STRICKEN

Chapter one

"Okay, so this is where we start arguing right? I swear you could win us a debating award with your talents", I said, rolling my eyes.

"I just don't get why you have to leave without me this time! I mean, check that out! Who's gonna protect you? How are you going to train.."

"Ughhh.." I mentally facepalmed myself. "Here we go again. "Look, I understand. It's just.. I'm so tired of making you run around with and for me. You trained me because of this, didn't you? I can't keep letting you risk your life for me. You have your own life to live, make something out of it", I plopped down on a sofa."Or why then did we spend all those cold nights in the gym training?Why?"

"I know, I know.."

"Whyyy.."I drawled out.

"Look, just understand.."

"Whyyyyy.."

"That's it!" I jumped in my seat. I hoped Cloney wasn't developing schizophrenia..
"Thea, how can you be so nonchalant about this?!" His brown eyes shone with bewilderment and pain.

My heart shook for this semi old man.

"I get you Cloney. But this is what we've worked so hard for all this while. I have to make a living on and of my own", I said soothingly. "This was bound to happen sooner or later anyway".

Sighing heavily, I stood up and walked towards my room.
"Coffee's on the counter"

My life was so dramatic, if things ever went on with perfect normalcy, it definitely wasn't my life.
I pulled my long auburn hair in a bun.

I couldn't blame Cloney. We'd been together since my mom died -rest in perfect peace mom- and he's been everything I had..and vice versa.

Jumping on my middle sized bed, I recounted all the times my family had to move, for some nameless psychopathic murderer who didn't have any better thing doing than haunting us all round the whole universe and back.

I no longer got the chills when I thought of him. All I felt was anger..raw anger that kept building up and rising to it's peak and needed to be released.

He put all of us in this mess.

He deserved to be hung and his balls gripped with two pairs of pincers and shot with a king-sized gun in the forehead. And that was because I was in a fairly good mood anyway.

Life was once all normal and my biggest care in the world was my new prom dress orrr..the next Christmas gift I was receiving from Dad.
But of course, things couldn't keep going so well..

In my fifth grade, Dad started this weird behavior that really got mom worried.
He'd leave the faucet running and get lost in thought; pick at his food and stuff..

I was getting creeped out too.

It wasn't until a few months later that the attacks began.
We would come back home from family vacations and be given the biggest scares of our lives.. blood stained walls and penknives littered everywhere. Then a small note on which was scribbled: 'Enjoy while you can.. breathe while you still have the privilege '

Now which sane kid wouldn't pee in his or her shorts?

The third time a similar occurrence took place, mom dragged her husband to their room and all I could hear was banging and screaming.

Don't get me wrong, Dad would never lay a finger on Mom, she most definitely was trying to get answers from Dad.

Dinner that night was awkward to say the least. No chitchat, moody parents.. I knew straight away that mom had won the battle earlier.

"I'm a part of this family, you know, and I think I should equally know what's wrong"
I bugged for the umpteenth time.

"Go to bed honey", Mom fiddled with a blonde lock that wasn't even in her face. She only did that whenever she was deeply worried.

It was later I found out that we already filed in a case of this intense threat.

After furtile attempts and countless interrogations with Dad, I figured Dad knew and infact had had encounters with this aspiring murderer.

It was certain that we or him rather had done something quite terrible to this man that had him hunting us down to wipe out existence from the face of Mother Earth.

What I didn't understand however was how, where and for what cause.

It was equally not helping that all the police could render was a picture of our predator and his nickname- Banny.

But after further heart to heart interrogations between father and family, the horrible truth dawned on us.

We had to be on the run.

Dad had had a fatal head-on with his family truck on a drink-drive incident and quite unfortunately, none except one had been given the golden chance to survive..

How responsible.

Well Banny definitely didn't think the result was balanced.

Days to weeks and he transformed from hopeless to murderous..

Now this sane turned psycho swore to bring the poor Randell family down, in an even worse way than his came crumbling..

And that was why Dad had suddenly gone missing on thirteenth birthday.

We had spent an entire fortune searching the whole town. Everyone was tense, the police were clueless. We couldn't even tell if he was dead and already cremated or was in some dark alley, being terrorised day and night.

The only information, or better still, advice, was to move again; for the third time.

It was in this jumbled mess Cloney found the gateway to our family. He seemed to be the only Corp who's interest was triggered in our family's matters that he became a constant visitor.

He worked with Mom in securing new apartments when we had prospects of moving again.

But even constant ease wasn't a factor in our world.

Two years ago, Mom died from hypertension and acute dyspepsia.
She certainly couldn't bear the disappearance/demise of Dad.

Not that I want to be pitied..

Not all orphans are hopeless, you know.
I was going to find my way.

Sure, I knew Banny was still after me but I was so not going down like a helpless chicken.

And that was why I needed all the training Cloney could give. He had permernently moved in after Mom's death, for maximum protection and companionship for the sake of my sanity, note my sarcasm.

I miss mom, hell I really do.
But I can't let that feeling consume me. I can't afford to be torn apart.

Not now not ever.

If it meant that my life tape was going to be played on the run, then so be it.

Thea Randell was never going down without a fight.