Chained to Me

10: In One Night

"Good. Good. At least your grades got a bit higher." Mum nodded as she passed on the bowl of mashed potatoes to dad. "Honey, they were never that low. They were... average." Dad spoke winking at me.

We were finally having a family dinner like the ones we used to have before mum was offered a job at a big tech company and since then all she did was work overtime. Every time I had arrived home from school, there would be my dad waiting for me, and it would be just the two of us at dinner.

"So how is Mr Quinn treating you?" Mum asked.

"Fine, I guess." I buried my head in my plate, avoiding eye contact. Come to think of it, they arranged with who I should work. So, do they know about the other job? They must know, the people there knew my birth mother and apparently my sister. And they never told me anything about them, then again, I didn't ask.

"But she's coming home a tad late." Jenny chewed on a piece of steak, pointing her fork at me. Snitch much?

My parents immediately turned to me with wide eyes. "Please tell me you're going out with friends." Mum pleaded.

"Of course, she is." Dad managed a small smile, hoping for mum's best reaction, but it was only wishful thinking. Mum stood up, hammering both hands on the table.

"You're working for them, aren't you?" Her eyes sending lightning bolts. Her face becoming redder.

"Yes. What's the big deal?" I slumped down on my chair, glaring at her as she became angrier.

"The big deal? It's too dangerous! And you're hanging around with those freaks of all people."

"Freaks?!?" My voice almost at its breaking point. I couldn't stand there and hear those words. I heard them all my life, and now, I'm hearing them from her. "They're the only people who stood by me and helped me deal with my problems. You," I pointed, yelling at her at the top of my lungs as I stood up from my chair letting it fall to the ground. "You sent me to a psychiatrist hoping I was just delusional and not a FREAK!"

"No, I didn't mean you. I –" She tried to take back her words, but it was too late. I was way passed my breaking point. My heart was shattered into pieces, with tears at the edges of my eyes.

"Don't! I can't hear anymore." My voice almost inaudible. My throat starting to hurt. I looked at her, biting my lips trying to prevent my tears from falling, but I could feel myself about to burst into fits. I marched to my room with my mum chasing after me.

"Candle. I'm sorry. I didn't mean –" But I shut the door before I could hear another word. I was too upset and overwhelmed with what had just happened. Sitting on the bed, the walls started to close in, suffocating me. I couldn't stand being in the same house as her at the moment. I had to get out.

I grabbed the black leather jacket I had on the bed which I had used on my last mission, threw it on, and opened the door, finding my mum still in front of it. She had been crying, her eyes red and her make up a mess. "Candle." She uttered, but I slipped passed her and hurried out of the house without another word.

...

I knew mum hoped for a normal child, but I wasn't hers to begin with. I was her sister's. She shouldn't have adopted me if she wanted someone ordinary. She could have adopted someone else. Someone she really wanted.

I swung back and forth on an old swing, looking up at the bright starry sky. I had gotten myself lost. I had never seen a playground in this town, but somehow, I ended up in one. It was vacant and surrounded by similar looking houses, all which looked too old to have been built in this decade. They looked worn out, and so did the playground, complimenting my mood. Like the buildings, I was too worn out. I wanted to go home, but at the same time, I didn't want to face mum again. At least not now.

Dring dring.

"Hello?" My voice not restored to its normalness.

"Candle? What's wrong?" Penny asked, still with her cheery voice.

"Nothing."

"Oh ok. So, tonight there's a party? Do you want to go with us?"

"Yes... Could you pick me up? I'm at a playground."

"What are you doing there? Ugh. Hold on... we're coming." She said before she hung up. At least she knew where I was.

It only took a few minutes until I saw a white Mazda coming from down the road and halted in front of me. The tinted window went down slowly, revealing Luke and Penny by his side.

"Hope in." He smiled. I nodded opening the back door to sit next to Ashley. "So, what's the matter?" Penny asked again. I sighed softly; she wasn't going to stop asking.

"I had a big fight with mum..." I stopped, realising Ashley might not know about the supernatural stuff. If I kept on going, I might have also offended Penny or Luke with the "freaks" insult mum had used.

"Oh. Well, let's hope for the best." Penny replied.

"Perhaps, things might go back to normal when you go back home." Ashley continued.

"Hope so." I whispered, more to myself.

"We're here." Luke interrupted the silence in the car as he turned off the engine. We were parked in a small parking space where the ground was filled with pebbles and some grass grew at the edges. It was filled with parked cars; some belonging to other students who were already at the party.

We began walking across the bumpy ground and finally onto smooth pavement. Within minutes, we could see the house from miles away, having pink lights coming out from the ground level windows and the music could also be heard, but only the beat, no vocals. The house was turned into one of those clubs I saw on TV, where a conversation couldn't be heard.

As we walked down the road, there were already have drunken teens on the porch taking a smoke. Some looked too young to be of legal smoking age or drinking age for that matter. I followed Penny and Luke with Ashley behind me, trying not to lose each other as we went into the crowded house, struggling our way to the back yard for some space.

"Look who's here." I turned slowly meeting Kim's overly dolled up face and barely clothed body. "You said you didn't want to come? Why are you here then? Did you give in to Mike's invite? Huh." She crossed her arms over her chest, stepping closer to me. The teens who were dancing, making way for her as if she had a crown over her head.

"Candle! Don't stop. You'll get lost –" Penny pushed her way into the crowd again, realizing Kim's presence.

"Oh. It's you..." Penny's voice turned cold. Sneering at her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the crowd into the back yard where there was a pool and deckchairs at one side.

"Hey!" We heard Kim yelling, running after us. "Who the hell invited you?!?" But we didn't stop, we kept on walking, and she kept on following us until we set down next to Luke and Ashley on a deckchair.

"Get out!" She pointed to the door. One hand in a ball of fist, her knuckles turning white while her face getting red.

"Why?" Ashley asked. "If we leave, wouldn't we offend the one who invited us?" She smirked at her, laying back on cushions of the deckchair.

"And who would that be?" She yelled.

"I did."

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Thank you for reading Chained to Me.

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This was an updated version of my comic going by the same name, which has now been unfortunately discontinued, but you can still check it out in the link below:

tapas.io/series/Chained-to-Me

other links: linktr.ee/erica_mallia