Violet

Chapter 33: The Cries from Behind

  There are two buses for the soccer team. I ride the one with Liz and Desiree. Mariel rides the one with the other players. After soccer practice with the girls, Mariel asked all of us if we wanted to go to her house. Desiree and Liz declined. "I have a ton of homework," Desiree said. "Maybe another time."

"I have to babysit the twins," Liz said. "My parents are going food shopping later." The two of them headed to our bus. I was about to go too when Mariel stopped me.

"You can come over and take a nap if you want to," Mariel said. "I know you're not getting proper sleep at home," she said, smiling at me.

I laughed and started walking with her to her bus. "Thanks for inviting me over. I wasn't looking forward to going home."

"I bet," she said.

Mariel was so nice. I felt like me and her went through similar emotions at home. I felt like I could actually talk to her about my problems.

***

Mariel had a beautiful house, inside and out. Her parents weren't home yet. I was looking forward to meeting them and to see what they were like. Maybe I wanted to see what made Mariel mark her body.

We went into her room which was two times bigger than mine. She asked me if I was thirsty or hungry but I told her I was okay. "I hope you don't mind me playing music while I study," she said shoving a blanket in my hand. I thanked her for it. "Ever heard of Avenged Sevenfold?" she asked.

I sat on her bed with the blanket around my shoulders. "No, I haven't," I said. She has an old karaoke machine where she has to place a CD inside for the music to play.

"This song is called Seize the Day," she said, smiling at me. "Sad but good."

I got comfortable on her bed and laid down while she took out some books to study from. The music played through the air, giving me goosebumps as the singer sung. I listened to the lyrics, trying to understand the concept of the song. It was beautiful. I felt like the music was speaking to me. Telling me to live in the moment, to love who I want to love, to look at would I should be grateful for and much more. Mariel quietly sang along. She had a beautiful voice and I couldn't help but listen to her voice more than the man's own voice.

After four amazing songs, I drifted off the sleep. I had a dream about Ryan and I swimming in the creek. It was a nice dream and I was enjoying it until I heard someone yelling. I woke up to Mariel standing over me, smiling. "Hope you slept well, but it's a bit late. My sister is coming to drive you home," she said. The yelling from someone in the house continued. It was a woman.

Mariel must have seen the concerned look on my face. "Don't worry," she said. "It's my mom. She always comes home drunk. It's nothing new. Ignore her." As soon as Mariel said that, her mother opened the door.

This tall scrawny woman who was wearing clothes that could barely fit her walked in. A harsh scent of alcohol flooded my nose making me want to gag right there. She could barely stand up straight as she looked at me. "Hey there," she slurred. "And who are you?" She was about to fall but the door caught her and she leaned against it. Mariel handed me my backpack.

"Her name is Violet, and Ming-Na is downstairs so we better go," Mariel said to her mother. "I made dinner. It's in the oven. Eat something, please."

When we got outside, I saw the dark sky decorated with thousands of stars. "How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"Three hours," Mariel said.

"Three hours!" I shouted. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten," she said. The car pulled up and we hurriedly got inside. Once we arrived in front of my house, Mariel and I said our goodbyes. She even gave me a hug. I thanked her sister, then waved them goodbye as they were leaving.

While I was walking towards the house, I noticed that I wasn't in the right place. I was by Ryan's house. I headed back in the right direction but as I did I heard someone crying. Not a soft cry. From behind me came the most hysterical crying and screaming sobs only interrupted by the person's need to draw breath. I turned around. Sitting on the ground, a few feet away from me was someone. The streetlights gave me enough light to see that this person was wearing a cape or something. They faced me, but I couldn't see their face. The cape covered their face entirely. I finally realized that it wasn't a cape that rested around her. It was a cloak.

The sobbing got louder as I inched away slowly, still keeping my eyes on the person. It was until the person slowly removed the cloak from over her head and looked into my eyes. My entire body shut down and I was unable to move. I could only stare at the woman's cold blue face. Her purple lips trembled and tiny dot-sized eyes froze into place, never once moving. She reached out a trembling hand. "Will you be my daughter?" it asked me.

All my senses came back to me and I ran away as fast as I could. I could hear her sobs and cries catch up to me as I ran. She screamed and cursed me, telling me to obey her, to love her, and to come home with her. I was almost home and I refused to look back once I reached the door. To my luck, the front door was open and I ran inside, quickly locking the door behind me.

I turned around to see my mother passed out on the couch. Next to her was Katherine, who had a glass of wine in her hand. "What are you doing here?" I asked her.

Katherine looked at me in a hasty manner, as if she belonged here during this time of night. "Your mom got worried about you and asked me to come over. I'm glad to see you're safe now," she said, getting up. She grabbed her bags then walked out of the house. I didn't bother warning her about who was chasing me.

I woke up my mother and told her to come in the room to sleep. She got up and I could tell she was tired. She could've been drunk too because I smelled wine on her. I decided my story of the cloaked witch would have to wait until morning. My mother got in bed while I changed into my pajamas. I snuggled up next to her.

Over the night I tried to come up with some logic explanation about what I had seen. I came up with one too. Ryan was to blame. I bet he made up the stupid story then dressed up like that to scare me.  The crying was the thing that got me the most and I had no idea how he pulled it off. Mariel could have been in on this prank too. She was the one who dropped me off in front of his house. All I knew was tomorrow he would have a taste up my mind.