Awakened

Chapter 1

Red in the face, face the color of an over-ripe tomato, red as a brick, eyes squinting meanly, developed a tic, eyes looked like they might pop out, with his fists clenched, hard staring eyes, he slammed fist down onto the table, voice with hard edge, shouting venomously as she heard that the discussion was about her. She knew that she was not normal and they had been wrong to think so, because she felt it in her bones that they needed to accept that she was never going to be like Michael. Her mother stood up from the table stomping feet, while a few minutes later her father went out of the house slamming doors.

This was nothing new. This was what happened every single day when she came back from school. The teachers and doctors were perfectly frightened of her and knew that she was capable of murder. But was she really?

She was.

Her mother spoke in curt voice, clipped tones to the servants of the house and all that was left was the stony silence. Michael shot one look at her as she was huddled in the corner of her room and then stormed off, spitting with fury, torrent of rage, tiny bubbles of froth forming at the corners of the mouth, face contorted with the venomous outburst, brewing anger like tea in a pot or like a storm out at sea, anger boiling up inside.

He was two years younger than him and he was the perfect child. The star student, the perfect athlete, he was almost an angel where it came to being the son of her parents. The second born.

They all thought that she was doing it for the sake of pleasure, they thought she liked it, the feeling of the veins popping and the warm spray of blood on her hands and her face and neck as she watched life slowly leave the body. So far, she had not killed any human being, no no, they were wrong that she would ever do that. But what they did not understand was she was relieving him of the misery that he had been in for the past year. He was dying and dying slowly at that.

Her precious Sunbeam.

The first horse of the ranch that father had brought when he had started this farm. It was a huge success and Sunbeam was one of the major reasons why. He was a thoroughbred and perfect in every way that was to be considered and he was the reason that so many foals, and prize winning ones too, had been born and sold off from their farm. Theirs was the best when you wanted to buy a race horse. The memory of his shiny caramel coloured coat and the way he looked at her when she touched him was so imprinted in her memory. When she was riding Sunbeam, it was just like flying.

And suddenly the door burst open as her Mom came inside.

“El, honey, come here, I have brought your dinner. Come here baby,” she said in a sugary sweet voice which sickened her to the core. Everything about this place was wrong, the only time that she had felt really alive was when she had seen the relief in Sunbeam’s eyes as life left his old body and bones. He was finally at peace and it made her really happy that she was the one who could give him that.

She came out of her hiding place.

“There you are, my sweet precious. Come sit with Mommy,” said her mother. Her mother was a really nice lady and she loved her as well. Dinner was spaghetti with mustard sauce and a glass of lemonade. Just the way she liked it.

As soon as she started eating silently with her head down and her eyes withdrawn she watched that her mother was in pain and that anguished her more than anything. She hated that she was the cause of her pain and the fork clattered from her fingers.

“Mom, please don’t cry Mom. I swear I did not do anything at all. I swear Mom, they were the ones who jumped me. All I did was to protect myself,” said Eloa as she went ahead and hugged her Mom tightly. Physical proximity was something that she hated but right now, she knew this was the only way she could try and stop her from getting shipped off to a boarding school.

“Oh baby,” said Violet Atwood, her mother as she sobbed and hugged her daughter back. This time she could do nothing to protect her anymore. Her baby had been branded as a monster and she could not help that. Nothing she said made any sense to any of them and they all thought that she was insane and needed special care and this time, it was the end. Finally when she stopped weeping Violet said,” I know darling, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me…you are the sweetest child but not everyone will see the world like you do sweetie.. You take other’s pain like it is yours and then you try to alleviate it. They did not understand why you did what you did to Sunbeam but I know. Your ways might be different but I knew that your heart is always in the right place.”

And Eloa looked at her Mom and realized that possibly she was the only person in the world who understood her need to make the pain of others to go away.

