Frenemies

A month had passed since I came here, and all have been good—well, it could be better. Those mean girls were still hot on my trail, however, I did my best to avoid encountering them. I still hadn't gotten my dress back, I was still creeped out by the paintings in the halls and it had become a confirmed hypothesis that Cassidy didn't fancy me too much.

On the bright side, I'd spoken to my Mother some days ago, and navigating that maze of a house was much easier. Also, Madam hadn't been around for the past few weeks. She took Cassidy with her—which, needless to say, I was grateful for—and since then, the house had been much noisier and livelier.

I'd also been hearing rumors about Madam having a son that was 'sick in the head' as they said, however, as far as I was concerned, there was nothing to make out of that.

I finished my work early that day, then decided to go talk to my newfound friend, old man Manuel. We met over a choking fit—his choking fit actually, when he was having his meal at the makeshift dining in the kitchen.

I acted fast, saving the situation from getting worse and since then, we've gotten along really well. He was very knowledgeable in all things religion and told the best stories. He was part of the security detail and that was why I was headed to the security unit.

As I started down a hall which would then narrow down to a passage leading to an exit door, I passed by a band of two making out shamelessly by a corner. It was a male and female this time, judging by their distinct uniforms.

The latter's face was familiar, Constance was her name. Her dress was short and somewhat tight as she must have altered it—a lot of them did. They noticed me but didn't seem to care. If only Evelynn knew about that.

Dirt crunched beneath my feet as I trudged down the path to the designated security housing. Honestly, it still left me confounded as to why the unit was situated a few ways into the forest hidden from view. That thought, however, dissipated instantaneously when I heard some twigs snapping and leaves rustling.

The feeling that place gave me was unsettling, I felt as though I was being watched and to think of all the ferocious things that would be roaming around...

Hastening my footsteps, I quickly put those thoughts aside and hummed my favourite song whilst maintaining a firm grip on my medallion before I ended up scaring myself all the more.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when the building came into view. It wasn't anything extravagant at least on the outside, that is. On getting to it, I only had to stand facing the outside surveillance camera and wave to be let in whilst imagining the look on Sawyer's face when he saw it was only me.

Sawyer was a guy who worked there too. He was in charge of the camera that directly faced the path, the exact one I stood in front of, amongst others. Every time he saw me, he'd always roll his eyes and shrug like he was always unhappy to see me but who cares.

As soon as I was in, the door slammed shut on its own. You see, just because they let me in didn't mean that everyone was free to do the same all willy-nilly 'cause protocols had to be observed. So, they usually wouldn't even have granted me entrance. Still, when Mr. Manuel had something to say about that, I could come in anytime I wanted.

Taking a deep breath and sighing contentedly, I started to find my way to his office. I could never get used to the technological beauty of that place. It was a big hall divided into compartments for little privacy, bathed in white. Also, there were oodles of computers and technological gadgets too.

Most seemed to be serious and some were lazing about smoking, playing board games, and just telling lame jokes and laughing about it. They noticed my entrance and whilst some regarded me coldly, some couldn't care less.

With the way they looked at me, I was more than sure they had very un-nice things to say to me but then they'd have to answer to Mr. Manuel who, needless to say, was in charge there. It was what I loved most about that place, I didn't feel inferior—nobody there could make me feel that way and in place of that was a sense of belonging, how little it may be.

"Yo Manny, your granddaughter's here to see ya," some guy, Angus, who sat a few feet away from Mr. Manuel's office hollered.

I rolled my eyes at his comment before sliding into Mr. Manuel's compartment. The air in that office smelt of tobacco unlike that scent of technological wonder that dominated everywhere regardless of the air conditioner positioned adjacent to where he sat.

"Well, took you long enough to come to see me," he started off in a scratchy somewhat pallid voice. It was always how it sounded when he smoked. It was a bad habit he partook in and then claimed to be a believer.

I'd pointed that fact out a lot of times however, he'd always laugh it off and say that at some point in his life he'd quit smoking. How much time exactly did he think he had left? As if all the smoking wasn't depleting whatever was left of his life span.

"Nice to see you too." I greeted before that cigar scent overtook my lungs causing me to cough. That thing was gonna get me sick. At that moment he chuckled, exposing the contents of his mouth. His lips and gums were only a few shades lighter than the black shirt he wore, the lines on his wrinkled face becoming more prominent given the upward curving of his lips and narrowing of his eyes to give the chuckling façade.

