11 Days in Hell

Chpt. 5 "grandma vicky"

Cora rolled out of bed.

Literally rolled off and smacked her head against the floorboards.

"Ouch," she groaned pathetically, cursing herself for inflicting such pain on herself.

Today is going to be a great day! Cora told herself, half sarcastically and half seriously. She was going to meet her grandmother. Someone she never knew existed and thought was dead up until yesterday's phone call.

Cora made her way to the bathroom, grabbing her towel and toiletries. She wanted to look and smell her absolute best for her very first encounter with Victoria.

After showering, Cora pulled her hair up into a bun. She'd constantly transitioned hairstyles in a short span of five minutes. She huffed and screamed as she went from hair up to hair down. From ponytail to a nice braid. From in front of her face to finally choosing the bun, which she tried to make slicked back but it turned into a wearable mess.

Cora flossed, brushed, and rinsed her mouth out with listerene, wanting the most freshest breath. She couldn't meet her grandmother for the first time with a breath smelling like poo.

And before leaving the bathroom, she lathered herself, well more like drenched herself in cocoa butter lotion.

Her wardrobe was terrible in fact. It was full of hand-me-downs from thrift shops or discount clothing stores where Carl took Julia to shop at.

She decided to wear a black skater dress, a white long sleeved t-shirt underneath, black and white polka dot tights, black converses, and a thick black cardigan.

Cora packed her backpack with an apple, water, a book to read on the bus, an umbrella, and spare jacket. From the city listed on the paper her mother gave her, she was going to be on the bus for at least an hour.

With everything packed, Cora snuck out of the house, not wanting to wake her parents or better yet a drunk, grumpy Carl.

"Hey!" A familiar voice greeted her, causing her to jump out of her skin.

It was Robbie.

"What in the world are you doing here? It's eight in the morning and my dad is home. Are you bonkers?!" Cora whisper yelled at him, looking up at her parents bedroom window, making sure the light stayed off and the window stayed closed.

Robbie began laughing.

"I just wanted to walk you to the bus stop and see you off to your grandmas house." He told her, innocently.

Cora waiting or her heartbeat to return to its resting state before speaking. She ended up smiling and locking arms with Robbie, letting him lead her to the bus stop.

"Are you nervous?" Robbie questioned, looking down at her.

Cora sighed, nodding.

"Me too." He admitted.

Cora looked up at him and giggled. Why are you nervous? She wondered. He wasn't meeting Victoria; she was.

"I don't know. When I first met my aunt, I had so many emotions going all at once. Excitement, nervousness, anxiety, etc." Robbie confessed to Cora.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't know what she would think of me. Honestly, I assumed she'd think the worst of me because of my parents."

"Well, did she?"

"Not at all. She said I was like the son she was never able to have. And things have been great ever since."

Robbies story put Cora at ease. Her nerves had become manageable and she no longer thought of all the terrible things that could go wrong during her meeting with Victoria.

When the bus arrived, Robbie pulled Cora into a tight hug and lightly kissed her forehead. "Everything will be great." He whispered into her ear before releasing her and watching the bus disappear off into the horizon.

Once Cora was off the bus, the sun was shining brightly down in her. She found herself in an upscale bus station. Primarily ivory colored, Cora noticed the shiny marbled floor beneath her, the guest services desk in the middle constructed purely of glass.

Not knowing exactly where her grandmothers house was located and no gps in hand, she sauntered over to the uniformed man behind the glass and smiled weakly at him.

"Hello, ma'am. How can I help you?" The gentlemen smiled, greeting Cora and happy to help her.

Cora eyes the metal name tag on the left side of the mans chest. Danny.

The young man in front of her was fair-skinned. His hair was mahogany colored and his teeth was oddly coffee stained.

"Yes. I've never been to this town before. Im looking for this address." Cora told him. She pulled out the folded piece of paper, which was now wrinkled from her gripping it so tightly on the bus.

Danny took the paper from Cora's hand and intensely studied the address for a few minutes. Danny grabbed a blank piece of paper and began drawing a map.

"So you're headed to a Beaker Drive? It's beautiful over there." He informed her, still working on the makeshift map.

A few short minutes later, Danny slid the address and the map back to Cora.

"Okay, so you could've taken the number nine bus over. But it's just a few blocks down and a walk through the city park. You'll run into a gated community. Just tell the guard you're an expected visitor and they'll buzz you inside and cart you to the house." Danny smiled, revealing his coffee stained teeth to her again.

"Thank you very much." Cora returned the face before heading off on her journey.

As Cora followed the maps simple instructions, she noticed how alive the town was. Various shops lined the street with happy customers and towns people outside. And the people she saw looked incredibly happy from what she could tell. Giggles, hardy laughs, exchanges of hugs and handshakes.

Cora was couldn't believe how lucky she was to be hit with such a fortunate stroke of serendipity.

She passed a flower shop, hardware store, grocery store, a few small boutiques and restaurants, and an auto garage on the journey.

When she finally made it to the park, she couldn't help but wish she lived in an area like this. Compared to her town, it was heaven against hell. Everyone except for Robbie and her English teacher were deemed boring and so lifeless in her community.

Roosevelt Gardens, Luxury Homes

Cora has reread the sign at least a dozen times as she stood outside the gate. After quickly getting her life thoughts together, and swallowing the lump in her throat caused from her nerves, she pressed the bell attached to the intercom box.

"How can I help you?" She heard a deep voice say.

Cora bent down so that she was now eye level with the small box. "I'm here visiting my grandmother. Her name is Victoria." Cora replied.

"Are you Cora Abney? She's been expecting you." The mysterious voice inquired.

"Yes."

The voice said nothing else. Instead, there was a small beeping noise, followed by the opening of the large, golden gates slowly opening. I must really be entering heaven. Cora thought to herself as she was now met by enormous houses that started to line up from the bottom of the hill.

She walked through them and was greeted by a short, chubby man behind the wheel of a gulf cart.

"Hop on, her house is the last and only house on the hill. And I can assure you that you don't want to walk up there. You'll feel like jello." The man told her, seriously.

Cora giggles to herself, thinking of the security guard walking up the hill. She could only imagine how his experience went.

And the man was right. Victoria's house was the last house on the hill. And it was the biggest, most gorgeous house out of the community. It was isolated, the driveway was white cobblestone with a fountain spouting water onto the green grass, and flowered decorated around it.

When the small golf cart came to a stop, Cora brought her attention to the front door, where a woman who looked like an older Julia stood.

"Hello, granddaughter."