ALONE NO MORE

Chapter Seven

   "You are useless!You don't do anything right!"
   "You can never get anywhere!Get away from my face,you good for nothing,idiot!"
   "That girl's a freak!She claims she can see ghosts! Think she's out of her mind,duhh!"
   "Who would ever believe her?!Maybe she needs a psychiatrist!!"
   "Get away from us,you freak!We don't want to be contaminated by you!"
   "Yeah,right! You're a worthless freak!Freak!Freak! FREAK!"
   "No!!"Annika sat bolt upright in bed, perspiring heavily,breathing hard.It was the middle of the night,the full moon illuminating the quiet surroundings.She groped for her phone that she placed beside her pillow to check the time,it was only 1 am.She brushed her hair away from her face with one hand.There was that dream again.She was still being haunted by those ugly remarks, wild outbursts,by those who call her a freak because of her unusual psychic ability.Thay never believed that she can really see what others can't.What is more painful was the fact that her parents who should be the ones to protect her from those mocking and hurtful words were even the ones who brought her down all the more.Even they didn't believe that she could really see things like she kept telling them when she was a little girl.They even tell her she has gone crazy.What's more they keep telling her over and over again that she was useless,she was not worth anything.She didn't know why they feel that way about her.She never did anything that would make them feel that way,in fact,she tried her best to please them so they would learn to love and appreciate her.But they never did.They tried to control her life,to insist upon her what she must do and what she must not.They dictated upon her everything and she didn't try to go against their will.The only person who truly loved her was her grandmother,her father's mom,who stood by her throughout all her unhappy ordeals.
    The old lady was the only person who truly loved and cared for her.She was also the only one who believed in her rare abilities.Before she breathed her last,she told her grandchild that she needed to stand up on her own and she should not let others step on her again.She should learn to stand up on her own two feet because there was no one else who would build her life but herself.As she was fading away,the old lady handed her a brown envelope but told her she could only open it after she was gone and she was cremated.The old lady's death was probably the biggest blow that hit her life.But,she knew she needed to be strong, to face life even without her.After she had been cremated,she finally opened the envelope and almost fainted when she saw what was in it.It contained the old lady's last will and it stated that all of her properties and money left in the bank would be left to her one and only grandchild and that was her,much to her father's chagrin.But he knew he could never contest that in court or anywhere else as it had been duly signed by the old woman with her lawyer as witness And at that exact moment,she decided to live on her own, to get away from the place of her birth, from the place that had brought her so much pain and misery.Her parents didn't even try to stop her,but she could not care less.She was more than glad and relieved to be away from their grip,just like a bird caged in for too long and finally gone free.Now it had been nearly a year since she last saw them and she never bothered to call them and neither did they.But that didn't matter to her anymore.She was free and she would never go back to the life she had turned her back upon.
   She stood up,went to the window and drew the curtain so that she could look outside.Suddenly,a strange feeling engulfed her.It was that familiar feeling again,the feeling that she was being watched.Her eyes were immediately drawn to the tree near the window.But she didn't see anything.Disappointed as she was,she tried to shake the feeling away.After a few minutes of standing there and sensing nothing,she drew the curtain back and returned to lie on her bed.
    What she didn't know was there was really someone watching over her at that very moment.Hiei has long been there,but Annika didn't feel his presence because he manipulated his spiritual energy so that she could not sense anything.When she drew the curtain and looked outside,she almost saw him but he was quick to move out of her sight.As she stood there for a few minutes,he could not take his eyes away from her as the clear glass of the window and the light of the full moon allowed him to see in full view her beautiful face and voluptuous curves revealed by the nightgown she wore.He felt the heat go through him,but he didn't dare make his presence known to her.When she moved out from the window,he stayed there for a few moments before he reluctantly decided to leave.