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Birth
On January 30th, 1995, Arend Linoge was born. His birth came less than a year after his parents - Rosie Donahue and Andrew Linoge - were married in Rosie's hometown, Westminster, London, England. -
First Memory
Arend's account of his first memory is quite sad, as it depicts his father being abusive toward Rosie (Arend's Mother). Arend was only 4, but when he woke up late one night from a terrible dream, he saw his father verbally and physically abusing Ms. Donahue. Standing in the hallway outside of the cramped living room in their small, two bedroom apartment, the perfect image that he had of his father shattered as he watched his mother cry. -
Falling Asleep
After seeing his father scream and attack his mother night after night from the dark hallway of their home for a year, Arend still got out of bed to make sure his mother would still stand up. On a cold February night, his mother catches him - makes eye contact with him through the crack in the door leading to the hallway. When Andrew went to sleep, she snuck into Arend's room and sang to him until he fell asleep, her cool hand stroked hair from his forehead, and her tears were silent. -
First day of School
At the age of five, Arend began attending kindergarten at a local inner-city school. During free time in the of the shabby, poorly lit classroom, he hit a girl with his fist when she refused to return a toy he had been using. When his teacher, a tall, intimidating woman, asked him why he would think such a thing is acceptable, he simply stated that his father did the same thing to his mother. -
Day Out in London
In the summer after Arend's first grade year, his father was attempting to win him over. That is to say, Andrew Linoge had started to figure out that Arend was seeing the abuse taking place in their home, and was trying to stop Arend from telling anyone about this by getting closer to him. But during their day trip around London, Arend saw his father take a wallet from a man on the subway and pack of cigarettes from the counter of a convenience store they stopped in. -
First Time Stealing
After a gas leak scare at his school, eight year old Arend walks home early, only to find his father yelling at his mother for the size of her paycheck. Despite her many late and early hours at a local pub waitressing, she made very little money. This was not enough to support her husband's gambling addiction. Arend snuck out the backdoor without being seen and ran to the busiest street he knew. Using the memories of his father pickpocketing, he stole as much as he could to help his mom. -
Father Leaving
After Rosie learns that her son is stealing to support her, and by extension Andrew's gambling, she decides that she can no longer force herself to stay with him (Andrew). But in the middle of their divorce (which was lengthy) and before all the papers have been signed, he leaves with no explanation. Rosie - who is determined to have a new life with Arend - sets off in an attempt to find him, leaving Arend alone on Christmas, leaving him with a pot-pie and a feeling of abandonment. -
First Casino
After his father's departure and the divorce that was never quite finalized, Arend and his mother moved to Paris. There she worked in a Casino as a waitress, but was always sure to keep him out of Club Anglais so he didn't begin to take after his father. But one night he took the bus there to meet his mother for diner and when she didn't meet him outside right away, he went in the back (the chef knew him). There was something about the lights that drew him and he sat down at a slot machine... -
Mother's New Boyfriend
In the fall of 2010, Rosie was seeing a new man - Holden Aguirre, a rich English man. They met in Paris while he was visiting the Parisian office of his multi-million dollar company - Aguirre Industries. On the 16th of November, Rosie introduced Holden to Arend and the lunch that served as an excuse for an introduction went very well. Arend felt as though he was finally getting a family and managed let go of the protective feelings for his mother - just this once. -
Meeting Maxwell
Things went well throughout the first months of Rosie and Holden's relationship, but soon Arend had to meet Holden's son, Maxwell. It was a bright, angry day on when the two boys (Arend age 15, Max age 12) shook hands for the first time. As Arend looked into Max's wary eyes, all he could see was happy privilege and the imprint that a father's love leaves. Arend’s hand tightened as he thought of all the money this boy would come into when he turned 18 and inherited his father's company. -
Addiction
Sneaking into his favorite casino was something Arend did quite often. But this time, one day before is 18th birthday, Arend was determined to win. He had been saving for a car for three and a half years now, but he had nowhere enough money to purchase one of his own. At least not without a loan from Holden. But Arend, who had stayed away from casinos his whole life due to his father was going to win tonight, no help. And win he did, but the rush that he felt when he did was something very dark. -
Sailboats
