Why me?

This is your home now

As they were walking towards the bus, Alice's grandmother was examining her carefully. "You have quite a lot of scars all around your body. And what's that? Right there. On your left arm. Was something buried in there?"

"Shattered peace of glass", Alice replied, looking at her feet.

"Oh, I see. Your father must have been a very reckless driver, then", she said in a judging voice that made Alice want to punch her in the face as hard as she could and sparks of anger started shining in her eyes.

"No", she said through gritted teeth as they entered the bus.

"Well I thing I'm quite right, giving that you have such bad bruises and cuts. If he had been a good father, that would have never happened". The woman seemed to want to awake more and more anger in her granddaughter and it was working for her. Alice clenched her fists.

"It was not his fault!", she suddenly yelled and people that were sitting in front of  them turned around to get a look at the crazy child. Grandmother patted her shoulder and Alice shrugged.

"Oh, well, we seem to have started on a bad foot today. Let's start over again. Little Alice, you can call me grandma Berta. Or just grandma. But don't call me grandmother, it's too big of a word". Alice didn't reply. "You see, I live in a small village all alone. My days can be quite boring and I'm... happy... to have you with me now. We can stay together forever". Alice's hear skipped a beat as she felt cold sweat start to run down her spine. There it was again. That laugh. But, this time, she could also hear some words... A voice was muttering something yet she couldn't tell what it was. The only word she could make out was "Ill-come, ill-come", said more aggressively each time with whizzing air. She felt her hands shivering as they turned sweaty. "What does ill-come mean?", she asked against her will. "Well... It sounds like the opposite to welcome, don't you think?" Alice closed her eyes as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Oh, now, now. Don't you cry. See, we're already here". Grandma Berta took her by the hand and Alice pulled away. Yet that was pointless. Grandma took her hand again, this time squeezing it until it started hurting. Alice let out a cry. "Oh shut up! Don't be a baby!"

As they were approaching a big house that was, ironically, right next to a church with a big graveyard, Alice felt her insides twist. When grandma Berta pulled a rusty gate that made a screeching noise as it was moved, she gently pushed Alice into the yard. Alice immediately spotted a little dog house from which a terrified puppy was looking at them. "STICKY!", grandma yelled and the dog slowly went out of it's little house, shivering all over, much like Alice was. "Come here, you old hag. Come on. Let Alice pet you".

"I... It's okay. I'll pet her later", Alice said when she noticed the fear in the poor dog's eyes.

"Fine. Come on then, let's go into the house". As they entered, a smell of rotten meat and chocolate filled the air and Alice felt as if she were going to puke. "Come on, don't be shy. Go explore. After all, this is  your home now".