The One Who Stole My Soul

Chapter 1 : Change Of Perspective

After tonight I knew my life would never be the same again. My knees were covered in bruises and face stood frozen. I was sitting in the corner of the penthouse, my hands covered in blood and when you looked at my eyes you could clearly see that they were drenched in tears. My nose was also red due to me crying. My clothes were stained. The police busted down the door with guns in their hands. They looked over to the left and saw the bodies of my lifeless parents on the floor and then they looked at me. The moment my eyes met someone else’s they began to cry once again. Next thing I know I was in the police station. “Don’t worry, you are now safe.” I heard this on a loop, but I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it. My eyes fixed on the floor of the police station. I heard a man running towards me, yelling my name. I know this voice, it was my uncle yelling,” Tatum!” I looked over to him and the look on my face made his turn cold. “We’re getting you out of here Tatum. We’re getting you far from this city”, he said. I didn’t say anything I simply looked at him with my watery eyes and then back to the floor. My face frozen once again. I feel as if my face was like this for hours, I then got the strength to look at him. “Get me out of here Uncle Mason.” He nodded then took my hand. Suddenly I was walking out the door with police men escorting me out. A bunch a paparazzi and journalists surrounded me. They kept asking me questions as I was walking to the car. I stepped into the car with my hands sitting in my lap and my eyes staring at my feet. Multiple people questioning me outside a car, but I just continued to sit in silence. My uncle then got into the car. “ We’re leaving this city ,” he told me. I looked at him without any emotion. Then I stared back at the floor. My emotions were stuck in a pattern. It was a nightmare and it wasn’t the end for me. It was only the beginning. Hours later and we are still in the car. The only difference is that instead of looking at the ground, I was looking out the window. I turned to face my uncle. "Where are we going,” I asked. As I asked him, we passed a sign that said Welcome to Ayrith. We’re in a small town just outside of Philadelphia, your new home. It was a small town. Nothing like New York. If you were to compare the two you could describe it as an ant and a human standing next to each other. All the buildings in Ayrith stood side by side and had a little bit of a European look to it. Apartments above little shops. Eventually we came to a stop in front of one of those small shops.

“What is this place?” I asked Uncle Mason

“This is where I live. Welcome to Ayrith Library and Cafe”, he said

That was the first time I realized that I have never actually ever been to Uncle Mason’s home. I entered the library. The first thing I noticed was how the smell of Coffee suffocated you the moment you set foot in the building, in a good way. Small bookshelves surrounded me. Little couches were all over the place. To your right there were stairs leading to the second floor. I walked up the stairs and came across a small room with a couch, small coffee table, and a door to the left of the stairs. I waited for Uncle Mason to come up the stairs so he could open the door. Once he did, I just stood there taking in every inch of the place. It was a small yet contemporary apartment. The apartment had brick walls and wood beams on the ceiling. Large windows brightened up the apartment and the floor was a dark wood. “Follow me”, said Uncle Mason. I followed him and he took me to a room. It also had large windows. The same ones you would find when you first entered the apartment. A mattress with a thick white blanket and fuzzy grey and white pillows stood right next to the brick wall. In front of the windows was a white couch with the same pillows. “This was originally the guest room but now I guess it’s yours”, said Uncle Mason. I then walked to the large floor mirror in front the bed. I have never seen myself like this before. My long dark chocolate hair wasn’t all neat and perfect like it usually would be. Instead it fell across my shoulders and was messy and tangled. My blue grey eyes were red, and I had deep eye bags. I wasn’t wearing mascara but the tears from me crying painted my eyelashes black. My brows were bushy and all over the place and my clothes was stained with blood. I saw myself but I didn’t recognize who I was. I turned around to face my uncle. I tried my best to put on a brave face, but I couldn’t hold the tears in and once again I started to fall apart. I didn’t like this part of me. I don’t cry. It’s not who I am. Not around other people at least. I set a brave face and smile for everyone, but I just can’t do that right now and I hate it.

“Get changed”, he said

“Into what”

He threw me some clothes. “Who’s are these”, I asked. “You're about to find out. Meet me downstairs when your finished changing”

I changed out of the white halter top shirt, that was stained with my parents' blood, and into the oversized black t-shirt and slides that he gave me. I then threw up my hair into a messy bun and went downstairs to the library, just as he told me. I found him sitting at a table and talking to a young guy, around my age. I then walked over to my uncle. " Tatum White meet Eugene Eretz.”

He had sandy brown hair that was medium length and textured, dark brown eyes, and tan skin. He had a sharp jawline and his lashes were about as thick as every girl dreamed theirs to be. He had a tight black T-shirt on that showed off his muscles. How was it possible for a person to appear so perfect? “Nice to meet you”, he said. His voice was low and husky. I didn’t say anything I simply looked at him and tried to create the most believable smile possible. It didn’t work. I could see him examining every inch of me as I did with him. Uncle Mason broke the awkward silence.” I hope you don’t mind but that is Eugene’s t-shirt that I gave to you to wear.” I looked at my uncle in disbelief and then looked Eugene straight into his eyes and replied with,” I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“No, I did”, said Uncle Mason. “He owed me a favor anyways.”

And once again I was making eye contact with Eugene Eretz. I was making my eyes easy to read. I wanted him to read them. They were saying, “you really shouldn’t have done that.”I then looked at Uncle. He clearly saw Eugene like the son that he never had. I don’t know why but I could see it by the way he looked at him, with pride. He told me that Eugene was 2 years older than me. That would make him 20. “Watch over her”, Mason said. “I can watch over myself. You need to stop asking him to do stuff for me”, I replied. I was easily getting annoyed. You could hear it in my voice. I don’t need a knight in shining armor, I’ll be fine. Mr. Knight clearly didn’t get the message though. “I will sir”, he said. I rolled my eyes and went back upstairs. In my new room I laid on the bed for hours just staring at the ceiling. Hours went by until the sun went down. Until my eyes slowly shut, and I drifted off to sleep.