"For Everson's first film!" Spencer exclaimed and raised his glass of wine, and we followed suit, clanking our glasses. We returned to our seats, while they continued to clap their hands on me while smiling proudly. I simply shook my head but I couldn't hide the smile on my lips.
We went bowling and ate at a Japanese restaurant to celebrate my team's film's earlier win, and now we're at Spencer's house, drinking wine that his parents had hidden for a long time. His parents are constantly abroad for their business, and it is so rare for them to spend their time for their son or even stay here. Spencer is always left alone here with their servants and body guards.
So we always hang out here because we feel bad for him when he's alone. He also throws parties frequently, but I don't go when virtually everyone in school is invited; I'm not even into parties.
I began it. I was the one who started guessing about Archer's hidden identity and prompted my friends to give their opinions too, thinking that he might have hurt his ex-girlfriends in the past, that he might have had something to do with why they abruptly left Camden Town. I did that because I thought Sierra would be saved from disaster at his hands once George and Spencer warned her about him. But then I shifted into becoming a coward again. I crumpled like a worthless thing no matter how many times I told myself I should be brave and face the monsters. It's just that; my mother's safety crossed my mind once more. And now, I feel like a hypocrite. It's as if they wrapped a chain around my neck and ropes around my hands and ankles, thus turning me into their puppet. When I hear a car's engine from a distan
Flashbacks. . ."I...I don't understand why I'm here, uncle Arthur." I said in a trembling voice, my eyes darting around a room I'm unfamiliar with. But all I know is that it's really dark, with only a feeble light from a bulb on the ceiling illuminating the small, grey-painted room. I'm seated across from Uncle Arthur. Meanwhile, two cops stand behind him.I'm not sure why he hauled me here after the cops came into our house and handcuffed me instead of Archer, then they took mom inside the ambulance car.They blindfolded me, and when they removed it, I found myself sitting in the middle of an unfamiliar room. I can feel the fear crippling my skin. I can feel, by the way they stare at me, that what is going to happen here will never be good.Uncle A
Mom and I purchased a townhouse in a quiet neighborhood, which is four hours away from Camden. Our neighbors aren't the cheery types of people, unlike in Camden, who always greet you even when you are not close to them, but I found our new place much more homely than our previous house, because we are far away from judgments. The less people care about us, the better we live.Our new house is large enough for just the two of us. I'm now going to a public high school while working as a janitor at a mall. While Mom continued selling vegetables and fruits from the nearby market in our neighborhood.It hasn't been easy adjusting to a new environment that is both quieter and larger than Camden Town, but I'll admit that when we left Camden Town, our lives felt much safer than before. We were relieved even more when the Leviticus family did not discover us or se
I couldn't figure out why Archer took such a quick left and walked straight up to the back building. I came to an abrupt stop, trying to figure out his next moves when he suddenly slowed down. After a minute he suddenly turned to face me, my eyes blinked several times, and my heart rushed in such panic; he had caught me following him. But instead of saying anything, I was so surprised when he merely glanced at me intensely before continuing his walk. Just as I was about to move, I noticed blood on the floor dripping from his right hand, but he didn't seem to notice, or maybe he just didn't care, just like how he didn't question me when he caught me following him. I scratched my head, bewildered by his quick hurry out of the back building and perplexed with myself because I didn't know why I had follow
I stopped in my trance and came back to reality when I heard a sequence of doorbell sounds. But after a few seconds it stopped, I brushed it off and dart my eyes back to the book I was supposed to be reading but my mind kept flying back to my memories in Camden down. But just when I was about to keep my focus on my book, the doorbell suddenly started ringing again, this time, whoever's ringing it seems to be in a hurry because of how constant he rings the doorbell as if his life depends on it.I frowned in irritation and set down the book I was holding, and waited for a while, but the person ringing our doorbell didn't stop, leading me to stand up. What was strange was that I never heard Mom's voice. Her bedroom is simply downstairs; I'm sure she'd already opened the door for that person. And I have no clue who that person is. As far as I know, I am not expecting anyone today, even though it's a special da
"Ever, happy birthday! Woohoo!""Come on, let's go! Let's have a party! We brought lots of alcohol!""Nice house, man!"Then, all of a sudden, there was shouting and loud noises throughout the house, as they all surged inside, pushing me against the wall as I'm invisible in their eyes now.It's almost as though all of Willow High's seniors have gathered here. Our house isn't even big enough to accommodate them all; in fact, our once-large enough-for-us home appeared to be the smallest house I'd ever seen."Ever!"The noise was deafening, there were speakers blaring in every corner of the house, and it felt like I was in a crazy zoo in an instant.
