//------------------------------//
// Fall from grace 
// Story: Lost Highway: love, loss, faith and dreams 
// by Sorenthehero117 
//------------------------------//

[Octavia drove back down to the cemetery as the heavy rain still hit hard, and saw that Lewis was sitting against the gravestone covering his face as he cried without any means of stopping. Her heart was still shattered from him having to find out what happened, but one question remained: How on Earth was he not aware of her death? Octavia screamed as she cut her arm roughly with a razor blade in her car, crying as she felt blood dripping to her legs and her seat. Little did Lewis know that Octavia was secretly addicted to self-harming and has tried and failed to recover for years. Ever since the incident with Lewis’ mother, Octavia found herself in a state of absolute depression due to the guilt she had from causing her death, though unintentionally, to the point where she found herself choosing between shedding blood, or killing herself.



She felt a different type of pain, one that distracted her from another type of pain that was eating away her soul. She hated doing that to herself; she utterly despised it, but felt trapped as she found herself coming back for more and more with each cut and each drop of blood. Jennifer died around the same time that Lewis had left, around 6 years ago when Octavia had recently turned 18. Octavia remembered that day perfectly well as if it had just happened yesterday. It started when Octavia found out that Lewis’ father confessed to having assaulted Lewis in his home and even found out that he was contracted by someone close to do it for him. Octavia called Lewis excited about the news, only to have that excitement shattered as she got a very upsetting message from him when he picked up the phone]



"Octavia... This will be last time we ever talk. I didn't want to tell you this in person because I didn't have the heart to do hurt you as badly as I'm sure I'm about to do. I'm leaving Canterlot High and I'm running away to pursue my dreams”, Lewis said as Octavia went from getting excited to getting scared. “Lewis what are you talking about? I’m calling you because your father confessed to having-”, she said as he quickly interrupted her. “Octavia listen to me. It doesn’t matter! I’m not going to be here when he gets trialed or convicted. This town turned its back on me and I can’t take it anymore”, he said as his voice broke a little. “I don’t belong here Melody, I never did. I’ll never be happy living in this town, going to this insufferable school and having to deal with my mother after all she put me through”, he kept on saying as Octavia tried to knock some sense into him.



“Lewis, forget about all that. You are strong enough to handle anything no matter what it is. What happened between your father is about to be resolved. He’s going to be tried and they’re going to arrest him as well as the person who supposedly hired him to do this”, she said as he listened without giving a damn. “It doesn’t matter who it was who hired him or whatever their intention was. His abuse means nothing to me anymore since I am going to be as far away from him as humanly possible. I’m going away to seek somewhere greater where hopefully I can become the musician I always wanted to be. This time I won’t let anyone stop me, especially my mother who just told me what a colossal disappointment to her for leaving to “pursue some bullshit dream that will never come true” instead of staying locked up behind a desk for 3 more fucking years just so I can grow up and work behind ANOTHER fucking desk. No, that’s not my life, and opportunity has arrived for me here and I won’t miss it”, he said assuring how serious he was about his decision to run away.



Octavia was on the verge of panicking as she knew he would never lie to her, and given how serious he was, it was clear he was honestly trying to leave forever. “Look Lewis, not everything will turn out alright on the first go, but it will be okay. I don’t know what happened between you and your mother, but it’s not worth running away. Your father is about to get what he deserves. You can put him in his place, you and your mother-”, she spoke before Lewis abruptly cut her off. “OCTAVIA GODDAMMIT!!! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? Even if any of that mattered, my mother is a goddamn cop. She could have done something other than leave me with him while she cowered away and left me to bruise. Instead, she left me alone, no idea where she was, and when he got to my house, he took a knife to my throat and threatened to kill her if I even tried to run away. SHE ABANDONED ME AND INSTEAD OF ARRESTING HIM, SHE LET HIM HAVE HIS WAY WITH ME AND BEAT ME AS HARD AS HUMANLY FUCKING POSSIBLE! Oh and did I ever mention why he did it while I was naked?” he said angrily as Octavia prepared for the worst, but was scared regardless.



