Hopeless

Chapter 1

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she drove down the road, the past blowing behind her in a breeze, and wished she could have done this so long ago. She couldn't believe what she had been put through in the last four years of her life, wishing she had brought her mother with her, but had to leave it all behind. The past was the past and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

She looked behind her, making sure nobody was following, and knew she had to see her uncle soon. She was tired of living in the darkness, tired of living her life this way, tired of keeping the people who loved and cared about her most in the dark. It was time to finally spill everything out about what exactly had been going in her household over the past four years.

Briana just hoped she could handle it and not crumble at her uncle's feet when she revealed the truth to him for the first time in four long and grueling years. It was hard to believe after all this time, she had survived somehow miraculously. She wiped the tears away from her eyes as she drove continuously into the night, feeling so young and hopeless all in one as the past started to sweep her away…

~!~

"Now you remember what I told you, Briana. Not a word about what has been going on, alright?" Briana's mother, Tina, had explained, staring deep in her daughter's eyes, watching as they filled up with tears.

"I don't understand this…" Briana wanted to cry, wondering why her mother was sending her away. "Mom…"

"Listen to me, Bri," Tina sniffled, gripping her daughter's shoulders to try to hold her composure. "You HAVE to go. There is no other way around it. I will be fine. You can't worry about me right now, alright? You HAVE to do this for me."

Briana nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks, knowing she would do practically anything for her mother, including leaving her. She was only seventeen so Briana didn't understand what was happening around her. She never did anymore, though she had a sinking feeling it had something to do with her current home life.

"Alright mom, whatever you want." Briana sighed shakily, wiping her tears away, heart pounding in her ears thunderously. They didn't have much time, Briana was sure of that, especially when Tina's eyes suddenly glazed over.

Pulling her daughter into her arms, Tina stroked her waist length light brown hair, and kissed her temple softly. Tina pulled away, looking over her shoulder carefully, and shoved the plane ticket in her daughter's hand. She kissed her cheek and disappeared out of the airport, leaving a scared and lonely seventeen year old Briana to get herself to the place where her uncle John was located.

"I love you, mom. I won't say anything, I promise." Briana whispered under her breath with a heavy sigh, looking out the window at the huge planes. She would have told her mother that, but Tina was always on the run and Briana understood why. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her mind, the final boarding call echoing through the airport speakers, and knew this was it.

Taking a deep, shaky breath before walking up the terminal, Briana handed over her plane ticket to the flight attendant. She smiled when the woman told her to enjoy her flight and explained how to get on the plane. Briana was very grateful for that information and found her seat, which was in first class, thanks to her uncle's generosity, sitting down. She was excited that she had gotten a window seat, surprised when the seat beside her didn't fill.

Shrugging, not thinking anything more about it, Briana slipped her coat off, laying it gently in the empty seat and made herself more comfortable. Briana didn't like planes very much, but was willing to do just about anything to get out of her household. She was so excited that summer break had finally arrived, having graduated from high school. Her birthday was in about a month, which was in July, and couldn't wait to see what her uncle had planned for her.

John was a nice guy, stood a little over six feet and had the most incredible blue eyes, just like Tina's and Briana's. That's what she inherited from both her mother and uncle. John was Tina's brother, but she was much older than John.

John was twenty seven years old and Tina was thirty five, having had Briana when she was at the tender age of seventeen. John was nine years old when his niece was born and did his best to help out Tina in any way he possibly could. John and Briana had grown up together, but when John hit that certain age period of around fifteen, everything changed.

He quit hanging out with his six year old niece, having better things to do, but quickly changed into a fun, loving uncle when Briana turned thirteen. John was twenty-two and starting out his career in wrestling. He never let anyone mess with his niece and, if they did, they'd answer to John's fists. Briana sighed heavily as she leaned back further into the seat, closing her eyes and ended up falling asleep, before the plane even had a chance to take off. She made sure to buckle her seatbelt though before doing so.

John sighed as he paced in the airport nervously, knowing he hadn't seen his niece in four years, the nervousness showing. Sure, he had bullied around her boyfriends when he'd come home from the road, but Briana had her own life. John didn't want to interfere with that, so he kept back in the shadows and quietly tried to watch over her.

He'd talk with her on the phone once a week, if Tina ever called him that is, and would end up talking with Briana most of the time. John wasn't going to lie, knowing his sister was keeping something from him. She was so quiet and timid ever since she met her now husband, Kyle, and John didn't like him from the beginning.

