TRUTH WISH

Lisa looked at her buyer one more time, the pit of her stomach twitched and turned. She wanted to break out in a run but upon looking at her father, she knew that would mean death for her. She didn't understand why she had to go through with the marriage nonsense. I mean, it was a new world, with new rules and newly found freedom for girls. She wanted to be in school like the others sixteen year olds, she had a dream to study hard and become a doctor. She had watched her mother die when she was eight from what she knew now was colon cancer and she wanted to make sure that nobody else died on her watch, not if she could help it. Up and until a week ago, she was working on that dream and it was all going well. She was a bright student and it was not hard to tell where she was headed. However, on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, she went home to find a luxurious white Volvo parked outside her house. She knew it couldn't be from any of her family members as she only knew her dad's brother who was even more poor than her dad. She had never seen a car that beautiful before and neither had her school mates. There was only this one huge bus that came once from the big city on friday and went back the following day. She had walked into the house to find her father, her two brothers aged eighteen and twenty and a strange middle aged guy with unusually big muscles. It took her some time to notice the other guy at the corner but when she finally did, a wave of fear and hate moved up her spine and she couldn't explain why. The men seemed to be having the time of their life and according to her people's culture, Lisa was not supposed to even as much as salute them. She just walked out of the house and waited till they were all done. As the two mystery men walked to their car, Lisa noted that the young muscle guy was looking at her and she blushed. "I will see you in a weeks time pretty," she heard him whisper as he walked away. She had no idea what that meant but she would soon find out. A week had passed by and her father had explained to her that she had to go with the two when they came back. She had no idea what that meant but she knew it was not a good thing and she protested. As usual, her dad dealt with her using the leather belt she had grown to hate and fear. He forced to stop going to school and locked her in the basement for the three days until the men came back. He told her to say yes to everything and smile and since she was still sore from the previous beatings, she had to stay still and behave. She learned at the last possible minute that she was being sold to the man and his son for marriage. She would have loved to know a little more but no one was willing to share. She cried for her dad and brothers as they took her away but the old drank didn't even turn back to look at her. She tried her brothers but she knew they wouldn't be of much help and she was right. She was literally shoved into the car by the strong young man and he joined her in the backseat while the older guy went behind the heel. "Now Alvan, remember the ceremony is not yet and you have to be patient," he said to his son who was by then reaching for Lisa's neck with his tongue. She was shaking like a leaf. She had so many questions she would have loved to ask but she had a feeling the two were not in the mood to answer. The guy next to her moved closer and she tried to move away and action that caused her more pain that she would have cared to admit. The damn belt! The three were on the road for about five hours before they entered the city. She had never been there before and she had looked forward to enjoying the view one day but that day was not there yet. She was there against her will and the moments were not at all what you would have called light so she never even had the thought to look out the window. "We are here sweetheart," the son said while touching her hair. There was a thirty minutes drive which saw the three out of the city and into its outskirts. The place was beautiful, so much more beautiful than she had thought. There were no huge buildings in that part, instead, there were well kept planted trees and beautiful flowers and the place smelled nice. For a moment, she almost forgot her current problem but it all cama back when a heavy black, metal gate was unlocked and the car swiftly moved in. There she was at last, a huge luxury house with more than she would have dreamed of but still it didn't give her any satisfaction as she had expected that would happen on a better day. "Welcome to your new home," the old man said as he signaled someone to again, get her out of the car with minimal care for her safety or dignity. She was locked in a dark basement which only had a dim bulb for lighting. The place smelled like death and she had goosebumps just thinking about the smell and what might have cause it. She was a hundred times more bitter with her father who had given her away like she was nothing she wondered whether her brothers would remember her now that she was gone. She was scared of what would happen to her younger brother who was left behind to be beaten and harassed by that old beast they had for a father. She touched her scars on the thighs. She moved her fingers over them having a painful memory at each touch. Some of them were only two days old and they still hurt but she was used to that by now. Her mind was however flooded with the memories of how her father had changed after the death of her mother. He blamed it on her as he believed she was cursed. I mean, come to think of it, poor Lisa was born in the middle of the worst swine flue outbreak known to man. Six months after her birth, her tribe the Shuons had a breaking out with their neighbors the Tuagens and there was the fight of a lifetime between the two which affected half of the country and in the end, Lisa's family was left with nothing. That was about when her parents sold her for food and a house but nobody ever told her about that. Now, sixteen years later, the rich man who had bought her came for her and from the looks of things, he was not one of the good guys. She didn't expect any food or water, that was the trend back home. Whenever her father locked her and her younger brother in the dark room as they called it. It usually meant a whole weekend with nothing more than beatings