“He didn’t just beat me; since my mother was nowhere to be found, he needed someone else he could use to satisfy his disgusting lack of sexual pleasure. I don’t think I need to explain in detail exactly WHAT THE FUCK THAT MEANS, BUT LETS JUST SAY, IT HURT LIKE HELL AND MADE ME FEEL-”, he yelled as Octavia sniffed about to cry her eyes out listening to him, as she had no idea that his father went that far with him. “Lewis… You never… You never told me he did that to you”, she said finally starting to cry as she felt both anger and sadness flow through her body. “Octavia… It’s over… I’m done with this town, I’m done with this life, and I need to chase my dreams. I don’t care what you or my mother says. You have my number; if you ever want to show me the support I could use, give me a call. Until then though, goodbye Octavia… I’m sorry”, he said before hanging up. Octavia stopped crying as she got outside and got on her car and decided to drive off to Lewis’ mother’s house and find out what happened that that made him want to run away. As she got to her home, Jennifer angrily grabbed Octavia by her hair and screamed angrily, with the stench of alcohol in her mouth reeking into her nose. 



YOU FUCKING BITCH! IT’S YOUR ENTIRE FAULT! MOTHERFUCKER, ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!” she said screaming in a fiery pit of rage. She pushed Octavia onto the floor and held a knife to her throat angrily as Octavia was shaking and looking at her with absolute fear. “IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT MY SON RAN AWAY! YOU DROVE HIM AWAY FROM ME YOU FUCKING BITCH! I’LL KILL YOU!” she said angrily as Octavia started to tear up scared of what she was saying. She was sweating and felt hot as if she had a fever, but Octavia kept focusing on the knife in her throat. “I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN GIVING HIM IDEAS ABOUT RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME AND PURSUING THOSE RIDICULOUS DREAMS OF HIS! YOU SENT HIM TO HIS DEATH AFTER I WORKED HARD TRYING TO PROTECT HIM! YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING I’VE DONE TO KEEP HIM SAFE!” she said as Octavia got angry and grabbed her arm and bit her hand violently and as she screamed in pain, Octavia pushed Jennifer down and kicked her knife away and she immediately slapped her so roughly that it left a mark and a small cut made from her nails.



“I SENT HIM TO HIS DEATH? I SENT LEWIS TO- HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF SUCH A THINH YOU BLOODY LIAR?” Octavia said screaming angrily as she grabbed Jennifer by her shirt. “You listen to me you drunken shrew: Lewis was assaulted by your own husband at his own house. HE TIED HIM UP TO THE SHOWER, NAKED AS THE DAY HE WAS BORN AND LEFT BRUISES ALL OVER HIS BODY, AFTER HE VIOLATED HIM SEXUALLY!” she said angrily as Jennifer was lying on the floor shaking as her face started to bruise. “NEITHER YOU NOR THE AUTHORITIES DID ANYTHING! I KNOW, I STEPPED INTO THE PRECIENT AND TOLD THEM, WHAT I SAW, THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE ME. YOUR HUSBAND GOT ARRESTED ON A GODDAMN MISDEMEANOR, DESPITE HAVING YOUR SON’S BLOOD ALL OVER HIS CLOTHING. WHY? BECAUSE YOU LEFT ON SOME BULLSHIT EXCUSE, AND LEFT YOUR SON ALL ALONE WITH THAT MONSTER TO TAKE CARE OF HIM, YOU UNBELIEVABLE BITCH!”, she screamed as Jennifer began to cry and beginning to sober up.



“H-He threatened me… he said it was either I ditch forever, or he would murder me and take him away forever and do God knows what to him. It was either that or… or…” suddenly her face began to tear up as she felt hopeless and unable to protect her son from her abusive husband. “Oh don’t try to cry your way out of this, and expect me to sympathize with you. Because guess what? You’re a police woman yourself. You could have prevented this; all of it, and you did nothing. Absolutely nothing! In fact, I have a little theory. Lewis left to pursue the dream of becoming a musician and performing on stage. He had this dream for a while hasn’t he?” she got closer as Jennifer groveled back in fear, not knowing what she could have done.



