Chapter 1

CLAIRE'S POV

"Get down here young lady! That is no way to talk to your father."

I abruptly turn back to face her.She did not just call him my father.

"He's not my father, mom...hell, I don't even know when you will realize that he's just some sorry man who's only after you for the shit load of money dad left you. I tell you once he gets the money, that's a bye bye for Mr. Sweater vests here."

And with that I run upstairs banging the door to my room.

I hear footsteps approaching my room so I quickly lock the door. I'm not in the mood for her tantrums today.

"Claire!"

"Claire!"

"You better open up this door this instant or I swear to God I will break it down and drag you to apologise.Gabriel has been nothing but nice to you...to us, since he became a part of our lives and all I ask of you is to accept him, is that so hard?"

I'm not going to answer her, I could hear her sobs now and a part of me almost felt sorry for her, that's just it, I was almost sorry. I wasn't going to apologise to him, hell, I needed that apology myself.

I turn up the volume on my headphones and begin listening to music. I just want to feel at peace and music just does it for me.

I stay that way for a while, curled up in a corner of my room, headphones blaring music in my ears while I keep on thinking about my dad. He is dead alright, but I keep feeling him close to me, almost like a guardian angel.It was always just the two of us and I smiled to myself knowing that he is always here with me.

***

Waking up what seems like hours later, the day is now dark and I'm pretty sure my mum has given up on me apologising because the whole house seems unusually quiet.

No single noise, not even my annoying little brother's cartoon that always seems to be playing.Nothing at all.

I stand up from where I'm curled up, when I begin to feel sick.You know that feeling you get when you drink spoilt milk?That's exactly how I feel. When I think it's finally coming to an end, almost like a daze, it comes back in full force.

I wince and stumble on the floor, still wriggling in pain,my head is throbbing so violently that I fear its going to going to fall off soon.

The whole room is spinning.Or is it my head? I'm confused at this point.

I don't even realize I'm crying till I feel my cheeks get wet. I know we have some tablets in the bathroom so I just have to make it there to take away this pain.

"Okay Claire you can do this.."

Taking deep breaths, I try making my way to the door, I take two steps and that's it, I'm back on the ground, falling face flat.

I wince from the stinging pain on my forehead. I try screaming but nothing comes out of my mouth . It's like the more I struggle, the more I choke on my words.

All I can feel are the tears continuously pouring down my face.

I keep lying on the floor, wishing for my pain to go away. I'm not a religious person but at this point, I'll settle for anything.

My prayers are answered because slowly, my pain is alleviating. It keeps on reducing slowly till everything's gone.

But that's not the only thing that has stopped.

The leaves of the tree at my backyard stops rustling. The slow hum that always seems to be coming from the dishwasher has stopped. And darkness kept on threatening to surround me.

I struggle to keep my eyes open. Even for a little while. I know that my guardian Angel is always going to come for me. That's my only consolation as I finally succumb to the darkness creeping over me and let it take over.