Post by Serenity Holmes on Mar 28, 2024 19:49:45 GMT
Ms. Serenity Holmes. This is Danielle from Dr. Hofstater's office. We have to inform you that you've missed another session, unfortunately. Due to the cumulated absences, we have to report this to the district court of Houst- oh my god! Call 911, please! Someone get help!
PROBLEM.
Beep!
The doctor sat in her established chair, scribbling down on the notepad after her last client had left. The session was usual, as most. The patient explains their day-to-day activities and any changes in emotional stress, mental aptitude, or any behavioral switches in patterns or routines. To be frank. Dr. Hofstater found her recent clients pretty dull, a feeling no one wants to experience in psychology. However, the most entertaining case needs to follow protocol, especially court-ordered protocol, making her time difficult; Serenity became an annoyance in her scheduling, and the young upstart was about to experience trouble with the law again.
Dr. Hofstater tapped her pencil until she preseeded the end of her office phone to answer the call.
"Speak." The tone could have been more varied and uneventful, but it wasn't my intention as a mature professional. Speaking to half of her clients became a force of bad habit her family loves to remind her of every time. Dr. Hofstater took pride in her work and valued punctuality above everything; hence, when it came to Serenity, she always found herself scolding her. Perhaps it was the motherly instinct that never came to reality after sacrificing relationships and interaction to devote her life to her work.
"It's about Ms. Holmes." She scoffed and finished writing her notes, listening to her assistant. "She hasn't responded to your virtual session. This is the third absence." The doctor sighed.
"Thank you." She pressed the pencil down on the phone, and the call ended. The doctor heard a knock on the door and slammed her notebook on her desk before standing up. "I've had enough of her taking my sessions as a joke. I'm wasting my time on a lost cause." The frustrated tone in her voice and aggressive walk added to the uneasy tension in the environment until the knocking got louder and more frequent. "Karen, why did you allow this person to knock on my door? God, it better be Serenity that spoiled little bra-"
The door opened, and the doctor's face turned pale as if she saw a ghost. The person before her was Serenity Holmes, standing with her arms folded across her chest, smiling, and the rest of the office staff watching keenly as some danger had risen. They were right.
"Serenity?" She spoke her name in a shaky whisper. Serenity removed the glasses from her face and threw them over her shoulder, making direct eye contact with her therapist.
"No, go on, finish that statement." Before she could open her mouth, Serenity landed a brutal right punch into the doctor's nose that floored her onto the carpet. The rest of the office staff ran away, and some tried to intervene, but Serenity shoved them away and told them to get out. Once they cleared out the front section of the doctor's office, the back rooms became Dr. Hofstater's uncharted territory. She crawled on her hands and knees, backing away from Serenity, who walked in her direction, completely caught off guard from the punch and now fearing for her life.
"Serenity! Have you gone insane?!" She coughed and rubbed her nose, revealing a splash of blood on her wrist. Serenity stood there, shoving her hands inside the pockets of her leather jacket. The doctor tried to reach for a weapon, but Serenity lunged forward to grab the pencil and stab it into her hand. Dr. Hofstater screamed out and tried to yank the pencil wedged through her hand, but the pain was too much; Serenity, on the other hand, dragged her chair and sat down, crossing her legs and having the notepad on her lap.
"How do you feel?" She mocked her monotone voice and terrible professional accent. "I understand this is pretty triggering for you, Laura. It is Laura, right?" Her unhinged behavior threatened the safety of the therapist. It was worse that it was happening in the near time the moon was rising in Houston, and Serenity's eyes focused on the doctor begging to be set free but ignored the sounds of whimpering, crying, grunting, and all other cries a victim makes. "Laura. Let me be the first to tell you that your services are no longer required. I've finally realized what the problem was, and to be honest, Laura, I want to thank you for being the first therapist or doctor in my life to help me feel better."
She stood up from her chair and walked over to the window. The view of the city was always a luxury amenity for this professional.
Honestly, it made Serenity question her true motives. "You were honest." She turned around to face Laura, sat up against the cupboard of her desk, and stared into the eyes of a girl who had been wronged her entire life. Dr. Hofstater tried her best to free her hand, but the pencil was too deeply wedged through the bone. Serenity took a couple of steps closer and grabbed the hair tightly of her victim, pulling her head up where the doctor grunted from the pain coursing around her forehead.
"You know what else I appreciate about your honesty? You don't have to lie or be boring. You spoke about how you felt, and it liberated you. I've never seen you act so passionately, so human. The robotic nature wasn't quite fit, but now that you've opened up to me, it's only fair that I do the same, no?" A quick knee strike into the doctor's face renders her almost unconscious, dazed from the blow, with her ears ringing and her vision blurry. Her nose was bleeding profusely, and Serenity slapped her head a few times to help her get back into a stable, conscious date as she sat on the chair. "So, let's begin with where it all started."
