Chapter 3 Claustrophobia
1154 Words
Taking a deep breath, Beth stepped on the stairs.
Walking closer to the door, she heard Lily’s voice.
“Auntie, mom, why hasn’t Beth arrived? I bet she must plan to make troubles tomorrow.”
“How dare she! I’ll teach her a lesson.”
“Lily, relax, even if she wants to make troubles, there is no threat. Michael is smart, and you are pretty and cute. He will choose you.”
Bang! Beth pushed the door and walked in.
There was a weird silence in the living room. Beth walked through those women and headed toward the second floor.
“Beth Gage! Stop!” Lily ran to her. “Michael is mine! You are out of his league. Stay away from him tomorrow! Understand?”
Beth stopped and looked at her with a sneer, “Okay, Michael is yours. And do make sure that he can’t find out that those handsome men in your college are also yours. Besides, I’ll offer you a sweet suggestion, do not see him in your expression now. Too ugly.”
Lily’s red turned red. She took out a small mirror at once to check her face.
“Beth! Behave yourself!” Tracy, Beth’s mother, shouted angrily, “I am your mother!”
“Mother? You mean the mother who kicked me out of this house and asked me to make a living by myself two years ago?” sneered Beth.
“Beth, you are so grumpy. If you irritate Michael Stone, you will suffer. He is not the right one for you,” Claire Morgan Curtis sighed, “That is why we ask Lily to take the place. We do that all for you…”
“Well, it seems that I must say thank you,” Beth sneered, “Lily is your daughter. If Michael Stone is what you said, you pushed her to marry him. So heart-warming! You are indeed a nice sister of my mother, aren’t you?”
“Beth Gage!” Tracy was yelling.
Beth ignored her and turned around to the second floor.
Her aunt, Claire, and her cousin, Lily, were the worst nightmare. They lived in the Gages’ house and paid nothing. The only thing they did was making Beth’s relationship with her parents get worse.
Lily needed a comparison to show she was better. And Beth who was the same age, was the best choice for a stepping stone.
Claire acted as a sweet aunt. But she wasn’t. Actually, she was much more complicated. And how could a child make through those tricks? Soon, Beth’s parents thought she was mischievous and gave up on her, even though she was their daughter.
Later, whenever there were conflicts between Lily and Beth, all people in this house would blame Beth. Beth’s grandfather would only tell her to be silent so that the peace of the family would not be broken, even though he knew that she wasn’t the one should be blamed. No one cared about what really happened.
If that was all they did, Beth could bear it as she had been used to this. But what had happened two years ago made her realize how cruel her families were. And she would never forgive them.
Approaching the door of her grandfather’s room, Beth took a breath. She knocked the door and then walked in.
“Beth, come here.” Larry Gage waved at her.
“Grandpa.” Beth walked closer and sat down before him.
“How’s it going?”
Beth replied, “Better than days at home. Grandpa, do you feel better now?”
“Yes…” Larry avoided looking at Beth’s eyes. He showed a small box beside his hand. “It’s your birthday gift. Open it.”
Meeting Larry’s eyes, Beth opened the box. It was a small bottle of perfume.
“I don’t know what a young lady would like. I just took my chance. Beth, smell it and tell me if you like it.” Larry lowered his head and tried to hide his guilty look.
Beth sprayed the perfume on her wrist and smell it. She was overwhelmed with a strange smell and then all she felt was dizziness.
Another lie... Beth felt ridiculous.
Before she fainted and shut her eyes, Beth heard Larry, her dear grandfather, uttered with guilty.
“I’m sorry, Beth. But we have to make sure there is no threat at all.”
Funny… No threat at all… That was why he lied to her and pretended to be sick.
Beth was heartbroken. Her grandfather was the only left one she cared in this family. And now, she was betrayed by him.
The next thing Beth remembered was waking up in the dark. Not knowing what time it was, Beth massaged her head and looked around. A must smell hinted her that maybe she was in the warehouse.
Figuring out where she was only led her to endless fear. Beth held herself tight hopelessly.
Beth suffered from claustrophobia since she was eight years old.
At that time, no matter how Beth begged and apologized, her father insisted on locking her in a closet.
In that dark and small space, Beth cried and begged. She banged the door again and again and prayed they would let her out.
Time passed. Her voice got hoarse and she was exhausted. Still, no one came to rescue her.
As an eight-year-old kid, she was locked there for 24 hours.
When she thought she might die there, she heard voices familiar to her.
Those were her dear mother and her auntie.
“She survived! What a luck!” said beloved mother.
“Tracy, be patient. We have lots of time…” said her auntie.
It was the first time that Beth felt heartbroken and hopeless. And she was eight.
She had never figured out what was wrong and why they did that… It turned out that her biggest mistake was being alive instead of being dead as they wished.
Beth knew none of her families liked her all the time. And that dislike was blind and for no reason. No matter what she did, they just didn’t like it.
And the truth was they wanted her to be dead.
Little Beth felt her heart was broken into pieces. She felt endless pain. And it seemed that countless monsters were eating her up…
Why would they do such things to her? Beth was burst into tears.
The boundary between memory and reality became vague. Darkness in the warehouse seemed to split into several monsters rushed to her with flaming eyes and gaping jaws.
“Help! Let me out! Let me out!” Beth screamed. She waved her arms constantly with all her strength.
She must get out of this horrible place!
A spark flew in the corner. Stuck in the fear, Beth didn’t notice it until the spark turned to flames and the warehouse was burning…
- Writer
