CHAPTER 1
Graduation felt like it was years away although it had been only two months ago. The persistent search for jobs online had started to make me hungry and I leaped out of bed to go food hunting in the fridge when my phone suddenly rang.
Baddest B😎
Analyn. Oh, and I can't believe she took my phone and resaved her number!
"What's up, Pookie?" she yells through the phone when I answer, thus severing the hearing in my right ear for a week.
"Other than your whiny voice and lack of privacy? Nothing much, really." From her silence, I guess she was thinking about a comeback, which I know she would fail to cause the only thinking she let herself do was about clothes and shoes, period.
"Alright, she sighs I give up! Is he home?" she asks, her voice quietening with the last statement. "No, he left a day ago".
Since Analyn found out about my dad abusing me, she had been trying her best to convince me to move into her parents' villa with her.
"You still won't leave him won't you?" she asks with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice. Analyn and I were quite a unique pair. She loved to party, dress up, and was carefree in every way. Me on the other hand; I preferred carbs to cardio or hot yoga and I was an introverted couch slob.
I know you must be thinking, Damn, aren't you being too hard on yourself? But it's the truth! "Ann, I can't leave him alone no matter how he treats me. He's my only family! And even if I could, you know the kind of people he walks with, I can't afford to lose Uncle Bennet or Auntie Zeena or you!". She lets out a huff from the other side of the phone.
"Fine, Fine! But if things get worse, don't be alarmed when you find yourself drugged and tied to a chair in our mansion in Costa Rica!" she hisses at me.
A fit of laughter rolls out of me causing me to lean on the wall for support. Analyn finally let's go and begins to laugh too.
"God, I missed you!" I exclaimed softly, wishing she was in the room with me. "I know, I'm that amazing!" Could you also add full of yourself you rich-
"I don't think I can, I have to go grocery shopping...then picking out an interview-appropriate attire" I begin only to be stopped. "Please, Sophie! I'm begging you! Girls night, please!" she practically howls at the end.
"Fine but I leave first thing in the morning" I add. "Yay! I can't wait! See you soon, I love you!"
"Right back at you, Annie". She hangs up and I place the phone on the nightstand. Looking around at the attic I call bedroom, I look around at the old pictures in the open boxes as I slowly begin to recount the memories that turned my life around.
FLASHBACK
Some years ago, we lived in this very house. My mom, dad, me, my elder sister Fiona and our baby brother Alec who had just been born. Things were peaceful, well, better than it became after she left.
I kept on rolling in my bed trying to convince myself there wasn't a giant shark hiding behind my eyelids waiting to bite me. "Go to sleep and stop moving Sophie!" my sister, Fiona yells.
I tried my very best to sleep but I just couldn't sleep. Maybe a midnight snack would calm me down. I crept to our bedroom door and opened it wide enough to step out.
But before I made it out, the door to my parents' room was quietly opened and my dad stepped out. Fearing a punishment, I retreat back into the room, holding the door in place with my left hand and my right hand over my rapidly beating heart.
I quietly open the door and tiptoe softly towards the kitchen. I almost made it safely but our kitten, Duke, chose that minute to be my personal devil.
Sensing my presence, he meows, drawing the attention of Dad towards my hiding spot behind the piles of dog food for Bruno, our dog.
He studies the particular pile for a while before picking up Duke. He opens the fridge and takes out the milk slowly, balancing Duke and the glass bottle, each being something he didn't want to drop.
Dad scrambles around for a while and finally finds Duke's bowl besides Bruno's. "Here you go" he croons setting the kitten down as it starts to reach out for the milk from his firm hold. Duke begins to lap the milk greedily, leaning over the bowl. He becomes so engrossed in his meal, he nearly falls headfirst into the bowl, earning a laugh from my dad.
Moving away from the cat, Dad begins to scramble through the kitchen cabinet for a while and draws out a plastic bag containing some white powder substance.
Waiting for a few seconds, he scoops a bit of the powder and inhales it through his nose. Why did he do that? What was the powder made of? What did it do?
A million questions were buzzing through my head but my thoughts were interrupted as he starts to rub his eyes. Oh! so that's what they were for! It makes you sleepy!
His feet sway slowly as he puts the container back in its hiding place. He pats down Duke who has already been sleeping from his hefty meal. After turning the lights out, he swiftly moves to their bedroom and closes the door behind him.
I waited for a few minutes before turning the lights back on. Silently as I could, I reached for the step ladder placed beside the fridge and move to the cabinet above. My small hand moved along the back of the cabinet until I felt the plastic material of the container on my hands.
Deftly picking it up, I take a scoop into my palm. I studied the powder for a while before taking a small sniffle. I started to feel a bit light-headed and felt a large number of pain racks through my body.
let out a scream which I was sure my parents heard anyways. I could hear the slamming of doors and constant yelling but none of it made sense. I started to see large black spots forming in my eyes as I slowly drift away, my last sight being my mom's worried face.