Dear Diary: In Fire, and in Blood, and in Anguish | On Hold

4 S o l d ?

"Oi!"

Seraphina's table jumped as the intruder slammed their hands onto her desk.

"What the hell, Everett?! Are you mad?!"

Seraphina had peacefully walked into school, 20 minutes earlier, and sat on her respective seat, the diary on her desk. She was just about to open it and read the next diary entry when her best friend decided to show up after 2 weeks.

"No hi? No hello? No how are you? Nothing?"

Seraphina balantly ignored him and turned to her diary. Her hand was on the cover, when suddenly the dairy vanished.

"What the hell, Everett?! Give it back!" whisper shouted Seraphina, she didn't want the attention on her and especially not on the book.

"I won't give it back, until you let me explain and talk to me," replied Everett, as he sat down in his respective seat, which was in front of her.

Seraphina stared blankly at the back of his head, before she sighed and gave her answer.

"Fine."

Everett happily turned to face her.

"If I give the book back to you, can you promise me that you won't go back on your words?" said Everett, as he laid his pinky finger in front of her.

'Promise," replied Seraphina, as she linked her own pinky finger to his.

Everett grinned and gave back her book.

"Don't worry, I know I don't usually do this but that really looked valuable," said Everett.

"Yeah, I was going to have a heart attack if you didn't tell me that."

Seraphina smiled at him softly, she really was hurt that he disappeared without telling her but she had to let him explain and ignoring him and giving him a cold shoulder won't give her answers.

She flipped through the diary, until she reached the last page that she was on.

Pg.7

Dear Diary,

It's been two weeks.

My father and I have been living on the bundle of food and water we decided to take with us on...that day.

It wasn't much, so it quickly vanished within a week, through my mouth and into my stomach.

Three days after no food and no water and just breathing air, my mother had finally thrown in her leftovers.

She needed us alive because who would she show off to her friends, if her husband and daughter died in her basement?

My throat was parched, my stomach hurt with hunger and I was drained out like a vampire had sucked my living soul out of me. I felt like I was going insane but when I saw that piece of bread, I leaped for it, like a burst of energy suddenly corsed through my veins and burst out.

Another week has passed, my father and I felt like robots. We went through a repetitive cycle: wake up, a burst of hunger and thirst rushing in like a shower of rainbows, except it wasn't rainbows; it was hunger and thirst. We'd then walk around in circles, waiting for the creak of light coming from above and a piece of bread to be thrown, and when it would come, we would eat like hungry wolves feeding on the meat of their prey after a long time. Then a wave of tiredness would wash over us, yet we were unable to sleep, our eyes were wide awake, staring up at the cobwebs and spiders crawling up in the ceiling. The cold would slither into our clothes and then attack our bones.

What a pleasant two weeks!

With nothing to eat, nothing to drink and nothing to keep us warm. Just my father and I, in room full of air and insanity.

Ring!! Ring!!

"What?! You're joking! A fire alarm at this time?!"

Seraphina, shoved the book into the inside of her jacket and followed the rest of the students, outside to the meeting point.

Everyone was whispering to each other. It wasn't normal to have a fire drill early in the morning, unless...the school was burning down!

Seraphina was about to run back inside to get her bag but Everett held her back, with his unnecessaryly strong, metal arms.

"What are you doing, Seraphina? It's nothing but a normal fire drill, I overheard the teachers talking about it," mumbled Everett, so only he could hear her.

"Oh, don't worry, I totally knew that," grumbled Seraphina as she shook Everett's palm off her arm.

"Yeah! Sure!" replied Everett, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Seraphina rolled her eyes and walked away.

~~~

Pg.8

Dear Diary,

We were out!

We could finally breathe the fresh air after staying confined in the deepest, darkest and coldest of all rooms.

Before I could even appreciate it fully, Mother locked Father in his room and pulled me aside.

"I swear, if you go and snitch to your Father about this again, I swear, I won't let you or that man whom you call Father see the light of day again! Understood?!"

Mother had whispered that to me so full of threat and danger, I couldn't uttered a single syllable.

"Have you become mute? Understood?!"

I trembled under her intensifying gaze and nodded to her.

"Words, Seraphina, words. Use that useless tongue of yours or do you want me cut it off?"

"Y-yes, y..es, I ha-ave understood."

Mother had now released her palm from my arm. I am sure that it left a bruise.

"Good. The heir of the mafia will come to get you himself tomorrow, at midnight, he has chosen you. Be happy that a man actually wants you. I don't know what he saw in you but I seriously do not care. As long as I get my money.

Wake up early, I don't want you meeting such a rich man looking like a zombie. Take a bath, I don't want you stinking like dung. Dress nicely, I don't want you looking like you came from the dead. Now run along, you dog, get back to your room."

I turned around and entered my room. I had held the tears in for far too long. The tears flowed over my cheeks, breaking every single chain I had locked in place. I could taste the salt in my mouth as I cried in the corner of my room, quietly of course.

Then, I picked up my pen and dipped the nib into pure ink.

And I wrote.

Wrote into the diary.

Wrote into my diary.

"Seraphina! If I see you read that one more time instead of revising, I will confiscate it and never give it back!"

My mum was at the door, fuming.

"Tsk..Okay, sorry, I'll revise first."

"Don't kiss your teeth at me, young lady."

"Can you get out of my room, I need to REVISE."