Silent Whispers

Chapter 15

I woke with a scream, my blood turning into ice, and my clothes sticking to my body. I woke with my eyes so bloodshot red I couldn't see straight past a blur. It was the shock at the beginning that overrode all my senses, but when I came out of it, I glared at her. Wish I could have done the same to her. 

I overslept, and the repercussion of that was cold. I couldn't believe my stepmother actually came into the room with a bucket of ice-cold water for me and poured it on me while I was sleeping. It might have been her plan all along to humiliate me like this, but today she claimed the psychotic title and owned it. 

My teeth chattered against each other, my body trembled, and goosebumps prickled my skin. A cold shower in bed wasn't exactly how I planned out my day today, but nothing in this house worked my way. It was either their way or no way. 

"Why isn't the breakfast made?" Because the sun's not up yet? Because I was still sleeping? Because I quite literally hadn't slept all night the minute I closed my eyes, this happened. It's literally four in the morning.  I shivered as I ignored her, and walked into the bathroom. I shut the door behind me, consequences for that be damned, and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I didn't know what shocked me the most. Was it the fact that the devil literally put me to bed and tucked me in, or the fact that my mother was actually the reason I was in this predicament with him in the first place? Both sounded insane and out-worldly. 

My life was drastically changing day by day, minute by minute. My mother's secret was the biggest blow I could have ever come across. I distinguishably remembered her yelling at me every time my fascination for Lucifer came up. I remembered her reprimanding me every time I ever spoke of his name. Why call him in the first place? Why not choose Heaven for me instead of Hell? 

The devil was always the easiest to call on. Was my mother that psychotic? Did she ever mingle with the devil before me? Was she ever in a cult, or did sacrificial things to appease him? My body shivered again, and this time from a whole new different reason. None of this was normal. If people found out who my mother really was, or what she did, they would come after me, and try to kill me. It was either that or shun me from the community. The community always believed my mother wasn't normal, and that she was a 'witch'. This would create a whole new drama. 

Suddenly, my stomach churned and I became nauseous. Everything was a lie. I was kept in the dark, and I thought I was the crazy one. I never understood where my fascination for Lucifer came when it did come, but one thing was clear. It was brought down on me. I was cursed, doomed to be in eternal pain for the rest of my existence. I was marked. The thought made my stomach heave painfully. 

The banging against the bathroom door pulled me out of my trance. I opened the door to her standing with her arms folded against her chest. Ignorance didn't suit her.  I ignored her again and walked out of the room with my head hanging low. I felt defeated today. I had no more energy left in me to fight, argue, cry, or move more than I needed to. I couldn't do this today.   But I did the best I could. I made them their breakfast and fed Lily. 

"You're not going to work today." The plate from my hand almost slipped and fell to the ground, but I caught it in time. I sharply turned to face father sitting by the table with a smug expression on his face. He got me, and he very well knew that. Why did he want me to miss work?

"I can't miss work."

"You can and you will. I have guests coming over in the afternoon, and they will be crashing here tonight. I expect you to cook, clean, and serve. Don't make me repeat myself." His voice was thick and laced with annoyance as if I had already messed up before I even started falling into his demands. A whirlwind of emotions stirred inside of me, and I was afraid I might say or do something I would regret if I didn't get out of here on time. Raw anger was lurking behind, and the sudden urge to give him a piece of mind became strong. 

Missing work meant fewer chances of me getting out of here, and I couldn't risk that. The fear of being stuck here gripped me tight along with anger that held me, prisoner, in my own house. What was his motive? But, before I could protest, he got up from his seat and walked out of the door, taking his wife with him. I scooped up Lily in my arms, looked out of the window, and watched them go off somewhere, with hot tears sliding down my cheeks. 

When the silhouette of their shadows was gone, I looked up at the sky and noticed the drastic change. It was always accustomed to my every mood, and it wept when I did. The clouds were ominous above us again, and they flashed down at us. Or at me, and Lilly, but I couldn't really tell. I moved away from the window. I knew he was watching me, and I knew he was listening to every conversation happening in the house. The awareness of being watched again was constantly amongst me, and I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't even know if they were my secret guardian angels or not. My life was becoming morally questionable.  

And I was starting to believe only one person had the answers to my question...but I wasn't going to find those out from him anytime soon. It didn't matter anyway. I wasn't normal and I knew that from the very beginning.  I placed Lily down in her fresco highchair and went back into the kitchen, where all the chores were laid out for me. And I wept while I did it. When I got to the lash dish in the sink, a sinking feeling settled itself deep into my belly. The awareness of being watched got stronger as if somebody or something was right behind me, and when I turned...

...a blurry shadow whooshed past me. It came and went so fast I thought I had imagined it. But then Lily started crying I knew I wasn't imagining it. And for some reason, this didn't feel like a familiar presence around me. I quickly ran to Lily, picked her up again, and cradled her tightly to me. 

"Who are you?" I called out, hoping the presence around me would retaliate. But, after a while, no one spoke and no one came before me. Frustration bubbled inside of me like hot lava, and I bolted to my room before slamming the door shut behind me. And in that same instance, the rain came down hard. And I felt a presence around me again, and this time...it felt familiar. 

A lot familiar.