The Runaway Bride

Alison’s POV “How dare you?”, before I could alter a word, her hand landed on my cheeks in a thundering slap. “It was a mistake”, I whispered as I stood shivering. “How can you mistakenly break my tea cup? Anyway, I don’t blame you, I blame your miserable mother for not training you well before she died or should I say before you killed her.” My malicious stepmother, Marie, spat out as she chuckled in an evil manner. Those words broke my heart but I didn’t say a word. “I’m hungry!”, Stacie, Marie’s daughter, screamed from her room. “Alison!!”, She shouted again. “Fix this mess you have made and get my daughter’s breakfast “, Marie instructed, and walked away. I nodded in response and just as I squatted to pick up the broken pieces of ceramics, I felt a push and I fell face down. I groaned in pain as a small piece of the broken ceramics cut my face, underneath my eyebrow. “You fool, did you not hear me call you?”, it was Stacie. She pulled me up with my hair and the pain was just so unbearable. The pain I felt was beyond physical pain , it was a mental and emotional pain. I have been reduced to an ordinary maid in my house because my father thinks I caused the death of my mother and son despises me. His new wife and her daughter had made my home literal hell. “I’m sorry….”, I tried to apologize. “Shut your mouth up and get my breakfast”, she commanded furiously.. Sweat mixed with blood from the cut ran down my face as I stood looking at Stacie. With no atom of sympathy, she walked past me, almost pushing me to the floor as her shoulders brushed mine. I wiped my face with my sleeves and quickly served her breakfast and cleaned up the entire house. When Marie and Stacie left the house, I took a walk to see my friends on the other street. Lee looked at me, his eyes filled with concern, as we sat by the lake. “Alison, you’ve got to get out of this place. You can’t keep suffering like this.” “But it’s still her Father’s house”, Brenda chipped in. “Father’s house, you say? Does her father even care about her? That cannot be referred to as a house, that is hell”, Lee said. “Imagine what they did to you.”, he continued as he came closer and touched my face. Brenda continued wiping the cut with methylated spirit as we spoke. “Ouch! Careful “, I said in pain. “I’m so sorry but we have to treat it well so it heals in time.” Brenda replied. “There has to be a way out. We can’t watch you suffer like this”, Lee continued . His voice expressed so much anger and hatred for my stepmother. Tears welled up in my eyes as I finally decided to respond, “Lee, how can I escape when my own father despises me, and my stepmother and Stacie torment me relentlessly? They are ready to track me down and even kill me if I try anything stupid.” “That’s why we’ve got to have a plan. Your disappearance will be strange and we will take you very far away from here. Lakeside isn’t the whole world. There’s so much more out there,” he added. I didn’t say a word. I never thought of running away from home before, but as they spoke, it all began to make sense to me. I thought of several ideas to escape. What if I fake my death? Or what if I plan a kidnap that will take me away? “Alison, are you here?”, Brenda asked, calling me back from my imagination. “Oh yeah”, I replied quickly, adjusting myself on the seat. “Lee was asking what you would like for your birthday. You are going to be 18, girl!!”, she said with so much excitement. My face lit up immediately and my moody expression switched to that of joy. “Yes, I’ll be an adult, finally”, I laughed. “You’ll be an adult, which means you have the right to live on your own”, Lee added. “Wow!! Lee… That’s true. Alison, have you thought about it?”, Brenda asked with so much excitement. “And you both think that’s how it works in my house? I’m not as fortunate as you two. Being an adult means nothing to my Father. He won’t let me go”, I said. “He doesn’t have to let you go”, Lee smirked. “Your birthday is in two days and here’s one of my birthday gifts for you. Take you out of your house and set you free. Are you in?”, Lee said, looking into my eyes as though to search for my soul. I stood up immediately, trying not to let my mind think too much about what Lee had said. “I’ll have to go now. You don’t want me to be in more trouble when my stepmother or my dad comes home to find out I’m not in”, I said. “Come on, Ali. We all know you are trying to run away from this conversation. It’s just a few minutes past noon”, Brenda laughed. “Well, maybe, but I really need to be home now. I have a feeling someone might come to the house soon”, I replied. “Lee, I appreciate your help, but I don’t want to think too much about it. What will be will be and I’m not ready to fight my fate”, I said, holding his arms in a way to calm him down. Lee is a very charming young man and his piercing eyes always have a way to make me feel better. He looked up at me and smiled briefly. “You can always reach us when you need us”, he replied. Indeed, they have been there for me, always. So, I trust that they always will be. Brenda was my best friend even before my mum’s death and we both got to meet Lee later and we all became very good friends. “I love you both”, I said, as we held ourselves in a big, warm hug. “See you later”, Brenda shouted after walking a distance away from them, and I turned to wave. Brenda is full of life and energy and always lit up the room with her contagious happy aura. I turned and waved energetically. They have made me forget about my pains, but as I stepped closer to the house, my heart broke. I wished I could stay with Lee and Brenda for the rest of my life and not have anything to worry about. “Alison!”. My instinct was right. The moment I got home, my father also entered the house. I wondered why he was home so early though. “Alison!”, he called again, and I rushed out of my room to answer his call. “Yes Dad. Welcome back.” I said, quickly. He looked at me for a while and asked, “What have you been doing all day?” “House chores”, I responded quickly, my eyes fixed on him. “You now dress like this to do house chores?”, he asked. “Yes”, I responded and smiled. “I’ll be 18 in a few days, so I need to clean up myself like a proper adult.” “I’m impressed”, he said teasingly and smiled. My dad and I rarely have talks like this, so I was wondering why he was calmer and less aggressive. “I’ll be going to a very important meeting. The outcome of the meeting will determine the conversation I’ll have with you later today”, he said. “A conversation? With me”, I asked in surprise. “Yes”, he said. And without another word, he walked into his room, changed his clothes and rushed out. I could see the anxiety on his face and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was. The day seemed to read my thoughts and hence ran so fast because I couldn’t wait to hear what my dad had to discuss with me. I made dinner ready early enough and made sure everything was in order, so I made the environment calm and conducive for conversation. As soon as he returned, I could hear my heart beat so fast. “Sweetie, I want us to have a movie night , after dinner”, Marie said to my dad while they had supper. I was doing the dishes and eavesdropping. “Alright but I am so tired that I may sleep off while seeing the movie”, he responded. “So, are you saying No to me?”, she asked. Her voice sounded a bit more serious this time. “Of course not, my love.” He quickly said. “We’ll have a movie night.” “Thank you”, she pecked him on his cheeks. I wondered what Marie had done to my father. She had a way of just controlling him and he was always willing to please her even if it would be inconvenient. They began to whisper some things but I couldn’t hear them. The only sentence I picked was , “Have you told her yet?” Told who what? I became more restless as I knew the only person they would conspire against would be me. I could hear my heart pounding. I felt really dizzy as several imaginations flashed through my mind. What could it be?