"Wh-where am I?" The hair on my skin rose as I realised where I was. My two hands were towed behind my back, tightened by bulky silver chains... in a tempered glass tank overflowing with water. I wriggled in the wooden chair in an attempt to set myself free as the water slowly rose to my knee. A silhouette figure materialised in front of me, I lured my attention to the figure—her long light golden brown hair swayed below her waist as she sauntered towards me, placing one hand on the glass, she mouthed the words, "You're next."
Just that moment, the tingle of the water at the nook of my neck pulled me back to my predicament, "N-no! Please, I don't want to die, please!" I shivered frantically, panic oozing out of every inch of my body as tears rolled down my cheeks.
As the water ascended over my head, filling up the tank completely, a satisfactory smile graced her lips before a gush of water surged through my nostrils.
I was dying, and there was no one to save me. My eyelids clamped shut as I succumbed to my fate. Out of nowhere, a faint sound reached my ear. It became more audible by the seconds.
"Honey, are you still sleeping?" I jolted out of my sleep. Sweat drops tumbled down my face. Damn it, not again.
The same dream that haunted me for years returned once again. It had ceased two years ago but surprisingly returned. The same face and smile plaguing my dreams. I brushed it off, concluding it was due to the horror movies I had watched on Netflix.
"Don't you think it's about time you get off that bed? You've been sleeping for ten hours straight!" Michelle yelled as she shoved the door slightly open and popped her head in. I waved my hand in the air, indicating I was awake.
I growled and swirled restlessly on the bed, crumbling the matelasse coverlet to the tiled floor. "Don't make me come in there to get you, Vivian," she added. The light sound of her heel against the floor became distant as she descended the stairs.
"Finally, I can get back to my beauty sleep," I mumbled, placing the pillow over my face.
Living with my aunt hasn't been the most exciting journey I had anticipated it to be... No dad, ditched by my mother at an early age. I've been living with my aunt for almost five years, and I'm glad she doesn't see me as a burden... my appearance—the reason my very own mother disowned me, or so I thought. At a point, I got spooked by myself, too, until my aunt explained it all to me.
I was born with this very rare condition, don't know what it's called, but since birth, I had this beautiful pair of eyes that just made me stand out. With this sparkling red pair of lenses, I've been asked by a lot of people if I wore contact lenses, and I gladly admitted I didn't. I always loved witnessing that terrified expression of theirs as if they had just encountered a vampire, crazy but funny, already gotten used to it and I just had to be gifted with long natural red hair also, that just completes it all, red eyes, red hair, what's next, red skin? Hehe, ridiculous.
The door flew wide open, clashing with the wall with a loud bang as a familiar figure walked in. "Hey, Maleficent, Mum said to come get you, this will be the last time she's gonna send me up here to get you, or else I'm going to upload that picture of you with drool all over your face." Her eyes shimmered with resentment as a scorn lingered on her face. She rolled her eyes and turned to leave, slamming the door on her way out.
Oh yeah, I forgot to add, my aunt's daughter hates my guts.
"Why must she always be so annoying." I peeled my eyelids open, shoved the pillow aside and grudgingly hopped up on my feet. I cleaned myself up and hurried downstairs. Didn't wanna keep my breakfast waiting.
"The princess awakens at last," Michelle said.
I yawned before responding to her. "Nah, I'm pretty much still on my bed, as you can see."
"Drop the sarcasm and come eat, darling." She gave a faint smile.
"Ugh, Mum, how can you tolerate this bi—"
"Language Ruby."
She rolled her eyes and shot a quick glare in my direction. "Bitch!" she mumbled.
"Huhn? Ruby, what's that I hear? Did you still call me a b—"
"Vivian! You must be hungry, why don't I serve your food." She intercepted, forcing a faint smile on her cherry plum lips.
"Aw thanks, Ruby, that's so kind of you," I smirked as I blew her an invisible kiss. A pleased smile graced my lips. Did she think she could belittle me?
Her jaw tightened as she ambled into the kitchen to dish out my breakfast. 'Who does she think she is, that red-eyed bitch! One day, I will kick her out of this house.' If I could read minds, I bet a million dollars that was what she would be thinking. Fine, just kidding, she wore her emotions on her face, you could tell if she was about to strangle you.
I pressed my lips tightly into a thin line trying to hold back my laughter, witnessing Ruby trying to control her anger, acting kind to me was truly a sight to behold. I could see fumes coming out of her head in anger.
Giggles and chatter filled the dining table. I tuned down all distractions and concentrated mainly on the bacon blue cheese burger with caramelized onions right before my eyes. Lost in my serene world gnawing down my food while my aunt and her daughter laughed and conversed with each other.
