The day my mother died so did I. My father moved us to a small house inside the capital and lived in a constant state of fear. The man who was once a very self-assured and admirable man was now constantly looking over his shoulder. He always had a dreadfully anxious look on his face. For the first time I had lost all respect that I had for him, now he was just pathetic. I felt ashamed that I had to be raised by him, so I gradually spent more time out of the house and on my own.
The capital wasn't any better than the small village, although instead of being bullied for causing my mother to be sickly, I was bullied for my crimson hair and emerald eyes. Apparently, those are rare here. Now on the occasion that I do go back home I am no longer greeted by a warm smile and loving parents, but with interrogations on where I was and who I was with. Despite all of the disdain I felt for my father I still felt an immense love and regret towards him. He is the only family I have left, I wished that I would have been enough to discard his restlessness and soothe the pain he had from losing mother.
On the day of 17 birthday my father disappeared without a word. There were no signs of him preparing to leave prior, yet all of his belongings were gone. Once again on a day that is supposed to be happy, I lost someone; again.
I was alone for real this time. No parents, no friends, I didn't have anything. I don't know how many days or even weeks I spent holed up in that house. By the time I finally left it was winter, the ground was frozen over and the leaves had already left the trees. The snow danced in the air as if it had no worries at all and its life was filled with only good memories. That made me hate winter.
As I roamed the streets I passed by several families grinning from ear to ear, and homes all lit up for the upcoming holidays. The smell of home cooked meals wafted into my face began to burn the inside of me. It began to sync in that maybe I wasn't happy growing up. Maybe I wanted to believe that we were an average family living in our small home on the edge of town. That feeling was nothing but an illusion spell cast by, and on a naive little girl.
Upon day break I returned to my house to find two considerably tall men hovering around the door. They would occasionally peer into the window and then whisper to each other and then look around the surrounding area. That was when one of the guys made eye contact with me. His big beady grey eyes stared deep into my own for all but three seconds that felt like an eternity. After breaking eye contact he quickly signals to his partner and then makes his way towards me. I flinch in my hiding space and slowly back away.
"Hey wait!" He shouts, and begins to run after me.
Feeling scared I naturally follow suit and run in the opposing direction of my pursuer. I had never run so long and so fast in my life, yet every step I took it felt as though he had taken three. By the time I realized it he had already grabbed ahold of me. I flailed my arms and legs in an attempt to free myself, shouting for help to the emptiness in front of me.
"Yelling is futile, there isn't anybody here who will help you." He said
My life is over. Before it even really began. If it's going to end like this than what was it all of that suffering for? I thought to myself.
"But… I can help you." He said
I looked at him stunned. My kidnapper wasn't my kidnapper, but my savior?
"Who are you? And what do you want from me?" I asked teary eyed.
"Let's just say that I'm a man with strong connections. Specifically to someone who knows the truth about you and your family. The man said.
"Someone who knows the truth? What does that mean?" I said.
"Everything will make sense later." He said.
As those words left his mouth I began to feel sleepy. The urge to close my eyes was deathly strong, it was like something was constantly pulling on my eyelids forcing them to close. As I let myself drift off I faintly remember hearing the man say, "Don't worry, I promise I'll protect you." And before completely losing consciousness I thought that, that statement was a load of bullshit.