Broken

PERPLEXITY

The picture you see is of Raina.
CHAPTER FIVE

Five days had passed since, she had been ruthlessly abused. The ointment that Raina rubbed on her wounds had reduced them to mere scars now. The soreness had not completely forsaken her being, but it had reduced, enabling her to lumber her way through the house. She forbade her mind to wander off to her mother's memories. Her will became that of steel. Her heart hardened. She became a strong child. Quiet and desolate, strong nevertheless. She built a fortress around her heart, refusing entry. For doing so, would cause it to shatter and never again become whole again. She could not take that chance again, her mother's death had already left her vulnerable.

Raina was just another part of her life. She acknowledged her with a Salam(greeting) but no more. Her father was home more than often and she scurried away, keeping out of his way. Food, drink and comfort were scarcely a part of her life. Raina was granted entry into her father's bedroom. She had never been there. Never once, had she crossed the oaken door that held the key to her father's secrets. Her curiosity had died, with her mother's death. She no longer wanted insight into the man, who was the cause of her anguish. She despised him. Every fibre of her being wished him dead. Her hate, sometimes, scared her. Her chores began to accelerate as she noticed Raina's growing bump. Raina seemed to tire, easily. She had never seen her father so anxious, who hovered over Raina, inquiring over the gentlest of sighs escaping her mouth. Shillan felt jealous. Her resentment began to grow, she became colder towards Raina, who still treated her like her own progeny. Shillan, knew she was in the wrong but her heart was zealous and refused to yield into loving Raina.

She failed to notice her father's behaviour towards her, which had become less violent. He had begun to ignore her presence altogether. Slowly, she apprehended the change in his demeanour. It was a baffling order of things. She wondered what it meant. However, one thing was certain, she preferred him this way. Hard lines drowned his forehead, his eyes were hooded. His lips stretched into a thin line, and he never smiled except, when his gaze beheld Raina's bulge. Shillan could see hope flicker in his eyes, then. Again, she mused over its meaning. Her conscience failed to satisfy her burning hunger for answers. Never had she envisioned the day when her father would refrain from beating her.

A week later, something happened. Shock rattled her being, she stood still. Her heart missing a beat. Her eyes, opened wide. Mouth hanging wide open when her father brushed his hand against her cheek, gloom flickering in his eyes. She saw shame, anger and forlornness glitter in his, slowly, welling up, eyes. She could see they were heavy, with pregnant tears. Not knowing what to do, having never once, encountered kindness from the source of her melancholy, she turned away from him and fled to her room. That day, she let her guard down, the walls fragmented and her heart fluttered. Orbs of water spilled to the ground, increasing in intensity with each passing moment. She wailed. This day, she cried for her mother. Having bottled up her emotions for so long, she finally let them escape. Amongst the many tears that she shed over her affliction, she heard Raina's cries. Her screams increased in fervour and Shillan wiped her face hurriedly and made her way towards Raina. She could hear her voice coming from Aba's room. Her cold feet rooted her to the spot. Crossing the door, would be a prodigious offence, one she was unwilling to make. So, she turned on her heels and ran towards every room in the house, fumbling through them, trying to find her Aba. Finally, she went out of the house in her search, passing his room once again, the urgency in Raina's cries had multiplied. She struggled. Her feet began to turn back and her hand reluctantly, reached for the handle, when she heard her Aba's furious voice,
"GET AWAY", he snarled.
Shillan moved back, her head bent. He threw her an incensed glare and moved past her, into the room. Shillan turned on her heel and fled back to her asylum.

Heeeey! How are you guys doing? Enjoying it? Don't forget to vote, comment and share!
Cheers!