Black Blood

1

For as long as I can remember, there has always been a fear in mothers hearts for their children. It's just motherly nature to care for their children and to worry about them. My poor mother had the pressure of keeping us safe a million times stronger than what the average parent would have to. Especially in a world where drinking and smoking is legal at the age of eighteen, mothers are extremely careful with how they raise their kids up until then.

I always had a feeling that the woman I called "mom" wasn't my real mother and my "dad" wasn't my real father, but I was never sure until the events that happened later on in my life. I had been kidnapped when I was two and forced to live with these people who would basically treat me like an animal. No food or water unless I was able to do the tasks correctly. No showers or baths unless I am supervised. I didn't know right from wrong. When I was rescued at the age of nine, police told me that they had found close relatives that were willing to take me into their family. I didn't have a choice but to believe them. I always was like that. Always believing whatever I was told unless proven otherwise. When the woman who was taking care of me told me that I could call her "mom" and the man "dad," I went with it. They had a daughter a few years older than me named Jackline. We became best friends over the years. I would never talk or look directly at my dad and whatever he said to do around the house, I did. I never asked questions. I seemed to get better after counselling and doctors visits (which always scared me and I even stabbed a doctor by reflex). Doctors and nurses always scared me because they reminded me of the laboratory where I spent my years. I didn't realize that I was traumatized until I learned what normal was.

Our father was in a lot of debt with some rich people who did some illegal stuff. Most of the reason why we were in debt was because my father liked to drink and gamble for money. This led our family to end up living in a small apartment. We could barely afford living in the apartment or even get a good meal once a week without food stamps, given to us by the government. Our family was never rich or had nice clothes, so I would go to school with dirty pants and ripped shoes. There were a few times where we would get donations and would get new clothes then, but it was very rare.

When my mother was murdered in front of us, my older sister, Jackline and I would go out to the corner of the street and sell what we could for money. The alternative to hustling was when we would sit out in the rain with signs that read that we needed help. Jackline and I tried everything to earn money to help our mother and father with the bills, but anything we did just wasn't enough. We become homeless and had to fight and steal for our food. Our father went out of town a lot to try and get jobs in order to pay off his debt.

One day, Jackline woke me up in the middle of the night. I was jerked awake by her rocking arms.

"Talia! Come on, we gotta go. Get your bag! They're coming for us." Jackline sobbed. I was fifteen at the time where Jackline was seventeen. I finally registered what she meant and quickly got up and grabbed my pillow and blanket before shoving the blanket in the pillowcase and grabbing my bag. Jackline was waiting for me by the wire gate alley where we were living. We only lived with a tent-like tarp over our heads to keep us safe from the rain. I ran with her for what seemed like hours. We both had our masks and hoods on so that nobody could identify us at first glance.

"Where are we going to go?" I asked her once we got to the woods. I looked at her and she had tears running down her face. She looked at me and then sobbed before hugging me. "Jackie?"

"Not 'we'... you. You're going to go to a cabin I found a while back. I've already spent some of the money I made, cleaning and making the place livable for when this time came." She cried.

"What are you talking about? Are you leaving me?!" I began to cry intensely. Jackline hugged me and kissed my head.

"Dad called and told me that they were coming after me because I am the firstborn. He told me that after me, they're going to come for you." She told me. "I knew this day would come, Talia... we don't have a choice. I promised mom that I would do everything in my power to protect you." She told me. "Come on. We have to keep going." She said before dragging me behind her. I cried the entire way to the cabin. It was really small and still had cracks in the ceiling and walls, but it was clean and livable. We got inside and Jackline looked at me.