*Kyle*
The scotch I’m drinking feels great as the spicy liquid goes down my throat. I feel it as my Beta tries to mind-link with me, and I wonder what the problem is. It has only been an hour since I last spoke with him. Had Rhia given him a magical wedgy for leaving her in bed to run to my call?
“What’s up?” I answer.
“After I left the house, I went to see Leo and asked him to check if he can find anything about Tobias,” he starts.
Ahh, how had I forgotten about Leo? He works with the human police. I could have asked him myself, but the thought slipped my mind.
“Good catch, Beta. Does Leo know anything?” I ask and wait impatiently for his answer.
*Thelma*What? Tobias attacked? By whom? I turn and run after Kyle wondering if whoever was trying to attack me is who attacked Tobias. I pray not; Kyle told me this place was safe and protected. How or where did Tobias run into danger?I smell blood as four men rush into the corridor with a wounded man on a stretcher. A pained sound comes from the man, who I hardly recognize as Tobias, is bleeding and both of his eyes are swollen shut. I push past Kyle and kneel beside the stretcher.“Tobias, are you okay?” I ask.The man struggles to open his swollen eyes; his cheekbones and jaw are bruised purplish-blue. Tobias rests shirtless on the stretcher that has been placed on the floor. It looks like someone whipped him mercilessly…repeatedly. The shredded f
*Tobias*I look at the bloody mess in my bathroom and am thankful the maids paid attention when I demanded no one enter my room. Before leaving, I had made sure to lock the doors behind me for extra measures.I take a small cloth and begin wiping the blood on the walls. I open a tap and try to wash the one in the sink down the drain. Damn it. This particular move had really cost me a tooth. How else would I have made my attack believable? Pulling out my tooth had been excruciating.After I am sure the bathroom is clean and disinfected, I start washing off the makeup on my face and the fake blood from my hair and body. I wince when the towel makes contact with an open wound. The makeup had tied the whole look together, but I had to actually cause my body harm in case a doctor took a look at me.
*Thelma*“Rosehip seed oil will make your skin glow while the lavender oil will make you smell great,” Hilda says as she rubs the mysterious oils onto my skin. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror that’s close by and grimace. I know the elderly woman is only trying to help, but I am already looking like a generously basted turkey.“Are you sure I won’t slip out of his grasp?” I ask. She throws her head back and laughs.“Not at all. Since long ago, women have always prepped themselves with the finest essential oils,” she replies.I nod. I wonder if I should tell her my fear that I might slide off Kyle’s huge four-poster bed. Not that it was a bad thing, as I honestly wanted nothing but to run away from this distressing situation.She takes a silk gown and helps me put it on. Although the gown's length is up to my feet, and covers most of my nude body, I still feel naked. I wish I could put on some type of underwear, but when Hilda caught me trying to put on panties after my bath,
*Thelma*(Three months ago)“Whenever you are ungrateful for anything you get in this life, remember: Kwaad will come and take your little soul and trap it in the dungeon in his dark castle. He will torture you for the rest of your days!” Uncle Fernandez finishes by raising his hands in the air and waving them around for a dramatic effect.The four little children sitting around his rocking chair look at him in shocked silence; they look like they have just seen a ghost. Roy looks like he is about to cry.I chuckle as I put a small bucket under the leaking ceiling. The rain is coming down hard and the old farm house is barely managing to keep us dry.I straighten my back, trying to stretch my poor muscles that are already worn out after my busy shift at the diner.“Rest is for the rich!” I whisper my usual mantra to myself to give me some mock courage.I remember this story giving me sleepless nights and the most vivid nightmares as a child. Kwaad is our family’s ‘Boogeyman.’“I think
*Thelma*I wake up to find a little box on the small bedside table. The white envelope underneath the box is addressed to me. I attempt to rub the sleep out of my eyes with the back of my hand, before getting up and retrieving the envelope and opening it.‘I can’t imagine my life without you. My sunshine, my angel. Happy birthday to the world’s best daughter. Love, Mom.’I smile as I open the little box. In it is a gold chain necklace with a blue pendant.“Thanks, mum,” I whisper to the empty room.I know that my mother can’t afford to buy me many luxuries, or throw me an expensive twenty-first birthday celebration, but this necklace was something I would treasure more than diamonds or platinum.I wonder what time it is; a quick look at my phone tells me that it’s half past seven. I’m surprised to see that Roy isn’t still sleeping, and after a quick shower, I make my way down the creaky stairs to the kitchen.“Happy birthday, dear,” my mother cheers in a sing-songy voice as I walk in.
*Thelma*I gulp. How did he know my name? Had Rebekah requested for the taxi in my name instead of hers? Am I being kidnapped? What the hell is happening?As all these thoughts swim in my head as I start looking around the taxi. The passenger door is locked. The taxi is moving very quickly and I’m not sure if I would rather risk jumping out of a moving vehicle or just brace myself for whatever awaits me.I try the handle, but the door doesn’t budge. With very little options, I contemplate if I should squeeze myself through the window. I’m small enough but I have no idea how to open the window. It seems this taxi was designed purposefully to trap people inside.Maybe I could reach over to the front and strangle the driver, but then that would just make him lose control of the car causing us to crash. I worry my bottom lip as I attempt to cook up an escape plan.“Child lock,” the driver says as if reading my mind.Why would he put a child lock on the passenger door of a taxi? Who was th
*Thelma*I open my eyes at the sound of loud voices stirring outside. What the heck was going on? Also, how in the world had I gotten home last night after a night full of binge drinking? Did Martin drive me back?“You can’t do this!” I hear my mother yelling from outside.I try to lift my head from the pillow, and feel like multiple hammers are having a hip-hop dance party in my head. With a groan, I lie back down. I had never drank alcohol before, but yesterday I remember downing one glass after another of that sweet pink creamy beverage. Rebekah had warned me to slow down, but the drink had been so sweet and tasted like berries; it was like having shots of strawberry milkshakes.Why does everything that’s dangerous look and taste so good….I put my hand to my forehead and close my eyes; they feel like they have shards of glass in them. My mouth feels like I was munching on some sandpaper.‘I will never drink again,’ I think to myself as I will the pain away.“Leave me! Don’t touch
*Kyle*My bed feels like it’s spinning, despite keeping my eyes closed. I can hear Yasmeen’s feet shuffling around the room, as she tries forcing me to drink water, telling me how it could help with my hangover. I am tired of explaining to her that I didn’t drink any alcohol last night; regardless, no amount of alcohol could ever make someone feel this terrible.“I squeezed a bit of lime into the water just in case plain H2O is making you feel nauseated,” Yasmeen says.I groan and open my eyes to look at her. She has her blonde hair up in a sleek tight ponytail, and I wonder if it feels uncomfortable. She smiles down at me as she shoves the glass of water in my face. Yasmeen rarely smiles, and the tilt of her lips looks forced and somewhat painful.“I’m not thirsty,” I tell her, annoyed by her persistence.Her eyebrows come together as she regards me. I can’t believe how she has grown. I took her in when she was just a rogue pup who was going around causing trouble. I knew that she wo