AMBROSIA'S 16TH BIRTHDAY
I was awakened by the sound of my mother and father screaming 'happy birthday' in my face. I sat up, and hit my head on the bed frame. What a good start to my day. "Thanks" I said, smiling awkwardly and rubbing the back of my head, which felt awful. The night I snuck out had been forgotten when I came back from Grandmother Elizabeth's house. I was thankful for that. As for my birthday, I couldn't help but to feel excited. I was 16! Today would be so important, and I had so much hope that it would be amazing. After my parents left, I got up, took a hot shower, and picked out an outfit; I decided to wear a pair of Capri jeans, and a floral sweater. I brushed my hair, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a stick of mascara Hayley must've left. I tried to pull it open, but it didn't work, so I twisted it. It opened. Whoops. I felt like an idiot. I stroked my lashes with the wand, and looked in the mirror, smiling. I closed the wand, and walked downstairs. The house smelled sweet; of syrup and French toast. As I walked in the kitchen, I was surprised to see Hayley, Carly, Grandmother Elizabeth, and Alice sitting at the table. They all looked at me and smiled as I walked in. "Good morning, guys" I said cheerfully. "Good morning" they all replied. As soon as I sat down, I noticed a pile of gifts in front of my seat. Carly, who sat next to me, hugged me and smiled. "Happy birthday, girl!" She yelped. "Thanks" I replied. Mother and Father walked into the dining room with trays, filled with buttery pancakes, eggs, sausages, biscuits, fried green tomatoes, ham, hashbrowns, and French toast. My mouth watered, and I realized how hungry I was. As soon as they sat down, the trays were sat down, and everyone was hungry. "Before we we eat, I'd just like to say happy birthday to my angel of a grand daughter, and what an exciting day this will be to you. Many things await, and we all love you, honey. Never forget that" Granldmother Elizabeth said. "Aww, I love you guys too. Thank you" I told everyone. "You're welcome. Now open your presents" She said. I looked at a small white box with a big red bow on the top, and gently began tearing off the wrapping paper. Beneath the wrapping was a brand new smartphone! I gasped happilly, and opened the box. The phone was a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, and it was shiny, and brand new. I had never had a phone before, and was so happy to have one. "Who is this from? I love it!" I cheered. Mother and father raised their hands slightly, a smirk on each of their faces. I stood up immediately, and ran over to them, hugging them tightly. "Thank you guys so much! I swear on my life, I'll take care of it" I promised. "You're welcome, honey" said my father. I sat back down and opened the rest of the presents; pretty knitted soft sweaters of all colors from Alice, who loved to knit. A scrapbook of all the blown up photos of us and a brand new makeup kit from Hayley. Some jewelry and gift cards for my phone from Carly. And a beautiful silver necklace with my name engraved from Grandmother Elizabeth. "Thank you all for everything. I'm so excited to spend the day with all of you" I said sincerely, and truly happily. "Let's eat!" Dad cheered, and we all dug in. And for the first time in forever, Alice was laughing, smiling, talking, and having a good time. We looked at each other, and traded happy glances.
After Dinner: 7:30 P.M
After dinner, my family and friends were gathered around the table, about to have a serious conversation. I was scared. What had happened? What would happen? "Ambrosia, my love. There's something we need to discuss with you. Something that had to wait until your sixteenth birthday. It's very important that you listen to us" Grandmother Elizabeth started. "What's going on?" I said. I sat between Carly and Hayley, who were squeezing my hands. "We had to send Alice upstairs, because she can't know until her sixteenth birthday, either" She continued. "Just, please. Tell me" I said. My mother looked up. "Ambrosia, when you're Grandmother Elizabeth was very little, her mother was a very dangerous and wild woman. So was her father, but her mother was very dominant over his actions. She had a way of making people very angry at her, and before you're Grandmother Elizabeth was born, she was in high school; she was 16 years old. She was very mean to these four children; two boys and two girls. They vowed to get revenge on her someday. And when the time had come, when Grandmother Elizabeth's mother was an adult, and much older, the children had come for her. They were immortal, and had done some very serious research on dark magic. This dark magic was special. It had a way of teaching a very important lesson. To make bad people feel how other people feel, people that go through so much. The children took her far away to a dangerous place called Rainbow House. It's called that because each color represents a different emotion, and there were 16 emotions. Each emotion had an different vision, and each vision Grandmother Elizabeth's mother saw, a piece of her mind was lost. When the emotions were all seen, she was left completely lobotimized. To this day, the children take generations of 16 year old girls in our family, and do this with them. They may come for you" She told me. Oh. My. God. What the hell had I just listened to? What was this? She was dead serious. I stood up. "Mother, you can't be serious" I said, my eyes watering. "She is" Grandmother Elizabeth said. "Why? I'm not mean to any one at school. I get my work done. I did one bad thing, I know, and I'm sorry, but I can do better- I- I can change!" I said, and sat down again, in a complete puddle of tears. Hayley and Carly held my hands tightly. "It's not your fault. But that's why we keep you inside, so they can't find you. We want you to be safe" Father said. "Did you go through it?" I asked my mother. She nodded. "But I'm okay, and so is your grandmother. If you do, you'll be fine" She said. "When would I get to come home?" I asked. My mother looked down, and then back up. "About a year, if you finish" She said. "No!" I shrieked. "I can't go away for that long!" I cried. "Look, listen to me, honey. You are one tough girl, okay. You always have been. You can do it, okay? If they come for you, you can do it" Father said. I nodded. "Okay" I replied.
11:24 P.M- Ambrosia's birthday.
Hayley, Carly, Alice and I were all in my room listening to music and eating snacks in our pajamas. It was hard to enjoy the night after the discussion I had downstairs with my family. "Did you guys know? Is that why you didn't freak out?" I asked them. Alice covered her ears. "Yeah. Your mom and dad made us promise not to tell you. We shouldn't have taken you to that party. Are you mad?" Carly said. "No, I'm not. I understand. And don't be sorry. I wanted to go. You didn't make me. Besides, I had fun" I told them. We smiled at each other. Behind us, the window opened up, and we all sat up. In came two boys, one of them holding a duffel bag. "Oh, no" I said. We all stood up, and held on to each other. "Mom! Dad!" I Screamed. We all ran down the stairs. "MOM! DAD!" I screamed. The boys chased after us. Mother and father ran out, along along with Grandmother Elizabeth. "Ambrosia!" They screamed. We all ran over to them, and huddled. The boys were about 5 feet away from all of us. "You all know it's time. Give her over to us now, or this house burns down" one of them said. I didn't know what to do. But I knew what I really had to. I stepped out. "There you are" one of the boys said. He grabbed my arms. My father stepped out, and grabbed me. "Not this year. You're not going anywhere with my child" He said. One of the guys reached out, and twisted his neck. My father fell to the floor. "NO!!" I screamed. I pulled my self away from the boy, and fell beside him. "Daddy! No!" I screamed. Suddenly, everyone was unconcious. "What did you do them?" I said. "Relax. None of them are dead" He said. "I'm not going anywhere with any of you" I said. He grabbed my arms, and dragged me outside. "Let me go!" I screamed. He kept pulling me, and the other boy followed. He closed the door. Outside, was a big white van. "Did you get her?" A girl said. "Yeah. Open the back doors" the boy holding me said. A girl opened the back doors of the van, and I was thrown inside. Inside, a light was turned on, and the van was dim litted. The doors were closed, and the van started to move.
