Stephano

5. Metanoia

Metanoia (Met-ah-no-ia)

n. change in one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. e

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Riley was always known to be different. She found it hard to make friends due to that reasoning. She was always made fun of because of the way her mind worked, or the way she spoke out her strange thoughts.

As a child, her mind worked as if she was many times older and children just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that she was matured, she had to be. Her mother and father left her to the orphanage where no one truly cared for her. Every day she had to grow accustomed to the fact that she will never be loved, never be nurtured, never have any worth.

One day, as she was walking to her first-grade class with her head hung low and her old dirty bag slouched on her shoulder carrying the supplies needed for the school year, she bumped into a girl. A girl who had the most beautiful blue eyes of the ocean and long black hair that only enhanced her features making the beautiful little girl much more appealing.

"Oh, gee! I'm sorry," she cheerfully spoke as she bent down to grab the ugly book bag that belonged to Riley on the ground. Riley saw the pretty purple backpack strapped onto the girl's back which had glitter plastered all over it. Her sparkly purple shoes matched it along with her purple dress that resembled much of a pink t-shirt attached to a purple too-too.

"My name is Da- Amara!" The girl giggled after she had handed Riley her bag back. Riley stood gawking at the girl, wishing she could be just like her—pretty, and loved.

"Are you shy? There's no need to be. Me and you are gonna be the best entire of friends in the big 'ole galaxy," Amara continued. Riley wanted to tell her that her sentence was grammatically inaccurate, but she didn't want to scare her away like all of her other past short-term friendships.

"Its-I'm Riley," Riley settled with as she began moving her tiny feet in the direction of her classroom away from the girl. She passed by many children holding their parents tight with tears streaming down their face, while others were screaming and delivering punches along with kicks at their parents all while yelling, "I hate you! Don't make me go!"

Dashing through the halls with her small echoes of footsteps pounding the ears of others, she quickly strolled to the front of her teacher's classroom. Riley's teacher resembled much of an older woman who had gray hair wrapped up in a bun and glasses that barely hung on her face as it reached the tip of her nose. Riley sped into the classroom, and she dramatically threw herself on the chair in the far back before letting out a quiet sigh.

She sat down on the chair, dove her head in her arms before closing her eyes. Laughter played around her like a sweet melody. The children all talked about their boring life at home.

She continued with her silence. No longer concentrating on the fellow students around her, but staring into the sea of endless darkness behind her eyelids. The silence in her mind was enjoyable, and she found herself escaping so deep into her imagination that she couldn't even feel the constant tap delivered to her shoulder. "Excuse me," the cute voice of the little girl spoke, still tapping her shoulder in a continuous pattern.

Riley was snapped out of whatever daze she was in and darted up as if she were surfacing up from water to catch her breath. Riley turned toward the voice to see the black-haired girl from earlier. Her deep blue eyes were gazing into Riley's mesmerizing green ones.

"Uh, huh?" Riley quietly questioned. She was kicking her feet back and forth due to her nerves. Her neutral face was very noticeable, and Amara saw it.

It was the smile Amara's mother wore on her face every day—she wasn't dumb, she knew it wasn't true. The girl in front of her, Riley, was beautiful in her eyes, but she looked broken.

She had similar hair to Amara, but with green eyes of the forest - if only bags weren't under them. Her lips looked chapped and pale Amara resisted the urge to dab something on them before they worsened.

Riley noticed Amara look behind her towards a group of girls who were all giggling.

"Can I sit there," Amara pointed to the chair beside Riley.

Everyone was still chatting amongst themselves, and the teacher was up in the front of the classroom watching everyone with a creepy smile on her face. Riley looked over to where Amara was pointing at and swiftly nodded her head in an unsure motion. It spread a smile on the pretty girls' face as she set her nice backpack on the floor and scooted into her seat.

"Thank you, Riley. Say, you are really pretty. . . You look like snow white with more of a tan skin," Amara tried to amuse as she cracked her little 'joke' that did nothing but made Riley feel slightly insulted. Not that snow white was ugly or anything, but it wasn't someone she wanted to view herself as. She wanted to be 'Riley Owens' not someone like 'Snow White'.

Riley scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, "erm thanks, you do too." Mentally, she scolded herself for saying something so stupid and ridiculous, but it didn't stop Amara from letting out a giggle.

"Hey, look at the teacher—she looks like the cat from Alice in Wonderland, Cheshire," Amara whispered in a quiet voice resulting in Riley to look up over at the teacher to see her still smiling but now her lips were pulled more up. Riley let out a small giggle, then looked at the teacher to picture her as the cat and begun laughing hysterically. "We are going to be great friends, Riley."

