Chapter 4 - Scarlet <Re-edit>

She froze and glanced up at her father who sat 3 seats away from her on the other side of the long table, the stern and disapproval look on his eyes made him seem cold and unreachable as if he was miles away from her instead of just a few feet. She was weighing whether she should speak first or waited until her father called her name again.

"Good evening, father." She finally said grimly, looking him in the eyes.

Her father sat there and weighed her words as if seeing if there was an ounce of respect in them. She waited for her father to speak again, after a few moments he finally cleared his throat once more, placing his hands on the table in front of him.

"Seeing that you are so well behaved today, I will let you tell me what happened." He said as he clasped his hands together as if he was making a deal in his company. She repeated what her father said to her in her head and frowned, tell him what happened? Whatever in the world did he mean? She leaned forward from her chair and tapped her fingers lightly on the table, an old habit of hers.

"I...went to my aunt's after class, we went to the mall to shop for the holiday...and she drove me home." She finished with a nod. But when she looked up at her father, his eyes seemed as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. She leaned back a little bit and ran what she said again in her head. There was nothing wrong with what she said, but yet why did her father look like he wanted to skin her alive? She caught a smile from her step-mother to the right as she took a handkerchief out of nowhere and started to dab her eyes. It was there she made a bit of a connection, her step-mother must have said something to her father while she was still in her room earlier. But her connection seems to be a bit too late as her attention was drawn back when her father slammed his hand on the table making her flinch and the food bounce. She was at loss for words as her father started shouting words that she did not quite understand.

"I've given you a chance to explain yourself and this is what you have to say? To show me?!" Her father's voice was boiling like a pot of hot water, she could almost see smoke rising from his ears. She wanted to say something to defend herself but yet she did not know where to begin or even how to. When she finally figured out a few words she could say, she opened her mouth but was only cut off by her step-mother who cried out like she lost a limb.

"Dear, I don't blame her. I have been a terrible mother, I shouldn't have bothered her when she was feeling annoyed." Her step-mother said grabbing hold of her father's arm gently while lightly dabbing her eyes with her pink handkerchief. Her father then turns to his beloved wife who looked weak and helpless while holding his arm, dabbing away at the tears that magically appeared. He held her shoulder with both hands while staring into her blue eyes. His voice softened as he tried to comfort her.

"You stay out of this dear, I know you always blame everything on yourself but she has taken it too far every time, I can't just leave her be." Her father replied softly. "If I keep letting her off the hook, next time she'll be turning the whole family inside out and kicking me out of the house." Her father said the last part with spitting anger as he directs his eyes back on her again.

She was beginning to think this is some kind of a joke between the two as her eyes went back and forth between them, again she was lost for words as she figures out just what in the world is going on and what kind of a show is going on. She glanced over to her younger step-brother Kei who has his head down, eyeing the food as if he just wanted to eat and get out of here as fast as he can. She was pretty sure he too knew what his mother was getting at, but was unable to watch such a put-up show. She watched as her father sat her step-mother down on the chair again with such gentle movements, her father then straightened his vest and made his way over to where she sat step by step as if it was a grand walkway.

"Are you done watching the show young lady?" Her father questioned. "Are you satisfied? Happy? Enjoying yourself?"

"With?..." She questioned hesitantly.

It seemed as if her single word had almost killed her father as he moved towards her step-mother with such speed, she nearly forgot he was in his 50s. He turned his wife's right side of the face towards her, revealing a huge red area on her cheek as if someone had slapped her, her father quickly lifted his wife's arm up as well showing the bruises that weren't there when she had spoken to her earlier in the stairway. After seeing the two and two and the show, she pieced them together quickly as to why her father was so mad at her. Her step-mother knew she wasn't going to say anything about those because she too didn't know of them. Her eyes darkened and so did her expression, her father must have noticed the change for he charged to her side again.

"I gave you a chance to explain yourself and instead you're mocking me and your mother with your silly talk?!" He shouted.

