Ezra's story part I

*Note: This chapter is a part of Ezra's past. We're going to publish a chapter about her story approximately every 10 chapters. Stay tuned :)

*Trigger warning: This chapter might include violence, forms of verbal abuse and toxic family relationships that may trigger some readers*

I entered the empty bedroom and dropped onto the bed. Why does this stupid man care so much about a kid he doesn't even know? It's not like it's his daughter or something. People barely care about their own."Idiot," I whispered, closing my eyes to sleep.

I opened them back and found myself in my large white bed. I sat up and looked around. It was my enormous bedroom, the one that had enough space for five other beds. My toys were scattered around, toys I never actually enjoyed playing with but never complained about.

I got up and walked out of the room. Yes...I was back in the manor. I must be dreaming, I have to wake up but I can't control my movements. That must be because it's a memory and not just a dream. While I was standing on my tiptoes in the hallway, looking over the stair railing into the lobby to make sure that no one was up yet, I heard the voice of the last person I wanted to have in my dreams.

"What do you think you're doing?" yelled the woman in deep german.

I turned around to face the angry woman and unfortunately, I had a really good memory and I remember her exactly as she was. Tall and imposing with long dark blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and her golden silk dress wrapped around her perfect skinny body.

I didn't answer her and she didn't like it, of course. I remember her being a control freak. "Gabrielle!! How many times do I have to tell you not to ignore your mother when she's talking to you?!"

Fuck this. Ten seconds in her presence and I already want to rip her face off. I thought inwardly and the six-year-old me only looked down, avoiding her mother's eyes. "Arghh...what am I going to do with you? Why are you out of bed this early, still in your pajamas, and walking barefoot? That's inappropriate. You should wait inside for your nanny to groom you so that you are more presentable. You look and smell like a stray animal. What should I do to make you obey huh? Go to your room right now and don't let me see you like this again!"

I nodded lightly, still admiring the floor, and walked fast to my room. Closing the door behind me, I sat on my bed, tears falling down my eyes. Do something. Don't just sit there crying. I felt angry, I was about to explode but I was stuck.

A few minutes later, my nanny knocked on the door and walked in, greeting me. "Good morning Miss Gabrielle. Have you slept well?"

It was nanny Sophia. I remember that she was a nice woman but I never really gave her any attention. Like always, I didn't greet her back and simply stood up, waiting for her to get me ready. She washed me and dressed me in those doll dresses my mother used to buy me. She brushed, dried and braided my hair because that woman hated to see loose hair.

I went out, leaving my nanny behind to tidy up, and got down the stairs, reaching the dining room. I found my father sitting at the head of the table like every morning, a newspaper in hand, and my mother sitting next to him, slowly sipping her coffee. I walked steadily toward the chair and sat on it.

"Would it kill you to show some respect to your parents and greet them in the morning?" nagged my toxic mother, glaring at me.

"Guten Morgen (good morning)." I whispered, watching the maid fill my cup with warm tea.

"Come on Eleanor, don't be so hard on her first thing in the morning," intervened my father and then added turning towards me "Good morning sweetheart, how are you doing today?"

"Good," I answered briefly, grabbing a chocolate croissant. I was never a big chatter in my youth. I could spend hours without saying a word if no one spoke to me.

"I have an important meeting today but afterward we're going hunting. It's the rabbit season," he announced, "how about you come along, Gabby?"

"Really? Can I?" I asked with excitement.

"No, you can't." Interrupted my mother "It's Sunday, we have to go to the mass and then to the church members' meeting. Hunting parties are not for young girls like you, and I hope your father finally understands this. If I had agreed to him training you, it was only in hopes that you learn more discipline. Not to see my daughter acting like a man."

"Come on Elly, it's just for fun. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Please Henry, I told you before not to call me Elly and yes, it is a big deal!"

"I really don't see the problem-"

"SHE IS NOT A BOY HENRY!!!" she exploded "And I won't let you stuff these ideas into her head." She said in a calmer tone, getting up and leaving the room.

I looked into my father's eyes, pleading with him to get me out of there and he only shook his head "I'm sorry kid. I tried." He patted me on the head and left too.

Now I remember why I hated this manor and why I despised this woman. My father never had the last word in my family, simply because my mother was the one with the fortune and the one that made him the man he was. He couldn't go against her for fear of losing what he had.

I stayed seated at the table alone for the next half an hour before my mother showed up again, ordering me to get ready to go to church. We went to the car where the chauffeur opened the door for us. Driving on our village's roads, I looked out of the window watching the trees and buildings go by.

Why haven't I woken up yet? I don't want to have to live this all over again. Fuck. Where is that idiot when I need him to do something useful like waking me up?

We arrived at the church where all my mother's acquaintances were already present. I always had an opinion about those women since I was a little kid that they were too superficial. I couldn't stay around them for more than 30 seconds without having the urge to slice their throats open and watch them choke on their own blood.

The mass passed and it was time for the stupid reunion which was a show to display wealth: who wore the most expensive dress and the most expensive jewelry, who made the biggest donations, and so on. I sat during the entire thing with my mind going blank. Frankly, I never heard a word of anything the priests said but I had to go because my mother made me.

She was a religious and strict woman who always follows rules. She likes discipline, complains about the lack of respect in this new generation, and always sits in the front row of any community events. She used to spend most of her time reading books, she wasn't really a big romantic tho. She didn't really believe in true love, destiny, or magic.