-

Pulling herself back to reality was the door opening once again to reveal another male. Although, instead of the big bulk of muscles, the boy was slim and flimsy. "Your lunch ma'am," the boy muttered in an accent that hadn't deceptively come from a foreign language, but it came out as a much high voice and it was filled with much more sass as if attempting to sound like a girl.

"Thank you," Riley softly spoke as she removed herself out of the little ball she made of herself and towards the food.

"Honey, we need to get you ready," he calmly spoke to her with a mouth full of pity. It was so much pity that his words were barely pronounced as his feelings muffled them.

Riley looked down at her slim fingers - disgusted. She hastily began to pick the dirt from under her fingernails already feeling so dirty.

"Come, darling. Let's get you all dolled up," the boy spoke as he placed a soft hand on the shoulder of Riley. She flinched away from his hand when the image of the man whose neck was snapped as the life slowly drained from his eyes—all because his lips didn't seal the dangerous secrets held within the walls of the devil's building.

Her body was trembling out of fear and shivering due to the coldness. She scooted out to the edge of the bed and stepped down. Once again, her legs lost all feeling in them as they grew numb. Her body tilted slightly, she could feel herself losing her balance. Right before she could facepalm the floor, the hand of the boy gripped her upper arm and brought her up to be standing on both feet again. He chuckled slightly, "Careful, darling,"

He walked her into the connected bathroom and gently set her down on the toilet seat. He reached over behind the thin shower curtain, and turned what seemed to be a knob before the clear beads of water sprawled out the metal shower head and thumped on the non-gripped tile floor. "Do you like your water hot, warm, or cold, darling?" he asked cranking his neck to look her way.

"Hot, I guess," she answered still in the shock of nervousness. He sent a warm smile her way with a curt nod, then turned what seemed as another knob.

"Get undressed, then go ahead and get into the shower. I will be right back to deliver you your clothes," the boy gently demanded before pulling open the white wooden door and exiting followed by the gust of cool air that escaped when he had closed the door behind him.

Riley occupied herself by doing what she was told. She quickly rid her body of the waitress dress and promptly climbed into the shower. She enjoyed the feeling of her once tense muscles suddenly relaxing. She felt alive—more awake. Her eyes closed as she maneuvered her hand down her body in a soft caress. Briefly, she lifted her eyelids in a search for the soap, she found the strawberry scented body wash beside the similar bottle of shampoo. She started with the shampoo where she softly massaged the strawberry smell into her hair until she felt the familiar bubble suds. Once she was done, she rinsed it out and moved on to her body.

When she had finished, she had gotten out of the shower and her clothes were left on the countertop beside the sink. She lifted up the thin fabric of clothing and all she had seen was the small silk gown—no bra. She scrunched her nose up in disgust before sliding into the gown. It barely covered up her ass, and deep down she knew that if she did as little as raised her arms up the gown would cover up as much as a shirt will.

Riley grabbed the towel that was hanging on a rod attached to the wall. It was a white and brown that smelled of the ocean. She skillfully wrapped the towel around her hair so the constant dripping would stop. Her mind drifted to the white gown. As she continued to inspect it, she realized it was completely see-through beside the flower that had hidden her n****e. Gladly, the gown consisted of a panty which covered up her other lady parts.

She wrapped a towel around herself before pulling open the door. The boy from earlier was sitting on the bed playing with his phone. Noticing her presence, he looked up and shook his head. "I'm sorry, darling, but you must remove the towel and put this on," he sadly said before throwing her a pair of heels. "For the boss," he apologetically smiled. Once again, pity swam around his eyes.

"What if I don't want to?" Riley challenged with the stubbornness she had inherited. She already looked like a mistress. The fact that she had to put on heels to go along with it would only make her feel worthless.

His face immediately cringed as he thought about all the things Stephano would do to her. He found himself shaking his head back in forth not even realizing it. The boy let out a groan followed by a sigh as he allowed his hand to wipe down his face before speaking to her as if she were a small baby. "Darling, you must. He will kill with as little as no hesitation, and more than likely, he will kill your friend too. . . if he hasn't already."

He looked her directly in her eyes that were sparkling with fear and watering in sadness, but all too quickly she placed a mask on and nodded her head. "Okay," she softly whispered.

Riley held the towel tighter around herself and entered the bathroom where she closed the door and slipped out of the towel. She looked down at her palm to see the black heels. She slipped them onto her feet, giving her some extra height. When she finished she examined herself in the mirror, she felt less than what she was.

The door banged open along with a hand wrapped around her neck. "Mm, you look very edible."