“But there is something that you have to realize sweetheart. We are human beings who live in a society. We have to learn to live by their rules and that is the way we live in harmony and peace. So when they say that you have got problems, I say, everyone has, but this is not the way to deal with it. So your father and I have decided that you will be starting off college early, a few weeks early,” said Violet as Eloa raised her purple gaze at her mother.

The most beautiful thing about her were her eyes. When you looked at them it would feel like the violets that grow and bloom in spring had been melted and created the perfect colour for her which swirled when she was a bit angry or sad. Freckles, light, delicate; sprinkled softly on her sun-kissed cheeks. Waves of honeyed red hair that refract the sun's gentle light, penetrating it's smooth layers.

“You are sending me off to boarding?” asked Eloa in a hurt tone.

“Yes baby. It is a place where you will start anew and afresh. The teachers will understand what you need perfectly and they will be able to help you unlike this rotten school where everyone is scared of my sweet baby,” said Violet as she looked in her eyes.

“Where is this school?” asked Eloa as she started eating her dinner again and Violet inwardly sighed in relief. She was taking this a lot better than it was expected.

“It is in Switzerland. St. Augustus’ College,” said Violet as she hoped that she would not know about the place that they were talking about. It was a college for delinquents where they were kept in huge security and the facility was almost akin to a prison. There were all kinds of students there, at least whose parents had the money to hush things up.

“It is an educational facility for the insane, and psychopaths,” said Eloa in a clipped voice.

“No baby it is not. It is a place where all your needs…” started Violet again as she was interrupted by her daughter.

“You don’t need to soften the blow for me Mom. I already know that all of you think that I am insane and a killer and I have no hope at all. I get that, this is something which is beyond your control and I think Father and Michael are going to be relieved that I shall be too far away from here to tarnish their name and their achievements. Maybe all of you are right. Maybe I am insane, and this is the clean break that everyone is hoping that will magically make me a lot better. Whatever it is, it is fine Mom,” said Eloa, as she finished her dinner and sipped the lemonade.

“I am really sorry baby. I did not want this at all…I did not want this,” said Violet as tears threatened to mar her beautiful face again.

“I know Mom. I know that you did your best, to help me, to stop all this from happening. But only if you had spoken to him about putting Sunbeam down then maybe I would not have to do that and I would never have been in this place again. He was just in a lot of pain and I could not help him. I knew that once he was gone, his soul would be finally free to fly like he always wanted to,” said Eloa as she sipped her lemonade and then she looked out of the window and said,” There is a blind homeless man who sits by the park. I used to give him my sandwiches which I did not eat, for him and his dog. His name is Max and the dog is Lola. When I am gone, can you make sure that they are both fed?”

Violet looked at her daughter as if she had grown horns or something. Then she said,” Why did you not tell me that before?”

“What is there to say Mom? He is a good man, and he is really helpless. If I can provide him with one meal a day then it is something that makes me happy. NO one should be in pain and hunger is the worst pain of all,” said Eloa as she sighed.

“You are right sweetie. You are absolutely right about that, and you have a far more kind and beautiful heart than people have seen in you and you need to make sure that people see that. It is how they are going to see the real person,” said Violet as Eloa knew that her mother was right but it was not going to do her any good really.

“I am going to be a better person Mom. I promise you that,” said Eloa, as her voice quivered thinking about the unknown. This was something that she was going to venture in because her mother was too hurt that her daughter was called a monster. And now it was time that she changed that and changed it for good. Whatever it might be she was going to get through it and nothing was going to come between her and graduating successfully from that place they named college.

“I am sure of that darling. But we have a lot of work in the next two days. We are going to make sure that you are all set and ready with everything that you need from here so that you don’t get the cold to get you. After all, it is a lot colder than here and the summers are shorter, you know?” asked Violet as she started looking at the clothing her daughter owned but rarely wore any of them except the weird black ensemble which she liked to wear most of the time. Black jeans, black top, black hoodie, black crop-top and everything was black.

Eloa did not stop her mother from saying all this. After all she was not going to hear this any longer after a couple of days.