Crimson - Scene 7

     Stratford - East London

 

Everyone knows her as Tee or - as her brother always calls her " TeeKay!

Last time she spoke to him, it was on their mother’s birthday, when all her siblings connected through a video chat on the computer to wish her happy birthday.

 “What’s up TK? How’re you holding up?” he said

A smile brightened her face every time he called her that. It reminded her of the happy times, back when she and her family were still together; now they are all scattered all around the world.

He stayed out in the country site when she moved to London, while her other two brothers said they were moving a lot around Asia and Europe back then and her sister was with their mother in a small island in the Mediterranean….

A tear runs down Tee’s cheek while she sleeps…

She dreams of her mom struggling to put food on their plates, having to beg in the streets after they were kicked out of their house. Those were rough times!

She can still feel the chill of the cold floors they had to sleep on, the smell of the dirt and garbage they were forced to live in and the fear she felt every time they were chased away by either horrified villagers or vengeful fanatics and militants. She hears their hateful screams and offensive attacks and she shivers in her sleep.

It was in one of those occasions, she first used her power. She swore to never forget that day she accidentally killed that poor woman. She recalls her mom screaming in pain when frightened villagers threw rocks at them. She jumped in front of them and shielded her children from the attacks…and she bled. Her brothers tried to pull her back, but the rocks kept coming, people shouting and her mom crying in pain, trying to protect her sons.

She remembers being scared and angry and in the confusion, slipping off her sister’s arms and jumping in front of her mother to protect her and lashing out to the angry mob, but then everything turned bright and the next thing she saw was the burned body of that woman.

She screams….

Tee wakes up sweating and crying. The nightmare is still fresh in her mind. She’s not had that since her family split and she thought she had left the past behind.

It’s a new day!

She looks at her phone on the bedside table " Nine o’clock!

“Oh, s**t!” she mutters.

She jumps off the bed and walks straight into the bathroom and under the shower. She washes up quickly, dries herself up with a towel and gets dressed in a rush.

She keeps re-playing the nightmare in her mind. She remembers how she struggled to come to terms with her powers and let go of the guilt. Her mom always blamed herself for letting that happen and she always told her that it wasn’t her fault, that she should have never let any of her children witness the horrors that human kind is capable of.

She recalls the last time she was with all her family before they split.

“This is the safest way. You will go with your brother and you will be good. He will protect you and one day we will come and find you” her mom said and gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. She cried so much that day and her brother kept his promise and kept her safe for as long as he could before she moved away for work.

When she was moving away he told her that the past would always haunt them while they haunt the present and she always believed it to be true. No one can escape their past….

She snaps out of her day dreaming.

Tee picks her backpack, heads to the front door and opens it. She walks out.

 “Past will always haunt me, while I haunt the present” she whispers and makes her way to town.

Reviews

[Kaliope]

Nicely done! I'd just like to see a bit more of T's character. Compared to Charlie she feels less defined to me. Maybe it's just because I (and probably most women) could easily relate to Charlie's situation when she lost control, however, I don't find it that easy with T. Perhaps you could expand a bit on her emotions, maybe even show her enjoying her power before remorse sets in. I don't know, just a dash of a character flaw...?
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this chapter very much! Great job!

[ApKWrites]

You are right, I do need to expand on Tee's character. The only reason I didn't so far is because there's going to be much more of Tee as a character and her background in the future as it is quite relevant to the plot as a whole. Who knows she might end up being a victim or even a victor...:)
Thank you for the great review:)