Danika

6

Sitting at the dining table, Danika sat back staring at her food. "eat Danika" Danika picked up her fork and flicked through it. Spotting white spots through her stew, Danika pushed it away and stood up. "There is nothing wrong with it" Danika looked at her fathers plate and grabbed it then pushed hers to him. 'shit' Danika sat back down and stared at her father as he looked at the men then his meal. 'she knows' "go make something else" Danika stood up and walked into the kitchen. "She knew" "she's not stupid. She heard you say yes. Shes not going to trust a meal that's made now" Danika grabbed the pills and looked at the packet. Xavion watching her closely, he slightly lowered his head as Danika emptied the tablets into the bin and slammed the bin lid shut. 'i have more and she will know I do. I may as well get rid of them' Danika made herself a soup and sat down at the kitchen island. 'she won't join us again. I just want her back. She refuses to speak, won't look at me or let me hold her. Maybe I need to try another strategy'.

Waking up, Danika got out of bed and went to get dressed for school. Entering her closet and noticing all of her hoods gone, Danika looked around. 'THEY TOOK MY PHOTOS TOO' Danika stormed down stairs. "you will get them back.." Danika walked straight out the back and grabbed her father's axe. "Danika.." "DANIKA. YOU WILL GET THEM..." Smashing the first window, Danika moved to the next and smashed that while her father continued to yell out. Ignoring her father, Danika walked around the front "RETURN HER BELONGINGS NOW" 'my daughter won't stop. We crossed a massive line' the men ran inside and grabbed danikas hoods and photos while xavion tried to calm Danika. Grabbing the axe, xavion lowered his head as Danika punched him in the face. "I just want.." "ITS ALL BACK DANIKA. STOP.." Danika stormed back inside and up to her room while xavions eyes watered. 'That wasn't a good approach. Now she won't trust anyone. They went through her room. She hit me. I know they mean a lot to her but I just wanted her to break and let me in. Instead she showed the opposite. She uses her anger to take over her sadness. I shouldn't have done that. If it was anyone else to hit me, I would've killed them. I still didn't get to see her face even with the hood off' "boss?" "Leave her. She probably won't go to school today" "we do need to get someone out to fix the windows" "and clean up all of the glass. I know. Now I'm even more worried. She would know it's you men that entered her room. She won't trust anyone now. I shouldn't have done that. I wanted to try a different approach but this just pushed my daughter to be very aggressive" while the men spoke and started cleaning up, Danika gently placed all of the photos on her bed. 'they took you away from me. All of them in this house. They just don't want to think about you anymore. I love you both more than anything. You were both there for me. You both cared and guided me. You both supported me and were there for me. He didn't even know I'm allergic to crustaceans' Danika dropped her head as she hugged herself and let her tears fall. 'i so badly want to be with both of you and I'm stuck here living a life I have never wanted' Danika wiped her eyes as her bedroom door opened. "Danika?" Danika kept her head down "I know you feel a lot of hatred right now and hurt due to what your father ordered but please know we had no choice. We have to follow his orders" vandal moved to stand beside Danika. 'she hasn't removed her eyes from the photos. They are all neatly placed on her bed an inch apart in the exact order that sat on her wall. It must be a time line...' Vandal looked at every image carefully. 'they are in order' Danika leant over the bed and pushed two images to the side and lowered the last image while vandal rubbed her back. 'shes allowing me close. It's a start or it's because her mind is on those photos'. Danika moved away from vandal and picked up the first photo as xavion entered. 'shes putting the photos back up. She hasn't killed vandal. Vandal has always been one of the closest to her' while Danika gently placed the photos back on her wall an inch apart, xavion and Vandal stood silent unsure what to say or do. 'they are put up in a time line. Why are they in a time line..' vandal looked around danikas room. 'its all neat. Those hoods are already hanging up..' vandal walked to danikas closet. 'color coded too. Does she suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder?. Does she need everything to be perfect. Even her training. It's spot on. She doesnt fault. She has been that way since we started training her and with her' 'what is vandal doing?' "boss.. oh" "is there a problem?" "Men are here to fix the windows" "I will be right down" 'i want to speak with my daughter but I don't know what to say. I'm concerned that doing this, she will only cause harm to her or others. This will never happen again. She could have used her knives but instead she chose to damage the house. She chose to cause more damage. Why?. Why not just kill them?'. Finishing placing the last photo up, Danika ran her fingers over a photo of her mother, brother and her on the day they went to Nikki and Breytons wedding. 'my father was supposed to come but of course his Men were more important. It's always about them. Mom was upset. Damon asked her to dance.. it was beautiful..' Danika brushed her fingers over the photo of her mother and brother as they danced. 'i wanted that dance to last forever. They danced beautifully. He treated mom how she should be treated. Dad married her but after that he was hardly home. Mom had to bring us kids up on her own. We tried our best to help her. The cooking, cleaning, errands. She had so much to do. I never want to feel that way. Feel like I am just there to be someone's partner when they want me to be. This life, it's full of heart ache'. Danika moved back and looked at the photos. 'i will see you. I will be there very soon' Danika walked out past vandal and down the stairs. 'shes leaving' vandal closed danikas door and walked out behind her. 'Yep. She's leaving the house. I expected it' Danika walked down the street to the florist and looked around. 'mom always loved lilies. Sorry Damon. I know you would like them anyway' buying two lilies, Danika walked back out as vandal turned. His eyes softening, he followed Danika to the cemetery. 'hey mom' Danika lowered the lily down then placed one on Damon's. 'hey damon. Yeah I know, it's not manly but I know you used to buy them for mom' dusting off both of their plaques with her sleeve, Danika then neatened up the fake flowers that had been tipped over. 'perfect. You would be hating them laying down. You loved your garden. Even that has died now. Their graves are beautiful. Lush green grass below their plaques which looks to be freshly cut. 'maybe I start your garden again mom. I know it's been neglected. Dad roping me into his life. I need an escape' Danika kissed both plaques 'i love both of you more than anything in this world.. I miss you more and more everyday. I will be back to see you both again soon' walking back to her home, Danika kept her hands in her pockets. 'fucking hell. There are over twenty men here. Ugh' Danika walked past all of them and entered the house. 'I'm not even game enough to go near her. I may be trained but she is a powerhouse and has no fear' Danika entered her room and locked her door. 'im not joining them for any meals. I'd rather starve. They can break my door down but I will throw my knives at them. How dare they take my belongings. Take my bed and I will sleep on the floor. Take my laptop and I will just write but don't ever touch my hoods or photos. I will be keeping my door locked from now on'.