"S-Sierra?" I blinked many times and even rubbed my eyes to be sure it was her and not just a hallucination of mine. She responded by smiling and nodding at me; I noticed her eyes are red and her smile didn't seem genuine as it didn't even reach her eyes, which bewildered me; she didn't seems fine at all, she looks like another version of Sierra—the saddest one. But before I could say anything to her, she took me by surprise when she grabbed my hand and placed the small box on my palm before immediately letting it go. I felt an electricity surge in me after she held my hand; I'm not sure why, but it seems like I felt that I longed for her hold so much because it had been so long since I'd touched her hand and stood face-to-face with her. The weather is cold, but I can feel a comforting warmth in her presence, just as I had before. In a single glance from her, all the love I've long buried for her emerges one by one from their graves. I thought to myself, I've alr
"I think you've had enough to drink." I started when Sierra came in through the back entrance, I followed her to the bottom of the stairs where we're the only two people here. I had just finished blowing out the birthday candle on my cake, and there were just a few unwelcome guests remaining in the house.She's strolling in a circus-like style and appears to be out of her head as a result of her inebriation. She's clutching a bottle of beer and drinking it as if it's her last, before looking at me and plastering her wide grin."I can't even feel the alcohol in my system yet." She said, and swayed with the music coming from the speaker. The carefree Sierra I met before reappeared in the blink of an eye that made me smile a little."So, how are you doing these days?" After convincing myself multiple times, I finally found the courage to approach her. I also realized that we would never meet again after this day, and I didn't want to wind up regretting my dec
"Where are we going?!" When the light from the lamp post crossed his eyes, I noticed how dark and horrible they were. I attempted to yank Archer's hand away from me, but he became quite violent."You fucking lied to me! And if you can't love me back, I'm going to get rid of you instead " There was no other man, no stalker, and a man with a face mask. It was just Archer and me. But before that happened, I called Emmy to the Meadowoods Library before Archer ever got close to me. When I asked for help for the third time, I told her that I would go with her since there's someone who's threatening to kill me. Of course, she was concerned.I had the entire plan written down before Archer did. But it was never my intent to drag Amalia under her grave."Calm down, Archer; we can talk this through." He was practically twisting my hands and tried to shove me inside his car while I was in pain. But I needed to buy some time because Amalia hadn't arrived yet."Why should we talk
Everyone in Camden Town knows practically everyone else, including the famous Mayor and his family. As I already stated, I did a great deal of reading and pondering before heading to that location. As a person who grew up in a bizarre and aberrant environment, everything must have a reason, or else your existence will be meaningless. My intention to kill myself was pure when I drowned myself, but after I was awakened, I gradually wanted to restart my life because of Jade and Everson, but my flesh was telling me that living a simple life was never for me. I knew Everson was friends with Archer; while I was going around Camden, I would see them together, and there was a whisper in my ear instructing me to do what I wanted to do. And it was to get close to Archer Leviticus. When I thought about him, I told myself that I needed to see a psychiatrist again since everything about me isn't normal anymore. I want to be good, but I also want to be bad. I started hatin
"Thank God, you're awake!" Jade pulled me back to life when I thought I had sunk to numbness. It was a terrible heartache, and I felt like Jade smashed my dream. I was already so close to dying. I was so enraged by her but something unusual happened to me that day when I witnessed a single tear fall from Jade's eyes. It was as if something struck my heart; it was the first time in years that I thought someone truly cared about me. And the fact that she was a complete stranger made me appreciate her even more. Someone risked her life to save a piece of garbage like me while I was alone in the vastness of the water. That day, I couldn't decide whether to be glad that He had kept me alive or angry because I knew that once I was living, something awful would happen in my life again. But now I already know the answer. Being alive is cruel to me. I didn't deserve to have a second life. It took me a week to finally respond to Jade becau