and darkness. The two always wondered why the two elder brothers never raised their hands to help, in fact, they joined the father in the beating. Lisa's one year older brother was the one who always took the heaviest blows for her and Mathew, but he had grown tired and killed himself about an year ago. His twin had then taken off as he couldn't bear neither the death of his brother nor the fact that he was the one to take the extra painful position then that his brother was MIA. No one knew where he was or whether he was even alive. Lisa's mind would have gone a little further back but the door clicked open and she was back to the current situation. It was not better than the situation back at home but it was not worse either. At least she was locked up in a basement with a bed and there was the smell of food. Through the door, came an elderly woman with a tray. In it, there was a bowl of white rice, chicken, a sausage and soup. There was also a side of orange juice. She would have loved to decline but she was so hungry after four days of being locked away in the dark room without as little as half a glass of water. She couldn't help but jump on the tray like a hungry dog and started eating. The woman looked at her for a moment and there was a flash of pain in her own eyes. She may have been one of them, but something about her was different. She stroked her hair for a moment and said something under her breath but Lisa was way too engaged to listen to her. After the meal, she took the utensils and asked to rest up as she had a long day waiting for her the next day. She would have wanted to know what she meant by that but she knew better than to ask. She was full, and she had a bed, it would have been worse. Falling asleep was easier and she could not tell hoe time had gone by. Soon, she was being dragged out of the basement. It was already night time and the moon was high and full. She had no idea what that meant for her but she had had worse so she was still calm. She had taught herself not to panic until it was the appropriate time to. She had gotten used to the fact that showing panic only motivated the offender to keep going. She was put at the back of the car once more and the car took off. This time around, she looked out and all she could see were wood. The drive was short as well and soon she was being dragged out. That night was when it all started. She found herself tied up and seating at the center of a huge dimly lit hall. All around her were people of all sizes and shapes, about twenty six of them. "How dare you Alex? She is not even one of us," one of them said. Lisa could tell there was tension in the room and she was actually enjoying it, for the first time ever, she was not the tensed one. "I chose her, twelve years ago, I was not sure back the but look at her, she is pretty strong and I think she is q perfect fit," the old guy said. Lisa knew his name was Alex at that point. The only thing she actually knew about him so far. "So what now? You will bring another human into the park? In case you haven't noticed, this doesn't exactly make us the strongest park and I can already feel that we lost this war before it even started," the voice went again. Luna could not see who it was coming from as she was seating on the floor and there was not enough light. "I say we find ourselves another leader, I am afraid Alex here will get us all killed," someone else said and a commotion rose amongst the group. Lisa saw the one thing she never thought she could ever see in all her lifetime. She witnessed as the men and women in the room turned into wolfs. She had only thought that the werewolf stories were just stories and nothing more. "Kill the human, we are not taking any more of those in the pack," the deep voice went right before he turned into a huge ugly wolf. Lisa knew it was the perfect time to panic but she didn't she found strength to get up from the floor and even though her hands were tied, she took to her heels and left the wolves fighting. One of them followed her but she kept running. She was at it for about ten minutes. She had moved deeper into the woods and she could still feel the beast behind her. She was growing too tired and she couldn't help but slow down for a bit, then, the worst thing happened. The rope was tangled pulling her back and giving the wolf time to catch up. She had reached rock bottom so she just closed her eyes and waited for it. The bites were painful and numbing at the first but soon she wasn't feeling a thing. She opened her eyes just in time to see the wolf make one move toward her neck and she knew it was all over. She quickly closed her eyes again and waited but the bite didn't happen. She opened her eyes once again and she saw it. A huge black wolf with a scar on its face was looking down at her. It was angry and saliva was dropping out of its mouth. She expected that it was there to make the kill but she was surprised when it turned into a human. It was the elderly woman from earlier. "I am sorry I couldn't help you earlier, I didn't want this to happen but once again, I am too late. I guess its age," She said as she reached for a leather bag she had probably carried with her mouth. She took her phone and made a call. That was all about what Lisa heard as she slowly zoomed out. She had lost way too much blood and she was still in shock so no one could blame her for fainting. As she zoomed out, she thought about her life. It was disaster after disaster she hoped that she would die and it would be finally over. She was too tired to keep fighting and she could not find a strong enough reason to fight anymore. The old lady went on to make a call, she gave directions and when she was done, she made sure the other wolf was completely dead by reaping off his throat, she then watched as he slowly turned into a human and it was Alex's son Brandon. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do this to you, son of a b***h. That is for my Mary," she said and one could clearly feel the hate and the anger from her voice. The boy must have really pissed her off and she couldn't have waited any longer to do what she had done. She dragged his body away from her before hiding a few meters away to watch as the girl was put into a stretcher and carried away. She then took her leather bag and ren across the woods into the moonlight.