ORIGIN.
Thwack!
Her body met with a vicious impact against the corner of her bed. Serenity, twelve years old, crawled against the wall after being tossed around like a doll. She rolled around, covering the bruise on her forehead in her pajamas, which had been stained by dirt and blood from the open bruises on her arms. The poor child tried to get away, but her hair was nearly ripped from her head by the hands of her mother, Samantha, who dragged her up and pinned her against the wall, grasping her hands around her throat. Serenity tried to fight back, nearly clawing at her face, but the pressure was so tight around her neck that she held onto her mother's hands, trying to pry them off or at least loosen the hold so she could breathe.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! ANSWER ME!" Her mother yelled at the top of her lungs in the face of her firstborn. Serenity's room became a complete mess, showing signs of struggle and violence. Furniture was toppled over or destroyed, and Serenity tried to fight back.
"I...I..." She could barely speak a word. "I...I said I want to see be with my dad." The straining of her voice was due to being choked. Serenity could barely speak, and her mother threw her against the ground again as she coughed, being able to breathe again fully. Unfortunately, she gets grabbed by the hair and dragged out of her room through the hallways upstairs in their home. Serenity was kicking her legs, trying to pry the hands off her hair, but her mother was too strong in her drunken rampage.
"LET. ME. GO!!!" The screams couldn't be heard, unfortunately. No soul was going to save her. Samantha threw her daughter down the stairs, her body tumbling like a ball until hitting the bottom floor, where she tried to crawl away, barely making it into the kitchen. Serenity reached over the countertop and armed herself with a cutting knife,e to which her mother walked in, holding a belt and a nearly empty bottle of whiskey as she took another swing directly from the bottle. Serenity sat against the sink, holding the knife towards her mother, who stood in the doorway laughing obnoxiously. The tears from Serenity's eyes were flowing down her face, and her hands were shaking, barely able to keep a firm grip on the knife.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The sheer adrenaline of fear and anxiety caused her body to be extremely hyper. "I WANT TO BE WITH MY DAD! LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" Serenity held both her hands around the knife and kept it pointed toward her mother, who took slow, predatory steps, ready to strike at her prey.
"Your father's not here. I'm here. Let me love you." With one significant step, she raised the belt high, and Serenity screamed...
SOLUTION.
"...What happened?" the doctor asked, although the pain made speaking hard. Serenity shrugged her shoulders, sat back in the chair, threw her glasses to the floor after briefly wearing them, and pursed her lips.
"Oh, the usual. She grabbed the belt and beat me like I was cattle." She bit her lip. "Honestly, it wasn't as bad then, but I realized I wasn't strong enough to defend myself. I had the knife in my hands, and I could have disabled her, but I was just there frozen in fear. A deer stuck in headlights. I'm not anymore. I'm not that little scared girl anymore. I've grown into a woman, a fighter, to be specific, and as a fighter, I don't have to follow the rules anymore." She gently leaned forward to get a closer view of her victim. "However, I made you a promise." She rummaged through her back pocket and pulled out a folded paper. "But before I give this to you, I want you to understand why I thanked you. You did what many people won't do in your field because the money is good, but didn't it feel great when you could do what you want and say what you want? That little piece of freedom felt rich and satisfying. The last time we talked, you said it was difficult for me to express my feelings, so please allow me to."
Serenity embraced a proverbial professional pose in the chair, with her legs crossed, hands clasped on her knees and leaned back in a relaxed position. While the doctor was doing her best not to pass out, Serenity kept on the posh facade of a prissy woman like the doctor, but her voice was authentic and genuine in what she wanted to say.
You told me to follow your rules, to stop fighting, and to let go. I thought long and hard about it and dwelled on those thoughts for days until I made a choice.
A choice is all it takes.
In my company, my work, it's the same stereotypical environment of all women who can't get along with each other. Cliques are formed, friends are made, alliances are established, and any time a new girl shows up, she's ripe for the picking. Workplaces are legitimately high schools for adults because my hazing was terrible, but I fought back.
Oh yes, I fought back.
How do I feel? I feel unstoppable. No, it evolved. To know that I don't have to follow the rules or listen to the critics, to prove them wrong and have the best damn advantage in this match. To become the winner of the Iron Maiden 2024. Yes, Dr. Hofstater, my feelings have been more optimistic than I've ever felt in the last ten years because, for the first time, I can indeed be honest and not give a damn.