"What's wrong, child? Can't withstand a little nicotine, if you had been here three minutes ago, you'd be seriously coughing and possibly bawling your eyes out." He said, still amused. Those teasings were the part of him I least appreciated.

He wouldn't smoke a cigarette right in front of me but if the one he had three minutes ago had that effect on me, then being around whilst he took one would make me feel even more disgusted than I already was if not make me ill.

Rolling my eyes, I folded my tall frame into the seat next to him and flicked my gaze casually over the screens as he switched another AC on to get rid of that atrocious smell.

"Care for some coffee?"

"No, thanks."

Taking the moment to look around his environment, I could see that it was also orderly as usual just like he was, except for that habit of his. He often said smoking kept him sane and since I didn't understand the logic behind that, I chose to let the sleeping dogs lie.

When I looked at him again, his expression was back to the usual stern look whilst typing something into the computer. I shivered, goosebumps had spread on my skin like wildfire. That was my body's reaction to the cold as I wasn't used to the air conditioner.

Coming to the city had introduced me to that—it had introduced me to a lot of things, actually. I understood the reason for all the numerous air conditioners but I still hoped not to fall sick from it.

"They actually did that?" Laughed Mr. Manuel, I was just telling him a classic tale about the twins. "I must meet them sometime, they sound legendary." He added, still laughing.

"Oh, they are," I responded.

Just then he broke out coughing and I rushed to retrieve some water from the dispenser by the corner.

"Here you go," I said, giving him the cup.

And yet he still wouldn't quit smoking. He somehow reminded me of my father. Having spoken to him last week, I found out that his health was better then. I actually thought he would still be livid about what had happened but he wasn't, bet Mom had taken the brunt of the blow and I was beyond glad that he was finally supportive.

"Thank you," he said, after downing the contents of the cup.

"Anytime, Mr. M"

"So, I have noticed that you don't have many friends..." It was apparent that he's been wanting to ask me that for some time.

Deciding not to let it affect my mood in any way, I answered. "It's really not that hard to notice, is it? Well, no one wants to associate with me, it's mostly 'cause of how I look but then I am better off without them any..." He cleared his throat audibly, interrupting my words. "Except you, of course." I corrected, catching myself. That cigar smell was gone then.

"Is that it?" He started off, and that question left me a little confused. "You see my dear, appearances they say, are often misleading. Most times, it's not about how you look on the outside but about what's hidden on the inside and that's what most fail to see.

From the first time I saw you, I knew you had a good heart—in fact, the time you saw me choking, I was only pretending and that was so I could confirm my hypothesis, and it turns out I was right."

"Wow, you really are a sly old man," I said, laughing before cocking my head to the side whilst rethinking his words. "How could you tell those things just by looking at me?"

"I am an old man, my dear. With age comes wisdom."

That utterance made me stare at him in disbelief.

"Wisdom? His age definitely didn't come with the wisdom to discern that smoking was bad for him, did it? To be honest, I didn't know why I still hung out with this confounding septuagenarian."

"What?" He asked when my stare lingered.

"Oh, nothing," I smiled innocently. "I rest my case."

When he turned to probably check some stuff on his system, my gaze followed too and as it fleeted over the screen once more, something actually caught its attention. That day Zebbah was to take me to the washing rooms, those overhead cameras I saw by the halls that Bambi warned me about...I think I just saw the display screens for those cameras and boy, did I have questions to ask. Nevertheless, the next thing I saw would prevent me from asking them;

On a screen were Bambi and two other girls, they flanked her on both sides. One proved unrecognizable and the other, Estefania, the Spanish girl—that strange lingo was actually Spanish.

From here, you'd think nothing was going on and they probably looked like friends but I knew better. And confirming my fears, I watched as they neatly shoved her into a room.

That was my cue to leave.

With the speed of lightning, I was at the makeshift door.

"I'll see you later, Mr. M." I voiced, leaving before he could say anything more.

I made a beeline to Evelynn's location to fetch her before heading over to the room from the camera but then I had to debrief her on the matter at hand first.

"Are you sure of this, Carina?" She asked.

"Yes, Evelynn I know what I saw."

As we inched ever closer to their location, everywhere seemed silent at first but the splashing and sloshing of water would be the initial noise to grace our presence, further confirming my fears.

That seemed to do the trick and in only a matter of seconds, Evelynn had spurred into action, doing what she did best. She really was loyal and hardworking and even though she would outright deny it if I told her, I thought Madam preferred her to Cassidy.

