Ivory Chronicles

Act IV - Apex Rebellion Part 8

Delusions of Grandeur

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I couldn't control my actions. It was like watching a movie play in my head, but I was in it. I could feel the surroundings, even Annabella's emotions. The young child, Annabella, slowly got up from the bed on the ground floor, made with thick blankets, and proceeded to open the worn-out wooden door. She could hear a commotion in the house, blending with the sound of the thundering storm.

"I can't take it anymore, Miguel! I won't go into that room again! Every time there's a little thunder, she summons a storm and shakes our house! She'll end up killing us one of these days!" The frantic, terrified voice of a woman echoed from a room not too far away.

"She's your problem, Lisa! That kid terrifies me! I'll keep saying it, that kid isn't mine. Never in my generation has something like this happened! It was because of your whoring around that God punished you!" The clinking of bottles could be heard as the man yelled, slurring his words.

"How many times do we have to go over this?! She's yours! And if God punished me in any way, it was being stuck with you! That's why I'm leaving!"

"Mom? Dad? The thunder is scaring me," young Annabella said as she entered the living room. The paint was completely peeled off, revealing the bricks underneath, and the floor was covered in dust and debris. The couch was severely damaged, and there was a tall table with mismatched chairs around it. Annabella noticed that Lisa, her mother, was packing clothes into a bag. "Are we going away?" she asked softly.

"You forgot to lock the door? Good luck trying to run away now," Miguel said, throwing the bottle in his hand into the corner of the room before heading to the kitchen to grab another one.

Lisa approached Annabella, forcing herself to be loving and patient. "Sweetie, go back to sleep. You know that the thunder gets worse when you're awake. You have to sleep."

"But you're going away without me?" Annabella asked as thunder clapped, causing the house to shake just as she jumped at the sound.

Lisa trembled, looking around at the shaking house, knowing it was her daughter causing it. "You have to go to sleep now!" she screamed at young Annabella.

Miguel had opened another beer bottle. "Come on, kid. Go back to sleep. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal, like always," he said, throwing himself onto the couch and chugging the beer.

Lisa grabbed Annabella by the hand and dragged her down the hall. "Go back to sleep!" she yelled, yanking her into the room at the end of the hall—Annabella's room.

Annabella quickly got up, but the door had already closed behind her. She heard the lock click into place. "Please, Mom! Don't leave me! What can I do to make you love me?!" Annabella yelled in desperation through the door, but all she heard back were the footsteps of her mother leaving.

"MOM!" Annabella yelled again, pounding on the wooden door, but there was no answer.

"... not going anywhere!" Annabella could hear muffled yelling from the living room as the thunder grew louder. Her anxiety and desperation escalated, making the house shake more violently.

"MOM! DAD!" Annabella kept screaming. The sound of the thunder, wind, rain, and yelling grew so loud, that even her head felt like it was about to burst. She closed her eyes and felt like she was floating in mid-air in the darkness as the world broke apart.

But I could still see it. From within her, millions or billions of invisible cells were spreading throughout the house, extending to the storm outside and manipulating it. I could see the cells inside Miguel and Lisa, making them feel the fear, anxiety, anguish, and abandonment that Annabella was experiencing. Their overwhelming fear made them stagger into the shaking house, which started to crumble. Lightning strikes fell all around, each roaring sound intensifying the quake.