"Would you believe me if I said I had no idea what you were talking about before?" She questioned leaning her chin on her hand on the table. Her father pointed his finger at her shakily with anger, she thought he was going to explode but instead he took a few steps back with his hand over his heart as if it hurts to breathe so hard. She stood up reaching for her father's arm, knowing that he had a bad heart condition and should not be angry easily. But he slapped her hand away hard, she stood there in shock as her step-mother rushed over to his side and patted his back while rubbing his arms. The slap made her hand throb and quiver in pain. The last time her father ever slapped her was when she was 5, and from then he had promised her that he wouldn't do such a thing anymore. Even though he was in his 50s his strength still surpasses her, she clutched her quivering hand and brought it down to her side.

"I don't need a daughter like you to worry about me." He said almost out of breath. Seeing that he was in such conditions she bit her lips, holding herself back from arguing. She merely sighed and sat back down onto the wooden chair.

"I know, in your life, as long as you have your wife and your son there's nothing else you need more. Everything else is extra." She replied.

She saw Kei flinch when she said such words, he didn't want to be brought into this and she knew by saying this she was treating him unfairly. But there was no one else to direct her anger at right now. Her step-brother looked like he was sick to his stomach and didn't meet any of their eyes, but at the same time, he seemed like he wanted to help calm things down but didn't know which side to pick.

"Is that how you should talk to your father?!" Her father shouted, stepping towards her.

She took a deep breath and turned to face her father with blazing eyes.

"You always believe her and everything she says, but you never believe me." She retorted, bringing the subject back at hand. "What I told you before is honestly all I have done. I came back went to my room, is it a sin to be in this house?!" She heard the anger rising from her tone. If she got any angrier she knew she would start crying, showing tears to them would only show that she was weak.

"It's one thing if you admitted it willingly! But it's another thing if you lie about it and act smug!" Her father's voice filled the whole house, it even echoed a little as no one said anything after that. Kei, who had his eyes wide open staring at his father as if he was seeing a new side to him. She swallowed feeling the tension between them thickened.

"Why don't you believe me? If mother were here she would have talked things-"

Before she finished her statement, her father's hand found its way across her face. Her neck snapped to the side followed by the stinging pain on her cheek and her right ear ringing with vibrations. Besides the pain on her face she also tasted blood on her lips, she must have bitten her lips by accident.

"DAD!" Kei shouted, getting out of his chair in a flash.

With quivering hands, she brought her hand onto her right side of the face. She felt the heat with her hand and every touch hurt. With wide eyes, she slowly turned back to her father.

"You're not allowed to speak of your mother! Look at you right now! If she was alive she would have been disappointed!" Her father continued shouting, if it wasn't for Kei standing between them and was kind of holding him back, he might have just lunged at her there.

"Mother! Stop this, this is your mess! Clean it up!" Kei hissed. His mother gave him a death glare telling him to shut his mouth before he caused more trouble for her.

She brought her hand down from her face. She laughed a little while she felt a bit of tear sliding from her eyes. She stepped towards her father with a sad smile, her father was startled at her sudden reaction and seemed to have realized what he had done, the damage he had caused.

"Do you ever wonder why I don't cry?" She asked, taking another step towards him.

"Do you ever wonder why I'm not home often?"

"Do you ever wonder why I grew to be like this?"

"Did you...ever...care?"

The emotion in her father's eyes was a mess, she couldn't tell if he was beginning to understand things or was he just thinking of the faults in her words. He snapped out of his thought when she reached for her step-mother and pulled the mother forward by the hair.

"SCARLET!" She heard her father shout.

She only smiled and delivered a hard slap over her right face, while Kei was still kind of blocking the way of her father rushing at her, she took the chance to give the woman a beating. She slapped her again on the left, making her neck snap to the right.

"That one was for lying." She hissed.

