Prologue – The Nightmare
Phoenix was so hot. You could stand outside for at least 2 minutes and could feel the tiny sweat droplets trickling down your face. As horrible as the feeling was, it reminded me that I was lucky to live in a beautiful part of the world. Waking up every morning to a beautiful sunrise and evening dinners watching as the sun laid to rest was really worth living for. It's true what they say the good weather really does put you in a better place.
The past couple of weeks had been hard. Mom and Phil had been struggling with money, I tried to help out as best as I could. I got extra shifts down at the diner and worked from morning to night at weekends and worked until midnight at weekdays whilst studying in-between. I worked hard to get my tips and most nights I would make more in them than I did in wages. Phil was a baseball player but when he injured his knee he was laid off for a year in case he damaged his knee all the more. Mom worked hard too, she had several other jobs. Weekdays she would work as a receptionist at a school, evenings she would help out at the diner and weekends during the day she would help the elderly with their garden. We tried hard to make ends meet and most weeks we barely had enough money to fill our cupboards.
Phil started to get angry that he couldn't play anymore, blamed himself for not being able to properly provide for us, but no amount of reasoning with him would change his mind. Then one day, out of nowhere Phil came home from his parents with a huge smile on his face. He told us his parents had given him his inheritance early to help us out with the struggling year. Things went back to normal again, I was working less and actually started to pass in classes I feared of failing and Mom could finally have her evenings to herself. Even Phil was alot happier; things were finally getting back to normal.
Until 2 weeks past, I came home from school to find Mom and Phil arguing and shouting at each other, I wondered what on Earth they could be arguing about if everything was so perfect when I left this morning. Once they sensed my presence they covered their worried and angered faces with a smile, I knew something was wrong and even though they reassured me, I wasn't settled. The next day after coming home from work, I found Mom sitting at the head of the table accompanied by a litre bottle of vodka. Her eyes looked as if she had been punched in the face with the crying she had done that day, her whole face was red from rubbing of the eyes and nose. "Phil's gone." Was the only thing she said to me that day, Phil had walked out on us but left the money. I ran out of the house and searched every corner of our town to find him but he was nowhere to be seen, no one had even seen him leave and in a tight knitted community where everyone knew everyone's business I found it very hard to believe.
I hated Phil for what he had done, I hated him for breaking my Mom's heart and I hated him for leaving me too. I never knew my Father and for the first 5 years of my life I really knew what struggling was. Living in a trailer and being cared for by the neighbours whilst Mom worked all day and night to provide for us. Phil came into our lives like a saviour and pulled us out of the dark and gave us a life which we both deserved, especially my Mom. He taught me how to ride a bike, helped me with my Math homework, taught me how to surf and was there for every cut, bruise or graze. I looked up to him like my Dad, someone I could always count on. But he was gone, like he never even existed.
The next couple of days were hard, Mom barely came out of her room and everytime I tried to cheer her up or drag her out of bed she would snap and shout and told me to leave her alone. She spent the rest of the week in bed, I was the provider now, I would work hard as well as do well in school to care for the both of us. Another reason why I hated Phil, it was like he took away the best years of my life.
Last week I was packing my bag for school and eating some breakfast, Mom had eventually started to pull her weight and slowly started to give life a try without Phil in it. It was safe to say he definitely left a hole in both of our hearts. Mom walked over to me and took my face in both of her hands, smiling sadly as tears surfaced in her sea blue eyes. "I love you my sweet Isabella." She said softly, running her thumb over my cheek.
I looked up at her and laughed awkwardly, shaking my head. "Mom, are you ok?" I asked before she nodded slowly and kissed my forehead. She walked away and made herself a coffee, I watched her presence and I knew something else was wrong, like something was going to happen today. I didn't want to leave her on her own but she promised she was ok and that she was doing an old lady's front lawn today. I reluctantly left for school but all day I had the horrible, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew something was wrong and I couldn't think what.
When the last warning bell went off indicating the end of school, I bolted out of my class and ran home as fast as I could. I wanted to know that Mom was ok and that today was just me being completely paranoid. I stumbled into the house to find it was empty. It was silent. Eerily silent. I knew something wasn't right, the atmosphere had changed and I knew that we weren't safe. My Mom wasn't safe.
I started to frantically look for her around the downstairs, calling her name. Her shoes were still here and so was her keys, she hadn't left the house like she had promised. I looked up the stairs and a wave of nerves hit me like a ton of bricks. I could feel my whole body begin to shiver and chills ran down my back. I knew definitely something was wrong. I swallowed thickly before I started up the stairs slowly, "Mom?" I called quietly, my breath getting shorter and quicker as if someone was going to jump on me for breathing. I looked in my room briefly and everything was untouched, I checked my bathroom, the family bathroom and the spare room before coming to my Mom's bedroom, the door was slightly ajar and I could see the foot of the bed. I slowly brought my hand to the door knob and pushed the door gently, hoping my Mom was peacefully napping.
I kept my eyes firmly closed until I knew the door was fully open, slowly I reopened my eyes to find my Mom lying on her bed, her eyes opened wide and lying in a pool of her own blood. I felt everything drain from my body and I thought for a second that I had died. I was in a trance just staring at my Mom. I let out a strangled noise before screaming out for her, I frantically ran to her lifeless body and tried waking her up. I knew it was no use, she was dead. I cried and screamed for help as I kept my Mom's bloody body to mine.
"Mom!" I called out as I sat up in my bed, feeling my whole body was drenched in sweat and my heart was pounding so hard against my chest I was sure it was going to fall out. I looked down at my body and hands to find no blood on me. The minute I looked around my surroundings I knew I wasn't home, and I knew my nightmare was real.
My Mom was murdered.
So, trying out this fanfiction malachy again and hoping it goes better than the past tries. I'm not promising this to be finished because everytime I do, I stop. But please review and tell me what you think (: