Twisted

Run, Little Girl, Run

Annabella looked out of her own tiny, over-used window. The view of the courtyard was dull, the flowers died long ago yet nobody had replaced them. Their house had been built long ago, the flowers had been something she loved as a child, so full of life, so full of hope. Unlike Annabella, trapped inside the walls around her, she had lost the life he had with her father and now was left just a shell of a person. Even her clothes and hair were void of colour, her skin so pale it barely gave the illusion of colour. She was a ghost, and she knew it. Just wondering and waiting, until one day maybe she would be allowed to cross into the other world, the real world. 

Footsteps approached, it was the loud sound of Maddison's ridiculous high heels. They were overly tall, and it wasn't as if she really needed them. Still, she kept on the death traps, that was murdering her feet, in order to give the illusion of height. At 5'8 she didn't really need them, but she kept them on.  Maddison stopped at her daughter's door, peering in at her gorgeous child with a firey resentment that had only continued to burn since the day Annabella was born. Finally, Maddison, the ungrateful, hateful mother, pushed Annabella's door open, it slammed against the wall, causing Annabella to squeeze her eyes shut.

"I'm having guests over tonight," Maddison announced. There was no love or care in her voice. Nothing that suggested this was a mother talking to her daughter. Annabella nodded obediently, wondering what this could possibly have to do with her. Although deep down she knew what was coming next, what would always come next. "So stay in your room, out of my way." Again Annabella just nodded. No words were exchanged, Maddison hadn't heard Annabella speak in years. There was no need for her to speak, and so any time she did Maddison made sure to make her life harder. Maddison resented the easily sweet, soft voice her daughter possessed, something she didn't. Just another thing to add to Annabellla's collective innocent beauty that Maddison would always crave to destroy. 

With the satisfaction no mother should have at their child's misery, Maddison pulled the door shut, having never entered Annabella's room. Maddison continued down the wondering halls to use more of her acquired beauty potion. Her youthful eyes were starting to fade into their acquired cruelty that destroyed the fake beauty she had forced. Even as she naturally grew older, Maddison would still be a beautiful woman, but that would never be enough for her. Natural beauty never was, and never would be enough for her. 

Meanwhile, Annabella sat on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't have to wonder what had made her mother hate her so much. For she already knew. At least she thought she did. After all these years, she hated herself just as much as her mother did. Annabella had been told so many times about how she killed her father, and how would a daughter forgive herself after something as devastating as that.

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Downstairs the gathering was in full swing. Annabella had heard the doors opening and closing so many times she had almost lost count. However, without anything else to focus on, she counted 20, meaning there were 20 unknown people in her home, the home her father had owned, and would still own if he were alive. Annabella knew little of her father, but she didn't think he'd like a bunch of unknown people in his house. Then again, for all Annabella knew all of these people had been his friends, his confidants. 

Annabella was listening to the music she could just about hear from her room. It gently fell to her ears and she hummed along to the melody. As Annabella was about to allow herself to sleep, she heard a wild knock on her door. Questions flew through her mind at a rapid pace, and fear surrounded her. She knew it couldn't be her mother, but she knew nobody else.  

"Oh for goodness sake child, open the door." Annabella heard an older woman say from behind the closed door. "I don't have much time before she knows I'm gone." Annabella cautiously walked towards her door, opening it to reveal an older looking woman, that seemed to have kind but scared eyes that swirled with various emotions. The only one Annabella could really make out was utter terror. 

"Hello?" Annabella's soft, smooth voice questioned, the woman walked in, closing the door without even touching it. More questions swirled through her mind, as the woman muttered words and unknown phrases under her breath. 

"We should be safe now Annabella." The reassurance was strange, Annabella looked around her room, searching for any signs of danger, but all she could see was the unknown woman. 

"Safe from what?" Annabella dared to ask. The woman shook her head, peering through the peephole her door had. 

"Good. We're alone." The woman sighed in relief. "My goodness, you are even prettier in person. You have no idea how long I have been waiting to meet you. Of course, I had hoped it would be under better circumstances, but that's life I suppose." Annabella stared at the woman in stunned silence. "Right, you have no idea who I am." The woman looked disheartened and hurt. However, brushed it off rather quickly. After all, how could Annabella know the woman that had been watching her through a magic mirror half her life? 

"Shouldn't you be downstairs with my mother?" Annabella questioned. The woman again looked and felt hurt, but again brushed it off. 

"And I will return shortly. But Annabella, you need to leave. Now. Maddison is crazy, I fear for your life, my dear child."  Annabella had no words, but she knew she couldn't believe this unknown woman. After all, her mother had never done anything to hurt her. Nothing to suggest that Annabella's life was in danger. 

"I'm perfectly fine. I'm sure whatever has made you fear for my life is a simple misunderstanding. Thank you for your concern though." Annabella spoke politely. 

"She wants to kill you, my dear." The woman insisted. "You need to leave."

"If my mother wanted to kill me, she would have done so already." Annabella tried to convince. Yet, honestly, she wasn't sure herself. 

The woman said nothing, instead, she held a mirror to Annabella, muttering some words to the magical object. The picture changed from Annabella's pale face to her mother's much brighter one. Her mother looked deep in thought, making it impossibly for Annabella's attention not to be wholly on her mother.
"Think Maddison. Think." Her mother said to herself. "There has to be a way to get rid of her." Annabella's mouth opened, wanting to ask questions, the woman just shook her head and motioned to the mirror. 
"I know we've discussed this before, but killing her?" An unknown man's voice suggested. Maddison just shook her head. 
"I just couldn't," Maddison said solemnly. 
"Still holding onto that doctor husband of yours? He's dead Maddi, she's the last thread of him. Just kill her, as you did him." 
"I didn't kill him." Maddison snapped at the man. The man came into view in the mirror. 
"No. You had my son do it." The man had a cruel smile on his face. 
"He was happy to. So young, so happy to kill, but no." Maddison refused, drinking just a little more of the potion. 
"I could change you." The man suggested. "No more remorse, and no more silly potion to keep that perfect little face of yours." 
"I've told you before, I will never be a vampire. Think of my skin, I could not be as pale and washed out as you or that foolish wife of yours." Maddison refused. 

"That's enough," Annabella instructed, the mirror cleared as if afraid of her. "I have seen enough. I want answers." 

"All in good time, my child." The woman responded. "For now you must run." 

"But, where will I go?" Annabella asked, already looking as lost as she felt. 

"As far away as you can get. I will find you wherever you are and answer all of your questions." The woman assured, but Annabella couldn't find a way to believe her. "I packed you a bag of necessities, now leave my child. Please. For both our sakes." 

"What do you get from this?" Annabella asked, feeling defensive as she took the bag. 

"The knowledge of your safety, and that is all I need." The woman smiled at her and Annabella just felt increasingly confused. "Take the back exit out of the garden, I'll keep your mother distracted for as long as possible." The woman clicked her fingers and warm, easy to manoeuvre in clothes appeared on Annabella's body. 

"Okay..." Annabella reluctantly gave in. "But I'll need answers. Soon." 

"And I'll give them to you. Now run little girl, run." Annabella nodded and started to make her way through the halls. When she made it outside she made sure to start running. Once she started she couldn't stop. 

Later that night, the woman watched through the magic mirror, praying Maddison wasn't doing the same thing. "Run, little girl, run." the woman said softly to herself.