Mine to Claim

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

They do not call me by my birth name, Nikita.

Dusty.

Like the room, they have given me, like the bars on the window and door of my room. They have named me Dusty. Why?

Because I have dusty hair that reaches my bum and waves in the air whenever I walk. I love my hair. It makes me look more like my mamma. The woman who died with me in her arms. I remember her but the memory is hazy as if lying under the debris of those memories bombarded on me years after years.

I turn 18 today and according to Uncle Xavier, I am supposed to behave like a woman to be blessed by the Goddess. I know he's evil but I don't have any other family apart from him. Also, he keeps that woman, Kestrel away from me if I listen to him.

She watched my mamma die, tortured me and some part of me wants to watch her die. It makes me wonder if I am a bad person?

Listening to Xavier often includes cleaning his house, doing all the household chores; from polishing his shoes to cooking every meal for him. Earlier it was just him I used to cook for but then another person started coming to his house. He introduced this new person as his son, Xanthos. He was my cousin but I did not like the way he stared at me. The way his gaze lingered on my chest and then on my thighs.

From a very small age, I was told to keep quiet, to never talk unless told to speak; that's why I ignored Xanthos. But he kept coming to this house. He kept talking to me, touching me and then whispering things in my ears while I worked in the kitchen.

I had never really felt any intense emotions except for the pain when mamma died. I felt something in my brain, I remember that clearly. For years I couldn't recognize that feeling but once while reading a novel, a gift from Xavier for making him a roast chicken; that's where I read about the pain in the heart that some people feel when they are hurt.

Magnify that feeling with a magnifying glass and you will know what exactly I felt that day in the dark when mamma collapsed with me in her arms while that woman watched us. After that, she did something to me and I fell asleep.

But when Xanthos touches me or whispers bad things in my ears, I feel nothing but disgust. I don't like his touch, it scares me and then when he whispers those bad words in my ears, my stomach hurts. I know that feeling, I've read it in the books. It means that I am scared of him, terrified even.

I tried running away once when Xanthos put his hand inside my t-shirt and pressed at the soft flesh of my chest. It's called breasts, I learnt that later but still it hurt very bad when he squeezed them. He left bruises too. That was the first time I spoke without permission. I pushed away Xanthos and ran to Xavier. I complained to him about Xan's behaviour.

Did it do me any favours? No.

Xavier just hit Xanthos in the head and said that I am his cousin so he shouldn't think of me as a body to fuck. I didn't know the meaning of that word and I couldn't even ask them. So, I mutely stood there and watched as Xanthos glared at me for ratting him off.

Then, thinking that I have luck on my side, I asked him if I can leave the house, and what did I get in return? A clear threat is that if I ever leave this place, he will let Xanthos do whatever he wants to do to me. Which meant fuck me, that is having sex with me. Forceful sex without my permission.

At that time, I didn't even know what sex meant, so I stared at him questioningly and that was my first bad mistake. Because then, Xavier made me watch him having forceful sex with a woman.

The woman was crying all the time he did things to her. He had this huge rod like flesh, penis, it is called. All males have that private part. And all females have a vagina, I knew that much only. What's their use; I came to know that time. Yes, he penetrated his penis in the woman's vagina while pressing the woman's breasts and biting her on various parts of her body.