Chapter 1
Claudia opened the door to her mom’s Mediterranean room but then stiffened. This was where it got hard for her. How does she reach for the Bepanthen first aid cream from the outside? Her hands were clammy, and her face probably ashen. She only needed a few more steps to properly be inside the room yet her legs felt numb. Yvette’s pillows hung off the side of the bed as did her blue duvets; white power was sprinkled across the floor and atop the glass, mostly at the centre. A musty smell...more like wet feet overwhelmed her. Close to the door a laundry basket stood slanted with clothes that had dots of red all over. The red was as dark as blood. She crossed fingers that it was tomato sauce.
“Mommy?” She cocked her head to one side to better hear her should she answer. But it was the wind which whirled back at her. It lanced grains against the window, perhaps rocks or grainy sand. Sandblasting sounds always put her to sleep.
Scratching her scars, she made for her room. She got blood stuck under her nails and stained her plum flabby PJs. She stared at her nails and then her favourite PJ shirt before relinquishing a lengthy sigh.
How long would the washing take? Ashly would detect her, and hadn’t she washed it just two days ago?
She backed up against the wall and shut her eyes for a mild second. It helped her ignore the pain for a bit. If only she had the courage to infiltrate her mother’s room, then the pain would have long eased. It proved Fabian right – that she shuddered at the thought of invading her mom’s room even in her absence.
Although she could lessen the pain if the room was cooler. Folding up her sleeves to expose her scar to the wind drifting into her room made them itch more. Even breathing against them did little. Her throat burnt, and her body crumbled inward.
She still pictured Fabian as he skinned her alive all while laughing. One of these days she will skin him alive also, but howl at his pain instead.
She eased to her feet whilst keeping her back stuck to the wall before progressing out of her room. Pausing at the stairs, she waited to hear sounds other than the wind howling. When it became clear that no one was jerking off on the couch, lap dancing, pole dancing, gasping, moaning or even cheering, she descended the stairs.
She kept forgetting that her mother had a date tonight. So, the house was hers and Fabian’s. No mother of hers would be only in orange bras and rainbow underwear. Only the curtain swayed seductively tonight. She would sleep with a clean mind, that was if she could return to sleep.
She paused for a minute more, and then felt a wave of relief when the figure on the couch was nothing to fear. She really wouldn’t catch her mother half naked.
She headed over to the kitchen and grabbed an aspirin from the first drawers with trembling hands before filling her glass with water. Her legs trembled and sweat broke down her forehead. If these aspirin weren’t as helpful, she wore she would commit suicide. This pain was her breaking point.
She sniffed the water before setting it aside just as she retched. Fabian must have tempered with the water. It smelt worse than muddy water. If he wanted her dead, it would have to happen another day.
His snores slipped into the living room. Swallowing her pill and swallowing nonstop after that, she treaded towards his room. She creaked his bedroom door open and peeked at him sleeping. His mouth hung open and his pillow was cast to the floor. She could stifle him with the pillow until the redness drained from his face.
What was she doing thinking about death so carelessly…just like him?
She trembled away and slogged to the blue painted stables her father’s ten-year invisible wrinkling hands had made. They were empty though.
“Your father might help bring those Arabian horses. You might just catch him.” Sherman slurred. His pants were undone, and she had seen him come out of her mother’s room.
“I hope so.” She had replied. Ten years was a long time.
Coming away from her thoughts, she scampered on until she reached the stall where she had stashed her pillow and blanket. Upon seeing her items still intact, she put her hands to her chest and sighed. Thank goodness. Her pillow and folded blanket laid in front of the stay of hay. Although they were knocked over, it was how she had left them.
As soon as his arms began to throb, she laid down and rested them beside her. She focused on the wooden doors and haystacks in all four corners. Slowing down her breathing, she tried gauging whether Ash or Thomas were heading over. The spot beside her remained deserted.
The birds rattled a little further up, the drums were a little far off and the haystack silenced the feel of the wind. The drums stopped abruptly, and then she grew stiff. She glanced over the stacks of haystacks all around. She could see the entrance of the stable. A fluttery feeling arose in her stomach. What if Fabian stormed in just then and saw her? If she could see the entrance, then surely anyone who walked in would see her as well?