That separates me from other women in this division, especially in the Iron Maiden match.
Because I have the advantage, I hold the chance everyone wishes they had, and I have the power. The worst outcome that nobody saw came to fruition, and everything changed.
Do you know what it feels like to tell everyone the truth, and when no one believes you, you go crazy? That's how I felt in the Imperium Wrestling Federation! I've felt insane, lost, and crumbling simultaneously, so forgive me, doctor, if, for the first time, I managed to prove IWF wrong. I can't be myself. You are just like them!
You are just like the rest of the women in that locker room who will be professional in my face, but the moment my back is turned, they're ready to put a dagger in my heart and twist it from behind. That's why I had to take out Natasha Walker before she could do the same to me. She wanted to pretend that we were simply two women who could be friends or cordial, but I told her something else, and then she exposed herself. Since then, she's had a chip on her shoulder, wanting to prove herself against me.
But guess what?
I've shown that I can fight. I can beat her ass any time I desire, and she can't hang. She was lucky enough to survive in the battle royal and qualify to be in the Iron Maiden, but when push comes to shove, she couldn't survive in the ring until the end. I was the last woman standing; once again, she would follow. Does that remind you of anyone? We have so many followers in this match, and yet I'm the second-generation problem. Isn't that right, April?
Serenity rolled her eyes.
Because since when the hell did Mai Everyone ever get a voice around here? She brought that on herself if she wasn't crying over her issues of not being recognized.
See, you would say at this point that some mental conditions are self-induced, and that's what Mai Everstone is. She's a self-induced problem. I was scurrying off like a lost cat, searching for someone to follow and be given orders. It's no wonder The Murder keeps her around. She can tell me that I'm a brat or spoiled, but at least I have a mind where I can say what I want and do what I want, and when I do that, it ends with me standing in the ring without you around. Mai, I hope she gets some identity crisis training or learns to break away because she has nothing going on, so she won't win the Iron Maiden.
Which begs me the question of you, April, what's going on, girl?
At least you're in a better position than your supposed slave, Mai, since you're able to show you have a conscience. I understand being the lesser sister in IWF has a lot of weight, and I can relate to having a terrible father, but I understand that I've already broken away from his shadow and cast one of my own in the industry. Is that what you want?
Well, we have a problem. While everyone else thinks you're stuck in Brooklyn's shadow, come the Iron Maiden; you will be shrouded in mine.
She has no attributes at all, no star power, and only hangs off Brooklyn's co-tails. Hell, even her victory was overshadowed by Charlotte and Brooklyn's back-and-forth. She's so caught up in her drama with The Murder and Charlotte that the Iron Maiden isn't even of her choice. Remember what Mai and April said? It's only because Brooklyn wills it so for The Murder.
Guess what? I'm Ms. Pretty Little Murder, coming to collect bodies.
Serenity leaned back in the chair and shrugged her shoulders. She took a deep breath and smiled.
Are you releasing this type of energy and letting it go? You were right. It's soothing. Do you know what else is soothing? Guarantee. Guarantees are what people want, and when it comes to Abigail, she's guaranteed to be the old trout you still have in the freezer, wondering if you should throw it out. Abigail has been back, but what has she done since?
Nothing. I've said it before, and I'll repeat it.
She's on the verge of becoming a has-been rather than a future hall of fame. As you've told me, Abigail has been stuck on a vendetta, and revenge never ends well. Well, it's not going to end well for her. She's stuck inside a pod watching me wrestle, and this will be the third time she's done that, as whether in Queen's Gambit or at the battle royale, she can't hack it anymore.
She's turned old and frail, and honestly, it's time to put her back in the retirement home before she breaks a hip, but besides all these women we've named, they'll reach the unfortunate ending.
The ending of never being able to step into the ring because of Charlotte Shimizu. Charlotte. The woman I threw out of the battle royal with great pleasure because she made the fatal mistake of letting her guard down. Why wouldn't she? She got protected against me by her sister, Shea O'Hara, she qualified first for the Iron Maiden because I fought Natasha and she's been talking out of her ass ever since she's gotten her ego boost.
Yet I only took a single push to knock her off her high horse. I ended Shimizu's little games and watched her fall from the heavens after showing her she was nothing more than a false prophet.
Thank you, doctor, for everything you've done. If you can excuse me, I have a match to win and a world championship to win.
Serenity stood up from the chair for the final time and dropped the folder paper on the doctor's lap. Laura held the paper and unwrapped it.
"Serenity!" She called out to the girl who stopped in the door frame to look at Laura.
"It's blank! The paper, there's nothing on there."
Serenity smirked.
Exactly.
Well howdy there pardner.