Kristal Anderson
What had my life come to.
I felt like an intruder in my own body, in my own mind, in my house. The house that watched me grow suddenly felt so foreign, so cold, the four walls of my room that once brought me so much comfort now served as nothing more than a reminder of my current situation.
Everything felt so confusing, so disorienting, it felt like a blindfold had been lifted from my eyes and I was now seeing the real world for the first time.
I no longer felt safe in my own home, I no longer felt safe with what I thought was my guardian angel.
She's just trying to protect you
A voice inside me tried to reason and maybe it was right, maybe I was overreacting, maybe this is what any mother figure would do to protect her child. Those were both very viable options and under any other circumstance they would have been enough to calm my nerves, to put me on my best behavior, to make me do everything in my power to lessen her worries.
But not this time. This time that uneasiness was stronger than my will to obey, stronger than every other emotion. Before another thought I was out of my bedroom, strutting towards the stairs but I stopped myself going over my initial plan once again.
Something told me that if I just went up to her and confronted her about taking my things she still wouldn't let up, I had to be smarter now.
If I wanted my phone back, I would have to get it myself.
From my spot in the middle of the stairs I could hear the sound of dishes cluttering which confirmed that she was downstairs, giving me the perfect opportunity to look for it myself. With that in mind, I walked back up the stairs and down the long hallway making sure to keep my steps as light as possible.
When I reached the door to her room I feel a tightness in my chest, doing this part a turning point in my relationship with Aunt Jenna, I was doing something that I would never even think of doing in the past. I was about to invade the privacy of the woman I once trusted with my whole heart, and I knew that after this I would never be able to look at her the same.
My sweaty hand grew shaky as I reached for the handle, when my hand finly wrapped around the cold hand I had to shut my eyes and breathe deeply in an attempt to calm myself. But the opposite happened, instead of me regaining control of my breathing, memories from my childhood played right before my eyes.
In this very home, aunt Jenna getting the first laugh out of me after that tragic night, her comforting me on the days where the grief hit me out of nowhere. Her face flashed before my very eyes and I was reminded of all that she had done for me, all she sacrificed, she put a roof over my head, food on the table, paid for my education at a time where I was all alone, I had lost everything.
How could I be so ungrateful.
What the fuck was I doing?
I stripped my hand from the door handle feeling ashamed of myself for ever even thinking about doing that, for being so ungrateful, so selfish. I turned and paced back to my bedroom door a lump already crawling it's way up my throat.
But before I could reach my bedroom door her words from last night echoed in my ears, then uncle Greg's.
This was a new side of her, this was not the Aunt Jenna from my childhood memories.
And maybe it was time that I changed too.
I was back at her door before I had the chance to overthink it, I turned the handle and walked in shutting the door lightly behind me. I stood with my back against the door and looked around the room.
If I were aunt Jenna, where would I hide my things? Maybe it would be somewhere really obvious because to her, I was still that obedient girl who wouldn't dare go near her room because she didn't want to be inconvenient.
With that theory in mind, I began to look. Her nightstands were my first victims, I started with the nightstand on the left side of her. Nothing out of the ordinary; a few pill bottles with what seemed to be sleeping pills, a Bible and what seemed to be a journal so I moved on to the next nightstand.
The sound of my thumping heart filled my ears making it hard for me to take in the sounds in my surroundings, which only put me more on edge because it felt like she could walk in any moment without me noticing. Thinking about her reaction sent a shiver down my spine.
The right nightstand was completely empty to me surprise which meant that I would have to spend more time here than I originally anticipated, and something told me that time was ticking.
I had to work quicker, wherever my eyes I landed I looked no matter how improbable it looked. I looked behind her nightstands, under her bed, under her mattress making sure to put everything back in it's place neatly.
I found nothing.
I moved over to her vanity, looking in the little drawer to find nothing but makeup, I even looked in her jewelry box finding nothing aside from the jewelry she wore on the day to day bases.
So I continued my search, my eyes snapping in the direction of the door every once in a while. Not knowing where else to look, I moved on to her wardrobe pulling the first two doors open.
I was met with nothing but clothes hung on hangers, I almost gave up right there and then but something told me to push the clothes aside to see what was behind them. I was met with three cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other, the largest one on the bottom.
It had to be here. It had to.
I picked up the first box, the smallest one and brought it out placing it down on her bed. When I lifted the lid, I was met with jewelry so much jewelry. Jewelry that I had never seen aunt Jenna wear, jewelry that seemed to be straight out of a world renowned fashion magazine, jewelry that middle class citizens like her and I could only dream of owning.
How the hell did she get all this?
My body broke into a cold sweat. Who had I been living with? Sure we never struggled financially but aunt Jenna had never given me the impression that she would own such expensive things. Where was all this money coming from?
I had to push that thought aside because my time was limited, I didn't have the luxury to ponder over this discovery. I had to move on to the next box.
When I opened the second box, one slightly larger than the first I audible gasped. The second box was filled with stacks of money.
What the fuck.
