I
Vibrant hazel eyes soaked up the scenery that was presented through thick windows. The forest was full of greenery. All of the beautiful wildlife of the summer rushing about...having something that she could never have. Freedom.
She watched eagerly as a bird sat atop a nearby tree. Its yellow beak parting to sing out its odd melody to the world. For all to hear.
With a surge of excitement, she rushed through her room and grappled at the many books she had acquired over the years. Gentle, dainty hands reached out to touch the cold glass of the window.
Her eyes took in all of the beauty of the creature, trying to identify odd little things to make her find better. As she flipped through the book quickly, one of the glossy pages sliced into her pointer finger.
She froze in place. Her heart began to hammer in her chest. A clenching feeling began to overcome her abdominal muscles. Her mouth began to dry out, so much that she could not even swallow her own saliva.
Her pulsing finger began to drip crimson liquid. The blood dripping onto the waxy paper began to roll down the surface and seep into the crevice of the book.
A shriek left her lips as she threw the book. Her mind felt foggy, an irrational sense of fear overcoming her as she stumbled to the ground.
She opened her mouth, trying to find the will to talk, to scream, to say anything. A sob left her lips as she finally managed to scream one word. "Dad...dad!"
Helen couldn't even fathom to look at the blood. She felt waves of disgust wrack her body as she closed her eyes, shutting them so tightly that it hurt.
Tears squeezed past shut eyes as she heard her door slamming open, and a worried voice calling her name. "Helen, what happened?!"
She felt clammy hands helping her sit up as she tried to regain some type of composure. Her eyes opening and she was immediately met with a middle-aged man with wide frightened eyes.
"What, what is it, Helen?!" He questioned worriedly as she held up her finger, her hand shaking awfully as she tried to not look at what she feared her entire life.
Instead, she focused on her father. A paleness came over him as she could visibly see him shiver slightly. He pushed his glasses up nervously, her eyes locking onto his shaking hands. "I...I'll go get a bandaid, alright? Every...everything will be fine, Helen." He stammered as she watched him stumble up to a standing position before rushing out of the room.
A stabbing pain began to resonate in her stomach and the sobs that she was holding back, began to encase her body. She didn't know why she was cramping so bad. Didn't know why her body seemed to be spazzing out. She knew it was because of her phobia...but she had never felt it hit so hard.
A whimper passed her lips as she felt her stomach beginning to churn. "No, no, no," she whimpered as she tried to take deep, calming breaths. She didn't want to throw up again. It would just be stomach acid and water and it burned her throat so bad. She couldn't handle this anymore...
"I'm here, honey. I'm here."
She could hear her father gagging as he bandaged up her finger. She could do nothing but lay on the ground and try not to throw up. Or think about her favorite bird book that she had forever ruined. That she had forever stained with blood.
"Hel...Helen, you're all patched up now. You're fine now princess," her father sighed out as she still couldn't find the strength to get up. She had no strength whatsoever. "Helen...do you want to watch tv? Maybe friends? Let's watch friends and I can make your favorite pancakes."
Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched her father stand and shakily grab her favorite book. He had gloves on and his hands were shaking awfully. She felt bad... "We...we can watch Friends," she muttered out watching her dad break out into a smile. Even though he was drenched down in sweat, she knew his heart was beating too fast. It wasn't good for a middle-aged man's heart...
As tears slipped down her cheeks, she looked to the window. She could still see birds in the trees. She could still look at them and try to guess the names, even if she didn't know what they were.
That would help her be okay...
Shakily rising from the ground, she made her way over to her window sill and sat. Her eyes desperately tried to pinpoint a bird. She could see the leaves shaking and then chirping but she couldn't see anything.
Then she noticed a little bird that was flying directly towards her. A gasp left her lips as the light grey bird with feathers that fanned out towards its tail, landed on the window sill.
It had a black beak and little beady eyes. It pecked at the window, tilting its head as she pressed her good finger against the glass. "Hi little buddy," she whispered as she noticed something odd.
She was hearing things again. An odd noise...it sounded like a fast heartbeat almost. Her eyes zeroed in on the way the little bird's chest puffed up and down...and it resembled the fluttering sound of a heartbeat she heard.
That was impossible though. She wasn't capable of hearing a tiny birds heartbeat through the thick glass of a window... She just needed her medication..then she would stop hearing things... that was all.
"Dad!" She called out as she stumbled away from the window and rushed down the hall, towards the kitchen.
She noticed her dad was near the microwave, opening it up quickly once the beeping went off. A curse left his lips as he grabbed the plate then slammed it down. It was most likely too hot for him.
"Dad...?"
He turned around with a smile to his lips, "What's wrong princess? I'm just warming up some pizza from last night then we can watch Friends, okay?"
