CHAPTER 3: Jade pendant

The instant I entered my room, the light switched on. There she appeared.

Lila. Positioned and bearing that grin I had learned to dread. She applauded gradually, intentionally, as though directing a spectacle. Then her laughter followed, piercing and malevolent reverberating against the walls of my chamber.

“So " she started, tilting her head "you actually had the nerve to leave this house and head to a club… dressed like a prostitute. I was certain of it. You and Maya were definitely plotting something. You reek of alcohol." She prowled around me like a predator. "I’m curious about what mom and dad will say once they discover the truth.”

My heart dropped. I recoiled, my eyes staring in shock. "L-Lila… please I’m begging you. Don’t inform Mom and Dad. I only wanted some fun. I just wanted to experience life. If Mum learns about this… she will be furious!”

Lila chuckled more a noise that churned my insides. "Do I seem like I care Zara? I want you out of here. Dead if possible. I don't give a fuck about you.”

Fear and hopelessness overwhelmed me. My legs gave way and I collapsed to the ground crying uncontrollably. "Lila… please! I know you’re not serious. Please… show me some mercy. I’m ready to do whatever it takes. Please… don’t inform Mom and Dad!”

She ceased her circling. Lowered herself a bit, her eyes sparkling with wicked delight. Then she grinned. Gradually. Sinister.

“Hand over your jade pendant " she demanded, her tone quiet and piercing, slicing through my heart like steel.

A lump formed in my throat. "What?! No… I can’t Lila. This… this is the thing that connects me to my biological parents. You can request anything but not that.”

Lila chuckled more a sharp piercing noise. "Your actual parents, huh? So that means Mum and Dad are impostors, correct?" Her voice was laced with malice. "If you don’t hand over that jade pendant now, prepare to bury yourself.”

My hands shook while I held the pendant, its smooth crescent form warmed by twenty-two years against my skin. My tears streamed rapidly than before. The sole reminder that I had ever been part of a place, the sign of affection of existence beyond this home… and now I had to let it go.

I stifled a sob. Gently unfastened it, handing it over into her outstretched hand.

“Useless " she muttered with a frosty chuckle tucking it into her pocket. Then silently she spun around. Walked away her steps ringing out like a funeral procession.

That evening I wept myself to slumber, holding tight to the place, on my chest where my pendant had forever sat.

The morning I awoke I felt a sudden jolt on my back.

“Ahhh!" I yelled, the agony slicing through me. I scarcely had a moment to process it before it struck more; a lash, sharp and merciless. My eyes snapped open. The sight caused my heart to sink: Mom, Dad, and Lila looming above me with sinister grins.

“You actually had the nerve to visit a club?" Mom yelled, her tone filled with venom. "You’re rude, thankless, and utterly brazen!”

Before I managed to utter a word before any tears could fall the whip struck more. Agony blazed across my back and I crumpled to the ground my flesh aflame, with heat. Each strike forced me to wail, choke, yearning for the earth to engulf me.

They kept going.

Once the assault ceased I was hauled down the stairs thrown against the moist basement walls and locked in. My stomach ached with hunger, my throat parched from thirst. No nourishment. No drink. Just. Hopelessness. I lay my cheek on the floor, my chest heaving as I longed and prayed for death to arrive.

Within the depths of that darkness a single thought cut through: Lila. She deceived me. After seizing the one important thing, she still turned me in.

Time slipped by. The gloom thickened, nearly palpable. Suddenly the basement door groaned open. My heart rate surged.

“Zara…" uttered a harsh tone.

Lila. And this time, she wasn’t alone.

Her best friend, Sonia was positioned behind her grinning.

“You’re truly a fool " Lila remarked, walking back and forth slowly "Did you honestly believe I’d let you go that easily?”

"She’s miserable " Sonia remarked, crossing her arms. "Attempting to replace you in your parents’ lives. How sad."

I retreated, trembling. "Return my pendant, you witch!" I yelled, tears flowing down my cheeks.

“That pendant will never be yours again " Lila stated icily. Afterwards, they both chuckled harshly abandoning me to solitude in the shadows again.

I closed my eyes, holding my knees close and swaying gently. My heart hurt, my body. My soul… my soul seemed utterly broken.

The night seemed to go on without end. Each noise, the groan of the house, the far-off murmur of cars felt amplified in the quiet of the basement. I murmured into the space repeatedly. Why do I exist? Why me?