Her Seven Deadly Brothers (Part 1 and 2)

(2) PRESENT

"Eleanora! Where were you?" Acacia shouted at her daughter within the next second she stepped into the house. She was freezing and wet head to toe.

Nora ignored her like usual and tried to walk past her.

"Don't you ignore me like that, young lady!" Acacia said sternly and a little roughly grabbed her arm.

Nora shuddered slightly at the contact.

"What happened Nora? Where were you?" Acacia asked in a concerned tone. Her eyes flickering up and down at Nora's shivering body.

"What's gotten over you my darling?" Acacia cried.

"Why don't you speak to me? What changed Eleanora?"

Nora didn't replied but kept staring at the ground below them. Her heart could be heard thumping loudly against her chest. Her eyes seemed lost in mid of some chaos.

A minute later, when Acacia finally calmed down, she released her daughter from her hold.

"I am s-s-sorry mamma." A faint whisper reached in Acacia's ears.

Her eyes snapped at Nora's face. Acacia was shocked and frozen at her place. Before she could even utter any word out, Nora ran upstairs.

She softly shut the door behind herself and walked towards her small bed. A tear rolled down her pale cheek as she hugged her bestfriend, her small teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles. Her heart was seeking comfort from the stuff toy.

**************

"She spoke today." Acacia whimpered as soon as David stepped inside his house through the front door.

"What?" David asked in confusion.

"She spoke David! I still can't believe this. It's been 3 years, she never uttered a word out but today she spoke!" Acacia rambled. Her eyes showed sadness but there was a smile on her face.

"What did she said?"

"I am sorry mamma!' That's what she called me. She called me mamma again.
Oh david,  I was dying to hear her voice." A tear slipped out of her eye but she wiped it away immediately with the back of her hand.

"I just hope that she get better soon. From the past few years, she just changed. It felt like she was trapped in some shell and now I think she is trying to get out of it. This is a big improvement." David sighed in relief.

"You should try to talk to her more, Cia!" Acacia nodded her head at David's suggestion.

Eleanora kept shedding few tears out as she listened to her parents conversation. Guilt was eating her alive. Her parents never deserved this pain. She was making them to take a share of her own pain.

She clenched her eyes shut when those voices again started ringing in her head. Her head throbbed in pain due to continuous crying.

She stumbled.

Slowly, she made her way towards her room back and opened her wooden closet. She shuffled through some clothes that laid messily in it and finally her hand hit with the familiar box.

She pulled a small container out of it and popped it open. She took few pills out of it and swallowed them dryly down her throat.

She hid the box back in her clothes and shut the wardrobe door softly before making her way over to the bed.

She laid down on top of it and covered herself with a duvet. A lone tear rolled down her cheek as her eyes finally closed and she fell into a deep slumber.

Her room door was opened silently and David stepped inside. His concerned filled eyes made contact with Nora's sleeping figure. He heaved a small sigh in and further entered inside.

He crouched down beside her bed and ran his fingers through her hair gently.

"Please come back, Nora. We need you." He whispered in her ear and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"No matter what you feel, Daddy will forever love you, my little angel."

With that, he stood up and walked out from her room.

Next day rolled on and Nora woke up like usual late. She got dressed for the school and grabbed her backpack. She didn't bothered to check her appearance in the mirror and simply made her way downstairs.

Her eyes fell on Acacia who was fixing her plate.

"Good morning Nora!" She beamed happily.

Nora tilted her lips up slightly in a fake smile that never reached her eyes.

"How are you today?" Acacia tried to continue but stopped when Nora merely shrugged her shoulders in response.

Nora ate a little of her breakfast and then waved bye slightly at her mother who stared at her daughter's face worriedly.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulders, she started the short journey to her school.

She blankly kicked the pebbles on her path and walked mindlessly. Suddenly a loud honk from the car startled her.

In confusion she looked up at the expensive looking black cars that drove past her in a blur. Her heart ached for some weird reason.

She continued on walking and after ten minutes, she finally reached her destination.

Her heart thumped wildly against her chest as soon as she entered inside the big building.

Her main focus was on ignoring her surroundings and everything that had been happening around her. She desparately tried to avoid the stares of her fellow schoolmates.

That's what was her day to day routine. Nobody bothered her at the school because she never got in between their matters. Nora was always found in the sidelines. She never learnt to mingle in the crowds. Her weak state of mind provided no help.

For her, the four walls of her small room in home was the safest place. She was a complete different person in between those walls and it scared Nora. She was afraid of judgement of people. Her own mother and her father.

Then those voices in her head that won't let her sleep in nights. Nora knew that she needed help but she was afraid. She was afraid to ask for help.

The whole day went in a blur and soon she found herself walking on the way back her home. There was a weird type of anxiousness settled in the depth of her stomach. This was new!

It truly felt like that bad feeling. Like something bad is going to happen.

She swallowed the invincible rocks down her throat and moved closer towards her house.

Her presence immediately caught attention of several people who stood scattered outside her house, on the road. They were her neighbours. Today giving her some pitiful and sympathetic looks.

Her heart dropped.

"Eleanora!" Her father's yell startled her. She looked up in her father's direction, he was coming towards her. His red, teary eyes first grabbed her attention and it shook her.

She whimpered lightly. The stares of the whole neighborhood, terrified her.

Her father ignored her questioning stare and hugged her tightly before starting to guide her inside the house. Every person's eyes followed them.

Poor girl! She heard someone mumbling. It only tightened the knots in her stomach.

She was ushered inside the house and then into her room.

Her question filled eyes asked him. David hesitated but whispered in a defeated tone.

"Someone has taken her."