8

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I shiver when I see we've come to a halt next to a dilapidated hotel; it has some window holes covered by wood, the paint is all chipped to the point of appearing beaten up, and it's wonderful. I yell at the person who is attempting to exit the vehicle, but the driver who departed immediately after stopping the vehicle opens the door, causing him to flee. What a cowerd.

"Who the heck are you?" says the narrator. My red eyes are a dead giveaway that I am not a regular wolf, he yells from the exterior of the vehicle, and that has to change, if only I could have my blue human eyes instead.

'We can try, but when will I be able to make my own decisions?' Harvey, my wolf, asks me a question to which I have no response. If it were up to me, I would just assume complete charge, but Harvey doesn't know how to share.

I start to panic out a little as my rear paw slips and hits Chicka's back; I don't have the same emotions as my twin, but I can't deny that she has a slight pull on me, an interest if you want to call it that. When a collar is placed around me that holds me tight, I trash and move around to get away, I'm not supposed to use my strength but I compromise with my wolf. It takes a while but I see her hand slowly start to heal, the hole on her hand heals a bit when a collar is placed around me that holds me tight, I trash and move around to get away, I'm not supposed to use my strength but I compromise with my wolf.

'Eyes for strength?" says the narrator. Thank you, Gods, for allowing me to ask him and he agrees!

When I eventually went back to Chicka, she was being transferred from the vehicle in the battered up hotel, so I ran in and jumped to lie on her stomach, hissing at anybody who tried to pull me away from her, since if I can't defend her, no one would.

Chicka POV

"Are you sure it's Chamika?" I hear Luredis talk while attempting to keep her from reading my history textbook during class.

She grabs my book and tosses it in the garbage can right next to my lunch table, her friends or females laugh, I attempt to get up to retrieve my book but she pushes me to seat, only to tumble back and smack my head on the pavement instead, she laughs even louder with the others.

"Since you can't talk for shit," says the narrator. "Come on gals, let's leave, it smells like rotten milk here," she says as she takes the milk off my plate and pours it over my face. She walks away with her pals, and everyone else laughs at what they did. I go to the restroom to wipe my face, but as I go in, Luredis comes out of the bathroom, crap.

She grabs my shirt and pushes me into the bathroom as I try to turn my heel. Her other two companions unlock the bathroom door, while Luredis grabs my hair and pulls me into the bathroom with her manicured nails. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no I attempt to flee, but her other companion grabs my back and pushes me forward, while Luredis pushes my head to the bathroom.

"Let's face it, we don't have all day. Do you think I like smelling milk on people and getting in trouble because of it? Allow me to assist you in cleaning up, Chamika!" I bend down and hit the toilet water when her arm collides with mine.

I'm screaming and trying to get out of this dreadful nightmare; I'm going to my father's today, and my mother won't appreciate me looking like a water fight; I can't die like this. When I believe I'm going to pass out, the water becomes a different hue, and I no longer feel the pull, but I am jerked out of the toilet.

Being yanked back I can't see anybody since I'm blindfolded by the person, and I have no idea who is taking me away. When the blindfold is lifted, I'm greeted by my mother and face to face with my grandma.

My grandmother, who has piercings and tattoos on her body and, like my mother, is a cold-hearted person, has droopy and dark bags under her eyes, not to mention pixy grey colored hair. She also has piercings and tattoos on her body. She was sold into the hunting industry and became the most well-known hunter in the North and South; her marriage to another hunter elevated her to the top until she, as she claims, "fucked up" with having my mother since I was born.

It won't matter what I do or say, even though I thought that if I could just be good at school, they might at least see some value in me, and maybe just maybe, they'd be a little nicer, but based on how I was just received, I can bet that won't happen, at least not from these two, so I put my hands on my knees and bite my inner cheek, I'm soaked in milk and toilet water.

I didn't do anything to Luredis and yet I was being bullied; I always get bullied, I always get the hit or the worst things happen for simply being myself, for being a woman born into a Hunters family, a cruel family with no heart but the desire to be at the top; I start crying like I always do when I can't take it any longer, when I hear my grandmother yell.

"Quit being such a moron and get your act together, Coraliz, you better educate this one and stop ignoring or marrying her off already, what do I have to baby you with?" My grandma repeats it in a matter-of-fact manner, inflating her responsibility for her own flesh and blood.