"She left us." I placed my hand on Amalia's shoulder to stop her from walking. "Let's just face it." I told her once again, and when Amalia eventually stopped, I closed my eyes in relief. She turned to face me, her eyes and entire face scarlet from crying. She knelt on her knees and cried even more, panting for breath. "Let's just say she's in good hands now—" "You can't rest assured! Allison, she's just thirteen!" She yelled at me. I looked around and noticed others stopping to stare in astonishment at us. I knelt down, took her hand, and pulled her up, but she quickly swayed my hands away from her. "How can you be so calm? Our sister has gone missing!" She yelled at me again, looking at me in utter disbelief. It had been a year; one day we woke up, Luisa was gone. I knew it would happen soon because Luisa kept talking about asking for help and what may have occurred to us only if we had gone with our sisters. So, I had the feeling th
"I fucking despise myself!" Amalia sobbed and smacked her head. I took a nervous breath and bit my bottom lip before taking Amalia's hand in mine and embraced her. She sobbed, burying her head in my arms to avoid looking at our sisters, who were being taken by the cops. While Luisa was sitting on the ground hugging her knees avoiding looking at our sisters. I watched them from a distance, hiding behind trees, as they were perplexed and puzzled of what was happening, their eyes wandering around, attempting to find us everywhere while they sobbed. We didn't have a choice but to leave them or turn them over; we didn't have the money to feed them any longer, and we all knew that keeping our younger sisters in our care wouldn't get us anywhere. The proprietor of the previous motel we were in was starting to get suspicious of us, first, we were just a bunch of kids, and he was perplexed as to why we only stayed in a room with one bedroom, and he probably also
Carrie was right the entire time because as I grew older, I learned that mama was more than just the mother figure we all want. She wasn't ordinary; she was above and beyond everyone else. She was observant and had finesse, and she knew how to bend straight lines without getting caught. She knew everything about evil, and she also taught me everything. Like Allison, I took Carrie's advice to gain Mama's trust. It wasn't easy, as she had warned me. I didn't know where to begin since whenever I approached Mama, all I could feel was nervousness, and she was always mad and strict with me. Facing her was like facing Satan himself. And what's worse was I had forgotten that I had once been Allison, and I had simply forgotten how to be like her. Allison, as I recall, was a crybaby who was always afraid but yet did things she was afraid of anyhow. But, as time went by, I grew accustomed to lying and became a professional, just like my mother. I felt like I had inherit
"Why are you crying? You should be happy that mama didn't punish you," Carrie said as she rubbed Allison's shoulder, prompting Allison to glance up at her sister. Carrie was eighteen years old and could live on her own, but their "mama" would never allow her or any of them. Allison sniffed and brushed her tears away, but they still wouldn't stop falling. Her eyes suddenly fell on Carrie's bruises on her bare arms and legs; she had received them just weeks ago when she attempted to flee and seek help from authorities. She was their mama's most trusted child, not just because she was the oldest, but also because she was the best at lying, but now she was just another piece of trash that their mama hid under the basement. "I simply didn't like what I did to Nathalia and her mother," Allison said as she shook her head and sobbed again. Their mother always told them not to cry because it only makes people weak, but Allison was only seven years old and couldn't kee
"Mama, I think what we're doing is wrong." Allison muttered as she looked at her mother, who was putting on her earrings while checking herself in the mirror. Allison's heartbeat raced faster as her mother stopped what she was doin; she already knew her mother was going to chastise her, one of her mother's dislikes are them talking back at her or being against or questioning her actions. She embraced the doll that Nathalia gave her, because she finds comfort in it whenever she is afraid, which she is all the time. Dahlia's mother was dressed in a black long-sleeved dress, scarlet stilettos, and her hair was carefully done into a bun. Her lips were as red as blood, and she was really going for a stunning look since she was going out to dinner with Grace's wealthy friends. Dahlia would never say no to Grace's invitation to an expensive dinner. Dahlia has been acting as Grace's friend for two weeks now. She couldn't help but giggle inside her head at
"Oh my god, thank you so much! This is the finest gift I have ever received in my life! I really love it!" Exclaimed Dahlia, Susie's mother, as she gazed at the embroidered hoop of flowers Grace had made for her. "Oh my! My ears would be clapping," Grace sheepishly said as she shook hands in front of Dahlia, but on the inside, she was ecstatic that Dahlia liked it. "No, honestly, you are really wonderful at this," Dahlia said as she set the embroidery hoop on a vacant chair to her right. "Thank you so much; I learned to embroider from my mother," Grace said, looking at her mother beside her. Grace's mother, Merriam, teased her, saying, "Grace loves delivering her embroideries to her new neighbors, and you would probably know what she would give you when holiday comes. On top of that, she would really spend her day only doing this, no doubt since our house is extremely filled with her works." They all laughed. "Oh, come on!"