1 Chapter One

Raine was quiet as her mother screamed profanities at her. She didn't dare speak, unless she wanted Catherine, her mother, to get angrier but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Catherine irritation fueled at the girl's silence. The child couldn't even make eye contact with her. "What is wrong with you? Why aren't you normal! You are so pathetic. Why did I give birth to a child like you?" Catherine seethed, regretting keeping such a waste of space.

"I should have just let that faggot take you!" She screamed in frustration. Raine always heard that when she was getting scolded but she always took it as the other things Catherine said

"I'm sorry." Raine mumbled, even if she didn't know exactly what she did. She was doing her assignments in the study when she heard the shattering of glass from the floor below her. She froze because that meant Catherine was home. Raine could only hope she didn't have to see her.

She held her breath as the door slammed open and she heard the clicking of heels against the marble floors and soon enough Catherine was staring down at her with so much malice. Then that led to this.

"Shut up! Piece of shit." She walked towards her and grabbed her arm hard enough for her sharp nails to break through her skin and draw blood. "Get out. Go to the Room, I don't want to see your disgusting face for the next month."

Raine was pleased to be dismissed but Catherine didn't notice that her nails were still digging into Raine's arm. "Your hand…" Raine whispered and Catherine seemed to snap out of a trance as she roughly pulled out her hands away, her nails leaving dents on Raine's skin.

Raine immediately hurried out of the study, rushing down a spiral of stairs until she reached the Room, it was isolated from the others. The door could only be opened from the outside and was dull brown colour, unlike the others.

Seven years ago, Raine would have been terrified of being locked in the Room because then it had been cold, empty and stripped of color.

Very cautiously, she was able to sneak in her stuff as if it was already home to her.

She stepped into the room with a small smile on her lips. Even though the room wasn't even half as big as her bedroom it contained all of her belongings. Though the only things she could call hers was a picture of her father, a dream catcher and a necklace she randomly found. She wondered how Catherine would react if she ever found the picture.

Just imagining gave her chills that she shivered. At the left corner of the room was a twin sized bed and next to it was a small bedside table. The walls had splotches of different colors so no one could see the original grey wall.

Raine walked further into the room and took a seat on the bed, staring straight at another door that led to a miniscule toilet and bathroom. She was trying not to think of anything so she just looked ahead.

If she opened her mind, she would be overwhelmed and probably have a panic attack. Just like the first time she had been locked up. Raine asked of her dad, it made Catherine so mad that she locked her up. She was ten years old then, she hadn't understood what was happening to her.

One moment she was breathing fine then the next her throat was closing up and then she was on the floor drenched in sweat.

A knock sounded and Raine jerked, there was a scanning device on the door handle, it was the only way it could be unlocked from the inside. Raine knew it was food because that was the only other reason anyone ever came down there.

A middle-aged woman dressed in white and black scrubs pushed in a trolley with a buffet laid out on it. Raine wondered how long she'd been there, it seemed like only a few minutes. The last time she checked, it was 4 o'clock and now it was dinner time.

"I will be back to collect the plates," The maid said with her hands folded on her bossom. "Be sure to finish it all. The Madam doesn't like wastage." With that she turned and left.

Raine stared at the contents of the plates. They looked appetizing, maybe too appetizing. She took a look at her body and self-disgust flooded her at the sight of her pudgy arms and legs, the stretch marks littered on her shoulders that had extended to her elbows.

These were the times she was grateful that no one had to see her ugliness. It was one of the reasons Catherine hated her.

Indecision plagued her mind and questioned her sudden decision to diet. Raine inhaled the aroma of grilled chicken and she knew she had lost her resolve. Food was the only thing Raine could never resist, even when she started adding weight and not even now that she is at the brink of obesity. But she could not reject the one thing that gave her a fix. She would sound stupid if she tried explaining the concept.

She always took her time while eating, she tried to prolong the calm it would give her. It took about a couple of hours before she finished eating and sometime later the maid returned.

Raine spent the next two weeks on repeat before she was finally let out by a maid. She escorted Raine to her bedroom and left immediately after.

The night was cool and the breeze was gentle but Raine was wide awake. She didn't dare close her eyes, in fear that nightmares would evade her dreams and leave her panicking and drenched when she roused.

During nights like these, she spends hours just thinking about how her life would have been if she was normal. If she had normal parents, a normal body, a normal personality, normal… everything.

She wasn't allowed to go to school anymore because Catherine didn't want anyone to know that Raine was her daughter, so she was getting homeschooled.

Two hours had passed and Raine was still wide awake and exhausted. Her stomach growled and with a huff she made her way out of the bedroom to the kitchen. She had to tiptoe around or she would be caught.

Once she got to the kitchen, she smiled despite how sweaty she had gotten. Raine walked towards the fridge and reached out to open it.

"Miss Raine." Raine jumped at the voice and spun around to face a maid. Her young face which was set in a grim line glared at Raine with intensity. Before Raine could stutter out anything in defense, the maid shushed her.

"Miss Raine, I do not want to believe you came down for a snack," The maid, Victoria, spoke firmly and Raine cast her eyes down, shame rolling off her in waves.

"I already told you what would happen if I caught you again. You leave me no choice." Raine panicked as she realisation dawned on her.

"No! please no, I'm sorry, I'll go back to my bedroom." Raine's eyes had begun to glisten.

Veronica's heart dropped at the sight. Since she started working as a maid five years ago, she had seen what Raine had to suffer from the Madame. Victoria pitied Raine but she didn't have the courage to help her. She could never put Raine in trouble but she had to keep her in check somehow. Raine was wasting away in the mansion and she really wished she could stop it.

For a moment Raine could swear the maid looked sober but it was gone the next second. "Go to your room and sleep." Said Victoria and Raine was dashed out, as fast as she could go, up the stairs and into her bedroom. Her breath came out in a rapid pants and sweat dribbled down her face. But even after a shower, and as Raine laid down to sleep, her heart was still beating hard and fast.