Glancing at the warm pizza on the plate she realized two things. Her stomach was beginning to grumble but she had no appetite. "I'm not that hungry, dad...I was just wondering if I can take some of my pills."
He's been stingy with them lately and it's been driving her up a wall. She watched him sigh, a disturbed look etched unto his features. "I'm running out of your medication, honey. I have three pills left and your doctor isn't getting back to me. If you eat some pizza, I promise I'll give you one."
She wasn't hungry. It wasn't that she was trying to be an awful daughter and be mean to him...she just physically didn't have the will to eat. She hasn't eaten anything in three days. Just juice and water. She told him she ate yesterday but that was just a lie...
"Why can't we call another doctor...dad, please. I'm hearing things again," she pleaded with him. The less medication she took, the more susceptible she was to losing her mind.
He pursed his lips while shaking his head. "You know why, Helen. This medication you take is off the market. No one else will sell this to us but this man. Now eat the food or you won't get any pills. I mean it," he warned.
She knew he was serious. Her stomach ached, but not for what he was making. Her mouth was dry, but simple water just wouldn't quench her thirst. She was sick and dying. Sooner than she expected.
The reality of her situation hit her hard. So incredibly hard that she choked up. Her father must have noticed the shift in her emotions and a sad look crossed his features.
She couldn't do this to him anymore. She just couldn't. "Dad...I'm going to take a shower first then eat. I'll feel much better after that...please."
Her father pressed his lips firmly together before nodding his head. "Alright, Helen."
After giving him a reassuring smile, she made her way back up the stairs. As she passed her fathers library, she noticed the lights were on. She shook her head and sighed.
Her dad always failed to turn off the lights when no one was in the room. It was one of her pet peeves for him but then again she had so many hang-ups, the lights were minuscule compared to her problems.
She opened the door a bit and noticed that his computer was on also. Rolling her eyes she made her way over to his desk. She was just going to turn off his laptop but a letter on his of it made. but a word on the screen caught her interest. Her name.
It seemed like a letter of some sorts. Her eyes swept over the library before going to the door to make sure he wasn't on his way. Once she realized she was safe, she began to read.
Dear Andreas,
I am aware of how much you despise me, and I also do despise your kind...but times have changed and you were right so long ago. I need your help with my dear Helen. I can do nothing for her and her condition worsens each day. I beg of you to take her and help her with her sickness. Money is no object when it comes to my precious daughter. Helen is peculiar and beautiful, a rare flower and I do not wish for her to be in a tangle of thorns that is your clan. If you can have a kind person come here and teach her your ways, then it would be much appreciated. I know how your kind can be and I do not wish for her to be around so many of...you so like I said if you can send a kind woman perhaps to aide my daughter I would appreciate it.
Richard.
Helen's head began to pulse in confusion. Who was Andreas? If he had the sickness just like her he could help her. But how? Was he a doctor? Did a group of people with her same disease live altogether?
She picked up another piece of paper and brought the paper to her nose. It smelt...delicious, delectable.
The paper was a cream color, and much thicker than the paper her father's letter was on. She opened it quickly.
Richard,
I told you this day would come when I first saw you with her. Your little flower is dying like I said she would and now you beg me to save her? All these years later. Since she is my kind, of course, I will aide her but it will be a hefty price for you to pay. I need seventy thousand dollars from you and a say in your will for I know she will most likely be living at my estate once your feeble human body begins to die and rot. Send a check and a newly revised will to this address: 75 Kingdom Court and I will gladly accompany your daughter. Do not worry none of my thorns will come near your beautiful flower. I assure you.
Andreas
Helen felt sick. This man was trying to rob her father...and help her all in the same breathe?! Maybe he had the cure to her disease...cures were a hefty price to pay she could only assume. She couldn't let her father pay that though...and change his will. He had done more than enough for her. It was awful to think that he had to do even more for her when he's done absolutely everything for her already.
She chewed on her bottom lip as she bent down and opened a search engine. She typed in 'maps' and was met with the site that she needed.
She typed in her address and then the address that this 'Andreas' gave her father. It was five hours away...
She could just walk or call a car? How did that work?
She could pack up her things and go.
She could stop being a burden to her father and do something for herself finally.
Helen relied on her father for everything. She was almost nineteen now and she was a woman. She could no longer be a burden. She had seen firsthand the effects of her father worrying about her night and day. Sickness, chest pains, sleepless nights.
She would leave. Find this Andreas man, get her cure and then come back to her father.
He would be furious with her at first but once he found out she wasn't sick anymore it would all be worth it.
Helen knew what she had to do. Her father left every morning to go to the store, locking her inside the house. She had the numbers to the alarm system. She would pack a bag tonight and in the morning she would be on her way.
She would be cured and then all would be well.
******
Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!
