Chapter 1: Part 1: Escape from the Horror House
Friday evening, probably your favourite part of the week, no? For me...things were different. No school meant that I had to stay at home with Ricardo all weekend. It was horrific. I reached home and immediately went to my room and took a shower. Ricardo wasn't there yet, I could tell. The doors were locked and the key placed carefully under the mat in the same way I left it before school that morning.
My last class was gym, and showering at school wasn't as ideal as it sounded. I got into my shower, and let the hot water slowly moisturise my bruised skin. It felt like hell, but at the same time it washed away all the bad feelings and memories of that day. The soap, the water, the steam, it was like therapy. Thinking about the events of that day. My thoughts were poison. It wasn't my fault. Society, thou art a heartless bitch.
All I could think about was everyone's mocking glares, judgemental stares and cautious glances. I was either scared of them or they were scared of me. I was always an outcast. They all intimidated me with their looks and their lives. They didn't hate me but it was more than obvious that they didn't like me. "Poor, lost girl. Hiding under her hoodie. If I were her brother I would've died too." That was the part where I ran to the bathrooms and cried. It was also the reason my grades dropped. I had no escape until Shaheed helped me.
See, I don't blame them, strange and cruel things happened to people around me. So they don't come near me, including Ricardo. But he stayed away from me for a different reason. Not fear, disgust. He blamed me for everything. For Wakil, for mom, sometimes just for the mere fact that I exist. Which one can assume is understandable judging by my track record.
I looked into the bathroom mirror once I was done and dried off and slowly took in my features. Sunken eyes, slits on my arms and tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "NO. STOP. Crying isn't going to help you!"
I repeated this phrase to myself every time I thought of crying which happened more often than you'd think. It was my mantra. I was way too strong to cry at that point. It helped me survive for the moment but it was slowly killing me in the long run. I slowly got dressed into the same old track suit pants that I used to see my mom wear while swallowing the hard lumps in my throat. This usually happened to me before Ricardo got home. I stared into the mirror once more. But something had changed. It was different that time. I looked beautiful, my skin was clear and it had a pure light reflecting off of it.
I saw happiness in my eyes and the feeling of pure bliss was visible... I weaved. I looked like I had just won the lottery or met the love of my life. Or like I had just escaped from the hell I was living... which reminded me of the big day today, so let me get you all caught up, well not entirely but bottom line –I was escaping from that shit show. Don't worry, there will be clear elaboration as to why.
"KAREEM!" Ricardo's scream broke my trance. "I must have lost track of time. How could I be so dumb?" The thought lingered in my mind a little while longer as I headed to the kitchen. Having thoughts like this were pretty mundane due to being "the multi-millionaire Ricardo Harts" daughter [or whatever he considered me to be].
You would think that 'living up to expectations' would be the problem. But no, Ricardo himself, was a problem. In a dark blue suit with an evil grin, he stood motionless and maniacally in the kitchen. The smirk on his face stood out more than anything. "Here we go again." I whispered under my breath. I was used to seeing that look on his face, especially when no one else was around.
"So, the multi-millionaire Ricardo Hart, has to come home after working his ASS OF FOR YOU-" He banged his hand on the kitchen table. "TO GET PAID LIKE THIS! I have to come home, TO NO FOOD!" I flinched slightly at his words, there was nothing more I could do except at least trying to show him that I'm human. "You know what you are?!" I knew exactly what was coming next. It's not as if I wasn't constantly reminded. I stared dead into his eyes, because that's exactly how I felt. Dead. Numb. He smirked at me before continuing. "You are exactly like your mother, lazy, ugly and weak." The venom in his words usually hurt me more than the beating did... but that day, I felt different.
Something had washed over me, I felt like waves were crashing in on me in the most soothing manner I could think of each time he laid his hands on me. He pulled the belt off of his pants and I knew exactly what he was going to do, he harshly pulled my hair, causing me to wince in pain. The pain came back... why is it back? I had an uncountable amount of fear inside of me. The kind that stayed drilled in me. I was glad it was just a beating and not as bad as what he had done prior to this. "Father..." I started but I was interrupted by Ricardo's scowling. "I am not your father! I didn't ask for you or that disgusting, foul mother of yours, I didn't ask for her to leave me here stranded with you." This man was worse than Darth Vader, at least he acknowledged that he was Luke's father.
