CARISSA
1061 Words
CARISSA'S POV
“Bang! bang!! bang!!!”
The sharp sound of someone hitting hard against my door jerked me out of my sleep. I started with a yawn, rubbing my eyes swollen from lack of sleep. I barely had enough sleep last night, not with the piles of chores my Mom and siblings had lined up for me.
I stretched my sour body and dragged myself out of the worn out mattress that almost felt like I was sleeping on the cold hard tiles. One last stretch, and I walked over to the door and pushed it open.
The instant I opened the door, a painful tingling sensation filled my face, blocking out my entire vision for a brief second. A cry cut through the air and it took me a few minutes to realize the cry had come from me.
“You lazy freak!” My mother cussed, her voice thundering through the walls. “I can't believe you're still in your bed at daybreak huh?” The next time she spoke, her voice was higher.
My mouth parted open, but I couldn't bring myself to speak in-between the sobs that wracked my entirety. So, I clamped my mouth shut and remained silent.
She seethed, her voice dripping with disdain. “Who would make breakfast? Who would mawn the lawn and keep the house clean?” She hissed, “Except of course you want to miss school like you did yesterday, you fat pig!”
I shook my head. I didn't want to miss school. School was the only reason the ill-treatment from my family was slightly bearable. However, yesterday was an exception. I had to do the chores and work my shift— it was almost the end of the month and I couldn't afford to lose my meager wage.
I was seventeen and I had to support the family. Even though I was the only one out of three siblings working. Mom had said it was my punishment for putting Dad in the state he was in.
It had happened eleven years ago, on my sixth birthday. It was a long time ago but the taunting memory stuck to my brain like a horror movie. I couldn't wash it off no matter how I tried.
The tragic event had happened so fast and was living with me. On the day of our sixth birthday, father had decided to take a day off from work and take us on a treat— me and my twin sister, Chloe. Chloe had opted to go for ballet classes while I tagged along with Dad.
That day was perfect, clear skies, white clouds, till it was replaced with hoot and fumes from the rogues. The peaceful park soon became rowdy with screams and cries.
My heart pounded violently in my ribcage as the graphic images flashed in my mind. Some of the older and stronger werewolves shifted and engaged the rogues in a faceoff that lasted hours. Unfortunately, the werewolves from my pack, the Nightshade pack, were easily outnumbered. And by the time help from the Betas and gammas came, a number of werewolves were lifeless.
I remember holding on to father's shirt and screaming at the top of my voice. He was covered with deep slashes and injuries, blood oozed out from his body and I thought he was gone. The pack healers confirmed that there was still a string of life left in him.
Thankfully, he clung onto that string. He was in a coma for too many weeks, my naive brain lost count. When he came out of coma, he wasn't the same father I knew. The father that held my hands and walked me through the park. The father that protected us with everything he had. He was the best anyone could ask us.
So when Mother got angry and blamed me for the misfortune, it wasn't a hassle to get a job the minute I clocked seventeen and was allowed to start working. The pay was meager, more reason I am excited I'd be eighteen in the next seven days.
Mother quaked my head, pulling me out of my deep thoughts. “Did you hear what I just said?”
I nodded.
She sized me from head to toe, her eyes gleaming with disgust. I'd begged her over and over again for eleven years, but I guess the hurt was too much for her to handle. The mere sight of me puts her off, I bet if I wasn't useful around the house and taking care of my father, she'd have placed me in the hands of the rogues.
Sometimes, no scratch that, most times I think I am not her daughter. The hate in her eyes, the way she doted on my twin sister Chloe, like I didn't exist. It almost felt like I wasn't her child.
I heaved. “I'm sorry Mom.”
“Carissa, I hate to hear that word coming from you!” She panted. “Go and get busy. I don't want Chloe waking up to no breakfast. Unlike you, she's well trimmed and the star of the entire school.” Mom slapped her forehead in frustration, pointing at me. “Chloe is the child I've always wanted. You-you…you're nothing like her.”
I've mastered a ton of ways to build a barricade against mom's harsh words but the more I try, the more it gets to me. “Now get out, you obesed child! I wonder how you get food to eat after I'd cut down on your portions. Surely, you're stealing from the house.”
I fell on my feet, clasping my hands together. “No mom, I'd never steal from you and you know it.”
She crossed her hands over her chest, wrinkling her nose at me, “I can't put anything past a child that harmed her father and subjected him to permanent damage on his spine.” Her eyes were bloodshot, “You made his entire life useless the very same day he was to be made Beta of this pack.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Oh you better be. You better be, because you're never going to live this down…child, I promise you.” She pointed down the hallway. “Now get out before I put you in a condition worse than him.”
- Writer