“That’s all he ever talked about, hasn’t he? Running away and going off to pursue some dream he will more than likely fail to accomplish, hasn’t he? I think the reason you left him with your husband wasn’t because you got threatened. I think you just got bloody scared that he would be making a huge mistake and wanted Lewis severely out of commission just so he could get scared and stay home in your arms”, she kept talking as she tried to get a point across as Jennifer started to face a wall from behind and cower in fear and cry softly.



“Shut up. I THINK THAT THE WHOLE IDEA OF LEWIS ACTUALLY TRYING TO PURSUE HIS DREAM GOT YOU PARANOID, AND MADE YOU THINK HE WOULD ABANDON YOU AT ANY GIVEN SECOND, NOT KNOWING WHETHER OR NOT HE’S EVEN OKAY!”, she said raising her voice a little as Jennifer started to scream up against a wall, “SO AND SO, THAT YOU THOUGHT HE WOULDN’T GO ANYWHERE IF HE SUDDENLY GOT INJURED, BUT YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANY WAY OF DOING SO UNLESS-”, before Octavia could finish that sentence, Jennifer pulled out a gun out and aimed directly at Octavia’s head.



Octavia was silent for a second, but didn’t blink as she tried to stay brave for her best friend. “Unless you hired someone merciless who could hurt him enough to put him out of commission, and be able to cover your tracks, if he tried to get away with telling someone you hired him”, she said as Jennifer pulled the trigger on the pistol which wasn’t even loaded, and Octavia didn’t even blink. “So you went ahead and got your husband to do it for you, so that way, if anything happened, if he got caught, you could sweet talk your way into letting them know he abused him AND YOU for years and that you had no idea what he was doing in your house when he was beating him… but you didn’t expect it to get bloody. You had no idea what he was going to do. You sent a cold blooded monster to assault on your own son, not knowing what in the holy mother of God he was going to do. You got scared. You got crazy. And now you’re drinking it all away thinking that getting drunk is going to make any goddamn difference whatso-fucking-ever”, Octavia finishes as Jennifer’s arm shakes holding the gun in hand. “Isn’t that right, OFFICER WALKER??” screamed Octavia as Jennifer’s badge could be seen on the floor as she screamed and threw her gun at Octavia missing her, and flailed around screaming and crying and placing her hands on her head.



“You’re bastard husband confessed to the whole damn thing this morning back in prison. He’s being trialed for domestic abuse, domestic disturbance, attempted manslaughter and sexual assault, all on a minor and even gave out a clear description, on exactly WHO the cop was, though he didn’t reveal a name. I wanted to find Lewis and tell him the great news about what happened, so that he could testify against him, but he’s gone away I know not where”, Octavia said as she looked down upset, but immediately got serious again. “I came here to ask where he went… and what happened between the two of you… I came here hoping you knew where he went, but honestly, what do you care, right? You honestly fooled me into thinking you were this kind, innocent woman with a horrible past. You proved to be as big of a monster as your husband! Do Lewis a favor, and stay the fuck out of his life!!!!” she said as she angrily walked out the door and left Jennifer’s house.



[It’s been three days since Octavia confronted Jennifer at her house and hasn’t heard from her or Lewis since he ran away last Friday. Octavia is now walking out of school, on her own for the first time in 5 months, and frowning out of sadness because of how much she missed her best friend. He told her that she could call him whenever she felt ready to show him the support that he needed, and she slowly found herself wanting to call him every day, but after the blowout she had with his mother, she didn’t have it in her heart to do so. The following Monday afternoon, Octavia drove back to her house and as she got inside, she noticed a letter taped to her door with her name written on it. As she opened it and started reading it, she felt her soul sink and kneeled down as she read]



{Dear Octavia, before I say anything, I think Lewis running away was the best thing he could have done considering his father was acquitted due to lack of evidence, but I write this to you as 3 things.



One, I want to apologize for my behavior that day and for pulling a knife at you. I was drinking that day, so please no hard feelings. Second, everything you said about me leaving Lewis alone with my husband alone on purpose is true, but it wasn’t for the reasons you pointed out. Believe it or not, I actually planned to inform the prescient about what he was doing to Lewis and finally get him arrested since he always got away with it in the past, not that you would know. It was a horrible thing to do, I know, but the reason I came all this way out here was to prevent Lewis from having to grow up anymore with someone constantly hurting him physically and emotionally, and because his father found us, I had to think of something. I know it was a stupid and downright unforgivable thing to do, but I want you to know I only did it to put an end to his abuse any further. It hurt me to have to do that, but I had no choice. Nobody would believe me if I told them what he was doing to us in the past and frankly nobody would care. I’m sorry about this as well, but please; don’t believe a lie as miserable as that.



