IMOGEN

7~SHOCK

                                                                IMOGEN

_PAINS 
"Imogen you can't stay here You need to go back" my mom said

"No, I'm not going back I want to be with you and dad"

My mom looked at me sadly"You can't stay with us right now There's still a lot for you to do on earth"

"Mum I'm suffering I don't want to go back That place is like hell I can't take it anymore"

My mom looked at me with tears in her eyes

"My dear daughter," my dad said "You need to go through pain in order to grow and learn No pain no gain You'll be stronger for it, I promise"

"Listen you have three wishes to make" my mom said, taking my hand in hers "And I'll grant them all for you. What's your first wish?"

I closed my eyes and thought hard I knew I only had three chances to make my life better Then I opened my eyes

"Now that you've made your wish I will grant it But remember, you only have two more wishes, so make them wisely Think carefully before you make them now go back"

"But Mom Dad..." I started to cry not wanting to leave them

"Go back"

And with a gentle push I felt myself being pulled away from them

I woke up drenched in sweat gasping for breath Alina was sitting behind me watching me with a concerned expression on her face

I jumped up, and she recoiled, startled I looked down at myself and saw that I was clean with no sign of any injury or blood I touched my body searching for any trace of pain, but found none I looked back at Alina"What happened?"

"I saw you lying on the ground and you've been sleeping for five hours now Are you sure you're alright?"

"Five hours?!" I exclaimed sitting up straight"I have to get all the house chores done"

"Don't worry Mom and Dad aren't here, so there's no need to rush Besides you're already late for school" She got up to leave

"What about Astrid and Seraphina? Did they already leave for school?"

"They left ages ago," she said with a laugh
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"You're late again" Mr. Cassius said a stern look on his face

"We're sorry, sir," Alina and I said

"No need to apologize Just serve your punishment. You both know the drill Report to my office after class"

We both nodded bowing respectfully before leaving his office

"I'm sorry I made you come late" I said

"It's fine really"

"I'll do the washing" I offered, wanting to make up for my mistake

"No we'll do it together I'll see you after class okay?" she said and before I could reply she was gone

"Hey" a familiar voice said from behind me I turned and saw Atticus standing there his blue eyes sparkling

"Wassup?"

"You came late today Are you hungry?"

I was caught off guard by his question and my stomach let out a loud growl

"Well I guess that answers my question," he said, laughing "Come on, let's grab some food." He held out his hand and I took it

We made our way to the cafeteria our hands still clasped together We placed our orders  noodles, pizza, sandwiches, cheesecake  and the table was soon laden with food I looked at the spread in front of me and my mouth watered

"This is way too much food"

He laughed"Don't worry about it I've got it covered Now just eat as much as you can I don't want any left"

"Dig in," he said, gesturing to the food in front of us I immediately dug in taking a huge bite of pizza

"Wow I haven't had pizza in a year" I said, my mouth full

"Slow down, you're going to choke" Atticus said laughing

I took a deep breath and swallowed my bite of pizza"I can't help it" I said taking another bite "This is so good"

Just as I was savoring the last bite of my pizza I felt a sudden impact from behind Before I could react I spat out my food turning to see Seraphina and her friends standing there, laughing

"Wow, you're eating like a pig Did you steal my mom's money to buy all this food?"

"No I didn't steal anything,"

"Then where the heck did you get all this food?"

"My friend bought it for me"

"Your friend indeed," Betty scoffed rolling her eyes "That's a likely story"

"It's the truth"

"And you expect me to believe that?" Seraphina said

Beatrice walked over and kicked the back of my chair causing me to topple to the ground "Listen, girl," she said looking down at me with a sneer. "When we're talking, you're supposed to stand up You're no longer Imogen the rich girl You understand?"

I nodded not daring to look her in the eyes I was afraid of what she might do if I defied her

Betty looked down at me with a cruel smile "No wonder your parents named you Imogen It's such a lame name I don't know how they could have left you behind They were so useless leaving a child like you behind They must have been so stupid to bring a piece of trash like you into this world"

My blood boiled at her words I felt like I was about to explode with rage

"Don't you dare talk about my parents like that!" I said my voice barely above a whisper I was shaking with rage but I couldn't bring myself to speak louder

"What are you going to do about it?" Betty taunted "You're just like your parents useless and stupid They're dead and gone, and there's nothing you can do about it You're just a pathetic lonely orphan"

Seraphina spoke up "Come on Betty Let her be She's not worth it"

Seraphina turned away from me joining her friends as they walked down the hallway I was left standing there my fists clenched in anger The rage boiled inside me and I was so frustrated I couldn't believe what Betty had said

"Die Betty Die and rot in hell" I muttered under my breath

I heard a loud commotion in the hallway and hurried over to see what was happening As I pushed my way through the crowd of students my heart started pounding What I saw when I got there was truly horrifying My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't move............