Her stepmother pointed a quivering finger at her while also tumbling as if it was the first time for her to act in such a way. She didn't wait for her step-mother to say anything before delivering another slap over her right face.

"That one was for insulting my aunt."

Another slap to the left.

"That one was for all those years of your scheme."

Another slap to the right.

"And that one." She said a bit out of breath. "Is for being a b*tch." She finished. It was then when she finished that her father snapped out of his shock and rushed to his wife's side, who had collapsed onto her knees while crying and not daring to touch her swollen face. She stepped out of her father's way, she knew he would have shoved her to the side while he examined his wife's red face. She hid her own stinging hand behind her back, if she had known the woman's face was this hard she would have come prepared with gloves. She glanced over to Kei, who stood there just as shocked at what happened.

"I own you one." She said, catching his attention. He looked at her with wide brown eyes and said nothing. While her father was still over his wife and Kei still stood there shocked, she took it that it was her time to leave them alone. She stepped out of the kitchen and walked firmly towards the front door. She didn't hear any of them cry out to her, so she firmly commanded herself not to cry.

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Outside, the night was cold. She didn't bring anything with her besides whatever was in her pocket from earlier, which was her phone and some extra cash. She had walked streets away from her home and was now back on the busy streets filled with shops and holiday lights. People who walked by in the clear light of the street lamp or the shop's dazzling lights would stare at her bleeding lips. She had wiped the blood earlier, but it was still a visible red color compared to the rest of her lips. She was glad that there were still huge crowds on the streets even though it was 9 at night. Now that she was out on the streets, she wasn't exactly homeless. She was pretty sure if she had gone to her aunt's place not far from here and explained things to her, her aunt would have understood and comforted her. But right now she didn't want anyone's comfort, she just wanted to be alone for a bit and spend a bit of time thinking.

To warm herself up, she brought a cup of hot chocolate from a passing cafe. She sat on an empty bench near a bus stop, it was the only place to sit other than on the dirty sidewalk. She rubbed her hand on the side of the cup, taking small sips from it. She didn't like these types of drinks, but it was the one drink that matched how she felt right now as she watches families walk by. She was partially drawn to the younger children who walked either with their parents or large families and friends. It brought a special person to her mind, someone who she hadn't visit for a long time.

With the spare change she had left, she brought some dandelion flowers from a flower shop. The type of flowers she liked in the past. She must have stood out in the crowd as she made her way along the streets with a warped bundle of flowers. She walked for a very long time before reaching a large gate, behind the gate were gravestones. Such a sad place was not fit for the joyful city as its location was quite far. The gate was still wide open, usually, it would have been closed by now but she guessed that it was closing in on the holiday and so it will be open until very late, allowing people to still visit. She stepped through the unkept pathway, and the untamed grass until she reached the single gravestone that stood out to her. To others, it would be just any other gravestones, but there, laid an important person in her life.

A sad smile appeared on her face as she stumbled her way over, through the uneven ground. She gently placed the flowers down before it, she squatted down and reached out her fingers to trace her mother's name carved into the stone. Hannah, it spelled. She felt a drop of tears slipped from her eyes and fell down, splattering onto the dry gravestone. She quickly wiped it away, after not visiting her mother for 5 months, she didn't want her mother to think she was sad. She took a seat beside the gravestone, leaning on it a little for support.

Most people would have been too scared to visit any grave during the night, it was the influence of horror movies. But there next to her mother's grave, she felt all her worries gone. The fear, the pain, and the sadness. She didn't jump at any sudden sounds like the branches of the trees creaking to the blowing wind, nor did she jump when she heard the rustle of leaves. To here, right there beside her mother was the calmest place on earth.

She wasn't sure how but she must have dozed off from listening to the wind, she was woken up by an old man who stared at her strangely. She sat up rubbing her eyes, clearly her sight. The old man wore an old woven cap and a puff vest. He had messy white hair and a white beard.

