Always next to you

Chapter Twenty

"Don't you dare come out until I say so!"

"Please Mom, let me out!" I screamed. "It was a mistake. It's my fault, Mom! I'll do anything, please!"

It was a young girl, but I was sure it was my voice. Hearing her scream pushed tears down my face. She was small and weak and unable to stand up for herself.

"You want to come out?! So you can run off and kill your father, right?! Foolish child!" The woman cried.

"Mom, please! I'm scared!"

"After everything I've done for you! How could you Nicole? How could you do that to your father?!"

The headache faded away, and so did the voices. My heart grew heavy, but I had to force myself out of the couch. This was a memory I knew all too well. I pushed it down because of how painful it was, but that was the beginning of the shift.

I never remembered what happened to my father, but my mother said it was my fault. She blamed me for forgetting, saying the heavens would never forgive me.

The comments online were no longer important to me. I had a bigger problem, and I didn't know how to escape. My brain tried to come up with a plan. Due to my contract with Zen, I can't leave the country without permission.

I got a job so I could survive on my own without her, but I would probably get fired after this scandal. If the company lets me stay, I won't have the confidence to go to work again.

I checked the time and saw that I had been here for hours. It was probably really dark outside. I quickly ordered a ride to pick me up. If my mother was really coming back. I can't stay here.

It would take her a few hours to find where my apartment is. I didn't know what she would do, but I was afraid. All I could think of was running. Where would I go? How do I hide from my mother?

I thought about it on the ride home and I got even more frustrated. The only thing I could do was cry in the back seat of the cab.

"Miss, are you ok?" the driver asked.

"Yeah," I replied, wiping my tears. "I've just had a rough day."

Why didn't anything ever go right for me? I just wanted to live a normal peaceful life by the universe was never kind to me.

The driver parked in front of my building and waited for a few seconds before telling me we were here.

"We're here?" I asked, confused.

"I ended the ride as soon as we got here, so there's no extra cost," he said.

"Thank you," I replied and left his car.

As soon as I was out, I rushed inside the building. I don't know if it was the text from my mother, but I suddenly felt the urge I was being followed. I turned around and saw no one walking by the street.

The hair on my body was on high alert. I felt this way too when I left home. I thought my mother would send men after me and force me to stay at our house. But after a few months, I decided to stop hiding.

Nausea gripped my stomach, and I wanted to throw up everything I had in my bowels. This was not the life I had dreamed of. When did everything go so wrong? I rushed inside the elevator, grateful that no one else was there, but I still couldn't cry here.

I had to hold it until I was at least safe in my apartment. Now that I knew she was coming, I didn't feel safe anywhere. The thought of being trapped at home again brings back painful memories.

As soon as I was inside my apartment, I locked the fire and rushed to my bathroom. I threw everything up.

It was annoying that I was this fragile throwing every time I felt uncomfortable. It was almost embarrassing for an adult.