One beautiful evening, Holden took Rosie and Arend down to see his sailboat. As the sun glinted off the shining deck, Holden bent to say to Arend - almost as if it was a secret, just for them - that they could go sailing all the time. That they could be close, just like father and son. Arend had never felt such relief, such joy. All he could think was that he would finally have a father. A safe place for himself and his mother. A home. -
Adoption
Arend's heart soared as his Holden smiled at Rosie and then him and handed Arend an envelope filled with milky white paper. As Arend opened the thick envelope he euphoria grew and he couldn't hold back a laugh of delight. Holden was adopting him. He really did have a family. Though, looking back, Arend swears Holden was only doing this to get closer to Rosie. But this made Arend part of Holden's clan and in the future, that was going to be incredibly valuable. -
Seeing Andrew
Arend began to realize that things were serious between Rosie and Holden, so he 'borrowed' his moms beat up truck and drove to where he knew his father was. He banged on the door of the house where his mother had found Andrew had run off to all those years ago on Christmas. Andrew's girlfriend (his mistress from his marriage with Rosie) opened the door and Arend thrust unsigned divorce papers at his father who was just behind her. It killed Arend that Andrew had found a family before he did. -
Wedding
On the day of Rosie and Holden's wedding, 16 year old Arend sat alone in the back of the church, looking at the ground as Max walked his mother down the aisle. When Rosie had heard that Holden would not budge on his son being part of the ceremony (The best man "had" to be his brother) she cried but said that she would not do it without Arend. Saying she would leave Holden. Arend shook his head and smiled through the pain, saying he didn't want to walk her down the aisle anyway. So he sat alone. -
Studying For a Test
By 2012, Arend and Rosie had moved into the mansion that the Auguirres called home. Up in Arend's room, the window looking out to the backyard was nowhere close to sound proof - when Max threw a party, Arend could barely hear himself think. As he sat in his room, cramming for a huge exam, the noise of his step brother's partying drove him crazy. After running downstairs and crashing outside, Arend blacked out. When his eyes opened, Max's best friend was lying on the ground with a bloody nose. -
Getting Into College
When Arend applied to Harvard he had not expected to get in. So he applied, giving himself some hope that he could escape his sad life in Europe, and completely forgotten. When he got an envelope in the mail with a return address in America, he didn't know what to think. But he was in. He was finally leaving! He opened his bedroom door, intending to rush down and tell his mother the good news, faltering when he thought of how she was probably with Max. He went into his room and closed the door. -
Left Alone
Arend only had a few months before he graduated high school. Before he could leave the home that'd he'd once hoped for. To say it wasn't what he was expecting would be an understatement. Slowly, his mother, his closest confidant, drifted away from him and closer to Holden. The three of them - Holden, Rosie, and Max - were so close that they left Arend sitting alone and forgotten at 'home' as they went sailing. Being at work shouldn't make people forget about you, but forgotten was Arend. -
Casino Fight
While at home, forgotten while the rest of his 'family' sailed, Arend found some booze Max and his party guests had left out. Climbing into his car with his drink, Arend headed to the closes casino. Sitting there for hours, Arend did what he usually idid - cheated. This time though, Arend got caught and was dragged to the casino's alley. Arend took his beating, barely crying out when his leg snapped in a terribly loud way. All he could think of was his fathers face as he tried to fight back. -
Finding Document
Standing in his step-father's study, Arend was digging through a box full of photos while his mother, Holden, and Max ate a celebratory diner out (Max had won his mock debate). Arend had faked sick so that he could look for pictures of his mom to take with him to college. As he shuffled some paper's across Holden's desk he uncovered his will. After skimming it, Arend realized that Holden would be leaving his company to his son - only if Max was 18 when Holden died. Arend's eyes darkened. -
Killing Holden pt. 2
The minute Holden excused himself to use the restroom, Arend poured the contents of the vial into his step-father's tea. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach but he couldn't force himself to regret killing Holden. Arend was technically the son of Holden, and because Max was only 15, Holden's company would go to Arend. -
Killing Holden
Arend's hands gripped the vial of green liquid he had bought off of one of the weirdos who hover around the garbage cans at school lunch. When he had asked how much you need to kill a guy while buying it on the last day of school months ago, the girl with hair matching the stuff in the vile smirked and said nothing, so Arend could only assume the vial was enough. He smiled at Holden when he mentioned how nice it was to sit down for dinner "just the two of us for once."