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( trigger warning :  death, abuse mention)

✧ born 6 weeks premature, Andromache spent the first 3 months of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital while her mother spent time in the hospital, healing from the injuries her father had inflicted. while Andromache wasn't neglected, she was poked & prodded often as the doctors ran tests & left alone for hours a day. her heart stopped beating at 3 weeks old for 1 minute, the start to her journey across the veil.

✧ her mother, Abigail, did love Andromache, spoiled her with affection & love while her father, Calvin, played the role of the perfect dad in public but behind closed doors he was cruel. yelling whenever Andromache cried, either at the baby or his wife, hitting his wife on a daily basis. Andy's life changed when she was 6 years old, her father hit Abigail in the head too hard & when she wouldn't wake up he panicked. dragging his daughter along with him, Calvin buried his wife in a remote area off the beaten path of a hiking trail. he swore the child to silence unless she wanted to be put right next to her mother.

✧ alcohol was his coping mechanism, until it wasn't. when she was 10, Andromache knocked over a glass of water & received a fist to the stomach. if she brought home anything other than an A, a belt to the back. if a meal wasn't to his liking, she wouldn't get to eat for 3 days. if she was anything other than perfect, Calvin was there to trying to beat it out of her. until one day, when she was 16, he hit her too hard in the head & she wasn't waking up. just like the decade earlier, Calvin buried his daughter in a remote area off the beaten path of a hiking trail.

✧ when she woke up, Abigail was there to meet Andromache, but not to welcome her in death. instead, Abigail begged her for help. she's stuck here, unable to move on from earth, not with the truth of their lives buried in a unmarked grave, not with Calvin getting to live free while their lives have ended so brutally. with a promise, mother & daughter hug before Abigail shoves Andromache back into her body. 

✧ she crawls her way out of her own shallow grave, heaving a breath of fresh air & never feeling more alive. there's a rage tingling in the tips of her fingers, a fire in her heart burning through the rest of her body as she makes her way home, covered in dirt & blood & earth. she's not surprised when she finds her father asleep on the couch at 3 in the morning, TV the only light to show the 3 empty bottles of beer on the floor  -  she'd have been beaten if she didn't clean up every bottle for him. with an anger she's rarely let herself ever feel, Andromache - guided by her mother's ghost - grabs the largest kitchen knife & presses it to her father's neck. there's a visceral sort of satisfaction that runs through her at the sight of his fear, face paling as he slowly comes to realize the situation he's in. 

✧ a jury of her peers found her not guilty.  she told the police the truth - most of the truth - even showing them where she & her mother were buried. finally, she's able to cremate her mother's remains & free her, keeping some & spreading the rest in her favorite spot.

✧ Andromache now travels the world in her own RV, helping ghosts & true crime podcasting along the way.

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