A•N•D•R•O•P•H•O•B•I•A

Peculiarities • Part Three

 "There." Uncle Timothy said, locking the electric shackle, tied to my feet, and then locking it at the corner of my room. I was curled up in a ball on my bed, looking down at the shackle. Uncle Timothy looked at me worriedly. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" He asked. I nodded and closed my eyes. "Thank you, Uncle." I said quietly. He lingered for a while in the room, before he went out, shutting the door behind him. I sighed deeply, curling myself up even more. It was the next day, and after the incident at Winston's birthday party, I managed to persuade my Uncle into permanently chaining me in my room. At first he was incredibly against it, but when I explained to him what happened at the party, he finally agreed, saying: "If that's what you want."

 Like I said before, I have fear over many of things. From what I read, my condition is known as pantophobia, which is fear of everything. But out of all of my fears, I have two, in which, the cases are severe. One, is what happened with Winston. That case, is known as androphobia, extreme fear of males.  The other one, is metallophobia, which is extreme fear of metal. It's very ironic, since in our current age, almost everything around us is metal. Because of these conditions, my brain reacts accordingly to my surroundings, which is why I act defensively when certain matters tend to happen. So now you know, why I'm a neurotic freak.

 Anyway, during the party, ater Cassidy and Kimberly had all but shout at me like a complete stranger, in front of dozens of people, they took Winston inside his house to check the damage I've caused. Despite my regularly-clipped nails, I somehow managed to tear Winston's flesh. As a result, the corner of his right eye was torn open. Had I known how to aim, I probably would've scratched his eye out. In the end, the party was cancelled, Winston got confined at a hospital, and me and my cousins, left the town square, with the people all staring at me. If Cassidy hadn't forced me out of the house to go to that party, then none of that, or this, would've happened. A knock came on my door. "If you're Cassidy or Kimberly, then don't come in." I said harshly. I knew that was wrong. But what was I to do? "Well, lucky for you, it's Dominique." Dominique said from the other side of the door. "I've got your breakfast. Can I come in?" She asked. I thought of it for a while. "Sure."

 The door opened and Dominique came in, carrying a small tray that had a bowl of chicken soup. "I'll just put it right here." Dominique said, placing it at the small table I had beside my bed. She looked at me with her downcast eyes, about to say something. "I'm sorry. About what happened.." She said uncertainly. I sat up, feeling sorry that it was she who was guilty. "It's not your fault." I said reassuringly. She smiled, somewhat happy that I held no grudge against her. Dominique then saw the books I had piled on my bed. "What's all this?" She asked, sitting beside me. "Do you read all of these?" She asked in awe. "Not really. I mean, I've already read them, I'm just reading them again." I said simply. "Wow! I knew you loved to read. But I didn't know you loved it that much." She said, taking a book and flipping through it.

 I smiled warmly at Dominique. She's probably the only one among her sisters who's kind to me. I guess, Cassidy is a bad influence on her. Finding the book interesting, Dominique laid back on the bed, still reading the book. Laughing inwardly, I got a book myself and took a place beside her. Then together, we read for the rest of the day.

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 "Man, that Amber ruined our day for us!" Cassidy said, as she strutted through the crowd, with Kimberly tailing behind her. "If you're so annoyed at her, then you should go tell Dad." Kimberly suggested. Cassidy snorted, making some of the boys, whom she passed by, look at her oddly. "Yeah right. Even if I did, Dad will always side with his most precious niece." Cassidy said, her voice dripping with indifference. The two sisters continued to push past the crowd, making their way to a medicine store.  Cassidy pushed through the door, greeting the shopkeeper on the way in. "Okay, Kimberly. Go talk to the shopkeeper for a while. I've got some business to do." Cassidy said, going to the back room.

 There, she was met with a shady, coming-of-age doctor. "Why, Cassidy Lyons. Come again for another wondrous package?" He asked hoarsely. Cassidy gave a smug laugh. "Oh, Dr. Orhs. You're such a joker." Cassidy said with a flip of her hair. "What do you have for me today?" She asked. Dr. Orhs fiddled with something in the bag around his shoulder. "I have mild, and heavy." He said with a wicked smile. "Give me three of both." Cassidy said. The doctor, happily did so, and in exchange, Cassidy gave him 10 gold pebbles. "Little lady like you shouldn't meddle with these." The doctor said. Cassidy gave a dark chuckle. "I don't see a little lady anywhere." Cassidy said with a smirk, before leaving the doctor.

 She quickly got Kimberly and the two of them got outside. "What did you get?" Kimberly asked. "Personal stuff." Cassidy said quickly. The two of them walked in silence for a while, before Cassidy asked: "So what did you and the shopkeeper talked about? I heard he's a real gossiper." Kimberly did a practical face. "Nothing much. All he kept yapping about was just some incidents with the manned G.U.N.S. outside the walls." She said, kicking a rock. "Seriously? What kind of incidents?" Cassidy asked, mildly curious. "Oh. Just that there was some kind of hostile attack. I didn't get the details since you quickly dragged me out." Kimberly said. Cassidy suddenly stopped, a horrible idea, forming in her mind. "What?" Kimberly asked. " I just got a brilliant idea. One that will scare the life out of Amber." She said darkly. Kimberly laughed.  "Oh, I'm in." She said. The two girls, laughed to each other, talking about a scheme that they will once again do to their cousin.

TO BE CONTINUED