I was slightly sobbing as he beat me with the belt, I felt every ounce of his anger decreasing as he hit me. The sound followed through after every sting. I was bleeding and he was laughing. He found this amusing, I wasn't his daughter. I was someone he used. I was a toy, I was his toy in this miserable game that "he didn't ask for". Doesn't he understand that I didn't ask for any of this either. The only reason I stayed is because I hoped he could get better. I tried to see the best in him, he was my father after all. I had his blood in me, even if he didn't see it like that. But I was eighteen and my powers were more active than ever.
If I stayed in that house I would've ended up hurting him and as much as I wanted to harm him, I couldn't risk being brought down to his level. I wanted to stop his evil cycle but not by murdering him.
He brought the belt down on my arm again, I had become completely numb at that point, I felt the movement of the belt on my body but it didn't feel like pain. It felt like hatred and anger. The realisation hit me harder than he did... I was feeling his emotions, I was feeling his damn emotions! If I didn't get out of there fast I would definitely hurt him. He's done it before and he was going to do it again and again until I left. So why would I want to feel pain if I had a choice not to? Was that going to be how I was treated for the rest of my life? I won't tell you just yet. Why don't you learn my entire story first?
He hit me once more, the tears seemed to have gotten stuck in my eyes. I wasn't crying anymore. I just stopped. I stopped moving and I stopped trying to make him stop. I lay there motionless.
He had finally stopped. He left me in a puddle of my own blood, sweat and tears. He had made new wounds and reopened some old ones. I was helpless. I would never stop feeling daggers being dragged through my skin and my soul. Bleeding only means you're alive. He picked me up and carried me to the basement. I knew that I were to be left there without food for the next... well, whenever he remembers me. He threw me on the basement floor. I moaned in pain as he locked the door and left. I tried not to make too much of a noise when he was there, it would only further aggravate him, and then he'd start again. Sometimes it was hard to tell if he'd ever stop.
The basement was soundproof (so no one could hear or help me). It was my mother's recording studio but Ricardo had other intentions. He used to leave my mom up here too and tell me she went to grandma, only for me to learn that when my mom was born, grandma passed on. But the stories about her were extraordinary, mom used to say I had her eyes. As soon as he left, I screamed from the pain but it didn't help it was just noise. I had to leave immediately.
I had been working on something the last time I had been left here. It was for 3 days. I called the basement 'the hell room' and this house 'the horror house', I laughed about the name more often than not. I half glanced at the blue curtain, the curtain opened as I stared at it. Come on Kareem, 3 years of training with Shaheed can't go to waste. I knew what I had hidden behind there... but I could see to that later that day as I was losing the battle of staying awake. I fell asleep right there with my body aching. I needed to leave. Living in a house with that monster couldn't go on any longer. He killed her. He did much worse actually. He left me alive with no soul and no will to live. As selfish as you think I sound, I would choose being dead any day.
I woke up a few hours later, I couldn't tell what time it was or how long I had been asleep for. I stood up and heard a grumble. It must've been my stomach. There was no point in acknowledging my hunger when I knew that I wouldn't be getting food any time soon. Some things were just more important than others. I headed towards the blue curtain. On the right hand side there was a large hole in the ceiling. Ricardo seldom entered there. He said it smelt like failure. (Whatever that smells like) The basement was directly under my room. I continued breaking through the ceiling with anything and everything I could've used. I had to try and control my powers. Ricardo wouldn't hear me. "C'mon, now or never sweetie. Now or never."