When I hear the limo trunk close, I freeze, realizing that if my grandmother is here, and so is my mother, plans have just started to change. I am only ten years old, and I thought for a miracle that I was useful, but I want to be my own useful, the one who doesn't have to kill anyone to stay alive, but I guess that isn't going to happen, I think.

"Why do I have to do it myself when I can hire someone else to do it? I've got more important things to accomplish, and she's already shown how worthless she is when it comes to self-defense, so there's no use in teaching the stupid bitch anything." I don't want to be here anymore, but I don't have a choice, my mother remarks about me as if I'm not even here.

The car begins to move, and I find myself numbed by their insults about why I am not good enough to live, how nobody will want a rag doll for even a quicky, whatever that means, how I only cause trouble, how I never do anything right, and how they can't find a single thing about me that they can use at least.

My grandma smacks me with her heel as the vehicle comes to a halt after hours of them complaining about what a fool I am, and I awake from the numbness to the agony she inflicted on me.

"Open the door, airhead," she yells again, and I open the door only to have her push me down, causing me to fall in the ground. My grandmother shoves me out, and I'm on my back in the dirt.

Looking around, I'm not sure where we are, but the sun is still shining in this remote stadium, and it seems that the stadium patrons are attending a horse walk competition. Why are we here? I don't start school until Friday, and it's Monday. As I rise, I hear a gunshot; please don't blame my concerns for what I'm hearing.

"All right, Chicka, here's the deal: I only have one gun and one cart of ammunition bullets, and there are four of you, so let's get started on our joyful fun game, and make Mama pleased!" My mother makes an announcement, and I immediately begin running.

The other three girls are released, and when they see me running to cover, they hear a gunshot fired by my mother. I fled as quickly as I could, but I was still shot. Why, what do I do that makes my mother feel I'm simply an animal she has to chase down and kill? I didn't want to be born into this family!

I can't save them, I can't even stand, but I'll get out of this cazy family, I'll live to leave. I limp  to the edge where I know I'll be safe or die in peace, I hear others being shot, my mother's nasty remarks and laughter can be heard across the entire building like a horror movie being played in real life. I can't save them, I can't even stand, but I'll get out of this cazy family, I'll live

"Coraliz, you play with your food too much, no surprise you acquired these pounds and had that cute boy get wounded, you're always the theatrical one," my grandma says from a distance.

"That is not true, in fact, she is the one who caused me to gain weight, and that man, like other lads, is replaceable, so what's your deal?" Do you want him? Because he was on the verge of breaking the final time, "My mother brags to my grandma, while I lie here as if nothing has happened."

How, how can two moms converse in such a manner as if it were a regular discussion between them? Is this what they want me to become as well, like chatting about the weather or how you feel when you get up from a nap? To go insane and lose my mind?

"My daughter, Chicka, you win this round!" My grandma yells at me, and I attempt to rise, but there's a pool of blood beneath me where the bullet went through; I'm not sure if it's still there or if it went through; either way, I don't care; I don't want this life anymore.

"What the hell, skeleton, are you dead?" When my mother believes I'm dead, I hear her say something, but I'm too wounded to even attempt to stand up.

My mother says, "Way to spoil our fun, dork." You two grab her, you have five minutes or I'm shooting," and two men take me up, shouting at my mother when they notice the blood.

"Miss, the bullet didn't go through, she's bleeding profusely, and we need to remove it immediately or she'll lose her leg." The man says something, and I see him pull out a pocket knife.

"What happened to Chicka and the pocket knife?" "We'll see you home, honey, if you don't get to the vehicle in an hour "I hear my mother add.

The two guys leave me there with the pocket knife, and I look at my leg, which has the bullet, and I take the knife, biting my cheeks, which are bleeding from the bite. Once the bullet is out, I notice the limo is a little far away, and I can't get up, and I can't see where the other girls are, but when I finally get up, the limo's door shuts and they drive away. I sigh hard, knowing that I must now find a way home.

Why do I give in to the notion that they could be interested, even if only for a little moment? I can't walk, I can't rely on anybody, and I'm not going to weep anymore because I know they won't care; they'll simply treat me like a toy, a game in their lives, rather than their daughter, their flesh and blood. I cannot allow them to rule me; I will never feel anything for them. Instead, I will fight until I leave for a better life, one in which they are not a part of, not even in death.