Broken
Kevin
I watched my father play the piano. I don't know how he does it, so he wants to teach me. I rejected his offer many times, but he continues asking.
"Have you ever watched me play in this living room before?" he once asked.
"No, only in my bedroom," I replied.
"Then come to the living room at ten o'clock and you'll see a wonderful sight and hear a wonderful tune," he said, clasping his hands.
"Sounds…wonderful," I murmured.
Now I am in my bedroom, waiting for him to come and force me to go down there instead of me going there alone.
I glance at the family picture we had. My mom gracefully smiling, my older twin sisters putting donkey ears in each other's head, my baby sister being carried by mom, my younger brother's skin shining, and dad touching my shoulder.
My mom broke up with father, and she promised me and the rest of my siblings that she'll visit from time to time, but she hadn't. Father was responsible for me and my four siblings.
My father was dark skinned, and my mom was pale, near to fair. They didn't care about their skin colors. All they cared was being in love. That results to a colored family, and we enjoy it that way. My twin sisters aren't identical. The older twin is pale skin and looks like dad. The younger twin is chocolate skin and looks like mom. My baby sister, Hearta, looks like mom and is fair. My brother, Alan, is chocolate skin but much darker, looks like dad. I, as the middle child of the family, do not look like either of them. I instead look in between. I inherited my dad's nose, my mom's eyes, and more.
"Hey Kevin, dad told me to tell you to come down in the living room. Everyone is going to be there, even the maids and the chefs!" I heard the younger twin, Lynn, say.
"But Charm! I don't want to go down there," I whined.
"You don't have to mourn about mom this long; just one day is enough for her. She is not coming back, and that is that," she said.
"Charmcaster is right," the older twin, Raven, murmured. I walked closer to the door so I can hear her, "You don't have to worry about mom anymore. She's gone."
"You are thirteen years old, Kevin," my young brother, Alan, said, "and you are still crying. Look at me! I am eleven and I am not crying!"
"Yeah, but do you miss her?" I asked them.
"Not now, people! Let's get movin' before we are late!" the youngest child, Hearta, shouted. She's seven years old, if you didn't know.
I got out of my bedroom. We went down stairs and found everyone there except for the chefs and the rest of the male workers. My dad is rich, so he gets to own as much as workers as he wants, but he prefers less. So we have eight maids, two of my age. One was named Julie. She has black hair, like me, and always wears pink. The other one in Gwen, she has orange to red hair and is the toughest one among them all, according to me.
"At last! You all are on the ground," my dad exclaimed. Hearta rolled her eyes and sat beside dad, playing the piano along with him.
The maids that were around began dancing. Most of which were graceful. Gwen and Julie didn't dance; it must be because of me being around.
"Hey dad, can I go to the bathroom?" I asked.
"Yeah, but be quick," he answered.
I headed to the bathroom, but instead went to the garden. The tune can be heard from here. Raven and Lynn began playing their violins, since there is nothing else to do but watch them. Alan watched the ladies dance. The men that work watch them too, but not from where Alan is. They watch from the stairs and the second floor.
Gwen and Julie got up and began dancing. From here, they are moving from side to side. I climb up with my secret ladder. I then watch from the second floor. I then found out that the men went downstairs to dance with them, practicing since there is a competition.
I look from the wooden fences. Gwen was twirling around with Julie. The doorbell rang. One of the men opened it and continued dancing. In came my friend, Ben.
Julie and Ben began to dance like other adults. Gwen danced alone, still twirling like she always did.
I am now seventeen. My young sister, Hearta, died from murder. Alan and Raven moved away. Lynn and I were left from the whole family. My father died from a common mission. He made me and Lynn own the house.
Few maids were left from the eight. Gwen and Julie knew how much I lost, so they were around from time to time. Lynn was doing her stuffs, not caring what happens to our financial business.
"Mr. Levin, the market is going low, it's running out. You need to stock it somehow," Vicky said. She's the one helping me while Lynn cares about nothing.
"Thanks for telling;" I told her, "you are dismissed." She bowed or nodded and walked out of my room.
I opened the paper she gave me, and found that what she said was true. Dad's market is empty.
Charmcaster (Lynn) came in and gave me another paper. "Guess what?" she told me.
"What? You broke your nose again?" I asked her.
"Nope," she said. Surprisingly, she didn't attack me with one of those powers she found out she had. "Those that are buying our products are rich people. Our products are in a pretty good quality, thanks to me."
"Does it affect them?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "Like growing the third eye or multiplying the number of fingers?"
"Seriously, no. It is just in a good quality," she murmured. I told her to get out, but not forcefully like I always do.
I opened the paper and found that it was a map of where I can get good crops. Most of them were at the south, few were in the west, were I live.
My head aches and I dump the papers in the trash can. I lay on my bed with my pillow on my head. I groaned.
Ben didn't experience this type of situation. He has his family, his newborn sister, his girlfriend, and his life. Look at me…my family separated, my mom and dad are divorced, my young sister died, I have no girlfriend, and my life is broken apart.