I stared at the hole with a determined look on my face. I slowly tried to think of what I wanted and I tried to concentrate but I couldn't. I thought of why I wanted to leave the house but nothing worked. My mind wondered back to my mother and brother and my sorat and my eyes lit up... it was happening... at last... I looked at the hole once more and it slowly crumbled-
Did I- did it just-... The realisation hit me at full speed. I walked to the far left of the basement, brought the small step ladder and set it under the hole. I climbed up slowly and finally reached my bedroom window. I squealed in excitement before grabbing my gym bag and stuffing it with a pair of old gym clothes that belonged to my mother and a stuffed animal my brother gifted to me. I opened my room window, grabbed onto the leaning tree outside and slid down. I ran straight out of Ricardo's huge horror house mansion and headed straight down the street. I knew where I wanted to go. To the only person who could help me and the only person who knew the power I had.
I ran until I knew that I could no longer see that disgusting house that I'd been forced to live in or that horrific man who I was forced to live with. I walked a few more minutes until I reached a small house and knocked on the antique-like door. I waited a few more minutes before an elderly looking man stepped out.
The elderly man had a confused look on his face. "Keemi, w-what are you doing here?" he asked in a panicked and tired voice. Judging by the sun positioning and Shaheed's voice, it was clear that it was just after sunrise.
"Hey... um... Shaheed... I...dug a hole... broke a hole? Umm... Created a hole? In the ceiling of the basement with like... my mind and it was just like... whoosh." I muttered like a toddler just learning to speak.
"Keemi, what are you? Come inside you look... terrible... Do you want something to eat?" he offered kindly "NO... I mean no" I tried to sound polite, calm, honest and not hungry but neither explained how I was feeling. I was REALLY hungry! Even I wouldn't believe what I had just said because it was pretty clear that it was utter rubbish. "My sorat... it lit up... Shaheed, please h-help me!" Shaheed looked terrified, he walked into his house and brought out what looked like a metal rod. He pressed it against my collar bone. I let out a haunting screech and then screamed in agony.
I was a dishevelled mess and I needed to leave this town. "Shaheed, I did what you told me...I-I-I..." He seemed to have caught on fast enough and luckily he did because I couldn't speak even if I tried. "Shit Keemi, we've got to go- like now!" I thankfully and silently followed Shaheed into his car and he started the journey. "Bag of chips in the backseat. I can literally feel how hungry you are." This is why I love him. I knew exactly where he was taking me, but I would've been grateful to go anywhere with Shaheed.
Shaheed used to be a butler at the Hart mansion till he got the boot from my mother, Kamila. She was a good woman, don't get me wrong but she didn't fire Shaheed because she wanted to, it was because she had too. Shaheed knew too much about Ricardo, he knew how he treated Kamila and me. I was only 8 years at the time of my mother's passing. A good 10 years ago. Occasionally I'd just sit back and I could hear her singing to me. It was that dreadful year when I had lost both my mother and my brother, Wakil. It was all Ricardo's fault.
I thought back to what I remembered about them. The memories were fairly vivid. All I remembered was the day Ricardo walked into the kitchen drunk and repeatedly hit Wakil, he was eighteen at the time, and he ran out of the house straight down the road. Most of it was a blur. I remembered receiving letters from him for 3 months, and my parents seemed to have forgotten that he existed. He only drew me small pictures in the letters, they were all portraits of us. I couldn't read at the time, but Wakil always said to me, "A picture speaks a thousand words 'arnab saghir." I remembered that better than anything. So for every letter he wrote, he signed it as ''big rabbit." And all of them had an infinity sign. An infinity sign not to signify forever but rather to signify one day. It was always a picture of two rabbits. He said he'd come back for me when he was stable. It was only a while later when the police turned up at our doorstep. Another vivid memory, they found a suicide note.
I slowly lifted my hand to my eyes and wiped away the tears now threatening to fall out even faster. I thought back to Wakil while I opened my bag and pulled out the stuffed little rabbit. It still had Wakil's note on it. "One day 'arnab saghir. I carrot about you a lot." I smiled slightly but tears swelled up in my eyes as I thought about how little he was valued. The rabbit stayed in my bag all the time. It was like having him by my side. It was a norm to value objects in the place of real people. How little my parents cared about him. "One day brother." I said.
