Chapter 7

I woke up to a new day, ready to achieve my point. The thoughts of my parents and the forced marriage were not bothering me as much anymore. I guess my new goal in life made me focus more on Jones, and somehow it made me happier. He is funny but scary at the same time, so I have to be careful from now on. I went downstairs with my Spongebob pajamas with a plan in mind. I walked towards the kitchen table and I saw lots of food on it. Breakfast. Jones was sitting there, eating breakfast with a phone in one hand.

"Is that Lucy again?" I asked him while taking a seat.

"None of your business, Mariana," he told me without looking up. It's starting to make me crazy.

"Hey Jane", I told her as I saw her entering the kitchen.

"Hey Mariah, did you sleep well?" She asked me with a smile on her face.

"Yes I did, what about you?" I asked her, returning the smile.

"I was sleeping just fine. What are you going to do today?" She asked me, still standing up.

"What I did yesterday," I told her.

"And what was that?" She asked me, her eyes curious.

"Nothing," I said with a broad smile, trying not to laugh at my joke. At least Jane was laughing.

Sudden pain came to my stomach and I flinched.

It's today, isn't it?

Fuck

I ran to the bathroom on the first floor and closed the door behind me. I am screwed. I didn't see any blood on my yellow pajama so I decided not to look anywhere else. I needed to get pads before it was too late. I walked out of the bathroom and went to my room. I changed into black shorts and a simple red t-shirt. Even if I had blood, you wouldn't notice. I went downstairs again, back to the kitchen. Jones was still there, now looking up at me. I couldn't see Jane anywhere.

"Where is Jane?" I asked Jones. He ignores.

"I am going out," I told him before I left the kitchen. I heard heavy footsteps behind me and I got kind of mad. He is unbelievable.

"To where exactly?" He asked in his low voice as he blocked the door.

"None of your business," I told him as I tried to walk past him. Tried was the keyword.

"To where?" He asked and looked bothered.

"To the mall, now get out, go my way, Jones," I told him and tried to walk past him again.

"I told you you should laugh more, at least laugh until you are not as fat as the door!" I told him, now madder than before.

"You are not going out, Mariana, and that's final. If I see you leave this house, you will sleep outside today. The choice is yours." He said and walked past me, not blocking the door anymore.

"It's important Kevin," I told him, my voice sounding a little sad.

He turned around.

"What's so important about going to the mall?" He asked and rolled his eyes.

"I need to get something," I told him and looked down at the floor, too afraid to answer his next question.

"What is so important that you need to get Mariana?" He asked, his eyes full of confusion.

"Stop calling me Mariana! You know it's not my real name, so just stop! I hate it when you do it, it's like I am no one, it's like you are too good to even remember my name, so just stop it! And about the mall, forget it! I don't need to explain myself to you! I don't care if I will have to sleep outside today, I am going to the mall whether you like it or not!" I was yelling at him with all of the energy that I had left.

I hate him! I hate him!

I opened the door and walked outside, into the hot day. I had some money from the other day at Logan's house so I decided to take a taxi to the closest mall and just buy the freaking pads. I found a taxi after 10 long minutes of looking.

After a 25-minute cycle, I finally got to the mall.

It was OK.

I was tired.

I was furious.

I was hungry.

I wanted to go back to the house and slap him. He is so rude, annoying, mean, and scary. He acts like I am no one while I am trying to give him a chance. Even though it doesn't look like it, I am trying to get to know him.

He doesn't care.

He ignores me.

I should just start... shooting. That's all I could hear. I saw people run away, I saw fear in their eyes. But I couldn't hear anything but the shootings. Each one brought more tears to my eyes. I needed to get out of there.

I needed to run but I couldn't.

The next thing I heard was crying. It was close to me. I felt it under me. I looked down. The next thing I heard was the little girl hugging my legs, calling me 'mommy'. I got out of the shock that I had been in for so long and I wiped the tears from my eyes.

The little blond girl was still there. I bent down, still listening to the awful shootings and how they were fading away. I looked the girl in the eyes. She was still crying. She saw that I was not her mother, so she backed away. Fear in her sad brown eyes.

"Hey blondie, what's your name?" I asked her, trying to sound the calmest that I can sound in this situation.

"Mommy told me not to talk to strangers." She whispered, and I could hear the fear in her voice.

"I am not a stranger. Tell me where your mom is and we will find her together." I told her as I came closer to her.

Suddenly, the shootings became louder. They are close. I picked the girl in my hands and started to run with her towards the exit. The shootings became louder and louder. The next thing I heard was someone screaming. Someone next to me. Someone is ad now.

I had to save this girl, I told myself as I ran as fast as I could toward the exit. She was still crying, but now it was even louder. Now, I can hear the sadness in her voice.

The tears were about to come out but I didn't let them. I have to be strong for her. I ran, and ran, and ran. It felt like forever. When I was finally outside, I ran to the line of taxis and got in without looking back.

The driver looked stressed, he knew what was going on inside. He asked me for the address, but at this point, I just couldn't think. My brain was empty. I didn't even know what address meant. It took me a couple of seconds to get back to myself, and I told him the address without even feeling like something was just coming out of my mouth. I was still in shock.

I looked at the little blond girl that was sitting on my lap. She was staring at me, deep in the eyes. Her deep brown eyes were analyzing me, looking for information, seeing if they could trust me or not. I didn't know what to say. What if she just lost her mother?

"What's your name, pretty girl?" I asked her and wiped away her tears.

She came close to my heart.

"Ellie." She whispered and then showed me 3 little fingers.

"You are 3 years old?" I asked her quietly and she nodded.