Twenty

She closed her eyes as she sighted the house. She was here....she was back here. She opened her eyes, not wanting to run away anymore. There was no way she would make it.

She should not put high hopes anymore because she was bound to this house and its memories. Now that she was here, those hurtful and scary memories which she thought she had left as soon as she had left this hell had come back.

She didn't fight them off..she let the memories in and she didn't even fight the fear. She had no choice than to accept her fate.

This was her life....her destiny.

Her eyes seemed so weak when she had felt the car stop but she still managed to open them. She felt weak she couldn't deny.

The Gateman whose name was Sam seemed to have ages with time. She wondered if it was because it had been a long time since she had seen or it was he who had changed.

But that didn't matter...at least he wasn't part of her suffering.

He wasn't part of her hell.

So why would he matter?

She turned her face when he had sited her, surprise and pity evident in his eyes. She hated when people pitied her. Was it their life? It is better they just mind their business and stop pitying her. She had accepted her fate and so will it be.

The cat stopped at the garage and Madam Laurina came out, banging the door behind her. Crystal's eyes followed the woman's figure. She watched as she made her way into the house, not even concerned if she was following her or not.

Crystal got out of the car, cleaning her tears as she grabbed her school bag. She walked slowly but steadily into the house knowing very much what awaits her the moment she steps into that house. Her heart was still beating rapidly, making her wrap her hands around herself.

Entering the house, she noticed that nothing had changed. It was still the luxurious big house with the same furniture's and accessories. She heaved a shaky sigh as she looked around.

Making her way into the house, she abruptly stopped when she had heard Madam Laurina's voice.

"Stop you fool! So you think you can escape and get away with it? You are not going free so easily. I am going to teach you a lesson you would never forget"

Crystal looked at the direction where she had heard her voice and saw she was standing upstairs, looking down at her. She began to shake, she felt so scared. What was Madam Laurina going to do to her now?

Madam Laurina smirked devilishly, knowing she was having an effect on Crystal at that moment and she liked it. She wanted Crystal to fear her so that next time, she would not run away again.

Crystal watched as she walked down the stairs, her hands shaking as she knew that what this woman had planned for her was worse than she had expected. It didn't take long for Crystal to notice the knife behind her back as she descended the stairs.

What was she going to do to her?

Was she going to kill her?

She held her breath as Madam Laurina reached her, not taking her eyes off Crystal.

"You see this Crystal? Isn't it beautiful?" She asked, smiling as she made Crystal look at it. But Crystal's vision was already blurred by her tears.

"I will teach you a lesson with this time and when i am done, you would never try to make this mistake again. By the time i am through.....you would know who you are messing with"

Tears fell from Crystal's eyes as Madam Laurina held her neck, strangling her, not making her breathe freely. For a moment Crystal thought she was going to die but suddenly she pushed her roughly, making her butt meet with the ground. Her hands went up to her neck breathing heavily as she felt weak.

"You know i can't let you die. How will you suffer if i did?" Madam Laurina said as she squared to her level, holding the knife in her hands.

"You see this?" She asked Crystal as she showed her the knife.

"Now how will it feel if i just do this" She said, using the knife to stab her thigh. Crystal shouted as Madam Laurina slowly used the knife to cut her thigh, tearing her lap in a straight line so slowly till it reached her knee.

The blade was sharp enough to cut flesh as if it posed no resistance. At once a fountain of red came from the wound, the ebb and flow in time with a terrified heart, making Crystal hurt even more.

But Madam Laurina seemed to be enjoying it. Moving to the other lap, she did same to what she had done to the first, tearing her lap so badly but slowly in a straight line till it reached her knee.

"Please...please i am sorry. It...it hurts"

"It hurts?"

"Please"

"Don't worry, i wont make it hurt anymore. She smiled as she stabbed her thigh again, making Crystal shoot in pain. She repeated what she had done, tearing her thigh till it reached her knee for the second time on both thighs.

And she did it again for the third time.

Madam Laurina stood watching as if he could not hear the screams of pain, as if it were a silent theatre production of no importance. She never moved at even as she bled out, her red blood mingled with the white tiles, giving it another colour.

She smiled as she watched Crystal drift out of consciousness. She didn't even move to check if she was okay or not. Instead, she took the stairs, up to her room, not even minding the state Crystal was in.

*

When the dawn came, Crystal opened her eyes as she felt so much pain. She couldn't move. Her body was struggling.....struggling to recover....struggling to repair the damage. She bit her lips, the pain hard to bear. No one was around anywhere so no one would help her.

What was she thinking? No one ever helps her in this hell. This was her life now....this is how her suffering will be and she was not surprised at all. The pain was too much....it was too much.

She couldn't help but faint yet again. She could not stand the pain.

*

Justin sighed in frustration as yet another day ended without finding her. Where the hell was she? He was so worried. The competition had gone well, his school finally reaching finals. Crystal had to be replaced but none of this could stop his worry.

He felt she wasn't okay. He felt it but he didn't know if it was true. Was she okay?

How was she coping?

He rushed out of the door and ran back downstairs, knowing his father would still be there.

"Father i still can't find her. I need to find her father" He said, as soon as he was in front of Mr. Damon

"There is no need son. I can't find her myself. She really has disappeared. None of my detectives or men could find her. I guess she has hidden herself well"

"Father there is something wrong, i can feel it father"

"There is nothing i can do Justin until she is found. She will be found"

But days passed, weeks passed....and then months.

But she wasn't found.

She was nowhere.

She was...gone.

*

Crystal limped to her mat, the pain still there.Madam Luciana had called a Doctor and they had sewed the cuts. But she had to still go through pain because Madam Luciana didn't let the Doctor give her a sedative.

