PARANOIA

Evie sat at a corner in the attic reading a book. She had found some old novels that belonged to Joanna and everyday afterwards, she would sneak into the attic and read - there was a library but it was never quiet enough. The attic was not just very quiet, it was also soundproof. That was why she loved it - she could read without disturbance and no one would ever find her there.

But she wasn't the only person who knew the value of that place. She heard the door being unlocked and she hid herself behind the boxes. If anyone knew that it was her hideout, she wouldn't be able to read in peace anymore. She was relieved when she saw David enter. She had slowly come to like him and she had even begun to think that Isabel exaggerated things. David was very nice, how could he be as evil as Isabel described?

She was about to come out of her hiding place when she saw Eloisa come in and she hid herself back. Eloisa seemed angry, probably because of what Joanna did that morning. She was about to discuss something probably important with David and Evie knew it was not right to eavesdrop but she stayed anyway. She plugged in her earphones and tried hard to focus on her book till they left but she could still hear some things as Eloisa was screaming. She was sure she heard 'don't worry, we'll get rid of her and all these will be yours'.

Evie stiffened. They couldn't be talking about Joanna, could they? Something told her to capture this moment. To record it. She listened to her instincts and used her phone to take a video. It only captured David's face. However, neither he nor Eloisa noticed and they continued their conversation.

"How long do I have to wait? I want her dead as soon as possible." Eloisa sounded impatient.

"We've got to take things slow. If we kill her now, we will get nothing. First, we have to get Isabel out of the picture. That is the only way I can get Joanna to trust me."

"So what do you have in store for those siblings?"

"Well, the little boy is smart but he's just a kid. What would he know about a will?"

"And the girl?"

"I've been putting some drugs in her meals constantly and hopefully by the end of the year, she would be in an asylum."

Evie covered her mouth subconsciously and tears rolled out from her eyes. She had been eating her death and she had no idea. Because of money, they would actually kill Joanna and make her insane. She became scared. Living with Veron was way better than this. She should never have left. Now, she had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. She turned to look at David and Eloisa who had settled their difference and was now kissing. The sight in front of her and what she heard a few minutes ago had totally changed the way she viewed him. Despicable wasn't even enough to describe a man who had brought his mistress into his matrimonial home and was planning with her to kill his wife and ruin the life of a young girl with aspiring dreams.

She adjusted herself slowly and quietly, this time she sat with her back against the boxes. She stopped the video and put her phone into her pocket and pressed hard on her earphones while David and Eloisa continued their unfinished business. She sobbed silently and prayed that they wouldn't discover her and that they would leave. After what seemed like eternity, they left the room like nothing ever happened between them.

***************

Days passed and Joanna further distanced herself from everyone. The only person she trusted and stayed close to was Mike. She became paranoid. Suspicious of everything and everyone around her, she increased security around the house. She fired some of the maids and hired more bodyguards. She even made her meals herself. She avoided David, Evie and Caleb at whatever opportunity she could.

It saddened Mike to see Joanna like that. He was happy that he got to spend time with his mom but the fact that she was avoiding her other children pained him. But that wasn't all. Evie had also began to avoid him. She had become paranoid just like Joanna. Just the other day, she had refused to eat her meal and rather resorted to eating snacks instead and this morning, she stayed in the kitchen while they made breakfast and rewashed the plates before she ate anything. She never came into his room as before and whenever he came to a place where she was - whether at school or at home - she would leave immediately.

However, Mike wasn't the only one who noticed Evie's strange behavior. Eloisa noticed it and she felt something was amiss. She had an inkling that somehow Evie had overheard her discussion with David. She told David about her suspicions and David brushed it off with:

"There you go! Being paranoid just like Joanna. Why won't you stop picking on the little girl, Eloisa? You're better than this for crying out loud!"

Eloisa was angered by his statement and promised to prove it to him. She waited until it was Tuesday to carry out her plan. Joanna had gone to the office - it had taken a lot of convincing from Isabel and Mike before she agreed to go. David had also gone out. Mike and Evie had gone to their college and Caleb had gone to school. Ruth was sick so she didn't come to the house.

Wanting to be the only person at home, she gave the workers a day's leave. She made a jug of smoothie and waited for Evie to return.

***************

Evie walked into the house wondering why it felt so empty. She saw Eloisa sitting in front of the television and attempted to sneak past her but she was stopped in her tracks when she heard Eloisa call her name sweetly.

"Good afternoon, Eloisa." Evie mumbled in surprise. She watched as Eloisa stood and came to hug her. She pulled herself out of the embrace and stared at Eloisa, wondering what trick she had up her sleeve. And as expected, Eloisa picked up a glass from the table filled it up and offered it to her.

Evie stared reluctantly at the juice as David's words kept reverberating in her ears. She politely declined and Eloisa's smile slowly faded. Eloisa tried to persuade Evie into drinking but she refused. Angered, Eloisa held her down and poured the liquid into her mouth as she struggled. She let her go and Evie ran into the toilet and threw up all of the liquid. She washed her face and walked out of the toilet to see Eloisa standing hands akimbo, waiting for her.

"What is wrong with you, Evie? I was only trying to be nice when I offered you a drink and you behaved like I was going to poison you or something like that."

Evie glared at her with contempt. If she wasn't in that attic on Saturday, she - being the naive girl she was - would have believed that Eloisa was really trying to be nice and would've drank whatever was in that cup. "Eloisa, you and I know you can never be nice to me. So don't try to act a victim here. It doesn't suit you." Evie scoffed.

"Don't you dare glare at me!" Eloisa said angrily and slapped Evie. "Even though I'm not a part of this family, I'm older than you and I deserve your respect."

"Respect?" Evie giggled as she spoke sarcastically. Her cheek still hurt from the impact of the slap. It made her angrier at Eloisa and increased her courage. "You deserve respect? No Eloisa, you don't deserve respect. What you deserve is to spend the rest of your life in jail for ruining Mom and Sir David's marriage. I heard you both and I saw you too because I was in the attic and I will make sure you pay. Because you are a despicable bitch."

Eloisa was speechless as she dug her fingers into her skin. She felt stupid. She was first discovered by Mike, then she was embarrassed by Joanna and now a little girl was stepping all over her. She knew she deserved it and she expected it when she decided to become David's mistress. She could endure Evie's insults but she couldn't overlook the fact that Evie might have something that could be used against them.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Eloisa said as a mischievous smile spread across her cheeks.

"Do you think I am stupid? What makes you think I will tell you that?"

"I don't need you to tell me. I just need to stop you from telling anyone else." Eloisa spat out and reached to grab Evie but Evie dodged her attack and began running towards the door. Eloisa ran after her and caught her by the hair and dragged her out of the house while she struggled and screamed. Evie finally succeeded in pulling her hand away from her hair and she bit on it immediately. Eloisa screamed as she slapped Evie with her free hand but Evie didn't stop biting. Eloisa pulled with all her might and Evie released her hand - not without giving her a deep and bloody bite mark.

Eloisa's anger raged and she kicked Evie's stomach. Evie's slumped to the ground, holding her stomach and crying. Eloisa kept kicking her stomach until she felt the pain in her hand reduce. She grabbed Evie's hair and pulled her to a cabin at the farthest corner of the fence. It was originally used as a music room for Isabel when she was younger but in the recent times, it has been abandoned. It was soundproof and far from the house and so it was the perfect place for Eloisa to lock Evie up in.

Eloisa pushed Evie into the room and locked the door. She threw the key on the roof and walked inside the house. She cleaned up everything that could prove that Evie returned to the house that day. She made sure that no one would suspect that Evie was in the house. Even if they finally did and they found her, it would be too late.