Third, you were right. I am a monster and I agree that staying away from Lewis will be the best thing for him since he won’t have me getting paranoid and scared about everything he’s doing. He’s 14 years old now, and it’s about time he got up and chased his dreams, whether he fails or not, I have faith in him, now and forever. If you ever see him again, tell him I love him and that I’m sorry I failed him as miserably. I will always love him, no matter what. Thank you… Regards, Jennifer Walker}



[She finished reading as she got in her car and drove off to Jennifer’s house and talk to her, but as soon as she got there, she saw an ambulance parked near the driveway as paramedics were rolling someone away. As she got off her car, Octavia expected the worse as she ran towards the house and got stopped by one of the officers who informed her that the victim was Jennifer and that she apparently committed suicide by slitting her throat with a butcher knife. Octavia was horrified and in pain believing she just caused the death of her best friend’s mother, and he doesn’t even know what happened. She sat on her room screaming and crying trying to find ways of letting Lewis know, but she has no idea what to do. Octavia looked at her phone ready to call him, but she was crying so much, she had no idea how to say it without speaking nonsensically and in tears.



She screamed as she threw her phone onto her mirror and shattered the majority of it angrily and saw a piece of broken glass on the floor and grabbed it and held it to her arm. Something in her mind snapped as she felt the guilt of causing the death of another person and the sadness of not being able to see her best friend ever again overpower her body and she suddenly felt her skin pierce as blood began to drip and while she cried in pain, she felt all the pain she felt for what happened suddenly disappear as she made another cut, and kept going until she left about 15 cuts in her left arm. The cuts were small, but deep and over the years, she continued to cut, but none of them left scars like those 15 did. Now at 24, the cuts continue and as she cries, she begs more and more to stop, but doesn’t know what to do]



[The rain showered as Lewis sat with his legs crossed crying into his already soaked arms with his back against his mother's grave after spending an entire hour, motionless and numb. He knew the pain his mother put him through, and he was aware of her lack of support or caring. He put up with all the pain she put him through like a man, but not because he wanted to be tough, or to prove a point: but because he could never feel it in his heart to hate his mother whom he loved more than anything in the whole entire world. She never laid a hand on him, except to hug him at night when he had a very bad dream.



She would lie in bed with him in her arms and sing her a lullaby so he could fall back asleep and would never leave his side. As the years went by, and the chaos at home between them and his father only got worse, she finally decided to dump him and run off with her son to a safer place away from the torture and abuse that he put them through. Even as Lewis got older, he still loved his mother to death despite how cold-hearted she grew over the years they spent on the run from his father, but Lewis was still able to notice her cruel change of heart very quickly. She started having night terrors and even grew aggressive towards him by screaming and breaking things in their own home.



Jennifer knew that her husband would return one day and lay his hand upon her and her son, and cried herself to sleep every night afraid and waiting for him to return and possibly get even worse. He would whip Jennifer everywhere he could with a belt made of leather and whenever he felt like it, he would tie her to the bed and take advantage of her, and forced Lewis to hear everything as he did. Lewis knew what he was doing to her, but was unable to do anything since he was just a little kid at the time. Lewis however received multiple beatings every single night before he went to sleep and would always go to sleep crying and waking up having severe night terrors remembering what his father did to him at his mother.



He hated the man more than anything and wanted nothing to do with him, even if it meant him getting hurt or killed. His mother who would normally try to tell him how violence was never the right answer, happily told him that she wanted him dead more than he did, but knew that killing him wouldn't work well for anybody. She didn’t want him to grow up hateful and violent like his father was, and wanted him to grow happy and free. Inside, she prayed that he would go out and pursue his dreams, but she also believed that no matter what, his father would find him and her and put them back through all the hell they went through. She wanted her husband behind bars so that Lewis could have a better life as well as hers. When she and Lewis made their move, she went to live with her mother’s for a while till she got back on her feet, and while she took care of Lewis as well, she also trained to become an officer of the law, so she can move to a quiet city and let Lewis start high school and finally be happy.