The police never found Wakil's body, he always told me that the river is where he belonged, he told me he'd bring me there, and I only managed to find out after he died. He drew the river in most pictures, but I thought nothing of it, till I asked Shaheed what he wrote in the many letters. Shaheed read everything to me. I spent the entirety of the next 2 months regretting my life, and that was saying a lot coming from an eight year old.
"He was also eighteen, you know?" I turned my head at lightning speed and nearly spat out the salty snack from my mouth. That was the first thing he said for a while and he mentioned Wakil. When he did say it, it was like he took the thought straight out of my head. No one really mentioned Wakil. When he left, it was like he had never existed before. It was so easy for them to forget him or at least ignore him. "I know." I replied hastily. "Maybe that's what connects us, he always said one day, and this is that day Shaheed... I'm free. This is what he wanted and this is what mom wanted. Neither of them could get it... except me..." Shaheed stopped the car at the side of the road immediately causing it to jerk a bit. He stared at me. I knew what he wanted and he knew that I felt guilty. He jumped out of the car.
He slowly walked over to my side of the car with a stern look plastered on his face and stood silent for a minute before he pulled me into a lengthy embrace. I immediately burst out into tears, I could feel myself getting lighter, my shoulders were no longer tense and my heart nearly skipped a beat, I didn't even try to contain the loud sobs coming out of my mouth. "It's okay to cry, Keemi." I held onto him tighter than before, "it's okay." I could feel the relief. I tried to catch my breath. "No... it's n-not!" I choked. Is this what it felt like to have a father? Shaheed stood there for the next few minutes just thinking while holding me in his arms. His thoughts were heavy.
"We should get going, Keemi." I lifted my head off of his shoulders and he wiped my eyes dry. He went back to the driver's seat and started the car. The ride went back to normal. It was quiet but not an awkward silence. It was calm and relaxing. It was the first time in a while that I had felt that loved and safe. The rest of the ride was silent.
Shaheed had a habit of breaking the silence but I didn't say much, a simple nod was more than enough from me during that time. I liked to keep my conversations on a paper or in my head not out in the open. Just because you can talk, it doesn't mean that you should. My mother always told me that. I felt fatigue wash over me, I tried to brush the feeling away because of my current fear of falling asleep. The nightmares were returning, and I knew that they would be worse than ever. What would Ricardo do? Would he have tried to look for me? Why would he? Did he want me to be his servant even though he always wanted to get rid of me? Had he even noticed that I was gone? It was pretty easy to leave though. Physically at least, but it was hard to leave everything behind.
At that moment, I was sure that the nightmares I had when I was asleep were nothing compared to the nightmare I was living when I was awake. Also I was really tired. I closed my eyes slowly and felt the sweet relief of escape flood over me like a river. Sometimes my dreams were amazing. That was one of those moments. It was like I was being pulled into a different universe, I felt like my soul had left my body and been restored. It was like I was healed. There was green light everywhere. And I saw a face. He was gorgeous. I wasn't seeing him... I was seeing his emotions.
It was magical. Shaheed gently placed his right hand on my arm, attempting to wake me up. My eyes opened slower than they had closed and I was greeted with the friendliest smile I had ever seen. Angie Mohamed, Shaheed's wife. She looked like the human embodiment of happiness. I returned her smile cautiously.
I lowered myself out of the car, grabbed my gym bag and slowly walked forward to be fully embraced into the warmest hug I've ever experienced. Angie had tears in her eyes. "Mija, are you okay? We've been waiting for this day forever, oh are you okay? You can go inside, and Jamie and Bruno are inside waiting for you. I'm so glad you're okay!"
I simply nodded and followed the instructions I was given. Jamie and Bruno Mohamed sat tensely on the couch, as if waiting for something. I stopped before continuing, there was a third person on the couch. A slightly familiar face. I continued to move forward just as Jamie and Bruno noticed me. They leapt of the couch and briskly walked over to me. They tried not to startle me but they couldn't contain their happiness. When looking at Jamie and Bruno, it was easy to see where they got their smiles from. They all looked like they were expecting me, Shaheed must've called while I was asleep. Either that or somehow they just knew.