The man stood around five foot eleven, almost John's height, but was as scrawny as a toothpick. John could knock him out with one punch. He sighed heavily, feeling a pat on his shoulder and smiled as he turned around to face his girlfriend, Talethia, kissing her lips softly.

"I'm fine baby."

"You don't seem like it. I just figured I'd try and ease some of the tension." She replied quietly and looked deep into his eyes, falling in love with her high school sweetheart all over again; not believing they'd been together for two years.

John was a sophomore in high school, while Talethia was just starting out as a freshman. They were one year apart and broke up just after John's high school graduation. Talethia was a senior and still had that year to go through, but John couldn't and wouldn't wait for her.

He had to make his own dreams come alive and politely ended things with her, saying something about going to a wrestling school in Louisville, Kentucky. Talethia understood, never holding a grudge and they promised to keep in contact, but it never happened. They didn't see each other for the next seven years…until John finally caught up with her at one of his wrestling shows.

It was actually his debut as the Doctor of Thuganomics and Talethia was laughing so hard as she watched him front row in center. John locked eyes with her and that was it. It just flew from there and they grew to love each other more than they did back in high school.

"Thanks baby, I'll be fine. Just nervous about having my niece on the road, you know?" John sighed, spilling out his true feelings, and Talethia nodded in understanding.

She stroked his back lovingly, giving him the comfort he needed. "Everything will be fine, John. She's seventeen right?" Talethia asked, not knowing if she remembered meeting Briana back in the day and smiled when John nodded, still waiting for Briana to arrive. They were in New York on that night and it was the JFK airport, so things were a bit hectic. "Excellent, looks like I'll have someone to go shopping with."

John shook his head and chuckled, wrapping his strong arm around her shoulders. "She doesn't like to shop much so don't be surprised if the shopping trips are a bummer." He warned playfully with a wink.

Talethia nodded and just kept quiet, knowing John was extremely tense about having Briana on the road with them, but also excited at the same time. She could understand and hoped this didn't turn out to be a total disaster. An hour passed by and Briana's plane finally landed at JFK airport. John stood up immediately, forgetting about Talethia falling asleep on his shoulder and ran toward the terminal, wanting to be the first person to greet his niece.

He didn't have to wait long as a sleepy, light brown haired girl stepped off the plane. He smiled at her, knowing it was her just by the color of her eyes, both staring at each other. He could see the tears building up in her eyes and immediately took her in his arms, stroking her hair lovingly.

"Hey sweetness." That was John's nickname for Briana when she was a little girl and it stuck throughout her childhood.

"Hey bonehead." She replied softly, hugging her uncle like a lifeline. "Can we get out of here?"

John nodded and proceeded to keep both of his girls beside him close so no one tried anything. He introduced Talethia to his niece and Briana immediately was drawn to the fiery red head. She had the most beautiful green eyes and was around five ten. After retrieving Briana's luggage, John escorted both women out of the airport and toward his blue SUV, knowing they had to hurry if they were going to make it to the arena in time.

John was determined to do so and both women knew better than to argue with him. Briana hadn't gotten her driver's license yet, so she had no say so in the matter, but Talethia did and put up a fight. John told her no sternly, kissed her lips, slipped the key into the ignition and peeled out of the JFK airport, heading for Madison Square Garden, where the WWE was located that night.

Briana stared out the window deep in thought and tried not to clutch the seat because of how fast John was going. She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts when she heard Talethia say something to her. "I'm sorry what did you say?" She asked sheepishly, looking back at the redhead.

Talethia giggled at the brown haired beauty. "I said, do you like going shopping?" She asked, green eyes sparkling with hope.

Briana shrugged her shoulders, not much of a social person. "I don't know. I mean if I need something, sure, but just for the fun of it, not really." She answered honestly, refusing to lie, though she felt back when the hope slowly diminished in Talethia's eyes.

"Told ya." John chimed in, giving his two cents like always, and laughed when Talethia smacked him in the arm for his troubles.

Briana giggled at the two, knowing and seeing how much they were in love, and bit her bottom lip, hoping one day she could find love like that. She doubted it though because number one: she didn't find herself attractive. To her, she was just a normal looking girl, who didn't have that sparkle like some of the beautiful women she saw in magazines or on television. She sighed and looked back out of the window, not understanding how she was going to keep her deep dark secret from her uncle.

She was going to try though, for her mother's sanity.