Nowhere Girl

Retribution

Author's Note: I have changed my main character's name from Syra to Nora, and this is what she will be referred to throughout the story now. Sorry for the confusion!

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The blow landed across her face in a resounding crack.

Nora staggered back, taken aback by the sheer force of it. Her hand instinctively went to her cheek- a familiar gesture by now, one learned from years of practice. It did little to soothe her stinging cheek, or stop the burning tears in her eyes from scraping down her face.

"I never expected this from you." her mother shouted, her hands clutching her head. Then, she closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, and frowned. "Do you know what time it is? What kind of child returns home at midnight? Not the kind I raised!"

"You said I could go." Nora said quietly.

"I did not!" she spat. Another blow followed, this one to her head.

"You're a liar and a cheat." she spat. "Who knows what you were doing there? Drinking? Disgracing yourself?"

"I did none of those things!" she screamed back. "I only went because you said yes. I wouldn't have if you didn't." Nora importuned, her voice pleading. She did not bother to tell her that Evie's call for help had been a complete sham. And she certainly did not mention that she had lingered there to speak to a boy- alone.

"You can ask Zack. Ask him, ask him!" she continued, pointing to her brother, who was watching the scene unfold before him, rendered mute by fear. Their mother looked at him with a gaze so thunderous that he shrank inwards- but not before managing a small nod in his sister's defence.

Her mother's jaw tightened, her mouth a hard line.

"So, you're both lying to me." she said quietly. "Both of you. Both of my children are liars." she said, her hands pressing her temples. "God! What sin did I commit? What did I do to deserve this?"

Nora braced herself for another impact, but none came. She almost wished it had when her mother began shaking her head in grief, her bony hands holding her face in a whispered prayer. She knew what her mother was praying for- what she always prayed for during her episodes. Her own death.

Nora closed her eyes, willing the situation away. Her mind wandered to the place it always did on days like this- another world where her mother was sane, where her father had been faithful, and where Elena van Rijn had never come into their lives. Vaguely, she realised that her brother had come to her and was hugging at her waist. She held him close, hoping that she could somehow transmit her dream unto him, if only to stop him from shaking.

It was several minutes before she opened her eyes again. Her mother had disappeared from the dimly lit hallway. She would have to check up on her later- after she had extricated herself from Zack. She took her brother by the shoulder gently, guiding him to the kitchen table. His face was wet with tears.

"She hates us." he said, his voice so low it was barely a whisper. Nora sighed, reaching for a tissue to wipe his runny nose. She babied him- all of them did, even their mother- as if spoiling him could assuage the guilt that was eating away at their hearts.

"She loves us," she replied, her tone soft. "But she gets sick sometimes."

"She's not sick." he whined. "She's mean, and she hates us."

Nora pursed her lips, her mind racing. Zack was too young to understand their mother's condition. Was he? She had to try- for she had seen her mother growing up, and had seen her on her good days, when she was a shining example of what a mother should be. The good days had become scarce since Zack had come into this world, so that his image of their mother was etched by memories of violence and rage.

She forced herself to be calm, for his sake.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. He shook his head, pushing her arm away. "You didn't eat any dinner." she continued, though it was well past midnight. "Neither did I. What's say I make us some cheese sandwiches?"

In truth, her appetite had left her the second she had entered the house and heard her mother's screaming, but she looked at her brother's bony little arms with worry. He was so short for his age.

Zack shrugged at that, which she knew was his way of saying, Yes, please- I'm starving.

And so, despite her pounding headache (a remnant from her excursion to the Lee mansion) and her tired eyes (she had barely slept in the week since Jonas had returned), she went to the kitchen and began cooking. And after, when she had wrestled Zack's iPad from under the covers and put him to bed, she went to her mother, curled up beside her, and slept.