The Power Of Love And Vengeance

CHAPTER 4

      Clank! "Oh shit!" I heard something fall and someone cuss under their breath. "Be careful not to wake her up. Poor girl, she looks likes had a really rough time."
     "Sorry ,granny!" I had a guy's voice. They were talking in hushed voices. I tried so to recall where I was and who were those people talking.  What were they doing in my room? Luke and Amber never came in here unless they needed something.

         I slowly tried to open up my eyes. I blinked once , then twice and immediately shut my eyes again! "Agh!" The light was too bright. I had shuffling of feet and someone stroking my hair. "Oh, thank god sweetie! Your awake!" Said the kind woman I had met earlier.

             I opened my eyes again. My eyes had adjusted to the light and looked at her " I'm okay, thank you for asking." I answered her. She ran her fingers through my hair and looked into my eyes " How are you feeling? Need anything? Water?" She asked.

        I slowly sat up, causing her to withdraw her hands and hold my hands. " No, I'm fine. Thank you kind miss, for your hospitality. "  I smiled at her in appreciation.

      " What time is it? I must live! I think I've overstayed my welcome." I looked down in embarrassment at how she had taken care of me and yet, I couldn't repay her. I had no money, literally nothing to my name. No place to call home, no family, no money and most importantly, I had no one to to love and take care of me. Someone to tell me that all was going to be alright.

        "Not so fast young lady! Where will you go at this time of the night? You looked sickly when I first saw you and you need as much rest as possible!" The kind lady said in a stern voice.  " You're going to stay here until you feel better. You look so pale and malnourished you poor thing." She looked at me in pity.

      "No, no, you don't have to do that. You've done so much for" " It's not up for protest, my dear. Let me take care of you. I'm not complaining about it am I?" She cut me off with a gentle squeeze on my hands.

       I looked at her with tears shining in my eyes. She didn't know me and yet  she wanted to take care of me until I was healthy again. Why was she being kind to me? Is this another ploy where someone pretends to like me or help me and then humiliate me at the end?

      But when I looked into her eyes, all I  saw was kindness and genuineness in  them. Tears started falling down my cheeks.  " Than-thank you. So, so much! You do-d-don't knw-know me ,yet you're trying to help me." My voice was heavy, full of bitter tears and appreciation. At this point, my face was wet.

         "Hey, hey, Don't cry sweetie! It's alright.  I don't know what you've been through, but don't cry. Crying isn't good for your health." She took a handkerchief and slowly wiped my tears. That didn't stop them as more started falling again. She was showing me more love than my real parents ever showed me. It felt so strange.

         I did not notice there was someone else in the room until I heard a clearing of throat, "Mhm-mmh". I turned my head to locate the sound of the voice and noticed a tiny boy, maybe 14 or 15 staring back at us. " Don't worry about that one, his name is Peter. He's my grandson and stays here with me." The kind lady told me.

    I waved awkwardly at Peter and all he did was smirk at me. " sup ,pretty lady!" He responded.  " Peter! What have I told you about saying that to ladies? You're too young for that." Came the kind lady's stern voice.

     " Haha, sorry granny!" Peter apologised while looking down in embarrassment. He looked adorable.  "Hey, Peter. I'm  Ava, nice to meet you." I greeted him. " Yes, yes, you did not tell me your name, little one." The kind lady said.

   "You have such a beautiful name." She complimented me. I looked down in embarrassment just like Peter did a few moments ago, and heard a chuckle from the kind lady and Peter. " No need to be embarrassed little one, I never asked for it in the first place." She ran her hand in my hair.

    " Um, uhh, what's your name?" I asked the kind lady. "I'm Maggie,  that's my name. And I'm the owner of this diner." She answered me. Up close, where I could examine her well, she looked quite old with a few wrinkles here and there with no white hairs at all. Hmm, no white hairs? Does she dye it or is she naturally like that?

        "Wait, she gets to stay with us? Cool!" Peter exclaimed. "Yes, she going to be staying with us." Maggie responded.
" Well, I'm only staying for a while. Until I get better." I added after granny Maggie, Which caused her to side-eye me. "Or maybe not?" I questioned nervously.

            "Sweetie, I can tell you've been through too much. I can't exactly tell how much but, if you don't have anywhere to go, you could stay with us. I don't mind and Peter seems not to be." Granny Maggie gently told me. I also took a glance at Peter, and saw him smiling excitedly, shaking his head as a 'yes' to me staying with them.

     "But, but I can't pay you for overstaying. I don't have a job or any money." I tried to protest. "You don't need to pay me anything.  If you want  you could help in the diner,  what do you say?" Granny asked. "

  "Really? Thank you, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity! I promise to work hard and not give you any trouble!" I exclaimed with tears in my eyes. I didn't have anywhere to go, and if I reject her kind offer, I might suffer on the streets. Thinking about it made me shudder as memories of what had transpired before flashed in my mind.

     "Well, now that we've got that settled , how about you go freshen up and i'll go make you something to it. Come on Peter." Granny called out to him as she walked out of the room.  "Ohhh, yeah, the bathroom is that way." Granny pointed to the left of the room and she walked out.

       I sat there thinking about my life. The ifs and what's and the possibilities of what it could have been if my parents had loved, treated and cared about me like they did with Luke and Amber. What if my twin hadn't drowned on that day,  would we be a one happy family? Would I be planning and be excited about college?

          The memories from last night flashed in my mind. How they raped me and took away my dignity. I hated myself.  I felt so dirty that I wanted to scratch off my skin. Tears started falling off and all I wanted to do in that moment was forget everything.  Forget my parents, siblings,  cheating boyfriend,  the rape, the death of my twin , just everything.

        After a while of tears that could fill up a cup, I stood up and went to freshen up. I looked in the mirror and saw a different person.  My eyes were red, my hair greasy with tears still falling down my cheeks. I furiously wiped them off and hoped into the shower.

      I scrubbed my body raw while hot water fell down my body. Scorching my skin. I felt numb, couldn't feel anything at all. It's like my senses were frozen. Cold and locked away in a cold dark place.

       I don't know how long I was in there, the water had already turned cold. I took a towel and wrapped it around my body. I felt weak. I went and stood in front of the mirror again. I wasn't gonna let this bring me down. I'm not going to let it break me.' I need to be strong and overcome this. I need to think this as my new life.'

      I motivated myself,  trying to make myself strong. There are people who had gone through worse than I had and yet, they overcame it. And so was I. I got out of the bathroom and saw that a blue dress with some undergarments and sandles were placed on the bed.

     That again brought tears into my eyes. But not sad tears, it brought tears of joy in my eyes. Granny Maggie reminded me of my own grandma before she died.  I wiped them off and dressed up. Today, I was gonna start my new life. Try to be happy and forget all the bad moments. With those thoughts in mind, I went to join granny and Peter.