Chapter 2: Family
"Hello, Meredith!" Aunt Lauren was standing next to the door.
She was wearing a long-sleeved pink top with a dark red maxi. She looked gorgeous like always. My cousins, Jasmin and Jimmy were standing right beside her. They are fraternal twins who were born in the same year as Tom.
I immediately hugged my aunt so tightly and shouted out, "This is the best surprise ever! Thank you, grandpa!"
Jasmin held me in her arms and I hugged her. Jimmy kissed me on my cheeks and walked in. Although they were thirteen years elder than me, we were so connected. I used to share all my stories with them like stories of school and also the fights with my brothers. We used to exchange gifts on every occasion. We cared about each other like siblings. My aunt was like my second mother. She adored me so much.
"Hey Lauren, come join us for dinner." My mother invited them to the dinner table.
"Well of course! Meredith, come with me. Let's empty your dinner plate" Aunt Lauren persuaded me.
I went to the dinner table with her and sat on her lap. She started feeding me and I began to eat without whining because I didn't want her to feel sad. I loved her so much.
"Baby girl, we brought many presents for you. We also have a gift for Timothy and Tom too." Jimmy announced.
"Many presents, for me?" I wanted to clarify.
"Yes, of course, presents for the most beautiful girl!" Jasmin confirmed.
I was so excited and desperate that I wanted to open the gifts right there at the dinner table. However, I knew that no one would allow me to open the gifts unless I finish my plate.
Afterward, I went to open my gifts with my family. I started unwrapping the gifts one by one.
"Wow! Pink shoes. That's my favorite color." I started shouting out euphorically.
"I love this teddy bear; I'm going to sleep with my teddy every night." I kept on talking about all the gifts as I opened them.
"Uncle Alex also gave me a gift today. My favorite chocolate ice cream scoop with extra chocolate chips. This is the best day." I said excitedly as I kept on unwrapping all the presents.
I felt at the top of the world and didn't realize that it was going to be the last moment of my happiness and the last day I got to have my innocence. I didn't know that I was going to be victimized at just 6 years of age.
"Princess, uncle Alex is not a good person. He hurts children." My grandpa said all of a sudden.
"Meredith, you shouldn't trust strangers. Remember what we talked about? Stranger, danger!" My mother reminded me.
"Mom! Uncle Alex is not a stranger." I uttered.
"Come here, princess!" My grandpa called.
"Uncle Alex is not a family member "
"But, he came to my birthday party even. He gave me a present too!" I tried to prove my point.
"Look Meredith, there were many people at your birthday party including people who you don't meet often. They are not family." Aunt Lauren explained.
My father joined her. "You should only trust your family. We are here to protect you. We love you."
"Yes, we love you and you must listen to us. If a stranger or any other person other than family approaches you in any way you must be careful. Most importantly, you must inform us." My mother explained.
While I was playing with my presents, my family talked about Uncle Alex. All I understood at that time, was that he got away after hurting a little girl.
"What? All the charges were dropped against him after he hurt that kid!! How did it happen?" My father looked stunned and angry.
"Yeah! We also felt so bad and helpless. The little girl was so scared to testify against him. That poor innocent soul was traumatized." Aunt Lauren explained further.
"And not to mention the lack of evidence. The forensics couldn't find a single trace of D.N.A" My cousin Jimmy said.
"What is D.N.A?" I was curious to know about the weird and new word I just heard.
"Baby, this is a grownup conversation." My mother reminded me.
I realized that it was against the rule to listen or ask questions when adults talk. I zipped my mouth immediately.
On the bright side, after listening to my family I was convinced that I shouldn't trust people outside the family. I agreed to be more cautious around other people, but I had no knowledge of how people really hurt children. I thought that bad people like uncle Alex beat or starve children to hurt them. I had no clue that those bad people do much worse to vulnerable children like me. The worst of all is that bad people exist in the family too. No one ever told me that I had to be careful inside my home as well. The most powerful and wicked predators are within the family, but it was too late for me to understand that.
We had a lot of fun after dinner. We played hide and seek which was my favorite indoor play. My favorite place to hide was my mother's closet. They all knew it, but they used to pretend that they didn't know where I was hiding. No matter how many times they found me in the end, I used to hide in the same closet each and every time we played hide and seek. I was so silly.
"Jasmin and Jimmy are going to live with us." My father announced all of a sudden.
"Jimmy can stay with Tom and Jasmin can stay in our guest room. Tom's room is very spacious. We will keep a new bed for you, Jimmy." My mother justified why she chose not to give a separate room for Jimmy.
"After all Jimmy can attend the acting classes with me. You should see how professionally we are trained." Before I could express my delight, Tom boasted.
"I think he would." Jasmin grinned.
Jimmy stared at aunt Lauren as if he wanted her to deny the idea of attending acting classes with Tom.
"Jimmy and Jasmin had already applied for their respective courses from your institution, but I guess Jimmy can attend those professional acting classes if they don't clash with his actual study routine." Aunt Lauren explained.
"Are you staying with us too, Aunt Laury?" I was desperate to know the answer.
"Sorry, Meredith! I won't be able to stay here. I have to take care of Uncle Peterson's mother as she is very ill. I have to live with them for a while." Aunt Lauren sounded unhappy.
"When is uncle Peterson coming back?" Timothy asked.
"We don't know yet, but probably when Grandma gets discharged from the hospital. It's been a while since dad is away." Jimmy sighed.
I felt so bad hearing that their grandma was sick. I wished to see uncle Peterson as its been months since I met him. Most importantly I wanted my aunt to live with us.
"Princess! It's bedtime now." Grandpa reminded me.
"Let's go to bed. I will tell you a beautiful story tonight." Aunt Lauren convinced me to go to bed with her.
I came to my room with my aunt and my mother. My mother took out my jammies from the cupboard. Aunt Lauren helped me to get dressed. I wore a brown shirt with long maroon pants. As I was settling down on my bed, I saw Jimmy standing right outside the door.
"Good night Jimmy!" I called out.
He smiled at me and waved goodbye. I waved him back.
My aunt tucked me into bed and covered me with a black, soft, and furry blanket. My mother kissed me on my forehead and wished me goodnight before she left the room. She also reminded me to recite my prayers before going to bed. I nodded happily and kissed her back.
During bedtime, I cuddled Aunt Lauren as she narrated the most beautiful story of a special princess like me. I felt that I was the happiest and the luckiest little girl just like the girl in that story.
"Aunt Laury! The girl in that story sounds like me." I wanted to clarify whether the story was about me.
"Yes of course dear! It's you, our happiest and luckiest pretty little princess." Aunt Lauren said with a huge smile.
I happily closed my eyes unaware of the nightmare I was about to go through soon. I imagined a lot of things that I would do the next day with my aunt and cousins. I made up my mind to go bicycle riding with them to the park and also to have ice-cream at my brother's cafe with my whole family. I also daydreamed of winning a lot of prizes at the circus held at the town yard. I had so many wishes which were about to fade away in no time.
I was sleeping soundly with my new teddy bear by my side. Shortly, I felt an existence closer to me. I also heard a person breathing slowly right next to me. I was awake but I kept my eyes closed as I was petrified. Soon I felt like someone was on top of me.
END OF CHAPTER 2
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone