will always dig the knife deeper into our hearts. I've been through this many times, but it hurts even more now because she was right about you. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering I've endured by you? You tell me to stay down, she said the same thing, too, and I outlasted her. She's down in the grave and now in my ear. Are you her successor? If so, I will never let you hurt me again like she did!
NURTURE.
Wake up.
Her eyelids separated as the sunlight beamed through the curtains of her suite at the Hilton Inn in San Jose, California. Serenity lay flat on her back on the comfortable mattress, staring upwards at the ceiling, then rubbed her head after suffering another pounding headache from her escapades last night. The empty bottle of Tequila and a flask of Vodka ruined the bedside furniture stand, and Serenity barely sat up, leaning her head against the bedrest, feeling the pounding sensation mask her comfort.
Check the phone.
Her phone's notifications were shattering records for most received in such short hours as she picked it up and all media covered her recent alcoholic episodes. The missed calls from her family and her boyfriend not responding to her messages made her throw her phone down on the bed and rub her forehead, feeling immense pain. God, she would do anything to get rid of this recurring hangover, although the only way to avoid it was never to drink again.
"I'm not an alcoholic."
It was easy to say as she genuinely believed so. She doesn't have an addiction. She pushes her to that point, and the liquid poison drowns her out temporarily to escape her haunting voice.
When will you listen to me?
"Never."
Serenity stood up from her bed and barely walked in her pajamas to the bathroom to wash her hands and face until she stared at the mirror reflection. She rubbed her cheeks and pressed her hands against her face until she saw her mother behind her and narrowed her eyes as a warning sign. Her mother didn't seem phased by the gesture, and Serenity rolled her eyes, storming out of the bathroom for peace. She sat on the bed again and turned the television on to see news covering her recent escapades on different broadcasting channels.
She's going to laugh at you too. Do you think she cared about you? No. She wants you to stay down. When you let people in, they will rip you from the inside out. Tara doesn't care about you. Not like I do, just let me in, and I'll take care of you-
"SHUT UP!"
She pounded her fist on the bed and threw the remote on the screen, causing the television to shatter with an electrical spark to fizzle. Serenity stood up and grabbed the nearby towel to wave the smoke away to prevent the smoke detector from going off. She sighed and sat down again, burying her face into her hands again.
REALIZATION.
"Do you know what it means to put your trust into someone and have it blown up in your face? It's what you did to me, Tara, but you'll be too far up your ass to see it now, won't you?"Serenity shook her head as she contemplated holding the picture frame of her and Tara sharing intimate moments during her time away, with her taking refuge after the fallout between her and her father. She stood under the moonlight in a familiar graveyard, near a tombstone defaced and destroyed by a rival not too long ago. Serenity has a shovel dug into the ground near the grave and has an empty facial expression as she drops the frame down on the grass.
"You know, I never got to thank you for taking me in when I needed it. My dad's been an asshole, but he pushed it that far to a point I didn't understand. It hurts me, Tara, to think about it on this day, but when I needed someone, you were there without hesitation because you're a mother. You sense what it means to see a child in need and did the right thing even when I was too stubborn to see it, but looking back at it now, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Being a mother is hard in this business, but you make it look easy."
"However, I can't get one thing out of my head. Why? Why did you do it?"
"Why did you kick me in the face when I sided with Matthew Knox? All I saw was a wrestling match, but you turned it into a goddamn war. You knew I was not the one to forsake you after everything you've done for me, and we've become so close that I valued you as my mo-"
She stopped and placed her forehead on the tip of the shovel's end. Serenity bit her lip and held her composure before standing upright to look at the sea of graves.
"I've asked myself that question repeatedly, but it dawned on me that your answer will only infuriate me because it took me back to a time when it all made sense. You're not the first parental figure to stab me in the back. I'm going to tell you a story, Tara. When I was younger, my mother was abusive when she started drinking. My dad and her were going through some things, and she turned to the alcohol before turning on me; I remember the nights she beat me to the point I bled, and I have the scars to prove it."
