The Girl Called Trouble

"I want you to go to a different park from now on so we can make more money." Hera says as she is laying in bed. "You spend too much time talking to people and not enough time selling stuff."

I don't say anything. Why should I? Nothing I say will matter because she has no interest in what I have to say. I watch as Hera turns on the television and starts watching cartoons.

"We are getting low on merchandise." I say calmly.

"Well I have plenty of beads. You can make jewelry while you are sitting around at the park." Hear says with an attitude.

Of course I do what she wants. I make my trip to the park and make jewelry. I then pack everything up and take it back to storage. It was here that everything hits me once again.

It started with a bang and then I hear footsteps. I remember that day in the basement. I remember hearing the man I call father approach he door. I want to run but there is nowhere for me to go. I have nowhere to hide as he drags me outside to my death.

I am looking into the storage unit, contemplating walking inside. It was then that I started to remind myself of where I was at. That monster has no idea where I am. I am safe. I remind myself over and over again that I am safe.

When I got back and saw Hera, I was pissed. Hera was still laying in bed watching cartoons and playing on her phone. She care about nobody but herself. She is constantly rude and inconsiderate. Why am I putting up with this? I should just let her face her own fate. It is her karma after all.

I watch as I get sicker and sicker. For over two weeks I continuously become weaker until I have to be helped out of bed. Hera is watching me when she starts to gather her things. I watch as she gets ready to leave.

"I guess I will have to do everything today. I can't believe you could get so sick on me. You should just take some Advil and get back to work." Hera complains.

I watch her leave as the dream fades away.

The next day I started to feel tired. By the end of the day I had a headache. I thought back to the dream and realized that it was a warning. I shouldn't give into it. On my way home from the park I pick up some hot tea. I refused to let myself get that weak.

Christmas was only a couple of days away. I worked up through Christmas Eve. I decided that I would not work Christmas Day regardless of what Hera wanted.

"The storage is closed tomorrow so I won't be able to work." I tell Hera.

"The only reason you wont be working tomorrow is because we are getting a lot of snow." Hera says looking annoyed.

I don't answer her. Over the last month I have skipped out early several times.

"My friends from back home sent me some Christmas money!" I say in order to see her response.

"What?" Hera asks surprised. "How much did they give you?"

"Not much. The people there don't have that much extra." I explain.

"Really? Well I guess that makes sense." She says as she looks quite annoyed.

I smile. I love taunting people and I know I have hit her weakness. She cannot stand it when another person gets something and she doesn't.

"So tell me about your father and the community you came from." The policeman says.

" I am not from that community. I don't even know if he is really my father." I say. "The first thing I remember is waking up in the cellar."

"The cellar?" Asks the man.

"Yes I was in the cellar for a long time. They would sometime give me food but not always and not a lot. Then the man I call the father came and dragged me outside."

"What happened then?"

"He called me a demon and had people throw rocks at me until I died." I say calmly.

"If you died then how are you still here?" He asked.

"The voice told me he would bring me back to life if I wanted him to."

"Okay. What happened after that?"

"I stayed with frank for a few years. During that time I went to school and church until I called the dying man evil."

"You called a dying man evil? How did you know that he was evil?"

"He was surrounded by darkness and had taken over his eyes."

"I see. What happened after that?"

"Frank sent me back to the village but I didn't go. That is why so many bad things happened to the children."

"What bad things?"

"I watched the children stand in a field. The woman who claims to be my mother dragged her oldest child outside in her underwear. Then the father had men call out prices for each child. After that, the men would give money to my father and would take the child away."

"Really?"

"Yes. I saw Frank take a boy. That night I could hear a lot of crying and screaming. The next day, they brought all of the children back to the field and the boy Frank took wasn't moving."

"You saw all of this?"

"Yes. It was because of me. The father said it was a sacrifice because I didn't die." I answer.

"Where did you go after that?"

"I found a cabin in the woods. It looked old but I was able to climb through a broken window. There were books and and everything I needed. I learned to hunt rabbits and squirrels and I learned how to start a fire. It was hard at first."

"I see and where did you get your clothes?"

"I stole them from the clothing lines in the village."