"Vivian." Michelle's voice rang calmly in my ear as I lifted my gaze from my mouth-watering dish to her face, the corner of her lips pulled up into a smile. My instinct told me where this was heading, either she was planning on requesting a favour or she was trying to persuade me into doing something she knew I wouldn't agree to.
"Yes?" But never did I expect what was coming next.
"You know, Ruby will be resuming school tomorrow, so—" She paused, her lips twitched. My brows furrowed awaiting the completion of her sentence. "—I would like you to resume with her."
"WHAT?" I and Ruby stood up abruptly, slamming our fists against the table.
"Girls c'mon, it won't be all that bad." Michelle tried bargaining with us. I wasn't quite shocked by Ruby's response. I mean, who would want to be seen with a girl with red pair of eyes and red hair?
"Aunt. You know I can't go out looking like this. I thought we decided on getting a private tutor." I was furious at the idea. How could she decide that without considering my feelings?
"I'm not going to school with her, Mum." Ruby pouted, entwining her arms into each other.
A sigh escaped her lips as she kneaded the bridge of her nose, "Look girls, I know both of you might not like this idea but please hear me out first," she pleaded.
"Okay, go on." I responded as I sat down with arms intertwined waiting for how she planned to solve this.
"Ruby, please I need you to be understanding, things are a little tight right now and I can't afford a private tutor for your sister, I just want you to watch over your sister and make sure she doesn't get bullied."
I scoffed at the idea.
"Jeez, she's the last person I want watching over me, and besides I can watch over myself." I protested, the thought didn't sit well with me.
"Yeah, why should I watch over her, I don't want to be seen with her."
"She's your sister! stop acting like a child." Hurt flashed across Michelle's eyes.
"No, she's not! We aren't even blood-related!" Her voice shot up.
"That doesn't matter, as long as I adopted her as my daughter, both of you are sisters. So this argument ends here!"
A wry smile tugged at my lips, "You have guts Ruby, you do realize I'm right here?"
"And so what freak? How's that any of my business." She was probably expecting a comeback but instead, I gave her a calm and stoic look telling her that I didn't care she thought, which made her even more pissed off.
"Will you two stop this child's play of yours? No one is permitted to talk until I'm done with what I have to say, understood?" We both nodded and shot a death glare at each other before returning our gaze to her.
"As for you Vivian, I could get you blue pair of lenses and you could dye your hair black, so in that way, you could blend in, what do you think about that?"
My mind went blank as a cough erupted from my lips startling Michelle. She instinctively reached for a glass of water and handed it over to me, which I gulped down in not more than a second.
Ruby, being herself, sat across the table with crossed legs glaring at me, I glanced over at her and noticed the upward curve of her lips, I chuckled within, typical Ruby.
"Are you alright honey, y-you don't like the idea?" She caressed my shoulder, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"Uhm... About that... I've tried that before and it didn't go well."
Her brows creased at the thought of what she heard, "You've tried that before, and I wasn't aware of it?" Her nose crinkled as confusion spread across her smooth features.
"That was before you adopted me." I tried to clear things up so she wouldn't get hurt that I kept it from her.
"Okay, so what happened?"
"Each time I tried tinting my hair, it kept absorbing the dye and after a few hours, it would return to its initial colour, as for my lenses, any lens I tried on, kept on hurting me. I felt this burning sensation in my eyes each time I wore them. I tried it several times but still ended up with the same side effects. So I gave up trying and decided to accept myself the way I am."
Her eyes widened at the revelation, fright and concern glimmered in her eyes, whereas Ruby looked like she was about to burst out in laughter, which she did.
"Jeez Vivian, I always knew you had that witch side in you. What should I call you now, the red-eyed witch?" She gripped her stomach and laughed so hard unshed tears gathered in her eyes.
Molten anger flickered across Michelle's eyes at her statement. "Don't make me ground you for a month, Ruby!" she averred, returning her gaze to me.
Ruby went mute and acted obediently even though I knew in her mind she would be cussing me.
"Honey, I'm sorry." Her eyes grew moist as a warm smile danced across her heart-shaped lips.
"You don't need to be Aunt, I'm okay not disguising myself. I've been used to those names ever since I was a little girl. So nothing's new to me anymore." I managed to force a faint smile. "I'm okay with it, Aunt." I reassured her.
I lied, I'm not okay with it. I endured those pains during my stay in the orphanage and now I'm still going to relive those moments or even worse. Ahh! My inner mind was screaming for help but on the outside, I gave her a radiant smile. I didn't want to upset her. She was the only one that took me in as part of her family. If not for her, I would have been left in the orphanage for the rest of my life. So I owed her a lot even though she couldn't understand a bit of what I had faced in that vile place. It was an unforgettable experience I swore never to share.
~*~*~*~*~
How was it?
I'm genuinely grateful for everyone reading this book. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!!♥️
Pardon me for any errors you might find. Feel free to point them out, I would gladly make corrections.
I love you!! <33