Emerald Academy

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

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"Where I'm I? She asked rhetorically looking round her unfamiliar and strange environment in fear.

"GABRIELLA" she heard the whispers of her name echo in the strange forest as she shook in fright.

" Who...who are you?" She stuttered as she began to hear a violent approaching sound. Without being told, she took to her heels running as fast as her legs could go.

She could feel the presence of her adversery behind her and she increased her pace. Soon, she reached a cliff. It was er end point and looking back, she saw the face of the creature chasing after her to be very scary and acting on impulse, she jumped off the cliff with a scream.

"Arrrrrrh!" Gabriella screamed and jumped off the bed.

"It was a dream" she said out loud to pacify herself, panting heavily. It had appeared to be so real to her that she could still feel her legs shaking.

She cleaned the beams of sweat off her forehead as she reached for the bottle of water on her bedside stool. Gulping the whole content, she tossed the empty bottle aside. Feeling a bit relaxed, she sat back at the edge of the bed and unconsciously glanced at her alarm clock standing right where she had taken the bottle of water from.

It read 5:26 as she sighed and rubbed her temple. It was still quite early and she would have still be in bed if not for the nightmare.

After few minutes of sitting, she felt a lot better and decided to start her day. Getting up from the 🛏️ bed yet again, she went into the bathroom for her normal morning routine. Minutes past and she came out looking refreshed. Soon, she was all dressed up in a long sleeved emerald flay gown stopping right at her knees. Her long thick and black hair held back with a white hair band. If there was anything Gabby considered a burden it was her hair. It's extreme length and thickness was what annoys her most.

Gabriella was what you could describe as a perfect definition of beauty. Her skin spotless, smooth and almost as white as snow. Her facial features was worth dying for.

She made it out of her room and down the stairs into the silence of the sitting room and once again, she wish she had a sibling.

Her phone bussed in her pocket as she brought it out discovering a new message from a contact named Fred.

"Happy birthday to the queen herself. I wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday and I hope I achieved that though. See you later birthday girl" she read the message as a smile lingered on her lips. She had totally forgotten her own birthday.

Stocking her phone back into her pocket, she made a journey to the kitchen. Since she was awake, she decided to save her mom the stress of preparing breakfast. She went for the neatly arranged apron hanged on the kitchen array and picked one which she wore over her dress. She set to work immediately and soon enough, the sweet aroma of omelette and toast bread filled the atmosphere.

She took the meal to dinning and after setting the table, decided to go invite her mom over. She was already metres away from the table when suddenly she sensed a glass was about to fall of the table and within the blink of an eye, she was back at the table with the glass in her hands. She stood dumb staring at the glass in her hands in confusion. How did she get back to the table that fast and saved the glass? How did she even know the glass was about to fall in the first place when her back was literally turned to the table? She let out a chuckle that held many meanings. Was she hallucinating? She glanced at the glass in her hands and with a gulp gently placed it back on the table. Maybe she had not at all left the table in the first place. Yes. That was it. That was the only logical explanation she could think of and was forcing herself to believe it.

"Gabby?" She gasped in fright as she was taken aback by the voice of her mother.

"Oh dear! Did I startle you?" Her mother asked seeing the way her daughter had shook.

"It's fine mom. Don't worry about it." She said regaining herself.

"I was just about to come to your room" she added as they both took their sit.

"You know, it's really been a while since you last prepared breakfast. What's the occasion?" Her mother asked dishing out the meal as Gabby only shrugged. Her mother suddenly gasped dropping her spoon and putting a hand over her mouth.

"OMG! It's your birthday today. It totally skipped my mind. Happy 20th birthday dear." Mother said

"It's my 21st birthday mother" she corrected with an eye roll

"Wait you're now 21?" Her mother asked and she didn't fail to notice surprise and nervousness in her eyes.

"Yes. Is everything ok mom?"she asked seeing the look on her mother's face

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