She sat up and glared at the entrance, trying to hear any boots clicking and Fabian’s shrilling laughter. When the drums restarted, she gasped and fell back down. Fabian was still asleep. Good. She kept her eyes open.
The church bells chimed in the city, leaves rustled, and the wind howled. Why did she hide in an empty stable? At least at home, Fabian snored and sure here Fabian was less likely to burst through those doors proposing a game of hunter and prey disguised as hide and seek, but was it worth the isolation? was it Really?
“Dad?” She waited like the previous nights.
The leaves crumbled and parts of the moon washed over her. She bit her lips and turned to her side. As she pulled her cover over her chest, she wiped away her tears. He was long gone, and he had forgotten her.
“Happy birthday, either way.”
Claudia bolted across the maze of wheat field with Fabian close behind with a spine. He stopped occasionally to use his inhaler but pushed on with more energy. Her lungs were exhausted, and her legs would collapse on her soon. Couldn’t he just give up? Five hours has passed.
She twirled around while he paused again. Their childhood suspended treehouse was an hour away from her. Her legs and lungs were incapable of handling such a distance.
Behind her Fabian thuds closer. Dazed, she stumbled leftward, barely dodging a limestone. One she retained her balance; she edged closer to the neem. When she dared glance back, Fabian waved his hands in the air. The one holding the spine. Should he catch her... she shuddered.
The branches groan as she mounts the neem but hold steady. Once on top, she crouches and utters a swift prayer. If any gods were listening...
The twigs continuously stuck into her. They stuck in so much that she kept switching from sitting with her feet dangling to crouching. Before her ass becomes numb, she stood up and desperately hugged a branch to keep her balance.
There was only corn before her, no spine. Couldn’t this game just end here? She was the idiot for always falling for his tricks. She should have stood her ground, but he promised to spend more time with her like when they were kids. But couldn’t Fabian for once be the prey? Couldn’t he also fear her for once? He probably couldn’t see that this game was way too violent. Maybe she should speak up.
The rocks clattered close to the neem, freezing her in place. Her heart pounded rapidly.
“Claudia, Claudia. Come out, come out, wherever you are.” He spoke in that same gently voice he coaxed Ashly into buying him a Shimansky soccer ball and other swank scraps. He was too close. As he leaned against the neem’s bark, she stopped breathing.
What would happen if she jumped down? Were her legs strong enough to land the jimp? If she did land it then she could run to the plank and every green shrubs beyond the wheat fields. At least there she could prevent him crossing the lake by pulling away the plank. She would literally save her skin.
She pursed her lips and moved back as he circled the neem. Gosh, if only her hands weren’t so sweaty.
He rammed his baseball cap into the mud, exposing the baldness at the centre of his head. She gawped at it. When did he get that? “Come on, Claire. This is not fun. You know I’m leaving for camp tomorrow. The least you could do is spend some time with me.” He sighed as he lumbered around the tree. “Don’t be such a bore. You’re all grown now.”
She clasped her mouth, stifling a sneeze.
“Little sis?” As he wheeled his head up, revealing his hollow left eye socket, she shoved herself deeper into the branches. Her limbs became weightless. “Are you actually hiding up there again? Seriously?”
If she didn’t climb fast, she would have more open wounds staining her bed sheets and ruining more of her clothes. The neem stretched out just high enough. What if she climbed up, could she maybe escape him?
Her mouth had completely dried up. Her vision became dotted.
“Fabian, is that you? Please don’t tell me that its you.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? What are you doing climbing like that?”
“My sister...” Fabian pointed up.
“Is she in trouble? Can she not get down?”
Fabian wagged his head.
“So, she doesn’t need help yet you’re climbing up there for her?” A long pause followed in which Fabian back tracked. “What’s that you got?”
“Nothing.” He releases the spin, causing her to huff and hide her face into her hands. She gazed up again and then shook her head more so in disbelief. She would have fainted if Vanessa had been late by just a second. It wouldn’t be her first time fainting. “Ah, I hear mom calling me.” He sprinted off, diminishing into a dot and then vanishing into the cottage.
The risk had disappeared. She crouched and covered her eyes. She had survived for once. She screamed.
“You can come down now.”
“I don’t think I want to. I can’t.”
“So, we’re not exploring his garage anymore?” Her head popped up from below.
Rolling her eyes, she eased down.
