Tangled With The Fated Mates

THE WORSE FAMILY

Home, the four-lettered word that all the kids back at the orphanage pronounced with a wistful tone thought Claudine. She closed her eyes and couldn't quite put her emotions into words. She could still feel Ariella's eyes on her now and again, but she determinedly looked out of her window for the rest of the trip. She hadn't joined in the minimal conversation after being picked up from the forest either.

It took another while before the car started to slow down. Claudine, who had briefly lost track of time, finally dragged her eyes away from her window to see what lay ahead. "Here we are! We're home, Bawdy", cried Ariella in staged ecstasy as she mimicked performing a drum roll with her hands. Claudine had cringed when she heard the obscene name that Ariella had chosen to call her. It didn't help that she yelled the name with so much relish and that her parents let her do that without reprimand. The Zaynader's house was an elegant one-story building with an adjoining quarter with white window trimmings and a green roof. A well-pruned flower garden made Claudine believe they must have a gardener. She didn't see the petite Janey or the bullish Matt holding a pair of shears in a gloved hand and patiently trimming overgrown flowers or stuff. Neither could she imagine either of them in a gardener's hat under a hot afternoon sun. Two white pillars flanked the entrance door that led up to the house, and they must have a fireplace; something looked like the end of a chimney extending away from the green roof. The driveway on which the red Chevrolet Trax ran was tarred and large, and green carpet grasses grew in four enclosed rectangular spaces. In two of the rectangular spaces were trees. Claudine couldn't tell what type they were, though, only that pink flowers were growing amidst green leaves on the trees. The overall effect was a welcoming ambiance to the home of a loving family. Claudine might have no love for the Zaynader, but they had a beautiful home, and she gave them that. Matt stopped the car. "I think the rest of you can get down from the car now so I can park properly in the garage." "Sure, darling," responded Janey to Matt, then to the girls, " time to get down, girls." Claudine got down and took a better look around. They weren't poor people, the Zaynaders. From their Chevy Trax car to the thoughtful layout of their home, never mind that she hadn't stepped into the house yet, she could feel it. Matt put his head out the car's window as he remembered the luggage in the car's boot. "Get down your things from the boot, too, Claudine. I don't know who you're waiting for to do it for you." "Yes, sir," responded Claudine softly, afraid to raise her voice lest somebody else tackled her. She walked around the back of the car, inhaling the sweet scent of blooming flowers. Blooming flowers attracted bees, and she didn't care for bees. She took a mental note to be mindful of them. Anyone who has been stung by a bee would tell you the same. You looked down on the little black and yellow striped creatures and thought they were cute with their humming noises until one perched on your arm and decided you were meat for it. Claudine heaved her box out of the boot with a grunt. She had just one, and nearly everything she had owned while in the orphanage for the past fifteen years she had spent there was packed tight inside. She mistakenly banged the car boot while trying to close it, and Matt yelled from the car again. "You bloody halfwit, don't go slamming my car like that! Do you hear me?" "Y-yes, sir. I'm sorry." But Matt didn't care much for an apology because he had promptly zoomed off to drive into the garage when he was done shouting at her. Janey had ignored all the drama, unlocked the front door, and went into the house. So it was Ariella, who still stood in the driveway, who heard her muttered apology. "Be sorry for yourself, Bawdy. Pick up the damn box and follow me." Claudine dutifully did as Ariella commanded, alternatively pulling and dragging the box as the strength and inspiration came. At the same time, she watched Ariella swing her hands freely as she sashayed ahead of her. She didn't offer to help Claudine, and neither did Claudine seek help from her. Ariella, who Claudine thought was heading up to the main entrance, which she had seen Janey go through, suddenly veers to the left, away from the entrance. Where were they going? She dropped the box to ponder, and that's when Ariella turned around to track her progress. "Gosh, please don't tell me you're lazy too? Don't they give you guys chores at the orphanage home?". Not bothering to wait for an answer, Ariella continued cheerfully, "Ah, well, be grateful then. We're going to teach you to be hardworking."Too cheerfully, if you asked Claudine, which could only mean that hell was getting prepared for her in the Zaynader house. Claudine picked up the box and continued, not daring to comment on Ariella's pronouncement. She knew she was better off not commenting. She finally stopped when Ariella stood before a wooden door behind the house. Claudine asked in a fearful tone. "Where's this? Why aren't we going to the main house?" "You have such a short memory, sister. This is your room for the first week. Think of it as a bit of quarantine." "But, but, my medical reports. Miz Lucaz usually includes it in files, and I don't have any dangerous flu or virus—" "Will you shut up?" commanded Ariella angrily, cutting off Claudine's scared voice. The wooden door to the shed hadn't been opened, but Claudine could judge what the inside could look like by merely looking around while they were still outside. When Ariella was satisfied that Claudine wouldn't speak up again, she slid a key out from under a flower vase and unlocked the door. A terrible stench emanated from within, and Claudine started to whimper. Indeed, she can't be going in there