Free from her husband, free from the abuse, free from the rape and free to raise her son in a safe environment. She worked for 4 years to became a fully licensed officer of the law, and when she finally graduated, she and Lewis got the opportunity to move out of her mother’s house, enroll Lewis in Canterlot High as soon as his grandmother finished teaching him, since she was also a home school teacher and get a job not only to support her son, but to protect him and herself in case anything happened. Lewis was proud of her for finally moving forward with her life following what happened with his father. He never got mad at her and never got into any fights with her, no matter what, but when he ran away upon discovering what happened between him and Canterlot High, she crossed a line he never expected she would. Lewis was in the train station calling his mother through a payphone since his cell phone had run out of battery]



“Lewis? Where are you? It’s been 3 hours and you’re not home”, said Jennifer as she worried about him. “Mom, I know you went through a lot of trouble to enroll me in Canterlot High and had the best intentions for me to be here, but I can’t stay here anymore. I’m sorry Mom, but I can’t stay here anymore. I’ll never be able to fulfill my dreams out here and you know it”, he said trying to explain his desire for a better life. “Lewis, don’t be ridiculous. School is the only way you’ll be able to be successful in life. You honestly think you’ll make it as a ridiculous musician? So you can receive hate from millions of angry dance music fanatics who have no taste in real music whatsoever? To be shut down by every music label who only want to sign in some untalented teenage girl singing about giving her phone number to some dumb hunk with no personality aside from having muscles? Think clearly about this goddammit. You’re not even musically talented enough to become famous. What the hell do you expect to become?” she said, finally letting her disapproval of his dreams take over her way of thinking.



“You are never going to become anything famous in this world. Don’t you get it? Nobody will hire an untalented wannabe rock star when they can hire some asshole kid online just because he’s handsome. You are not even handsome for God’s sake; YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT IN THIS WORLD! WAKE THE FUCK UP!” she said screaming into her phone as Lewis began to tear up and remained silent due to her ignorance and lack of understanding to how reality truly was, and simply saw what any close-minded person would think about the music industry nowadays. “You know what Mom? How about you shut the fuck up? I put up through as much pain and disappointment in this world as humanly possible, and I won’t take anymore shit from anybody, not school, not Dad and definitely not fucking you! I don’t even care about what you say anymore, all you did since we moved here was pushing me down and turning me away from my dreams and hopes. Look, I don’t care how difficult we had it in the past, I moved on and learned to live with the pain that asshole put us up with, EVEN AFTER WHAT HE DID TO ME RECENTLY! I may not be handsome or talented like you say I’m not, but I know I’m stronger than you will ever be. So shut the hell up, and leave me alone” he said as he angrily hung up and began to call Octavia.



[Lewis stood up as the rain still blanketed him and he looked down on his mother’s grave and began to talk to it]



"I-I know we both had it rough in the past. I know you got it horribly from your end of the spectrum when Dad was around. He did things to you that he later passed on to me as severely and violently as possible. He hurt us both inappropriately and I hate him for that. He made me grow so hateful and violent towards life, and I just wanted nothing better to do than to kill the bastard and keep him out of our lives forever. You taught me that violence was never the right answer and that the best way to fight is to let your voice be heard… I should have listened to you years ago… if I did… maybe you would still be here… I’m sorry Mom… I’m sorry… I’m sorry I ran away and left you alone… you didn’t deserve the anger I showed you the day I left… I didn’t mean those harsh words, and I didn’t mean to make you cry, if I did” he said about to break down and cry again. “I’m sorry I failed you Mom… the scars in my body were not your fault… I don’t blame you for what happened to me in the past, because you gave me a chance to let me begin my future… I love you Mom… I love you”, he said as he finally broke down and continued crying in his mother’s grave.



[As he cried in his mother’s grave, Octavia stood in front of him, as the rain showered upon both of them and he looked at her with sadness, anger, and fury in his heart, mind, body and soul]