In His Presence

CHAPTER 2

Daphne, dressed up neatly and nicely by the maids was walking down the stairs fiercely. She had a thousand and one words she wanted to tear her dad apart with but……her mom.

For the few hours that she was out of the cellar, she never thought of how happy she’d be if she beheld her mother again after a whole year.

But something felt really strange, her mom who was most concerned about her never visited her for one day while she was in the cellar. She kept pondering.

Daphne walked into the large living room with her head high, trying everything possible to make her anger visible and the fear she had for her father hidden.

The living room went cold. Her eyes paced around the living room, there were only her father and two other beings.

“Mom” she muttered, “Where’s my mom”

Her entire body heated up so badly with fear, she knew the kind of person her dad was.

“Take a seat”

Mr Blake’s hoarse and husky voice filled the enter room.

Daphne didn’t blink an eye, she took a seat without objection, it was as if the voice controlled her actions. The words she wanted to pour unto her father was swallowed in one bit.

Mr Blake cleared his throat and was about to begin. Just then a tall, sturdy guy with a well built body and neatly curved face strode into the room and took a seat without saying a word.

Daphne swallowed hard, it was him, the guy that barged into the bathroom while she was bathing. Seems he wasn’t one of her dad’s men after all. Jason noticed her too, but he tried really hard to avoid eye contacts with her, he felt guilty.

Mr Blake continued

“Daphne, it’s been quite a while”, he said with a little smile “And a lot has changed while you were away. Firstly I want to introduce you to your new family, thi..”

“New family, dad what’s going on?” Daphne interrupted, with anger and anxiety

“I’m not done speaking child!!! Until I’m done speaking you can’t utter a word.” He paused with a light smile, Daphne’s still

“Back to what I was saying, this is Mrs Beatrice your step mom and my wife” he said pointing towards Mrs Beatrice and then towards the two guys sitting at the other corner of the room

“And these are your step brothers, Jason and Leo. And as for your mom, she left, and I couldn’t just live alone after she left, I guess that explains this situation”

He stood, looking sternly at Daphne he added “If you have any questions, you can come to me later but for now, I’ll give you a chance to catch up with your new fam. And before I forget, you’re resuming school by Monday, you’re a year behind your mates, but that’s not a problem.

Daphne watched her dad leave the room till he was as no longer visible, she kept staring at the empty space

Tears flowed hurriedly from her eyes as if it had been preparing for that moment She couldn’t fathom what was happening at the moment. Her mind was clouded with series of thoughts that she didn’t even realize that Mrs Beatrice and her sons were still sitting in the room.

“Daphne is it?” Mrs Beatrice called out

She looked at Mrs Beatrice, swallowed hard and cleaned off a tear that seemed to roll down her cheeks at that moment, “Daphne it is” her voice was shaky.

In that instant, she looked at the brothers that were sitting close to each other. There weren’t much difference between their physical appearance, but Jason still seemed older than Leo

“So Daph, we’ve been introduced already.” Beatrice continued with a light smile “Heard from your father that you’ve been taking care of your grandma in California who had been diagnosed with major stroke. That was very nice of you to forfeit a year of school just for your grandma, but sorry for the loss by the way” she added sympathetically

Daphne didn’t utter a word. She clenched her fists so hard and didn’t realize she was hurting herself. Just a year had passed and everything around her had been embedded with lies, hatred and deceit. It was as if the world around her has elapsed.

“I’ll leave you to catch up with your step siblings” Beatrice sought the door and left the room

Daphne turned to the guys at the other corner of the room. “He wasn’t one of my dad’s workers after all” Daph thought to herself. For some unexplainable reasons she was relieved a bit.

“Hey, I’m Leo as you may already know and I look forward to being good siblings with you” Leo broke the awkward silence in the room.

“If you may excuse me, I have a video game to continue playing in my room” Leo concluded and hurried out of the room at once.

Jason wanted to speak to her so badly at the moment. He saw how swollen her eyes were from the massive amount of tears that had already poured down from her eyes but he was fighting the guilt that he felt. He was ashamed to speak to her.

“He walked in on his step sister while she was naked” the thought of that incident clouded his mind.

He finally found the courage and words to speak up. He was about to speak when Daphne flounced out of the room.

“Daph! Daph!!” Jason called out worriedly but got no reply.

****

She sat on stool looking through the window that faced the little garden close to her room. She was quietly recollecting the memories that place held of she and her mother.

She recalled how her mom usually braided her hair under the cherry tree which was the most blooming tree in the garden. She usually decorated her hair with scented flowers after braiding it.

She couldn’t picture her mom’s face clearly anymore, it’s been a year after all . Her mom was the only person she could talk to. She hoped on reuniting with her mom immediately she was out of the cellar, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Dad even has everyone convinced that I was away to another country during this past year.” She soliloquized and continued

“But why is dad being monstrous. He is literally up to something and I need to make a move fast before things go south. But first I need to find mom, I need her assistance” she sobbed a little and wiped her tears “Now isn’t the time to be sad rather the time to be stronger and better”

She quickly stood up from the seat and rushed to her closet. She withdrew her uniform from the closet and stared at it with a smile. It was already very dusty. But it still fitted her like it had always been.