Chapter 1

The absolutely terrible day.

In a spotless kitchen within the urban sub developed area of Los Angeles, a girl stood on a shaky stool cleaning the top most cupboards that she could barely reach.

Her name was Lisa Dennis and this was just another day in her life.

She had began to clean up the entire house, immediately after breakfast which she had prepared as soon as she woke up and as soon as she finished with the kitchen which was usually last, she would usually go grocery shopping and begin to prepare dinner.

Lisa had to make sure everything was on time because if she was late with dinner even for a few minutes, her mother would lock her up and starve her over the night.

Remembering this, Lisa tried to increase the pace she was cleaning at.

She, however hadn't noticed that the stool she was standing on could barely hold her weight as it was quite old already.

She had tried to change it a couple of times but her mother would never actually let her change it so she was stuck with the practically derelict stool.

Lisa suddenly slipped, losing her grip of the stool.

It had all happened in less than a second and before Lisa could try saving herself, she was on the floor.

"Ahhh…fuxk!," Lisa muttered as pain ricocheted from her legs to her spine.

She tried to stand up to no avail.

"Really? Right now?," She questioned no one in particular over her terrible fate.

Hissing loudly, Lisa forced herself to her feet.

As soon as she was standing, she screamed out because the pain was too much, it was practically unbearable.

Lisa was going to rest for a few minutes before resuming her chores but she had caught a glimpse of the wall clock from the living room and she realized that she couldn't waste any time if she wanted to be back from the grocery shopping by the time her mother was home.

Groaning softly, Lisa limped to the bathroom where she went through the medicine cabinet in search of anything that could serve as a pain relief medication.

She found a couple and instead of following the nonexistent prescription, Lisa just swallowed as many as she could, hit changed and ran out of the house.

She had no time to waste with catching her breath or anything of that sort and if she tried to do it, she would suffer even more than she was already suffering right now.

The store was fifteen minutes away when she was running and now that she was limping, Lisa couldn't imagine how long it would take her to get there especially when taking a bus or taxi was not possible.

Lisa set off and was able to get to the store almost twenty minutes later.

She had completely exerted herself by now and was in tremendous pain, it seemed that even though she had chugged almost an entire bottle of the pain relief medication, it wasn't working at all for her.

As soon as Lisa was in the store, she grabbed a basket and immediately began to run through the aisles, picking out everything she needed.

"I just need to get home within the next twenty-five minutes and I should be safe," Lisa whispered to herself as she approached the check out line.

Unfortunately for Lisa, all of the medication that she had taken earlier began to backfire because she immediately began to feel drowsy.

She would shake her head in an attempt to get rid of the drowsiness and move a step forward everytime someone left the line.

Lisa was finally at the front of the line.

She placed everything she had gotten in front of the register and tried to get out the cash that her mother had left her but she couldn't find it.

She began to search like a mad person as she got a flashback from a few minutes ago when someone had bumped into her on the line.

She had tried to see who it was but the person had hurried away.

She now realized that the person had been in such a hurry because he had taken her money.

"Do you not have any money to pay with?," the woman behind the register called as she glared at Lisa for wasting her time.

"You don't understand. I had money just a moment ago," Lisa tried to explain.

The woman rolled her eyes, showing that she obviously didn't believe whatever Lisa was trying to say.

"Please, leave. You're holding up the line," she said as she quickly dismiss Lisa.

Lisa hurriedly shook her head.

"Please, you have to believe me. I did have money a few minutes ago. I can't just leave without getting all of this," she explained as she pointed at her groceries, knowing what would happen if she didn't return with them.

The woman hissed and pressed a button that was next to her while Lisa looked on in confusion.

She was about to ask if she could see footage from their CCTV when she noticed a security guard approaching them along with a police officer.

Lisa immediately turned to the woman, she couldn't believe that she had called a police officer on her.

"What's going on?," the Police officer asked when he reached them.

The woman immediately pointed at Lisa, a glare on her face.

"She's a thief!," she yelled.

Lisa stared at her in shock.

She didn't even have enough time to say anything before she was whisked off by the Police and he was asking her for her guardian's details.

"Please, not her. I can pay for whatever I got, I swear. Besides, I haven't even taken them out of the store, how is this stealing?!," Lisa yelled, trying to get someone to listen to her.

She couldn't believe the kind of ill luck that had plagued her today.

"You have to believe me, sir. I would never steal anything," Lisa pleaded.

The Police officer looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, l don't believe that," he told her as he looked over her with an expression of disdain.

At that point, Lisa realized that he was not willing to believe anything she had to say.

She fearfully put down her mother's number and stood hunched in a corner as she waited.

Every second that passed felt like hell and finally, her mother arrived.

She had come with Lisa's older sister, Esther.

Lisa quietly watched as her mother laughed with the Police man and basically labelled her a problem child before they were finally let go of.

"Come on, let's go home," her mother called with a smile while Esther smirked softly.

Even as she smiled, Lisa's heart dropped to her foot because she knew just how fake the smile was.

They walked out of the store quietly and headed straight for the parking lot where her mother's car was parked.

When they reached the car, they all filed in.

The silence was killing Lisa and she was already shivering in fear.

Her mother quietly started the car and began to drive.

"How dare you?!"

Lisa froze in her seat when she realized that it was starting.

"You're literally so embarrassing," Esther stated, giggling while Lisa remained quiet.

"How dare you embarrass me like that?!," her mother screamed as she parked the car by the side of the road.

They were all silent as they waited for whatever her mother was going to say but Esther interrupted.

"Mum, I've been thinking. Lisa is practically useless, like the cripple that Dad had me promised to when I was a child. Wouldn't it be great if the two retards got together?," she asked with a sinister smile.

Lisa frowned.

What was she talking about?

What did she mean by get together?

Who was getting with who?

Lisa awaited answers to her questions but none were answered.

"Get out! Or do you intend to follow us home? Get out and walk!," her mother screamed at her instead.

Lisa rushed out of the car and watched as the car disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Lisa could withstand everything her family did to her.

But what was this about getting with someone?

What sinister plans did Esther have for her now?