Repossession

Prologue Here it comes again, the emptiness. How much longer he had left, I couldn’t be sure but not long enough for it to make any difference. His soft, calm body laying peacefully beside me as I fought the darkness from taking over me. I shiver as my mouth salivates, a salty bitterness filling my throat. I’m so sorry... The darkness fills my mind as the room around me starts to spin, I can’t hold on much longer. “Ahhhhhhh” his screams, at first excruciating, eventually dull as the room begins to spin, until I loose sight all together. Rylee Visitors! I was so excited! It had been years since I’d seen anyone really come and go from this prison they called a home. I’d spent most of my life here, and it had been good. You know, except for the fact that I absolutely hated it. 10 years of forced smiles and polite conversations, ugh! I just couldn’t do it anymore! It was like a lion had been laying dormant in my chest for the longest time and these visitors where a little sunlight peaking through her locked cage. My chest rose and my shoulders shook in giddy anticipation as I ran through a thousand imaginary conversations in my mind. Finally! Actual conversations with other people! A knock at my door immediately dampened my mood as Lia stepped into my room, “They are almost here Rylee. I hope you are going to change into the dress I had Simone press for you.” She looked me up and down and then moved over to my wardrobe. “Ah here it is sweetie, hmm now what are we going to do about that hair?” She folded the dress over my shoulder as a not so subtle hint that it was not optional. “Don’t worry Lia, I’ll put it up.” I give her a smile and shrug so the dress falls off me, landing in a mess on the floor. Lia’s eyes burn into me in a look of rage while her mouth never broke it’s friendly smile. It immediately made me feel 5 years old again. She didn’t use it as often when I first moved in with Lia and her husband Matt. I guess a 5 year old still holds a bit of that biological pull to love them because their eyes are so big and cute. But now that I’m almost an adult and I have an opinion that is vastly different to hers, yeah, I get that look a lot now. “Oh Rylee, what am I going to do with you?” Her words are cold and meaningless as she retrieves the dress on the floor, hangs it on the vanity in front of me and heads for the door but stops just shy, “It’s Mum by the way. I expect you do your best to remember that tonight. We don’t want our visitors knowing your dirty little secret now do we?” And with a final cheery smile she leaves me. My mouth wide open, left with the reminder that I must live a lie, and do it with a smile. All my excitement had faded and I quickly get dressed, push my hair up into a messy bun and stand up to head downstairs but for a moment I catch myself in the mirror. Not too shabby for a cursed girl. I look like a princess, my dress is a light blue satin midi that goes amazingly with my tanned skin. It makes my green eyes stand out even more and even though my hair is a tragedy, it almost looks intentional. How anyone could ever believe I was related to Lia and Matt was insane to me, we couldn’t look more different. They were tall and skinny, with pale white skin while I was shorter, with long dark brown hair and darker skin. Not so dark that people might start asking to see a birth certificate but surely dark enough that questions might be raised about a neighbour or a friendly mail man.. I guess that’s why I’ve always been kept hidden in this mansion. Constantly reminded of how thankful I should be that they had saved me from the orphanage at the age of five, even though they were warned that I was cursed and I would only bring pain to those who loved me. They took me anyway, they fed me, kept me safe and hidden from the world, yeah maybe I should be great full, but instead I just felt... hungry. Hungry for a life, hungry for freedom. “Wow you look stunning! What a beauty!” Lia was almost bouncing up and down as I came down the stairs to meet them in the foyer. I just rolled my eyes at her. “Thanks, Mummy dearest!” The sarcasm in my voice even higher than I had expected it to come out. She gave me a pointed glare as she shook her head at me, “Too bad the beauty outside doesn’t match the inside now isn’t it dear?” She turned to Matt, nudging him and he finally pulled his eyes from the phone he had been clutching all morning. Even I could tell he was nervous. I stared to worry. Matt was a lot calmer than Lia, he never really bothered me. He sort of acted as if I didn’t exist my whole life and it was a welcome break from the continuous pain that was his wife. So why now was he emanating the most anxious nerves I’d ever felt from him. Just as I begin to panic and wonder if I should be worried about who these visitors were that Lia had been preparing for for over a month, there was a light knock at the door and suddenly both Lia and Matt’s eyes were on me. Lia silently gestures at me, pointing to the door and I gather she wants me to answer it. I roll my eyes at her again as I walk past and mouth yes Mum. As I open the door I can’t help but stumble slightly backwards. There, standing in the entrance is a man, about the same age as Matt but exceptionally better dressed, and behind him is another man, but this time I guessed his age to be closer to mine. The younger of the two stepped forward, his eyes set upon mine. “Hello, I am Callen, and this is my father, Benecke. We are here for..” he trailed off slightly as a wicked smile came across his face, his eyes now scanning me from my eyes, down to my toes and back up to meet my eyes again, “... lunch.” Within moments I felt myself heading towards the floor, a cold darkness trying to take over me, my mouth filling with a bitter, salty liquid. What was happening to me? I felt a cold hand grab my waist, stopping my head from cracking against the tiles of the foyer, as the darkness wins over.