"Young lady, it's now safe to sleep out here, you might get robbed." The old man said, his voice soft but a bit dry. She suddenly remembered where she was and quickly got to her feet.

"Sorry sir, I must have dozed off without knowing." She replied.

"Oh, no worries..." The old man said while staring at her with a worried glance. She didn't know what else to do so she bid the old man goodnight and said she was leaving.

"Does it hurt?" The old man suddenly asked, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around a bit confused and still sleepy.

"I'm sorry?" Was all she managed with a questioning look. The older man then pointed to her lips; her hand flew to her lips, she had completely forgotten about it. She smiled and shook her head.

"It's ok, just a small injury." She replied, turning around to continue her way out of the place. She had only taken a small step when she heard the old man speak again.

"Longing for the dead won't help someone move on. Don't let sorrow drown you."

She paused and turned back to glance at him, but the old man was not facing her. He was already walking away while carrying a broom that she hadn't noticed earlier. Wordlessly, she made her way out through the gate and back onto the busy streets. Glancing at her phone, it was already past 11 but yet there were still enough people out on the street. A lot of the shops were still open, she considered calling it a day and decided to call her aunt, but she felt a small drizzle of rain suddenly pouring from the dark sky. This weather change didn't catch any of the people on the street by surprise as they all opened up their umbrellas and went about their shopping as nothing had happened. She could only cover herself with her hands as the downpour became more of a storm than a drizzle.

Finally, she found an extended cover from the roof of a small shop. She quickly got under it, squeezing the water from the sleeves of her hoodie. She watched the people on the street quickly head for home with their umbrella, and those unfortunate like her, who were caught off guard by the rain can only run for cover with their hands over their head. She watched cars racing by, splashing puddles of water onto the sidewalk. She felt the droplet of rain dripping from her wavy red hair onto her already soaked hoodie, she felt the wind cutting through her hoodie. The wind which had felt like a breeze before, now felt as if it was solid ice that slammed into her. She rubbed her arm feeling her temperature drop. A passing loud ambulance caught everyone's attention, there was bound to be some kind of trouble in this kind of storm.

She took out her phone, wanting to call for her aunt to come to pick her up but only to realize the rain must have either damaged her phone or the batteries died out, for she couldn't turn on her phone no matter what. She groaned as she stuffed her phone back into the pocket of jeans with frustration. Nothing was going her way. She quickly caught a man who was passing back with his umbrella and asked if he could lend her his phone just for a call. The man quickly shook his head and raced off like she was about to rob him or something. She had expected these kinds of reactions, like who would lend their phone to a stranger? Who knows, what if someone just runs off with it.

She tried asking others that passed her, but with no luck. They all either said no or simply shook their head and hurried off. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, thinking that she would have to probably stay out here for the night if no one was willing to lend her their phone.

"Excuse me, can I please lend your phone for just a moment?" She tried again at a passing couple. They glanced at her uncertainty, it seems as if they were going to reject her like all others.

"I just need it for a call, please I'll stand here I won't go anywhere." She added.

After a moment of consideration, they handed her a phone which she took with many thanks. She quickly dialed her aunt's phone number and waited for her to pick up the call. The call went on and on but no one picked up, frowning she called her aunt again, this time making sure the phone number was right. Again no one replied. Could it be that she was already asleep? She returned the phone after a few more tries and thanked them. It was already 11:20 pm as the couple had told her before they left. She stood under the shop again; if her aunt is asleep then she would have to run all the way to her aunt's house, it wasn't far it was only about 10 min from here if she ran. She glanced up at the rain again, the rain did not show any sign of letting up, only pouring down harder. Having no change left after buying the flowers, she pulled the hood of her hoodie on and ran out into the rain with her hand overhead.

