CHAPTER 2

That night, I had a series of nightmares, one after another that plagued my sleep. It felt like I was in an endless loophole.

I got up as early as 4:00 am the next day. I did my chores, brushed my teeth, took my bath, and packed up the few belongings I had, which included a few pairs of worn out clothes and an undersized hand me down from Courtney.

I also packed my mom's personal diary which I hid from Samantha because she made sure to get rid of any trace of my mom in the house, she literally changed the entire house's interior and designs.

It was almost 6:00 am by the time I was done, and I quickly rushed over to my mother's grave to bid her farewell before I'd be shipped off to a faraway pack.

"Mom," I called out with quivering lips, as tears threatened to fall. "I came to say goodbye, Dad is marrying me off to–" I could not continue as I choked on my sobs, and the tears that threatened to fall streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably.

"You stupid ungrateful girl!" Samantha snarled, from behind, as she pulled me by my hair and dragged me out of my mother's grave. "Don't you know it's time to go, you kept Gamma Guilmette waiting for you," she barked and landed a slap across my cheeks.

I sat on the ground in silence, not able to utter any word or plead with Samantha not to hit me anymore. The pain I'm feeling right now is the exact pain I felt when I lost my mom. The hurt of not being able to talk to my mom by her grave ever again left my entire body numb to Samantha's beating.

"You'll kill her," my Dad voiced out from behind as he made his way towards us. One would think it was out of love for me that he voiced out, but I already knew better. "Darling, you wouldn't want to send her over to Alpha Trudeau, all bruised would you?" He asked Samantha, removing her hand from my hair.

Samantha sighed. "Fine," she said grumpily. "Only because she's going to make us filthy rich."

I stared at my Dad in disbelief. So it was all because of money he was willing to sacrifice his daughter to the devil himself.

"If only my mother was alive," I mumbled under my breath, but unfortunately for me, my Dad heard me. His expression immediately darkened as he stared at me with murderous intent. He grabbed me by my neck and lifted me off the floor into the air like I weighed nothing while squeezing the life out of me. I closed my eyes not bothering to fight for my life, and patiently waited for life to slip out of me, at least I'd get to be at peace and reunite with my mother again.

"Honey," Samantha called out to my Dad in a doting voice. "Remember what you said."

My Dad loosened his grip around my neck for a bit, then he tightened it again, before slamming me into a tree. All the bones in my body felt like they were broken, and the intense pain I felt almost made me pass out, as my vision became blurry and I coughed out blood.

"Get up!" Samantha ordered. "Go take a shower again, and get dressed in the clothes I gave you last night."

I took a deep breath. I gritted my teeth due to the intense pain I felt as I tried to stand up and managed to drag myself back to my room.

Back in my room, I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks. I took off the clothes I wore previously which were now filled with mud and dirt, and got into the bathroom. Switching on the shower, I crouched down with my hands wrapped around my knees as I sobbed uncontrollably trying to let out all the pent up emotions, as the cold water cascaded down my body.

There was a knock on the door.

"Are you trying to wash your skin away? It won't make you pretty, you know?" Courtney said with so much venom in her voice accompanied by a burst of mocking laughter.

I sighed and shook my head pitifully.

By the time I was done bathing, I came out to meet Courtney who had a scowl on her face.

"Get dressed, Dad wants me to do your makeup," she sneered. "Pfft, not like it's going to change you from an ugly bitch."

I put on the clothes Samantha gave me yesterday, and sat down on a stool ready for the makeup to be done. Sincerely speaking, I don't want to apply makeup, and just like Courtney said I won't make any difference at all.

Courtney set up her makeup tools on the bed and began to work. The room was completely silent and the only thing that could be heard was our breathing and the occasional clink of makeup container.

"Done," Courtney announced, there was a stunned expression on her face. I'm sure she's taken it upon herself to make me look hideous. I picked up a small broken mirror by the side, to look at how horrible Courtney had made me look.

I blinked a few times to be sure my eyes were deceiving me. The makeup had transformed me into an entirely different person, I looked absolutely stunning. Even Courtney couldn't hide that fact from her facial expression. For the first time, I felt truly beautiful. Looking at myself closer, there were hints of my late mother's features. I always thought the only features I had of my mom were her crystal colored eyes, but staring at myself in the mirror I could see that I had all of her features.

"Tch!" Courtney scoffed with her nose flared as she walked out of my room.

"Is Audrey ready?" I overheard my Dad asking her in the hallway, but Courtney didn't reply.

The door opened again and my Dad walked in. He was also stunned and for like a split second he's eyes were filled with affection.

"We should get going," he said, his gaze cold as ice, the warmth I saw in his eyes disappeared as soon as it appeared.

I stood up, carried my few belongings, and followed my Dad behind silently as we walked outside, where Gamma Guillmette awaited.

"Greetings, Gamma Guillmette," I greeted, bowing my head.

"Hello Audrey, how are you doing?" He responded, with a smile.

There was something about his voice that eased whatever tension I had, and now his smile brightened my day.

"Let's go," he said, collected my belongings, and then opened the door to the car for me to enter. "We have a long journey ahead."

Samantha scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Enjoy your miserable life, Audrey," Courtney sneered, as soon as we drove off.