I heard the door open. Footsteps made their noisy way to the end of my bed. Someone grab my ankle and pulled me. The results? Finding myself on the ground, right next to Gwen's right foot. "What are you doing resting when you are suppose to be active?" she asked me.
"I am tired with all the papers," I told her. She smirks.
"This is how your father felt when he was in your position. He had to cheer up himself somehow, so he does what he did every night," Gwen muttered.
"Then why didn't he tell me? Why is it that you can see him unlike me?" I shouted at her. She had the determination to win this fight.
"Well, you were busy worrying about your mom," she spat. I pushed her and got in my personal bathroom.
I cried. I am supposed to be a man, not crying. But look at me now. Not only I am broken, but I am being hated. They only respect me because I am their master. But what happens if I take them in as slaves?
I heard the whimpers of Gwen outside. She, also, is crying, though she tried hard not to be heard.
I saw a pink shield surrounding me. It closes in me as it took the air out of me.
I woke up, feeling heartless and lonely. My sister, Lynn, got up and walked towards me. "Do you feel like it?" she asked with that creepy voice of hers.
"Yeah, I am," I said. I am sure I am not controlling myself. Unknown maps, ideas, and plans were thrown to me. I am sure that I do not want to do this.
"Then lets start," she murmured.
She took my wrist and pulled me to this lair of hers. She made me wear a black cloak. "We will start with the ceremony, like I promised you," she said. She then murmured weird words like "metrion" and "azarath". I tried asking her what are the meanings of these words, but my body won't allow me to. I felt like this is a dream I never wish to have.
"It's finished. Your power is enabled. Do what I told you to, but behave," she muttered and began laughing evilly.
I laughed along with her, knowing that she is insane.
Something blocked my senses for a long time. The next thing I knew, every person in the house kneel before me, even the stubborn Gwen and Julie. They both look scared. Their eyes widen with shock as they stare at me.
"Good evening brother," Lynn murmured, "I see you've done what I told you to."
"Yes, I did," my voice replied. It sounded...not me. It didn't sound like me. Even the maids, chefs, and male workers can hear that hollow voice my body is making.
"Good, then you know what to do, brother. We'll have to talk," she said and turned towards the large windows at the back of our house. I turned to, and found dead bodies of neighbors, especially Ben's parents, but Ben isn't in the pile of bloody dead bodies.
I tried looking back, but found it hard. I put more force, and I did what I want to do, but it was painful. My body's head is still facing front while I am facing back. The servants were shocked. Most of them hug each other while the rest cried silently.
My senses were blocked again.
When I can see, I found myself in dad's bedroom. I can feel the tears on my cheeks. The next thing I knew, Charmcaster came in and told me it is time.
We went down stairs, feeling number than before, and found the house I once loved and know became to a palace, big, scary, and unknown. More people that lived in the town were here. "Yes, my brother. These people were the ones left when I told them to run. Instead, they were packing, the idiots were packing," Lynn told me.
On my left (I am on the large stairs that widens with Lynn) is the plantation. On my right are the houses that look small and poor, enough for only three people. There were many of them, and I didn't like it.
"Lynn, what happened to the town I know?" I asked her harshly. I found few of my voice coming back, but hollow can still be heard.
I've been shouting plenty of times around town, so nearly everyone knows my voice. That means most of the people were shock to hear this voice, even the grandmother that lived near the park I shout on.
"Now go to your puny houses and rest! We'll be waiting tomorrow since that will be the time you start working!" Lynn shouted at them. They all look at us with hatred, shock, and/or disbelief.
Charmcaster Lynn went to the plantations, pulling me there with her. "To celebrate the power we have, we shall burn the bodies! Show them whose boss," Lynn yelled. She carried the bodies with her magic power and drops them on the fire.
Again, my senses are blocked.
I woke up, finding myself in the same place. Why am I here? Why in this lair that she owns? My body looks sleeping and resting, when the soul is awake, alarmed.
"Why do you want to do this?" I heard a voice ask, "Why do you want to do this cruel plan you invented?"
"It is my hunger for power my friend! I wanted to be the most powerful leader of all, but I can't get it when I am that ordinary child you once saw. I can do it without my family except for my brother, Kevin!" I heard Lynn answer. So this is her plan.
"I am your mother, so it is not polite to see me as your friend," the now known voice of my mother told her, "and you are doing something wrong, you mustn't use your sibling like that!"
"If he deserves a well praised comment from father, the delicious dish from you, the playful times with our young dead sister, a good mentor from my twin sister, and a troublemaker from our brother, then he deserves what I have for him!" Charmcaster shouted at mom.
I heard her electrify mom as she cry. The sadness I have for mom washed away, replaced with the rage I have for Lynn. She is not my sister anymore; she's the murderer I haven't seen.
My senses block, leaving me to a deep sleep like I am supposing to.
Charmcaster walk towards me, handing me the belt my dad had. "Use this if one of our slaves doesn't listen," she said. Her voice and look is very serious, and she began to smile like a bad, bad lady.
