Soul of the Phoenix

Chapter 2

Standing against the table the trio were sitting at, the man awaited their response. "Mr. Monticello! How are you?" David quickly greeted him before standing up to shake his hand. "So sorry we hadn't been able to get back to your call, as you can see, we had a slight hiccup in our day." David nervously bantered. "I see. So I will expect your call then once you arrive to your quarters." The man eyes the couple, clearly they were terrified of this man. "Yes Sir. As you wish." Holly chimed in. "Good." Monticello said, sending a brief shiver down their spines before walking away with his small entourage.

The waitress then walked up with their food, sitting each plate in front of the three of them. Once they received their plates and silverware, they had stood up to walk over to the plethora of foods to choose from. David held his own plate, while Holly held Sakiya's and hers. "Wh-what do you want, darling?" She asked Sakiya, her nerves still on edge. "Uhm... What is this?" Sakiya pointed to the round cooked dough filled with sauce and veggies on top. "That my dear, is called pizza." David chuckled. "I want some of that!" Sakiya seemed to be loosening up around them now, although in her little mind she was still wary about their earlier situation. She didn't let that bother her though, she was ready to fill her tummy after all the turmoil she had just endured with her parents. "Okay so, pizza, what about some roast?" Holly asked her. Sakiya looked up at her with her brows furrowed, clearly not knowing what that was. "Roast is a combination of beef meat, with potatoes and carrots and a bit of gravy." Holly explained, Sakiya nodding her head excitedly, showing she wanted some of the 'roast' that she hadn't tried before. They went through the rest of the bars on the buffet, filling thier plates and then walking back to their table. Sakiya rubbed her hands together, before Holly grabbed a napkin and tucking it into her shirt, not like it would make a big difference as her shirt was already dirty from hiding out with her mom and dad, but to keep it from getting soiled further. Holly was already thinking that when they left, they would hurrily grab Sakiya some clothes and rush back to their quarters within their mansion to call the scary guy who had walked up on them earlier.

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*YEARS LATER*

"Sakiya, you're only 16. How are you going to accomplish that? You know once they find out what they'll do to you. There's no one who looks quite like you." Maranda said worriedly. Maranda is a friend Sakiya met while going to her meetings with her caseworker, Mara, whom is also Maranda's. She is also a foster kid, but is more fortunate to have foster parents that treat her like their own. Sakiya on the other hand, was treated very poorly and constantly belittled and succumbed to the bad sides of the people who took her in once her parents were sent to prison. Sakiya felt comfortable as a little girl thinking she would be in a happy home, but that quickly changed once she had arrived to their residence. "I know Mar, but I can't do this anymore. I have to make a plan to get out of here!" Sakiya replied. "And you're right. No one would miss the girl with fiery red hair and golden eyes, I'll come up with something, I promise Maranda, but I'll need your help." She continued. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. I hate that you have to go back there, but you keep me informed, okay? And don't forget to keep that cell phone hidden!" Maranda objected, handing her back the small device she had acquired for her. "If they find it hard telling what they'll do." Maranda told her warily. She cared for her friend, and worried for her wellbeing after the years of unsolicited violence Sakiya was subjected to. She moved to give Maranda a hug "I love you, Mar. Thank you for being here for me." Sakiya said sincerely. Maranda was the only true friend she had that she could actually talk to without having to worry about it getting back to David and Holly and suffering the consequences.

Sakiya walked home from the library after waving off Maranda. She walked to the back door of the humongous building, dreadig what was waiting on the other side. "About time Sakiya! Get your ass in that kitchen and serve everyone their dinner!" Holly shouted as Sakiya walked in the door, jumping at her tone. Although she was used to it, it still didn't get any easier to deal with. Sakiya wanted so badly to leave, to leave and never look back. She was young and inexperienced though, so she couldn't go right when she wanted to. She would need to make a plan of escape, and that had to include changing her appearance. As she practically ran to the kitchen, she started thinking about what she could do to change herself. Having her bright red hair and those golden eyes, pale skin and slim body type, she would definitely be easy to notice in a crowd. She had to get away, She needed to find out what happened to her parents all those years ago, find out the truth behind it all.

She grabbed the trays off of the island which was placed in the middle of the huge kitchen. As she walked into the dining area to serve the food to her foster parents and their two adopted children, Sadie and Sylis, Sadie tripped her as she walked past her chair, causing her to stumble and drop a drink from the chair. It shattered against the hard wood floor, Sakiya looking up in fear as Sadie giggled. "Oops." She chortled. "I'm so sorry! I'll get that cleaned up right away." Sakiya stuttered as she laid the plates of food in front of each of them. "I know you will. We'll deal with that later. Now, go make me another glass of champagne since you clearly cannot even carry a damn TRAY!" Holly stated, slamming her fists on the table in anger. Sakiya was startled, so she rushed away to the kitchen to follow her order, hands trembling. You got this Sakiya, we can't make another mistake. We only get one chance to do it right. Sakiya told herself. She was able to calm her shaking hands enough to pour the drink, carrying it carefully along with the vacuum to clean up the mess Sadie maliciously had caused.