Seven Sisters and Seven Marks

Prologue

The rain was falling down as a little girl danced barefoot and laughed alone. The cold air hugged her tightly. Her white dress was completely soggy. Nobody joined her. She didn’t care at all. Her ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ were watching from afar, too afraid that their Daddy would be mad.

The sun was hiding behind the big grey clouds. The leaves danced softly as the cold breeze blew. She smelled the scent of the wet grass. The sky was crying, but she just laughed. She laughed but she didn’t know the reason why she laughed. Maybe, because she was happy to meet the rain. Or maybe, it is because she was laughing at her bad luck. She laughed while dancing like crazy.

She was just a little girl. But she didn't know how it felt to be a little girl. The pain made her older than she should be. Dancing in the rain made her feel like a child.

A few minutes later, she stopped dancing and stood still in the rain. She stared at the fence, but didn’t try to touch it. She would be in danger if she tried.

She closed her blue eyes, then her tears began to fall one after another, glowing as they landed on her wet cheeks. She could feel the rain, but she didn’t hear the drops. She tried to laugh again, but it was painful. At least, her cry faded along with the rain. She couldn’t even hear the sound of her own cry.

The world seemed to hate her. She always felt as if she’d been living in an empty soundless room, lightless, and lonely. The only thing she could hear was her own thoughts, buzzing all alone in the darkness. She missed all the noises, the sound of the raindrops, and the sound of her own voice.

A cold hand touched her shoulder gently. She opened her eyes.

“Tala, let’s get inside! Daddy will be so angry if he sees you like this.” Another little girl stood in front of her. She covered Tala’s wet body with her pink jacket.

Tala couldn’t hear her voice, but she could read her lip motion. She understood what that little girl was talking about. She closed her mouth tightly. She didn’t know what word to say to answer her. But, that girl just took Tala’s right hand and dragged her inside their house.

Tala never thought that their ‘house’ deserved to be called a house. It was more like a building full of tears, screams, and pain. It was a prison for the unlucky children who didn’t have any parents. It was a cage to punish all the unwanted children as if it was all their fault that they lived.

Fibrous wooden floor greeted her feet as she went inside. All the children watched her with the dread. A tall little girl with shoulder-length wavy hair approached her, "We're gonna die because of you, Tala," sighed she.

"I'm sorry, Ara. I can't help it." Tala didn’t hear her own voice, but she knew everyone in the room could.

"It's gonna be okay, Ara. I'll talk to Daddy," said the girl who gave her jacket to Tala.

"Nothing will happen to you, Disa. I'm worried about Tala, not you. Daddy loves you more than us." She glared at her and she took Tala's hand.

The cold air from the window hit Tala's skin, causing her to shiver.

“I'll make a glass of—“

Ara's words floated in the air as a tall pale-faced guy appeared and stood behind Tala. Without any words, he pulled Tala's hair so hard in front of all the children. He dragged her.

“No, Daddy. No!” cried Disa. He didn’t care. Nobody dared to help her.

Tala didn’t rebel because she thought it was meaningless. The pain ran through her head. It felt like all her hair would be pulled out of her scalp. All she knew that no one could save her.

Daddy’s large palm landed hard on her left cheek. She wished she could hear the sound of it. But the silence locked her up. She caught in the shackles of the solitude. He banged her head against the wall. The thick red liquid from the side of her head was dripping over her face. She began to tremble in fear when she saw her Daddy took off his belt. She closed her eyes. She hoped time would pass quickly.

***