Audra Farley

From there, it went down the drain and it went fast.

I slept that night with worry my mother didn't appreciate all I did for our sake. My eyes had gone numb from crying so much and tears had wet the sheets beneath me. I found no reason why she valued the child. After all, it only caused us problems and pain. It was the reason why I forcefully stopped my education and why I had lost every hope and aspirations I had for the future. She was slowly dying each day she worked hours and I couldn't do a thing to help because I was scared of what people would think when they saw me working in an average coffee shop with my belly huge and swollen. I had gone physically and emotionally drained. I was too young to have a baby and as every day passed, it felt like the energy in my body was slowly fading away.

Even when my mother would tell me every day that what happened wasn't my fault, I always found myself guilty of what I was going through. Had it been I didn't leave the house that day or didn't stay out till that late hour, I would have gotten home safely and maybe I would've learned to live with the voices in my head. I could've gotten used to the dreams and everything I saw, I could've gone back to school and I could've completed my education and be the woman my mother wanted me to be. I had to live the tragic reality and fear I might lose my life during childbirth. What I found shocking was why my mother hated the decision I made.

The next morning came and I stayed in my room for hours. I felt ashamed I made her so upset and didn't want to see her for my own sake so I sat there on my bed and continued the last night's thoughts. However, afternoon rolled by and I still didn't hear a thing from my mother. No sound of her leaving the room or the showers like I heard everyday before she left for work. Everything was oddly silent and frequently, I looked through the peephole to see if she opened the door. I didn't leave the room till evening came and I grew worry something bad had happened.

When I opened the door, I saw my mother laying lifeless on the floor with a wide bullet hole through her forehead. There was blood everywhere, on her face, her body and a pool around her. I was shocked and silent for the first few seconds, I didn't say anything or move a single muscle. I was traumatized and it took long minutes before I screamed and what happened after that, I couldn't remember. All I knew was that I screamed till my throat went sore and I didn't stop, not for a second.

Everything I didn't want anyone to know became the trending topic after that night. I woke up in the hospital with cords connected to my body and Olivia Shaw sitting next to me, like my mother did the last time I was there. That was when the tears made their way out and I cried till I felt every liquid in me was out. No amount of sympathy could calm me and nothing anyone said made me feel better. I lost the one person I loved the most and after all the promises I made, she didn't live to see me become independent and prosperous. I hated myself for what I did and the child more for all it caused so when they advised I calmed down for the baby's health, I didn't.

I got visits from my neighbors, my friends from school, the principal and even the teachers. Literally everyone I tried to hide my shame from saw me and those were the days I hated myself the most. I couldn't stop them from showing so much pity and I saw right through all the calming words the said to me. Who wouldn't think I was at fault for getting pregnant at the age of sixteen and then my mother's death? Everything was my fault and I didn't need anyone to show or tell me that.

When I left the hospital, I had regained a little strength and instead of going back to my house, I was taken straight to the one Olivia promised me. Located in the estate, it was huge and beautiful. I even had a bunch of men to guard me, luxurious cars, the most expensive clothing but none of them made me feel better. I could sacrifice it all in a second to go back in time, way before I signed that contract but that wasn't what made me feel worse.

My mother's death wasn't investigated and no one said anything about it. It was an obvious murder, I saw it myself and everyone at the scene would've seen it too but suddenly, they all went silent. The police didn't do anything about it neither did Olivia who acted like a mother to me. It was then I started to see what the world truly was, the trickery and hatred in it and my young self was a victim. It didn't take days before I connected the dots. Olivia was probably one of the most powerful people in the world, she could find my mother's murderer with a single phone call but in my case, she didn't do anything. Even after all she promised.

She would always say I still needed time to heal but a month went by and she would still say the same thing. That was when I figured out she had something to do with the murder. At first, I doubted those thoughts. I told myself she was too sweet and kind to even think of killing my mother. This was the same woman that had given me the world just because of my child when she could've just adopted one.

It was close to my due date when I asked her once more and that was when she lost it. She yelled at me and the angel I used to see turned to a monster right before my eyes. She grew cold, distant and harsh. That made me believe my thoughts could be right. There was no reason why Olivia wouldn't help to find my mother's murderer and even more, why did the police keep quiet about it? What were they hiding from me?

A day came and I asked her again but this time, I was ready for what she would say. I yelled back when she yelled and accused her of killing my mother. I was about to take all my words back and apologize for my behavior before she said the truth. There was no fear or regret in her eyes when she said those words to me. She told me she was responsible for her death and she wouldn't have done it if I kept quiet about it like the contract said.

That was all it took to make me understand who Olivia Shaw truly was. She had people watching me immediately after I signed that contract and because I went against it and told my mom, she was killed. Those papers I called my quick way to success was more than that and I was blind to the amount of power this woman had gotten over me. There was no going back and there was no way out from what I'd done. Any thing I did against the contract had it's consequences and they were grave. I finally understood why my mother freaked out, she saw what I didn't see and because of my mistake, had to leave her life.

It was fault and those three words kept running through my head over and over again. Olivia didn't kill her, I did because I caused the whole thing. I kept myself in the mess I was in and I deserved worse as punishment, I deserved a lot worse and not a single day passed without me thinking about it.

I watched my life turn to a nightmare.

Samara Shaw

It slipped off my hand and all of my sanity shattered with it.

Maybe there could be people that didn't look normal, maybe there could be real ghosts but with this, there were no more possibilities the things happening in the school could be normal. I forced myself to believe I wasn't insane because I was scared of what would happen if I truly was. What a shame it would be if I was once a graceful Dutchess and then a psycho locked up in a mental asylum?

In just a few seconds, I froze orange juice and there was no explanation either Lucy or the girl at the door did it. I could not force myself to believe the possibilities it wasn't that much of a problem, just like I did to the rest. I knew what I did, I felt the power rushing through my veins, the sparks in my hand and the numbness of my palm. Many times I tried to look for something, at least one thing to make me believe it wasn't me but I found nothing.

"Hey, that's an expensive jug and you" Lucy stood up swiftly and marched to the door. Her aim was directed to the girl standing by it but before she could reach out to get her, she turned and left in fear. The door was slammed shut and Lucy turned to me and said "Don't scream, please"

"It froze"

"I saw it too and I'm not freaking out, am I?" She took slow steps towards me and when she was finally close enough, placed a palm on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze "Is this helping?"

"Don't you understand?! It's impossible to freeze liquid with just my hand and you're standing there acting like nothing happened?! Whatever is going on here is making me insane! I've had just eno_"

I could not complete my sentence or let out all I had in me because her fist came flying towards my face. The last thing I remember was the impact with my nose and my body falling down before I passed out.