My mind went to a thought I'd had before; she was involved in dangerous and possibly illegal activities. At least that was the most reasonable thing I could come up with. That would explain the excursions she went on every once in a while.
I couldn't bring myself to touch it or look at it any longer so I quickly shut it and moved on to the third and final box. Though large the last box wasn't that heavy which allowed me to get out of her wardrobe and onto her bed.
Opening the box I was met with an insane amount of white envelopes, I reached inside and tug through it a little maybe she had stuffed my things under all that. But the white envelopes went on for as far as my hand could feel.
Just as I was about to close the box and accept my defeat, I caught a glimpse of something on one of the envelopes.
My name.
To: My dearest Kristal
My heart stopped beating when my eyes moved just a little lower.
From: Dad
What. . .
I picked up the envelope, it was a letter from my dad. She received a letter from my dad.
After seeing the first I moved frantically through the box picking up envelope after envelope, all of which had the same exact thing on the cover.
To: My dearest Kristal
From: Dad
Along with the dates on the top right corner, the letters dated back all the way to a few days after my mother's murder and some were as recent as last week.
All these years my father had been writing to me letters and she kept it, she kept every single one of them from me. She didn't even give me the chance to choose if I wanted to read them or not, if I wanted to respond.
Sixteen whole fucking years of feeling unloved and forgotten by my father all while he had been writing to me for sixteen years.
Something broke inside me, my heart ached so intensely that my legs trembled and threatened to give in on me. My eyes stung with the familiar burn of incoming tears.
What other aspects of my life had she been controlling unbeknownst to me?
The thought sent a wave of goosebumps through me.
Footsteps sounded off in the distance and it took me a few seconds that it was getting closer and closer with everything passing millisecond.
She was coming.
The sound of her voice missed in with the sound of her footsteps, it sounded like she was on the phone but I couldn't make out what she was saying nor did I have time to as I scrambled to get the three boxes back in her wardrobe. But before I shut the doors, I climbed inside unable to think of another hiding spot. I shut the doors and managed to stuff myself in between her clothes just in time for her to open her bedroom door.
As soon as I was inside I realized how dumb of a hiding spot this was, if she wanted to change I was fucked.
"So you're really not gonna give me a raise?" There that voice was again, that voice that was nothing short of bone-chilling. That voice that she used on me last night, one that the Aunt Jenna from my memories would never even think of using.
From the small gap between the two doors I managed to get a glimpse of the outside, I watched her settled onto her vanity stool. She was still in her pijamas with a red fluffy robe on top of it, a sheet face mask over her face.
My breaths came in sharp staggered inhales, too many emotions rushing over me for me to regain control over it I just prayed that all these clothes were doing something to muffle the sound.
She placed her phone down on the vanity and began peeling the mask off her skin.
"A raise for what?" A male voice filled the room, the voice was deep and held a certain level of authority.
That voice. . .it sounded so familiar.
"What the fuck do you mean a raise for what, a raise for all the shit you put me through. There is nothing easy about this job,"
"Yeah cause living in a nice neighborhood with all expenses paid is so hard, give me a fucking break Jenna," Sarcasm was laced in his words.
That voice. . .
That was until I heard a voice, a voice that was just as deep as Aiden's but much more croaky.
"Iris?" I whipped my head back so quickly I could have easily snapped my neck. I stared in complete shock at the man who Aiden had completely dismissed when showing me his family's photo album.
I stared in complete shock at the man who had just called me by my mother's name.
Robert. Robert Vasilakis.
That voice was unmistakable.
What the hell was he doing calling Aunt Jenna.
"That's not the hard part and you know it, you try taking care of a girl who lost both her parents on the same night,"
Me. . . she was talking about me.
"Well that's why I pay and you know damn well I pay you more than you deserve,"
What. . .
She let out a scoff, "You know what Robert, screw you. I know what this job entails and I know that I'm being severely underpaid so if you refuse to give me a raise I'llâ"
"You, will continue to do your job as a loving protective aunt and I will continue to pay you accordingly, end of story,"
A familiar wetness soaked my cheeks, I was crying but I couldn't feel a thing. I just felt numb.
Lies.
It was all a lie.
My whole entire life was a lie.
Nothing was real.
I'd been living an illusion created by Robert Vasilakis.
Just then something clicked in my brain; uncle Greg's words, her supposed proximity to my mother's murderer, the painting in his office, my first encounter with him. After hearing their interaction, I had not a shadow of a doubt in my mind.
I'd been living an illusion created by my mother's murderer.
That sadness turned to anger, the tears rolling down my cheeks felt like fuel that made that fire grow brighter inside me. I was seeing red.
My hands reached for the two doors and I pushed them aside, the sound alerting aunt Jenna who already had her widened gaze in my direction as I climbed out of her wardrobe.
"How fucking dare you?" The venom in my voice could be felt from a mile away.
Oop cats out of the bagð¤
Thoughts? Prayers?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter my loves and thank you thank you thank you for 3k <3
P.s I can assure you all that they're not siblings lol I wouldn't do that to you guys, plus I hate that trope <3.