Beckoned Through The Dark

59 // Lesego // Home

For the longest time since my arrest, I wanted to go home.

I wanted to get back to my family and reclaim my place.

But now that I got the chance, I wasn't so sure anymore.

It just all seemed too good to be true. Everything happened so fast, with just one call from Bridgette and I was cleared to go home.

Abigail looked uneasy, but she was trying too hard to mask it; it was clear to me that she didn’t trust her mother, and I didn’t blame her.

"You've been quiet," Abigail pointed out.  "Thought you'd be excited to be home."

"Me too." If I could breathe all this anxiety out, I wouldn't miss a single breath. Yes, I wanted to be with my family, but I didn't know what awaited me in there. "I just don't know how I'm going to feel once I'm in there, I keep asking myself how much damage she has caused. How am I supposed to look them in the eye and pretend as if nothing ever happened?"

From what Clay told me, Karabelo had brought nothing but destruction in my family. I remember how close we all were, even my mother was starting to warm up to the idea of having a normal family, but that didn’t even last for twenty-four hours. She stole my life, pretended to be me, and then caused trouble in her left.

“Maybe you won’t have to.” I turned to her questioningly. “The first time I met you I knew you were not her, you looked like her, but your energy spoke volumes; you were just too pure. Who knows, maybe someone in there sensed something.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

She leaned back against her seat and watched me, pinning me down with her bright sharp eyes. "Be honest, how are you feeling?"

Damn her and her observant self! "I wish I could run away and never look back," I admitted, "but deep down I know that –"

"If you run away, you will never know the truth."

I nodded. "Even if I did, I wouldn't know where to go. This is literally the only home I've ever known. Despite our imperfections, this is my family."

"Trust me, I understand," she said, casting a nostalgic glance at Claudia's house. "Well, this is it then. It is now or never."

That was my cue to leave, and the moment I stepped out of the vehicle everything came back to me; the flashing lights, the sound of the cuffs, the detective’s voice when he reminded me of my rights, and my mother’s cries.

That was the last memory I had of home.

“Lesego.” I turned to look at Abigail. “If it ever gets too much, I’m just a phone call away,” she said with a warm smile.

“Thank you.” I turned to walk away, but she stopped me.

“One more thing,” she quipped, “You have to be prepared for anything, and I mean anything.”

I frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if necessary, you have to off her.”

My heart hardened. “No.” I shook my head.

“Lesego-”

“No! She is my sister, okay?” I almost yelled and looked around to make sure that no one was watching. “Remember that we don’t know everything at the moment, she could be also a victim.” The pitiful look in her eyes made me replay those words in my head, and with each passing second, I sounded stupid. I blinked away my tears and straightened my shoulders. “She is my sister, and I’m going to get us out of this mess.”

I stormed into the yard, and I wasn’t surprised that the gate wasn’t locked, she’d obviously made it a priority to dismantle all the rules in order to get her way. Safety was no longer a priority when danger was right under their roof.

The energy that hit my senses upon entrance had me take a step back; there was this evil power lingering in the air, and it was suffocating.

A heavy feeling settled in the pits of my heart. What happened here?