My breath jagged.
Her whole body shook, crying and wailing, especially as my grip tightened. I made her scream in panic. “Wake up, Zioh, it’s me!!!”
I’m awake. It’s you.Murderer.Murderer.Traitor.Traitor.
Sophia, who made Mum die!
My gaze darkened. “Yes… It’s you,” I spat. “It’s fucking you, Sophie.”
My grip tightened. “It’s because of you,” I glared, pouring out all the darkness inside me. “You slag!”
Sophie shook her head, breath shallow and quick. Her tears streaming, pleading with her eyes. “You fucking ruin me!” I screamed in pain. “Ruin my family!”
Destroyer.“You should never have come,” I yelled, feeling the burning in my chest crawl upward, stinging my eyes. “You should never have moved into our neighbourhood and become a fucking whore who ruined my family. RUINED EVERYTHING!”
Fuck. You.
SHE RUINED EVERYTHING.
KILL HER!
As my grip tightened further, Sophie screamed. “Zioh!! Please Zi—”
I released my hold, sending her sprawling and coughing. I grabbed her arms and shook her. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?!” I demanded in rage.She was a lie.All our memories, all the affection she gave me… a lie. “You destroyed my family on purpose, didn’t you?! Huh?!”
Bloody traitor!
Sophie shook her head fast, pain flashing in her eyes, her tears pouring as if that was all she could do. Playing the victim when she started it. This whore who wrecked everything. She had stolenher,hadstolen my mum, had stolen mylife…she should die.
Shaking her, I shouted at her in pain. “You were designed to destroy my life, weren’t you, Sophie?!” I barked the words out. “You’re a murderer, Sophia!” She trembled, and her red eyes were wide with fear.
My murderer. Because I had never lived again after what she had done.
You took my life.
“You’re a fucking slag!!”
Sophie sobbed hard. I glared at her, full of darkness and hatred. “Leave!” I snarled. “Never show your face ever again!”
My tears fell. My grip tightened, pain crawling out of me, out of her. “Murderer.”
She trembled and sobbed beneath me. “Go,” I ordered, releasing her. “Get your fucking face out of mine, Sophia,” I hissed one last time. “Slag.”
57
Tshabina
22 January 2014
School had been back for weeks, yet Zioh and Zeraiah still hadn’t returned. Zioh had told me he’d be back within a fortnight, but the days bled into weeks with no sign of him. I couldn’t sleep at night. I couldn’t bring myself to eat or drink. This torment circled me endlessly as if I were trapped in a loop that refused to end, week after week.
Zioh was late, or… worse. Since his last text, both he and Zeraiah had disappeared.
Truly disappeared.
No more texts, no calls, no voicemails. Not even a shadow left behind.
When I went to their house, I gathered my courage to ask Aunt Enda, the head maid, about them, only to find the house nearly deserted. Each time, Aunt Enda and her husband, Uncle Kuswan, would give me the faint, sorrowful smile and say, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Everything is fine. Let’s just pray for the best.”