She gave up the thought of running after 2 min, for it was just too cold. The wind that bit at her skin and the heavy downpour of the rain was not helping. She took every chance she got to go under a shop and stay out of the rain for a bit, she was pretty sure she was going to come down with a cold after tonight. Her attention was drawn when she noticed a crowd coming from across the street up ahead. The ambulance was parked just right over, she rubbed her hands together and pulled the sleeves of her hoodie over them as best as she could. Using her hand to cover again and speed walk along the street, only to pause when she heard some shootings in the crowd. She threw them a glance, they were all gathered there even with the heavy rain. She turned her attention away from the crowd but only to glance by with wide eyes of fear. Among the crowd, she thought she had seen red hairs, hairs very much like her own. A horrible feeling settled itself on her stomach. Her hands dropped from her shield, her head, she stood frozen there for what felt like the longest time. She finally mustered the courage to take small steps towards the crowd. They parted ways for her as she shoved and squeezed past them, it seemed to annoy them as they gave her grunts and muttered something that was drowned out by the rain.

She drew even more attention to herself as she stepped beyond the point that was allowed. Her eyes fell on the cars that were crushed together, then to the large wooden pole that had fallen due to the storm, crushing one of the cars. Her eyes shakily went towards the bodies that laid on the flooding ground in a pool of blood that mixed with the rain. She stumbled forward when she saw her familiar figure that laid among them, her aunt was bleeding like a waterfall. Her skin is as pale as snow. The blood covered her face, yet she was still so beautiful as if she was sleeping. Nearby, an officer who was on his phone noticed her fast approach to the dangerous scene.

"HEY! STAY BACK! IT'S DANGEROUS!" He shouted, rushing towards her. He held her back by force. If she didn't feel numb from the shock, and cold from the rain she would have felt the pain from her arm as the officer held her back. She felt as if the world had crushed the air out of her lung, there was only her and her aunt before her, everything else was pitch black. She only saw the blood that left her aunt and felt helpless as she reached for her but was unable to get to her. Just as quick as the world had crushed the air out of her, it had given it back to her just as fast. She found herself hearing the sound of rain and mutters from the crowd. She heard the officers yelling for back up, she heard herself screaming and crying out. She managed to get words across her lips.

"PLEASE! LET ME SEE HER, LET ME SEE MY AUNT!" She begged over the wind and the storm. She could barely see, she had no idea if it was the rain that covered her sight or it was her tears, or it could have been both.

"Let her through." She heard a deep voice said, the officer let her go as she stumbled towards her aunt. She fell on her knees, her hand hovering over her aunt, unsure and scared that if she touched her aunt, her aunt would shatter and disappear. She finally grabbed hold of her aunt's hand that was ice cold to the touch. Colder than hers, she quickly lifted her aunt's body off the cold hard ground and rested her aunt's upper body in her arms. She desperately wiped the blood from her aunt's facing begging for her aunt to just open her eyes. She only smeared the blood on her aunt's face more. She felt the pity look from the onlooking crowd and the mutters and whispers. She held her aunt in her arms and looked at the officers.

"Please I'm begging you, save her!" She pleaded.

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"Wow, I feel bad for Scarlet," Raven muttered.

"Hehe...indeed she's been through a lot. She could have been such a strong person, but yet she's a mess because of her family." His Granny chuckled. "Dear can you go and get my knitting tools from my rocking chair by the fireplace?"

Raven nodded and hop off his chair making his way over to the wooden rocking chair that was positioned right to the side of the large fireplace. The boy grabbed the woven basket of wool and yarn and struggled to carry it over to his Granny.

"Thank you, dear, the spring is coming I must make you some new clothes." His Granny said placing the basket on her lap, getting right to work with it.

"So what happened to Scarlet's aunt? Is she going to die?" Raven asked sadness in his eyes and voice. He climbed back into his chair.

"You seem to take quite a liking of her aunt." His Granny said laughing.

"Well, of course, she's like a hero. I don't want her to die." Raven said, his small cheeks puffing up a little from sadness and anger. It only made his Granny chuckled.

"Wel..."