Lynn divided the slaves into two groups. Gwen and Julie were in my group, luckily. I counted the people that were coming with me. There were twenty five. In Charm's group, there are fifty two.
We walk opposite ways. She walked north, I walk south.
As we reach our side of the plantation, Gwen pat her hand on my shoulder. "Why are you doing this?" she asked me, tears falling to the ground. As she does this, I feel myself getting my control over my body back. When I didn't reply, she took her hand away, leaving myself half controlling my body. We pass a dead body, scaring me off. My other side took its control again.
They went on their places and began to work. They work everyday. Charmcaster puts pressure on them. I, now gaining at least three percent of the control, make sure they don't die from malnutrition or diseases in their bodies or floating around the air.
Days passed. More slaves come in, few slaves die when I didn't have the chance to check them. Gwen and Julie became thin, thin enough to see their bones.
Charmcaster began wearing the black suit Raven use to wear the day before she left. My body did the work quickly, going through every person, making sure they are healthy, but not high like before.
On the seventh week, I gained ten percent of my body's control, but it seems like I am controlling it. Since I had this amount of control, I am able to feed the slaves more.
It's the thirtieth week, and I am able to control my senses. I was able to give Julie the encouraging smile, but she just frowned.
I help them do a bit of the work so they won't have to tire themselves. I gave them more food than I did on the first week. I did this behind Lynn's back.
We are on the fiftieth week, and I gained their trust. I made sure I won't lose it, since I want it to stay that way.
The people (not known as slaves anymore, according to me) were adjusting to this new way of life. They began chattering happily before they sleep.
It was now the fifty third week, according to my birthday. My birthday is today, and I am going to celebrate it by doing as much as work as I can without Charmcaster knowing.
There was an announcement, and we were all called from the plantations and to the big stairs.
I stood beside Charmcaster, as always. "As you all know, today is my young brother's birthday. He'll be eighteen, and he'll take more charge than ever," she said. Not only I take more charge than ever, but also taking fifty percent control over my body. I was very happy, but didn't show the happy face like Charmcaster is.
Other people below us were trying to hide their smiles, probably thinking of victory. "Today, everything will change, everything," she said. She smirks and looks around the crowd that has grown over the months. There were more, including Ben. He's there now, but I give him more respect than I ever did, since he got the plan to almost everything because of his mischief when he was with his family.
"Today, one person will sacrifice his or her life during this birthday of his," she murmured, "because I know what he was doing when I was gone!"
Everyone gasp. I glared at Charmcaster, she can't do this. I found more control of my body. I absorb the steel rail beside me and attack Charmcaster. Since she is a girl, she was slow. My agility couldn't match hers.
Since the mansion is more in ruins, I was able to find a boulder. I threw it at her, but she duck. Only her silver hair touched it.
She used her powers to carry a big pile of boulders. Before she threw it, Gwen ran in between. "Don't!" she shouted. Charmcaster only laughed harder and threw it at us. Gwen pushed me to the side, and the boulders squashed her on the floor. Everyone gasp again and walk back. Charmcaster laughed evilly (that's her style of laughing now) and threw a pile of rocks at me, I avoided it and ran to my bedroom, that was once dad's bedroom.
I took the pillow he uses to cry on and began crying. I am a man, but I am still crying. My world is breaking, crumpling to smaller pieces until I have no reason to live.
Besides her, she had other friends I must free from Charmcaster's rule. This is the only way to pay her back.
I then remembered the time when dad was at home, everyone was happy and alive while I mourn. This is what is supposed to happen, not what really happened:
I walk downstairs, and dad began playing the wonderful tune, as he likes to call it. Hearta walk towards him and began playing with him.
The twins played the violins; since there is nothing else to do but watch the servants dance.
The men walk downstairs and took the hand of each lady. They began dancing the formal one while the two teens, Gwen and Julie dance around. The doorbell rang, and one of the men opened it and continued dancing. My neighbor and friend, Ben, came to dance too. He took Julie's waiting hand and began dancing.
As I watch them, Alan came next to me. "Why don't you ask Gwen? Look at Ben, he has the courage to do so, and I have too!" he said.
"Why do you keep on saying you can do everything?" I asked him.
"Because dad says that we all can do it if we really try," Alan answered.
He listens to dad, so I guess I'll have to try at least listening to dad once. Gwen twirled and had that calm face. She looks like she needs help.
"Hi, want to dance?" I asked her, bowing. She blushed and took my hand. Before we knew it, we were gliding across the dance floor, dancing the formal way. Everyone else was watching, and Hearta stopped playing the piano to watch, but after a minute or so, she continued making the graceful noise to enchant this evening.
My father stops playing to see what's happening. He saw me dance and gave me the fulfilled smile. He then continued.
While the twins play, they also watch. Raven smiled along with Lynn. Alan quietly claps as he smiles.
The pillow was dump, so I kept it in the closet.
I look outside carefully, and found Charmcaster burning Gwen's body. Tears fell even more as I watch the painful sight. She has always done that.
There is hope. Don't give up, we are here to watch and care over you, I heard the voices of my mom, dad, and Gwen.
There is always hope.