Spirit Animal
Xiaofan gawked at her stepsister as the little girl wouldn't stop looking around the room.
Xiu Lan noticed a pretty flower vase on the table, she moved toward it.
Before she could reach for the vase, Xiaofan held her hand.
"I just want to see", the girl exclaimed.
Xiaofan frowned as she pulled the girl away from her table, "Out of my room, go play with your toys or go play somewhere else", she said as she led the little girl out of her room.
"Bye," she concluded before shutting the door.
instantly, the loud cry of the little girl spread.
Xiaofan let out a gasp as she could hear her stepsister wailing outside her room.
"I didn't do anything.... what is she crying for?"
After a short while, the weeping stopped. Xiu Lan either stop crying or walked away.
"XIAOFAN!!"
As if she was waiting to be called, she groaned out.
After ignoring the first call, she waited for the second call, and yeah it was more intense than the first call, her father's second call is always more serious than the first.
She went out of her room and slowly walked down the stairs.
Her stepmother's unimpressed face was the first she saw, the girl ignored it as she got downstairs, Xiu Lan was seen sitting on her father's lap.
"Father... she.."
"Quiet", Mr. Ji Zhang ordered.
Yeah, that is exactly what she expected, father nagging at her. Her sweet father isn't sweet anymore, he is now sweet to someone else.
"You don't want me happy with you Xiaofan"
"The full name again", she mumbled.
The man continued, "Let this be the last time you make your sister cry, if anything happens you should embrace her and not yell at her, she is your blood sister".
Xiaofan kept quiet as the nagging continues, she hated it there even more.
"I wish I could disappear," she thought.
"Get out of my sight", he ordered.
Without hesitation, the girl turned to leave.
"And you are grounded, one week... act weird and I add to that... go to your room and think about what you have done", the man added.
The girl stopped, she felt tears rushing down her face.
"He doesn't love me anymore... I hate it here" she thought as she hastened her step.
She shut the door behind her, and more uncontrollable tears rushed down. "What have I done wrong? am I wrong for coming to this world?" she sobbed into her pillow quietly.
"Xia...Xiaofan, look here! look here!!.."
She heard it again.
Xiaofan looked up sharply, she turned to where the voice came from. No one was there, she was the only person in the room.
The confused girl stood up, her eyes scanning every corner of the room.
"Is someone here?" she asked, her heart raced as she felt some other presence in the room.
All of a sudden, a strong breeze blew into her room, leaving the window open. Her heart froze at what just happened, the breeze brushed against her skin harshly.
Xiaofan got startled as she was too stunned to speak.
A thousand questions ran through her mind, how did the locked window open? why is there a strong breeze when it is not windy? her mind couldn't occupy the thought anymore.
Just like she was been controlled, she took a step forward as she walked towards her window.
She shuddered as she got closer.
The girl was about to take a step forward when the flapping of a wing made her stop, "huh...".
******************
The woman was seen in her room with Xiu lan. She made the her daughter sit on a stool in front of her.
She brushed Xiu Lan's hair gently while the girl played with her carved toy while singing a song she had learned from her friends.
"Mummy... my friends said when I grow up and when Xiaofan grow... She will be controlling and I will have to listen to her because she is the first child of father, Suzy's sister controls her and everything. I hate her and I don't want that mommy".
The woman stopped brushing her daughter's hair.
She turned the stool to look at her daughter in the face, " Xiu Lan..." she said while stroking the girl's hair.
"Listen to me okay? you have every right in this house... Xiaofan doesn't... okay let me ask you a question", she said and watched her daughter listen, " Where is your mother?".
Xiu Lan stretched her finger at the woman.
"Right here", the girl answered.
The woman's eyes smiled at her daughter as she nodded slowly, "you are right... so the next question is, where is Xiaofan's mother?" she asked waiting for her daughter's answer.
"Heaven?..."
She shook her head, "I hope not... hell or heaven I do not care because that isn't what I am trying to explain, my point is Xiaofan isn't fully a child and you right here" she touched Xiu Lan's face gently.
"You are a full child of me and your father".
"You mean she is not a child and I am?" Xiu Lan confirmed.
The woman gave her daughter a lying smile, "Yes you are right... so from now on, whenever your friends say such ridiculous thing. You let them know you are better than all of them, even Suzy doesn't have a father and you do... you have a father and a mother that loves you so much, you are perfect".
"Yes I am perfect", Xiu Lan repeated.
"Come here", the woman pulled the girl closer and gave her a warm hug.
"I will make sure you have it all... you deserve it all", the woman whispered to herself.
She knew Suzy's mother (her supposed best friend), would have told her child that ridiculous thing, she made a wistful smile.
A gentle breeze was still brushing against her skin, her hair moving gently at the rhythm.
Xiaofan could swear she heard the flapping behind her window, why does that scare her that much. It could have been any bird having a nice day, she thought.
Why did it all happen at the same time though? the voice, the breeze, the window, the strange feeling, the flapping.
As scared as she was, she got curious.
Xiaofan inhaled sharply, exhaling air through her nose.
She gathered courage and walked towards the window.
After a few seconds, she saw it.
The wing with white dots, her heart dropped as she tried rejecting the thought that pops up in her mind.
"It can't be", she whispered as she raised her hand slowly, stretched them to open the window for a better view.
She did.
Xiaofan let out a gasp, the backward step she attempted made her trip.
The girl fell with a sickening thud.
"NO WAY!".