Poison Ivy

7. Morning

***

I woke up the next morning to the bright golden sunlight piercing through the glass. I sat up in my insanely comfortable king sized bed and glanced over to my nightstand. I noticed my hot coco mug was gone. I thought Lauren must've taken my dishes until I noticed a hand written note in place of where the mug was.

Picking up the note, it read:

"Sorella, please meet me downstairs for breakfast. Your brothers and I have a surprise for you.
~ Victor"

Great. As if our family meals went so perfectly the last time! I thought while rolling my eyes.

I pull the feminine covers off myself and hop out of bed. I make my way over to my massive closet and pick out an outfit for the day. I decided to pair a white tank top with a pink and white checkered skirt. I make my way over to the vanity in my room and put on a natural face of makeup.
I finally decided I was presentable enough to have a meal with my captors and made my way out of my bedroom.

I made my way down the grand staircase that I totally didn't almost fall down, and I headed towards the dinning area.
I open the same dark double doors that Lauren had opened for me the night before to see that only two of my brothers were sitting in their spots from last night.

Did they even leave this room?

"Ivy, so nice of you to join us." Landon remarks.

I nod silently in response until I remember their stupid rule about verbal responses and manage to say "Good morning.".

Victor glances up at me from his morning coffee and newspaper and motions for me to take a seat.

God, he looks just like father.

"First and foremost, myself and Landon would like to apologize to you about last night. Your brother Emory has been punished for his behaviour and you should expect a formal apology from him sometime soon." he says with that same strict tone from yesterday.

"You didn't have to get him in trouble because of me. He's right. Why would you want me back? I'm..... poison.....". I respond, shocking myself with how emotional I'm getting over this. I was the one who ran away. I don't even like my brothers. Why am I upset over not being accepted by one of them?

"Sorella, it wasn't your fault. Emory's behaviour was disrespectful. He knows this isn't how we treat family." Victor says with a softness in his eyes. I can tell he genuinely cares about me, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a killer.

"I know you've been away for a while Ivy, but to us Romario's family is everything. We want you here, we promise." Landon interjects. He's always had a soft spot for any person. He's the type of man to see the good in everyone. Which is enviably his downfall considering he's supporting a murderer.

"Okay..." I manage to mutter out. I don't really trust any of them and I don't know if I ever will. Besides, I'm planning on getting out of here soon. I don't want to get too attached.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, it's time for your surprise!" an excited Victor says handing me a wrapped light blue box with a white lace ribbon around it.

I carefully unwrap the nicely packaged present to find a silver heart shaped locket inside. I was in awe of the piece of jewelry. It was beautiful!

"Is this really for me?"

"Yes Sorella, it's all yours." Victor responds with a smile on his face. I think this is one of first times I've seen him genuinely smile since I got here. "And that's not all. Your brother Landon is also taking you shopping to get everything you need for yourself, your room, and for school since you're starting next week."

"But, it's June. Isn't school done by now?" He can't seriously have forgotten that it's summer vacation. Or is this his attempt to torture me?

"Well Ivy, since you've been gone for all these years and haven't been in school, we need to catch you up before you enter the next school year." Landon answers my question. I mean, it makes sense and I understand their concern for my education. But I still don't want to attend.

"I understand." I reply. I don't want to get in trouble with Victor after he so generously gave me this necklace. Although, he's probably gifting me these items to get me to feel guilty for running away and making it easier for me to comply.

"Great. After you eat your breakfast, we can head to the mall. How does that sound little sister?" Landon asks me.

"Sounds lovely. Thank you." I try to sound as grateful and enthusiastic as I can, but I'm tired from just waking up and I don't really want to be here.

With perfect timing, the wait staff brings me a large plate of pancakes with maple syrup, mixed berries, and whipped cream with a glass of orange juice. I'm not going to lie, this dish looks almost too good to eat.
I pick up the fork and knife that were placed next to me and dig in. Honestly, compliments to the chef. This is probably the best plate of pancakes I've ever had in my entire life!
I practically inhale the plate of pancakes within minutes and finish it off with the glass of orange juice. As you can probably guess, it is rich people orange juice. It tasted freshly squeezed, probably from organic oranges if I know how extra this family is.

"Thank you for breakfast. I'm stuffed!" I place my fork and knife on the empty plate, and pick up the plate and start to carry it towards the kitchen. I was then greeted by the wait staff who took the plate from my hands in a rush and exited the room.

"Sorella, you don't have to worry about cleaning up. Let the staff do that. That's what we pay them for." Victor says lifting his head up from his newspaper.

I apologetically responded "Sorry, force of habit. I always helped with the dishes at the group home."

"I see." Victor says coldly. I can tell he's not impressed that I brought up the part of my life that didn't include our family. Especially since I ran aaah from home.
The room fell silent after that. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"Go get ready Ivy. We're leaving in 15 minutes." Landon says breaking the awkward silence. Thank god.

"Okay." I verbally respond once again remembering the rules. I didn't want to anger Victor further in fear of what he might do to me. I didn't want to end up like my father.

Making my way up to my bedroom, I pass by Emory's. I overhear him muttering to himself but could only make out a couple words. Something about someone or something being stupid? Probably about me.

TW: Self Harm and Mental Health issues in this section.

I open the door to my bedroom and walk into my bathroom. Locking the door, I glare at myself in the mirror.

You're so stupid Ivy. Emory was right. Everyone at the group home was right. You're nothing but a waste of space. You're poison Ivy, just like the plant. You're an itchy rash that everyone's forced to put up with. Father should've killed you instead of Mother. Then Victor wouldn't have been a murderer.

I fight back the tears forming in my eyes. I will not let myself cry. I need to make this pain go away.

I decide to do what I haven't done in a while. I open the drawer of the sink to find a pink razor with a box of razor heads. Taking out a razor head, I start to press the sharp blades against my thigh. I begin to make slices along both my thighs until they bled. The stinging that I felt made me feel a bit better.
This is what I deserve for killing father.

I realize I've been in here for at least 5 minutes and I need to clean this up before anyone notices. I put the razor head back in the box and open up the razor and discard the packaging to make it look like it's been used. I clean the cuts with rubbing alcohol and cotton sobs and flush the cotton sobs down the toilet. I bandage up my thighs and make my way out of the bathroom.
I decide to change out of the skirt in case anyone notices the cuts. I pick out a pair of blue jeans with rips at the knees. I grab a pink crop jacket and throw it over my white tank top. I pair the outfit with some white sneakers. I got changed just in time for a knock on the door with Landon's voice saying

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." I say as I grab my phone off the charger and slip it on my pocket.

***