It had been a week since she had come here and she had accepted her fate already. She was never going to be free. Her place....her life....her destiny was here...in this house....and there was no way she would ever leave....no way.

Despite the fact she was injured, she was made to do the whole work in the house. She wasn't allowed to rest. Helen was not a help at all. All she did was make Crystal work even harder. The nine year old seemed to gain pleasure from hurting and mocking her but Crystal never minded her.

She was used to it already.

She hardly ate and even the drugs her doctor gave her was always taken on an empty stomach. Despite being only a week she was back in hell, she was already as thin as a broom. She looked so haggard and unkept.

She was dying....all hope was gone.

Her eyes were closed as she lay on her mat, tears falling down as she tried to sleep knowing she had to work again tomorrow.

But she could not sleep.

The pain was still strong and she felt dizzy from not eating. She stood up and limped, wanting to find food. Maybe she could scrape from the plates they had used to eat this night.

But she couldn't find any food.

She limped back to her mat which was close to the kitchen and carefully sat down, the pain still too much to bear. She reached out for the pocket of the thorn blue dress which she was wearing and brought out a polythene bag.

It contained her medicine.

She was about to take it when her eyes suddenly widened. Her bag...where was her bag?

She really got up again as she tried to remember where she had last saw it. The last she remembered was when she was entering the house. Luckily everyone was asleep upstairs so she switched on the light and quickly checked if she would see her school bag.

But how come she didn't see it since then?"

She suddenly remembered the box which Madam Garcia had given her and this made her wealthy look for her bag, scared that Madam Laurina will find it before she did or maybe she had already did.

But to her luck she had found it under the staircase. She was glad she had found it. She quickly switched off the light before anyone got to know she was still awake and slowly made her way to her mat.

She sat down carefully and opened her bag. She was shocked to see some energy bars in her bag and she didn't waste time in gobbling them up.

She was very hungry.

She ate all as fast as she could, savouring the taste as she ate. When she was done, she took her medicine and drank water, glad at least that something was in her stomach.

She opened her bag and checked it, bringing out a jacket.

This wasn't any jacket.....

This was Justin's jacket.

She bit her lips as she hugged the jacket as soon as she came to realize she had never given him the jacket. She cried on it and let her tears fall. She missed him so much.

She wished he was here with her.

She didn't forget all he did to her neither did he forget how he had cheated on her. But that still didn't make her not to miss him.

She cleaned her eyes again as she wore the jacket, feeling better as she hugged herself. She reached for her bag and checked again, bringing out the box. She was glad it was still here.

Opening it, she saw a necklace, some documents and also a polythene bag. She also saw a credit card and also a paper gummed to the credit card using a cellotape. There was a small phone at the far end of the box. What was all this?

She reached for the necklace and saw it was old fashioned. She wondered why Madam Garcia would give her an old necklace. There were real pure diamonds surrounding the necklace. Merely looking at it, you could tell that it was a very expensive necklace.

But why would Madam Garcia give her such a necklace?

But somehow, she felt this was hers.

She wore the necklace and made sure to hide it inside her cloth so no one would see it. She opened the polythene bag and saw some money in it. Counting it, it was eighty thousand. She gulped as she couldn't understand why Madam Garcia had given her so much money.

Her eyes went to the credit card and then to the paper which was on it. It seemed it was the name and password for the bank account. She dropped it in and reached out for the phone. There was a simple inside and she could not believe it.

She quickly put everything in her bag, including the phone. She was glad at least that she had some money to take care of herself. She would not let Madam Laurina see this. She had to hide it from her no matter what.

*

Crystal started hawking even though she was still limping. Now that she had money on her she ate well and she always took her medicine so she was stronger than before. She checked the bank account in which Madam Garcia had left for her and found out that there was enough money to take care of her needs.

She hawked so as not to arouse any suspicion and also did everything so as to avoid any punishment. But still she was beaten even though she tried her very best to avoid the punishment.

But that was not her problem....she was used to it.

Her problem was her education and she had to look for a way to study and go to school without Madam Luciana and her husband finding out. Luckily she had found a public school which usually takes afternoon classes. She used the money to enroll herself and also bought herself the books she needed.

She had begged the gateman and also told him about her plans on schooling in the afternoon. He had agreed to always watch her back and would always call her just in case it is needed.

Luckily, Madam Laurina was always at work throughout the day and so nobody was always at home. So that she could spend enough time at school, she always dressed up early and go hawking early so she would be done before ten.

She would then go back home and tidy herself, wearing the new clothes she had bought with the money. She would then take her bag and leave for the school.

At times she got called from Sam the gateman but surprisingly, Madam Luciana never found out about her secret. It was hard and very difficult for but she never gave up.

She had to do this.

That was how she had made it out of secondary school by the time she was sixteen. No one ever knew that she went to school, no one except for the gateman.

When she was done with her waec, and had even written jamb, she had gotten admission at the University of Lagos. At that point she knew she had to somehow leave this hell.

She had to go to school.

She packed her bags the day she had made up her mind and repaired herself for her escape. This time, she didn't even tell the gateman of her plans. When everyone was asleep, she climbed the fence with utter difficulty but finally she was over the fence taking her bags with her.

Tears filled her eyes when she looked back at this place she called her hell. She would go so far away that they would never find her. She would make a name for herself that they will never approach her to take her back to hell.

She turned as she ran so fast, stopping a taxi and entering as quickly as she could before anyone knew she was gone. She threw the sim card that was in the phone away knowing very well that the Gateman had that number.

She replaced the sim with a new one and relaxed herself. She was going to sleep at a hotel and make her journey first thing in the morning.

She could not have been happier.

She felt somehow hopeful again.