karma

Day 1

*Quick Author's Note: This story may contain some dark themes, such as abuse. If you do not wish to read this, head on over to someone's else book. Or stay here idc I warned you*

...

Karma. The act of getting what you give. Reaping what you sow. The never ending cycle of cause and effect.

When Val thinks about karma, however, her mind immediately goes to one word: payback. Payback is something she's never got the chance to act upon, seeing as she prefers to stick to the rules. She hates the idea of getting caught and punished- especially when it comes to yelling.

There's often a lot of yelling in the Ackerman household. Val gets worried that the neighbors next door might hear her mother's loud ranting, yet she also does want them to hear so she could be saved from this hellhole she calls home.

Don't get her wrong, Val loves her house; she just happens to like it less whenever her mother's around. Mallory Ackerman has an... interesting way of expressing her love. She can be found screaming at anyone who crosses her line of sight (especially in a bad mood), and can find anything to rant about to her family, even something as minuscule as a tiny scuff mark on the hardwood floors that seemed to appear randomly overnight.

The only time Val's mother is ever happy and somewhat nice to her children and husband is when she's with friends. Val assumes it's because she doesn't want to come off as abusive to others outside the immediate family.

Normally, Val tends to stick to her room, only coming out for food, the bathroom, and school. Otherwise any visitors to the house wouldn't know a third child existed.

Then there were Val's siblings: 5-year-old Samael and 8-year-old Mara. Samael used to be bearable to be around: he was nice (sometimes), leaved Val alone (for the most part), and respected his superiors. But lately he's been changing. He's gotten more of an attitude, ignores people, and throws things in fits of anger. For the past year he's been teaming up with Mara to attack Val and steal her things. She's managed to get everything back except a hoodie her best friend had given her in 7th grade. That's probably long gone.

Mara. That little devil. She has no regards for respect, privacy, and has little capacity to love people (she loves her cat, if that counts). She's constantly lying and mocking people, and can't seem to understand the word "no."

Val sighed, thinking of the little rats she calls siblings. Why couldn't I have been an only child? Why couldn't I have a different mother, with a different house and a better life?

The young girl jumped as a loud crash came from downstairs, followed by screaming and cursing. She winced, looking at the mark left behind on her drawing. The house that was there was now behind a large, dark scar caused by her mother's howling. Val slammed her notepad shut and tossed onto her bookshelf, waiting out the fight like she usually does.

Whenever Mallory starts her ranting sessions, Val flees to the safest spot in the house- her room. She's been scarred emotionally and mentally by the verbal (and occasional physical) abuse and threats her mother makes on a day-to-day basis, therefore giving the poor girl major anxiety.

During a fight, Val sits on her bed in complete silence, holding her breath and keeping her ears tuned for any sign of her mother coming up the stairs. When that does happen, Val goes into panic mode, and searches frantically around the room for something to busy herself with, so as not to draw her mom's attention.

About five minutes after the yelling began it died down. Val stayed still for a minute more- one could never be too sure- before resuming movement. Still, she walked lightly, and placed things down gently, as if the slightest hint of a sound could make her mother angry again.

No one should live their life like this, in constant fear. It isn't right. And Val should be no exception to this.

She nodded briskly to herself once before grabbing an unused notebook from her closet and a pencil.

Revenge Plots

Val blinked when she realized she had no idea how to perform an act of revenge. She had never done it before. Was this right? It didn't feel like it. Should she stop? ...that also felt like a no to her.

• SMALL THINGS
- Spilling bits of makeup on counter
- Leave the sink running
- Tip over laundry basket, scatter clothes

At the moment, that was all Val could come up with. Of course, all of these things were to be done in her mother's bathroom. The girl didn't think about the consequences of these actions before closing the notebook and placing it under her pillow, where no one was likely to look.
...
Val's dark brown eyes were wide with terror.

Her mom was currently in a fit of rage, aimed at her. "Why the fuck is there a mess in here? Don't you guys ever pick up after yourselves? Can't you stop being lazy for once and actually do things?"

Val knew better than to say anything. If she did her mom would turn on her and yell even more. Instead she distracted herself by taking in the scene around her, half-blocking out Mallory's harsh words.

The old carpet floor was marked with faint stains from her cat's vomit (she had been sick recently). The garbage was almost filled with bags of snacks and water bottles Val had stolen away while her parents weren't home. The nightstand she had next to the head of her head was full of crap Val had thrown up there, I clouding her house keys, small turtle figurine, headphones, brush, ID, and hair tie. At the foot the bed there was another nightstand, piled with sketchbooks, notebooks, her computer, notecards, a couple of jackets, and a few more hair ties.

To be fair, it is pretty messy, but Val had never gotten around to it. And besides, even if this room was clean, Mallory would still find a way to complain about it- "Your mirror's dirty; clean the counter; organize your nightstand better."

"You'd better clean this up, now," Val's mother warned as she walked away. Once she made sure the coast was clear, Val closed her door and headed for her revenge notebook hidden under her pillow. She opened it, reviewed the three bullet points she had made earlier, and grabbed a pencil.

- Spilling bits of makeup on counter
- Leave sink on
- Tip over laundry basket, scatter clothes

She breathed out a sigh of relief as she heard the familiar creaking steps as her mother went downstairs. She took this as a sign to act now, and quickly crossed out one of the three bullet points before creeping quickly to Mallory's bathroom.