"Do you think that I would be that same little girl who is scared of her mother?"
"No. I am so much more than that. I've learned to conquer my demons and fight them. I've learned to grow to become one of the fastest-rising professional wrestlers this industry has ever seen; when I came to IWF, I wanted to prove myself in the women's division, but never would I have been crossing paths with you under these circumstances."
Serenity sighed and looked across the pathway until digging down into the grave of the ruined tombstone, separating the dirt to allow a hole for the frame to be tossed in.
"What you did to me was beyond what I ever expected. You shocked the world, and more importantly, you shocked me. I've always been one for surprises, but that was well done, Tara. I've never hated anyone as much as I hate you; you're a close second. You and she are very alike, but I will make sure this time I fight back and beat you down harder than you did me because you made one simple mistake."
"You showed compassion. She didn't. It's why you'll lose. Deep down, you wanted me out of this fight because you cared, but I know why you did everything you did to try and keep me down. You fear me. You fear what I've been doing, which is taking down the titans of professional wrestling, and at this very moment, who is a bigger titan in the women's division than you? Who has built this division off her back and become one of the biggest figures in professional wrestling? You did."
"Yes, you have your props, but now what? All that success, power, and influence, and you still can't put down a nineteen-year-old girl you mothered. You are scared, and that fear is growing, so you must constantly reassure the world of your past victories, but we both know when we meet someone who does not want to die, you have this chill run down your spine."
"I've eaten Genocide Kick after Genocide Kick and still come back crawling for a fight."
"I've suffered all the abuse you could give me and still made the challenge."
"I'm still here, Tara, so you know the truth. I am that one who will take everything you can throw and still stand no matter what. You can knock me down as much as possible, but I will rise stronger, as you have seen. This is the change of scenery for you. Last Woman Standing, and I've shown you how I've risen. My question is, you've been standing on your feet for so long; have you forgotten what it means to get knocked down and rise, or will your legs give out?"
"I'm ready to ask that question because I know when I put you down, you won't have the strength nor spirit to back up again, and when you're defeated, you'll have no one to blame but yourself. You've caused this by kicking me in the face, and now I get to return the favor by stomping your head in."
IGNORANCE.
The streets of San Jose were filled with the prompt posh and glamor of mindless people believing they had the key to reaching stardom in an infested rat hole of a city where the less fortunate don't have a chance to shine. Serenity was walking down the street with her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie and made a beeline ahead to wherever she felt was necessary to get her voice out of the head. Her eyes narrowed and lowered, the footsteps were heavy, and her pacing was fast.Can we please talk?
She didn't answer. Her walk turned into a march until she diverted from the artificial chaos into a local park to gather the limited fresh air from the hunk of trees and find refuge away from the population in a small section by the pond. Serenity held a drink from Starbucks, a Mocha Latte, in her right hand and sat on a bench, staring at the fish swimming around in the small pond.
It would be best if you heard me out. I know you're upset, but what I'm doing is helping you. Despite her best efforts to win you over, she won't protect you like I can. Do you think she cares about you? You're just a stepping stone to her, and she'll use you like everyone else has in your life.
Serenity rolled her eyes, and her right leg started shaking. Her hands inside her pockets began to turn into fists, and Serenity was getting annoyed.
You are a spoiled brat: Tara's ready to end your career, and you are fed up with her betraying you. News flash: she never cared about you. Do you think for someone who is a mother to turn her back on a child? Yes, I may have hurt you, but I did it to strengthen you. She's hurting you to keep you down. She doesn't love you. I do!
From that moment, Serenity dug into the black purse next to her and pulled out another flash of Tequila before pouring half of it into her coffee. She immediately took down a big gulp of her beverage, bit her lip to handle the rushing poison down her throat, and, then took a deep breath to hear her mother's voice fade into the background. Serenity leaned back on the bench, and her vision became a little blurry until she slapped herself on the cheek to focus.
