Chapter 10-Gloria Lee

2 weeks later…

I was allowed a leave to visit Daniel's sister Isabella along with Daniel, Mabel, and Zachary. We arrived at his family villa with our bags and settled down.

"Where's your sister?" I asked Daniel. He silently led us to what seemed like the basement of the house.

"She hates sunlight so we moved her room down here," he explained. "You don't have to cure her, you know. If you can't do it, it's fine."

He was doubting me now. I ignored him and entered the room as he opened the door. There was a pale and skinny girl sitting on her bed staring at the mirror in her hands. She heard us and turned her head to see who it was.

"Get out! I don't want to see anyone! Get out!" Isabella threw the mirror at us. Luckily, her aim was weak and off so it didn't hit us. She started thrashing in her bed and throwing whatever she could at us. Turns out, there wasn't much left for her to throw. Scattered all over the ground was broken glass and dirt from plants that were in her room. Amidst the chaos, I studied Isabella.

Within a few seconds, I determined what I had to do.

"Get out. I need to talk to Isabella alone." I shooed them out the door until it was just us two.

"Get out! I don't want to see anymore people," Isabella demanded. I ignored her and grabbed a stool and sat by her. She glared at me and raised her hand, ready to slap me at any time.

"A few years ago, I was like you. I hated society and all the people in it." Isabella lowered her hands. She sat silently and waited for me to continue.

"Back in college, there was this one girl who wanted to kill me because she had a crush on one of my friends. No matter how many times she asked, I wouldn't give her his number. She then went to the dude but he told her that he had a crush on me. Because of this, this girl was very angry.

She was from a very rich family so it was easy for her to eliminate someone from the world without a trace. However, she didn't know that my family had more power than her so I was able to live. Unfortunately, those events were very traumatic for me.

I was kidnapped and was put in an abandoned shed in the woods. I was left there for days with only a dirty bowl with water. The girl finally came. She talked to me before she let her men do the work. They beat me and cut me up. I was nearly raped before I was rescued by my friends and family. I had to stay in the hospital for a year to heal my body."

"Was it that serious?" Isabella asked. Beneath her tired and dead eyes, I could see the sympathy and purity it held. I nodded and continued telling my story.

"Even then, I couldn't heal my mental state. I had a serious trauma when I saw her. I would just collapse on the ground and stay in the hospital for weeks and wake up with no memory of what happened in the beginning. The doctors told us that my mental self had gone to a safe haven and just completely shut off all my senses. It's gotten better now but I could never be the same as I was," I finished. I put a hand over hers.

I heard from your brother about your condition. Because I've been where you are, I know what you want people to understand," I said.

"What do I want people to say?"

"This world is a f*cking sh*tty place. You don't deserve this. I don't deserve this. So why is it that we suffer for what Laura did? Why is it that she gets off no hurting even though her family is below ours? Why is it that I get labeled as crazy because of her?" My words didn't really answer her question but I had a rough idea of what she wanted to say. I watched as Isabella broke down in tears.

I waited for her to stop crying and tell me her story.

"How did you know it was Laura?" she asked.

"Because you only started having problems after those two were engaged. I'm guessing that you were against and Laura hated you for that." After that, Isabella told me her story.

She faced similar punishments like I did. However, her family didn't even know about it. Laura brought Isabella back home and told them that she found her on the streets like that. Because of that, Isabella had been misunderstood by her family the whole time.

"You know what would help?" I asked. She shook her head.

"If you returned back to civilization. You're in this condition because of Laura. You need to show her that she will not ruin your entire life. Mabel and I'll help you with this," I stated.

"Who's Mabel?"

"She's my best friend. She was with me throughout college and was the reason why I survived and got past it. I think that she'll know what happened to you as well because our symptoms looked very similar. Is it okay if she joins us?"

"It's okay but no boys. My brother is too stubborn and I don't trust his friend yet." I laughed at her answer. It was true that her brother was stubborn and Zachary didn't give off a trustworthy vibe.

"All right." I called in Mabel and explained the situation to her. I didn't bother explaining it to the men, however. I felt that I would waste my breath so I just let them wonder what was happening. I rummaged through their kitchen and found all the ingredients for a hotpot dinner. Mabel found some extra clothes and was somehow able to get a brand new phone.

We entered Isabella's room, ready to spend the night helping her regain her soul.