She was more of a realist. The kind of toxic parent that makes you do things you don't want to do and go into hardships under the pretext that it's for your own good; it will only make you stronger because life won't go easy on you and you will thank them one day for it.

We went back home and my mother sent me to my room to do my homework before my tutor comes over, but my father came back early that day and called me to the garden."Look what I got you, Gabby." He said, opening a box and taking a small turtle out.

He placed it on the ground and handed me a leaf of lettuce to try and feed her. I remember I was happy. Not only because I had got my first pet, but also because it was the first time my father thought of bringing me something that he did not determine its value on the basis of its price.

I cherished my pet a lot and attended to it every day, trying to take care of it. My mother complained most of the time about it but I managed to ignore her and keep it, with my father's help.

One Sunday morning, I woke up late because I had caught a cold. My mother didn't take this as an excuse and made me get ready to go to church. I was angry and tired. I didn't want to go or hear my mother's voice, so I went to hide in the garden and play with my turtle. I squatted down trying to feed it but like always, it hid from me. She was friendly with my father and any other person around but not me. I always found it irritating that animals didn't like me.

"Why don't you want to be my friend?" I asked, picking her up but the turtle still didn't get out of her shell after I placed her back on the ground and waited for a few minutes.

Usually, I would have given up and simply gone back in, but that day, I heard sounds whispering in my head to get what I want, and I wanted this turtle to show herself and play with me. I was going to force her to. I got up, picked a rock from the bushes, and strolled back to the turtle. Grabbing it to keep it in place, I raised my hand up and struck it with all my strength over and over again. I repeated the process many times before hearing a satisfying crack. The shell finally broke.

Reaching for the mess I made to take my turtle out, I heard my mother's voice calling out for me but I decided to ignore her and continue what I was doing."Gabrielle!!! Are we going to go over this again? Answer me when I call you!!!" she scolded, getting closer to me.

"Did you hear what I said? Are you still playing with that filthy animal? There better not be dirt on your dress or I will-" she stopped dead in her tracks when she realized that my dress wasn't stained with dirt, but with something else.

It was the first time I saw fear and surprise on my mother's face. She opened her mouth and closed it many times before words finally came out. "W-what...what have you done?! You killed it?!...y-you...you have blood everywhere...Why?!...Why did you do that?!"

I remember looking at her in confusion. I didn't understand what my mother was mad about and assumed it had something to do with me staining my new white dress. "I'm sorry mother, I didn't mean to make my dress dirty." I sincerely apologized, smiling in an attempt to soften her up. However, this only added more fear to her beautiful face.

She took some time to exhale deeply before yanking my arm and dragging me inside all the way to my room. She hastily took my dress off, threw it away, and washed me. She didn't speak another word and left me alone in my room after ordering me not to get out.

A few hours later, finally, the man of the house made his entrance. Hearing him coming, I ran to the stairs, stopped at the fourth one, and sat on it, peering into the lobby towards my parents.

"What's wrong Eleanor? Did something happen?" Asked her husband with worry, peering into my mother's eyes.

"...WHAT'S WRONG??!! Are you seriously asking me that? You should be the one explaining to me what's going on. Do you think you're helping your daughter by teaching her to use violence to resolve her problems?"

The man looked at his wife with a confused look and asked "What do you mean?... Violence? What's wrong with Gabby?"

My mom answered him with tears in her eyes and a shaking voice "O-our daughter is not mentally sound...Sniff..something is wrong in her head...my baby girl is a LUNATIC!!! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! DO SOMETHING!!!" She ordered.

"First of all, calm down." He started "Why are you calling our little angel a lunatic?... What in the world happened?"

The crying woman looked up with hate and fear in her eyes and yelled "SHE IS NO ANGEL!!! THAT'S THE DEVIL's DOING!!! HE TOOK MY DAUGHTER'S INNOCENCE!!! SHE IS A MONSTER..."

"Would you please tell me what Gabrielle did to deserve to be called a monster by her own mother?"

"She killed the turtle you got her...she smashed it with a rock to death and she was smiling about it!!!" She explained.

"Really?" he thought "And...was she able to crack the shell open?"

My mother looked at him in disbelief "Is that what you care about right now? Your daughter just took a life and didn't feel any guilt about it. How strong she was is what matters to you?!"

"It's just a turtle Eleanor, it doesn't matter. She was just playing around and I'm impressed at how strong and fierce my daughter can be. I have to keep up her training, she might become a great force in the future." He announced proudly.

"What's wrong with you Henry?! She certainly will not keep up this training with you!!! You're turning her into a monster!!! I won't allow this!!"

He frowned at her and talked in a lower voice "I might finally have a worthy descendant and you want to take that away from me? You already screwed up by giving me a daughter instead of a son, and now that God wants to make it up to me, you're going to stop it?" He stepped closer to her and she took a step back in fear. "Listen, honey. That's my daughter too. It's not only up to you to decide what's going to happen to her from now on."

My father walked away and headed for the stairs after finishing his sentence. I quickly got up and ran to my room, closing the door slowly behind me, praying that he didn't see me. But my prayers weren't answered because the next second I heard my father's voice "Gabrielle? We need to have a talk."

I abruptly sat up and looked around, breathing deeply. I looked out of the window, the sun was up in the middle of the sky.

It was noon and I was back in Bucharest.