"I'm fine."
Her eyes were closed, and she nodded. Serenity smiled until a single tear rolled down her right cheek, but she wiped it away quickly and looked at the sky. She did her best to stay happy, but her strength was fading soon, so she got up and walked around the park until coming to the bathroom stall, where she locked the door behind her again and leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. Serenity's smile was broken, tears streaming down her face with uncontrollable sobbing. She tried hard to break free, and everything drew her back to her mother. She needed to be the last woman to escape her hell.
GRAVE.
"Take it to the grave as they say."
Serenity watched the frame fall into the hole atop the grave she had dug. Above her, the weather shifted to rain pouring down heavily, drenching her entirely, but it didn't stop her from digging that frame deep into the grave. Serenity grunted until yelling in conjunction with thunder encroaching the skies, and she threw down the shovel to take a moment to pace back and forth as the anger was boiling inside her.
"You will not bury me farther than this woman did. You have done it all except put me down. Tara, you can't handle the fact that I am willing to stand in front of you and prove that you are not the iron-woman you think you are. Everyone is beatable, and I found a way to beat you. You can't kill someone who doesn't want to die, and you damn sure can't knock someone down who isn't going to quit."
"I've taken your beatings and your strength, and here I am, ready to show the world at LEGACY that your legacy will be tarnished when you've caused your downfall. You're a treacherous woman who lets her emotions get the better of her, so you started a war simply because I called another man's family. Well, that's too bad for you, Tara, because out of everyone in your family, I thought you were better than that, but you're just as childish and ego-driven as the rest of the people in IWF. However, that ego will be shattered when I step into the ring with one of the greatest and do something no one has ever made you do."
"Shut. Up."
Serenity went over to the grave and stood over it, watching the frame of Tara Fenix and Serenity Holmes disappear into the ground covered by water and mud. She looked upwards and felt the rain pour on her face after closing her eyes to soak it all in.
"Yes. The silence."
"It's beautiful."
"It's beautiful when the world sees the great Fenix fall and can't rise from the ashes. You have never been pushed to the point that you question everything in your life, especially when you have achieved everything, so you have this indestructibility within you. Tara, I'm ready. I'm ready for your final lesson, and you better make sure it's a damn good one that puts me out of misery because every time you don't, it will hurt you. You're going to doubt if you even have what it takes to finish me off, and the moment I get a whiff of that doubt, that's when I'll strike."
"I know that feeling, Tara, of being told you're not good enough or to stay down. I've been battling it since I was eight years old, and until this day, I refuse to let anyone come into my life and tell me to quit. I've never quit before, and I don't plan on starting now, especially when someone I've trusted stabs me in the back and wants to dig the knife deeper."
"You know what happens to that knife? I ripped it out and held it in front of you. I've shown you I'm ready to stand against you no matter how bad the odds are, but you? You're not ready. You need to be humbled. You must be brought back to Earth and have your face dragged through the mud."
On cue, the image of Tara's face covered by the mud was poetic justice. Serenity collapsed onto her knees, and the wet strands of her hair covered her face until she pushed it aside to look at the grave's destruction. She felt nothing; no, she felt peace and tranquility. Years of conflict within herself had finally been resolved, and Serenity smiled joyfully as if the weight of the world was released from her shoulders.
"You're not my mother. Don't pretend to be. You were never my friend. You're someone who pretends to be this heroine, but in reality, you've lived long enough to become the villain. You're neither my hero, nor someone I'll ever trust again. You're my enemy, and you deserve to be dead. I am going to be the Last Woman Standing, and you?"
Serenity stands up.
"You'll be right there where you always belong. Say hello to my mother for me in hell."
She turns away and leaves the grave to be sadly rained on as the moonlight beams over it to reveal Sarah Holmes, the late mother of Serenity Holmes, grave and tombstone.
Well howdy there pardner.