It was apparent even when she was addressing them both and why would Madam take Cassidy along with her leaving Evelynn? Because she trusted Evelynn more to manage the house affairs than she trusted Cassidy.

Quickly, I hid a few feet away while Evelynn dealt with that nasty lot, knowing not to risk Estefania and the other huge person seeing me. I was getting really good at keeping away from trouble and inwardly applauded myself for it.

I watched as Evelynn led the culprits out of the room to receive their just punishment and when they had gotten a little further, I tip-toed and slowly peeked around the corner to watch their receding figures, a tiny smile playing on my lips. I was very happy to have pulled this off.

Giving Estefania a taste of her own medicine felt beyond fantastic. If I was being honest, I didn't know how this would've turned out, and I was glad it turned out better than expected. I owed that to Bambi. Really.

It didn't take long for me to notice her presence behind me or her eyes boring holes at the back of my head. I turned around slowly and when I did, what I saw next made my smile falter;

Her face looked haunted like she had seen a ghost. Those vibrant brown eyes which were trained on me seemed drained of colour, streaming down her wet cheeks were the remnants of the eyeliner she wore that weren't smeared across her equally drenched face.

Her hair stuck to her face, similar to a clingy child, dripping water onto her uniform. In fact, to say she was wet was a serious understatement, she looked like she was doused in water, however, the upper half of her body was most affected, with the bodice of her attire seeming transparent because of it...

From the looks of it, they must have dunked her head into the water a few times before we showed up and I was glad we came when we did. Heaven knew the nasty turn the assault would've taken if we delayed.

"Why did you do it?" She breathed.

Despite being in that state of vulnerability, her voice was bold and compelling like she didn't just go through hell. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but get confused at this point.

"Excuse me?" I stared incredulously at her.

"Why did you help me?" Her voice sounded desperate.

"You've helped me more than once, I'm grateful for it and this was the least I could do to repay you, I would've still helped out even if I didn't have any idea on who you were." I really did not comprehend where she was going with this.

Her visage took on a grim expression as she said, "You shouldn't have done that."

I gawked at her, shocked by her utterance, I mean, I was just trying to help. A simple 'thank you' would've gone a long way. Trying not to think of the million reasons why she just acted the way she did, I thought of the only sensible thing to do instead; walk away. I turned to go...

"Denise..."

I turned once more when I had already gotten a few feet away.

"Huh?"

"My name's Denise."

"Why do they call you Bambi then?" I asked.

"Because of my size...it's actually a movie about a deer...forget it though it's hard to explain," then she sighed. "Thank you for helping me but you shouldn't have done that 'cause if they found out it was you that ratted them out, you'll be in big trouble, Carina...and that's a fact."

Right... I should've thought of that.

"But no one's here, no one saw me." I reasoned.

"That's what you think but they have their ways."

I nodded, processing this in my head. "This is not good."

"What happened to you then?" I gestured at her flustered appearance.

"Let's just say they've been wanting to deal with me a long time now."

"Who are 'they'?" I asked her.

"I'll explain later. Right now, I have to get dry." She said, walking past me. "We are still not friends..." Her voice echoed in the empty space.

The doors, walls, and flowers seemed to be the only seen witnesses to our little scene.

Yet that statement remained the least of my problems...

As I was showering that night, my mind was preoccupied with what I had learnt from Bam-no Denise. I didn't know how to react, thinking that I had done a good deed, it broke me to know that gruesome consequences awaited me for my actions that day. Who were 'they'? As she said and just how much trouble had I gotten myself into?

I reached up a hand to grab a towel from the shower stall but when it didn't grasp anything, I was forced to disengage from my thoughts and look up;

Everything I had kept along with my towel and my used clothes, had all been taken to my utmost surprise. Someone really wanted me stranded in there and that person had just succeeded. How on earth was I supposed to leave the room, bare of any clothing? There were so many risks.

I remembered a group of girls were laughing and gossiping near where I was and when I thought about that, their voices did sound familiar. That ravaged me more as it must have been a ruse to take my things so I wouldn't notice.

Waiting till lights out was the safest option and the only plan I had right now. Maybe if I had actual friends someone would've helped me out of this situation...thoughts of what I was about to do filled my head. I couldn't believe the situation I was in as I pulled at my hair whilst letting my body slide down to the bathroom floor. I really needed a break from all this craziness.

Yes, waiting till lights out might be the safest option, but it was a whopping two-and-a-half-hour wait!

"Oh God, help me!"