Red Stripes on the Silver Moon

Freya's POV

She twirls and twirls till her wrathful gaze drops on me.

"You're an eyesore to this family, the worst blunder your father has ever made. Freya, you're nothing but rotten luck for us," she yelled at me at the top of her lungs, her red-hot eyebrows furrowed.

I froze in place as her words slammed into me like a hammer. My mouth shivered involuntarily and my eyes were wide open. My heart was racing inside my chest as if it wanted to break free from its confinement.

"You are not allowed here anymore, so get out! Get out now!" She yelled again, as loud as she possibly could.

This time, I couldn't endure it anymore, I might die at this rate if I keep on enduring all these endless pains.

With trembling hands, I grabbed the bag containing all my stuff and rushed towards the door. But before I could reach for the handle, someone pushed me hard from behind. The force of the push sent me flying into the wall, making me fall to the floor.

"Are you truly leaving with all that stuff? Thief! ....when did you have such a heavy dross of yours?" Larryl yelled at me.

If Only my mum was alive, of course, I trust my dad. If only he was alive, he wouldn't have allowed me to be treated like trash.

My life sucks since the day my parents died... I don't know what else to say or do, I just want to leave this place where I'm being hated by everyone, even my own blood.

However, the question is "Where will I go after leaving this place?"

Failing to answer that question made me stagnate inside this house with my Uncle's brutal empire, fully fortified by my cutthroat Aunt and surrounded by my malefic siblings.

Hell! I've spent my last ten years living in this hell's hole, and I still haven't found any way out of this mess. Even though my greatest wish is to leave this house forever. However, I feel like dying now that I've been forcibly sent out of the house.

"Where should I go?" I kept on asking myself these questions, as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Mr. Dalton Balerick is my Father's immediate younger brother, whom I regard as my Honeypie when Dad was still alive, but after his death? He became an acrid pie for me.

Every new day brings joy to some people, unfortunately, I'm not one of them. It was as if the heavens intentionally put me in this situation as if my funny lifestyle is a cinema to the heavens to quench their thirst for gratification.

"Zip off the bag, let's see the amount of what she's stolen from us," my Aunt mouthed as her daughter grasped the bag from my hands and poured down all my luggage on the floor.

My eyes watered as I watched them rummage through my belongings, they were looking for something, anything that I stole from them, I could tell that much.

"What's this? Is this her diary?" asked the girl as she picked up a small black book from my bag.

"It's mine!" I yelled at her, but she ignored me and continued reading whatever was written in the book.

"Why did you bring this here? It's dangerous, why didn't you burn it instead of bringing it here?" said the girl as she read further.

By the time I'd sprint forward to grab it from her, she tore it into pieces and hurled its shattered pieces across the room. It was my Secret Diary containing my Dad's life and sweet experiences with my mum. What hurts me most is the only picture of my family I could save from getting burned by my uncle, I kept it safely inside the Diary for years, until now that it's torn to pieces.

"Why exactly do I deserve all these pains? Why are you also heartless like this sister?" I wept bitterly.

"Sister? Do you just refer to me as a sister? You were such a sucker. Do you recall me as your sister when you snuck out of the home to squander fruits and flowers on your ostensibly parents' grave? My mother has been looking after you for years, and you've never been pleased enough to purchase her an Apple, yet you didn't hesitate to spend all of those Apples and fruits on an ordinary useless tombstone. Where did you get the money to buy the fruit? Of course, I suspected you were a thief and a dirty harlot," she mockingly gnashed her teeth at me.

She's referring to my late parents' grave when she says "useless gravestone." One would have believed I was being punished for hampering them more, but in reality, it's because I was caught carrying out the memorial service for my parents who passed away.

With full wrath and anger, I pounced on her with the intent of avenging the Diary she tore, when my Aunt grasped my cloth from behind, drew me back, and ripped my clothes to pieces.

Seeing this, her daughter also joined the game as they set their claws on my clothes and started tearing them in a rancorous manner.

I was pushed out of the house that late night, with a torn cloth revealing my two puffy breasts which I covered shamefully with my two hands.

I've never felt that tormented in my life, as the rain beat down heavily on my head while I ran away from the house.

The cold wind blew against my skin, sending goosebumps all over my body. I tried to cover my nakedness, but it won't help much.

My wet hair clung tightly to my face, making it harder for me to breathe properly. All the things happening to me right now were too overwhelming, I could hear the horrible scents of death luring around me. I have nowhere to go, and no money either.

Everything seems blurry on my teary face. The dark clouds above, covering the moonlight completely made me stumble several times.

It was around 11:30 pm, and everywhere was silent as grave and dark as pitch. There was no one on the streets except for some stray dogs roaming about. I fell twice during my run, both of which caused me to cry bitterly, knowing that there wasn't anyone who'd come to my aid.

I picked up my phone which I hid inside my underwear, I dialed my friend, Christine's number but all switched. Damnit, I dialed Dave's contact but also switched off, now it seems I'm fated to suffer tonight.

Having no other options, I was left with no choice but to keep wandering in the freezing weather. A few seconds before the cold would kill me, the Heavens helped me and the rain stopped.

After thinking of where to go next, I finally got my answer that it's better to sleep with wild animals than to stay with humans, whose hearts always think of evil. I approached an adjoining jungle that was a long meter away from Manhattan's main metropolis without trepidation.

I picked leaves and sat alone in the pitch darkness, trembling uncontrollably as the chilly air brushed over my skin. My rumbling stomach reminded me that I haven't eaten since morning, causing my stomach to growl loudly.

As if the Heavens came to help me that night, as it did an unexpected thing that surprised me. MOON!! The moon came out of the sky all of a sudden, glittering and glimmering intensely that it took out all the night's darkness. That was until when my eyes spotted something pinky and mouth-watering tightly tied to an unknown tree.

Actually, I don't know what it was, but my mind is telling me that it will be yummy and great for my stomach. I climbed up the tree branches and reached the branch where I saw the mysterious fruit, it was wrapped neatly with string and placed on top of another large trunk.

Without hesitation, I grasped the fruit and took a big bite of it.

"Sheer Heavens" It was sweet and delicious, and the juice flowing down my throat was refreshingly cool. After taking my fill of it, I alighted from the tree and walked back to my leaf stratum, where I sat.

The heavy cold winds were a great torment for me, leaving me shivering like a lone leaf.

I couldn't sleep or slumber, since no sleep came to my face. Perhaps this is actually when I need the Angel to descend from the moon for my sake, perhaps this is the moment when I need the Hero to break through the heavens for my sake, perhaps it's my darkest hours when my mom's last promise to me should come to pass.

Yes, I could remember it, I recollect all the memories perfectly, I could remember seeing her in agony, with red liquids dropping from her pretty mouth, the cold looks on her face before she gave up the ghost, and her last Words for me.

"At your darkest hour, when all seems lost and there is no hope of light. When you feel the darkness pressing in on you from every side, when you find yourself standing on the precipice of oblivion, A Hero will descend from the Moon. His glittering silver face will cast a bright light upon your path. Avoid him, but it will be impossible. You will thrive hard to run... that's when the beast in you will Awake, and you'll meet the real you"

I was there thinking of all my past experiences, lost in thoughts till I started hearing rumbling dried leaves from a few steps towards me.

At first, I didn't mind the sound, not until when the footsteps increased towards me speedily.