Like his mother, Bruno had tears in his eyes and Jamie was playing with the hem of her T-shirt while standing and staring at me awkwardly. I dropped my bags on the floor and pulled Jamie and Bruno into my arms. It felt like old times. I felt more at home than ever.
"Aw Brownie, don't cry." When we were little I gave Bruno the nickname Brownie after he started referring to me as Keemi. "My eyes are watering from that really unsatisfying perfume you're wearing" Jamie snickered "...Oh shut up Jamie." I gave a light chuckle. It was the first bit of real happiness that I had felt.
The tall boy who was seated on the couch cleared his throat loud enough for the 3 of us to hear. He lifted himself off of the couch and headed in my direction. My body slightly clenched as I watched him approach me. When he reached us he stuck a hand out and gave me the softest smile I had ever seen. Like I might've broken if he had smiled more.
"Lars Jameson." The boy said while extending his arm toward me even further. I enjoyed the confidence. I stood paralysed for a few seconds before taking in his features, I figured out where I had seen him before. He had sparkling green eyes, bright red cheeks, a fairly sharp jawline, and two deep dimples. He wore a white tank top with light blue jeans and ankle high army boots that just complimented his auburn hair. I then reached out my hand and greeted the boy with a friendly smile. "Kareem, but you can call me Keemi, it's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled back at me once more. My sorat glowed bright green, I could hardly catch my breath. It was pulling my skin closer together, till he let go. Then the power surge stopped, no one seemed to notice but I'm sure he did. Everyone knew what the bright green meant. He opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted-
"Jamie! Show Keemi her room." Mrs Mohamed's voice echoed through the house and Jamie gladly complied.
I let go of his hand and it felt suddenly felt empty.
Jamie grabbed my gym bag and my arm and pulled me up the stairs. "We need to talk!"
Kareem heard the concern in her voice.
They reached the bedroom and Jamie immediately threw Kareem's bag onto the bed and gave her a look that Kareem knew all too well.
"I didn't know I was going to do it today. So can we please not talk about it?"
Shaheed had been planning this for a while and all they were waiting for was me. When Shaheed was sacked from the Hart family, he knew that it wasn't safe for me... or Wakil. He knew from that day that he would get us out of the house and since he couldn't save Wakil, he took it upon himself to save me. It was my brothers wish that I make it out of there so when Wakil left he had Shaheed promise to save his sister, even if he wasn't saved, and you don't break a promise you made to the dead.
I had been too chicken to leave the house. I felt as if I lived there for my brother and to get revenge on the man that I spent half my life calling father. I also thought he could change but he proved me wrong a thousand times. It wasn't until a few days prior, when Shaheed was in town that he convinced me that my brother wouldn't want me to stay in that house. I knew that Wakil had tried to get me out of the house before. The horror house. I wish I had went with him, because then, maybe he would've taken better care of himself.
"Keemi, I'm here if you ever need to talk, I know what he did to you. I know that he tried to do it to your mom and Wakil too. He just wants control and I'm sure he thought he won that battle with you but you're not there anymore. You're not his anymore."
I felt the tears at the brim of my eyes threatening to come out, it would be the hundredth time that day. I wondered how she knew...but it was probably obvious. I avoided Jamie's eyes. I didn't have any tears left to cry at that point. It's always the people with the sweetest smiles that make us cry when we look into their eyes. Jamie spoke once more.
"Plus, I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about the googly eyes you were sending hot shot down there!" My cheeks heated up. "Yeah, who is he?" I asked ignoring Jamie's previous statement which was highly cringe and leaving out the detail that he might be my soulmate. "He's part of the program. Dad brought him in a few days ago." My face lit up brighter than ever.
"Jamie, I have something to tell you..." Jamie stood patiently waiting for me to tell her. I thought now was as good a time as any to let her know that the auburn haired boy downstairs was my soulmate.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone