Chapter Text
I was breathing heavily in the abandoned storage closest I had found. I whimpered while I clutched at my ribs; the pain was unbearable, I couldn't move and to be honest I didn't want to. What I wanted to do though was lie down and wallow and cry and shout to the world for the billionth time in my short lifespan, 'Why did they pick me to go through this?' Because quite frankly I didn't ask for any of this, if I had the choice to die then I might've taken it, I would have taken it and at this point, in my progress, this point in my injuries I think I was.
I was seeing stars. My eyes fluttered and I saw colorful speckles of death, it was pretty and deadly, pretty deadly. I was dozing in and out of consciousness, I could hardly breathe. I was so close to death, I felt it in my chest. My heart was sputtering in my chest, it wasn't palpitating normally, however I couldn't let that bother me because I knew if I wanted to leave the house of Lani, the house of terrors where bugs crept inside to eat whatever we had to become independent and to escape this unbearable life. I knew I had to leave now.
I had came across that closet while venturing into the house for some type of entertainment. I should've known that there was no type of entertainment, well at least for me in this house. After all I didn't even know what would have entertained me since Lani was strict on what I was allowed to do...which was barely anything at all. I couldn't watch TV as we didn't have a TV to watch, I couldn't play games because who would I have played with, I couldn't do anything. The only source of entertainment that I had was my laptop I had for school, however I barely had that. The connection was terrible.
Fortunately lucky enough to be able to breathe in this dark, polluted house. There is dust everywhere. There's dust and dirt everywhere. I clean, and clean and clean however it gets back dirty. I wouldn't be surprised if we had termites and mice in here to ruin my hard work, but then again my life up to this point have been nothing...exactly that; nothing.
May 2nd, 8:56 pm 30 minutes before.
Lei'ah had heard keys jingle from her room and quickly put a halt to the passage that she was writing by actively tossing the notebook under her dye stained pillow case. Once she got herself together to put on her act, she made her way out onto the stairwell, and just stood there where Lani could see her. Any other day, she would've just minded her miserable business and paid Lani no time of day but today wasn't any ordinary day; it was D-Day, May 2nd. The day she planned to make an escape from Lani and the horror of her house.
For the past few months she's been keeping track of Lani's schedule; the time she leaves the house and the time she comes back even if did ultimately mess up her sleeping schedule, she was dedicated to her role even though she couldn't come up with any idea to try to escape as she didn't have the strength and agility of a person that deadlifts, or the tools to properly do so. However she knew Lani well, she observed Lani a lot and she knew that distractions would be most beneficial as Lani had the attention and memory of a person whose brain acted like an old dusted computer processor as she was only 32.
Lei'ah cleared her throat and stomped her foot at the top of the staircase wanting, no needing Lani's attention on her.
At first Lani didn't pay her any piece of mind, she just prepared to leave for the night again. She already had her shoes on and her minimal makeup done, and unlocked the door. Lei'ah stomped her foot again and she could feel Lani's irritation spread throughout the living room, the air had suddenly gotten thick. Lani just took a deep breath of air to suppress her annoyance, and irritation and exhaled as she raked her fingers through her chestnut brown loose curly hair then she walked to her bedroom.
Lei'ah did it again, and again, and again, until her foot gave out. Lei'ah let out an annoyed groan, but Lani didn't look her way, even when she came back from her room, she just put her focus on something else and muted Lei'ah entirely out.
She shuffled into some bags making sure everything that she needed was inside of them and went to leave. However, Lei'ah needed her attention, she was getting kind of impatient, she was almost desperate to receive it for the first time in so many years, so she added a taunting question in the mix to fully gain Lani's undivided attention.
"Hey, Lani, why do you keep me here locked in this house?" Lei'ah asked.
Lani slowly turned to face Lei'ah with piercing dark brown eyes. Lei'ah visibly gulped and hid her shaking hands by gripping the top of the railing. A few huffs and puffs were let out as Lani couldn't quite wrap her head around the question or around Lei'ah who had the guts to ask such a question. There was many reasons on why Lani kept her hidden. However the main reason for her was to keep her baby sister safe. Lani simply smiled, and responded. "I don't want bad things to happen to you like they did to me."
"Now go to bed, it's late." Lani said moving to exit the house, but was stopped again with Lei'ah taunting her once more.
"What things Lani? It can't be worse than being locked inside 24/7 having no access to sunlight with God knows what in these walls." Lei'ah responded in a taunting way as to anger her, then she went calm. "I promise to be careful of the world. I just want to explore and see everything around me. It's my right to do so. I've been locked here for nearly 19 years and anyone in my shoes would want the same thing."
Lei'ah didn't say anything after that. Just stood, and slowly backed away as she saw Lani strutting to the bottom step. Anger clear as day with the way her face turned red and the way her breathing had gotten heavier. One step on the bottom step and Lani stopped. Gripping the railing as hard as she could before her tampered temper had gotten the best of her.
"You were left here with me, so you're going to abide by my rules. Whether you like it or not you're bound to be locked here with me for the rest of your life. It's best like this, the world is a dirty sinful place and I want to keep you safe from it Lei'ah Le'Ann, you're a beautiful little girl and beautiful girls, beautiful women
get hurt." She stated matter of factly in a tone which meant it was not up for debate.
Lei'ah was getting angry.
"What's wrong with you?! Whether you like it or not I should have a life that's not bordered within these walls. With you. I didn't ask to be left here, hell I didn't even choose to be born. I'm just here with no power of my own!" Lani was seething, clutching and unclutching her fists, her eyes were bulging out of her sockets. She looked like she belonged in an institution, then Lei'ah continued with her taunting rant which pissed Lani off even further. "Maybe you should've been more careful in the world, maybe you should've been a better human being. Just because things happened to you don't mean they'll happen to me!"
Lani's anger deepened, and she was livid. She was like a bull that only saw red, bellowing in anger, "How dare you?! I spent so much money on you to keep you safe and protected. The only reason you're able to say these taunting words to me is because I taught you how to speak! I gave you an education." Lani's bellowing voice caused Lei'ah to stiffen up in shock and fear. On instinct, she got out of the state of being shocked as quickly as she became it.