Panic seized me as I realized my best friend was being kidnapped.

Blindly running through the narrow space, I bumped my head against the wall.

After a lot of squinting, I found a man with a girl on his shoulder going towards the parking lot.

Without a second thought, I screamed.

"He kidnapped my friend"
Tears streamed down my face as I ran towards the man, throwing weak punches so I wouldn't hurt Diane.

Other people gathered round to see what was going on as tears streamed down my eyes further hindering my vision in the dark.

"Scar, stop! I'm right here. Stop hitting the innocent man."
A voice to my right said sounding very much like my best friend.

I looked at Diane and back at the man with the passed out girl on his shoulder.

"Oh..."
I said sheepishly feeling very ashamed.

My friends burst out laughing as they teased me, the man I assaulted not amused at all.

•••

"Scarlet hurry up. We need to pick Salome up from the airport."
Aunt Lola shouted as she grabbed her keys from the counter and went out the front door.

Or we can leave her there so that she finds her way. Experience is the best teacher. Hopefully, she'll get lost. I thought glumly.

"Coming!"
I replied with fake enthusiasm as I forced my sneakers on.

I was outgrowing my favourite pair. The horror!!!

Taking my breath mint from my stash,  I put it in my bag not wanting a repeat of my last encounter with my 'cousin'.

"I'm ready"
I said taking a seat in front as I plugged my headphones in and kept vibing to my music.

•••

We got to the airport as Salome's flight was being announced.

I was in no hurry to welcome her so I waited in the car for Aunt Lola who went to search for her.

Minutes later, the sound of a box rolling on the concrete began to grate on my nerves.

Looking around, I saw my 'cousin' approaching with my aunt.

Even her belongings were already annoying me and we hadn't even spoken yet.

Salome and attention could go hand in hand so it wasn't very surprising to see the revealing clothes she had on.

The frequent glance to make sure people were looking at her as she did her 'power walk' didn't go unnoticed either.

To me, her power walk was very similar to a penguin waddling on a thin strip of ice but she said it gave her the look of a powerful business woman so who am I to argue?

Forcing a smile on my face, I stepped out of the car to greet her courteously but the words stuck in my throat as she shoved me aside.

"Out of my way shrimp!"
She sneered, pushing her way past me and sitting down in the front seat.

"I was sitting there already"
I fumed quietly.

Aunt Lola glanced at me unamused. She didn't like me squabbling with Salome but she never tried to stop her from bullying me either.

"So what are you gonna do about it?"
Salome said chewing her gum loudly with her mouth open like a goat.

"Just because you have powers now doesn't change anything."
She added as she blew a bubble with her gum and popped it round her mouth.

Such a mannerless creature.

Her luggage waited by my feet and even though I was very tempted to leave it there, one look from Aunt Lola turned me to Salome's slave.

Putting her box in the trunk, I listened to her gush on and on about the men that were trying to talk to her on the plane, the teenage boy that tried to steal her purse and the old lady who took too long to climb the stairs.

Taking in a deep breath, I opened the front door ready to yank her out but Aunt Lola stopped me before I could do anything.
"Scar, she's your guest. Sit at the back"

Furiously taking a seat behind, I struggled to make myself comfortable but that was proving to be a difficult task.

To further aggravate the situation, Salome rolled her seat back to look like a spa chair, putting her body weight and that of the chair on my leg.

"Salome, move your seat forward. You're hurting me."
I growled.

She pretended not to hear me as she kept her eyes closed.

I knew she did because of the slight twitch of her lip upward as she held in a smile, reveling in my pain.

My legs were being squashed so every slight movement was painful.

If I picked a fight, Aunt Lola would side with her whether I was the victim or not and I would just end up getting in trouble.

Inching close to her head while holding my breath in an attempt to soothe the pain, I lowered my lips as close to her ear as I could.

"I will only say this once. Move your chair or I will chop your hair off at night."

With a roll of her eyes, she grudgingly moved.

I heaved a sigh of relief as the pain gradually subsided and I could feel my legs again.

The car suddenly came to a halt, sending me flying as I hit my head on Salome's seat causing her to jerk forward.

She glared at me and got out of the car, doing her penguin walk, I mean power walk, into the house.

"Bring Salome's box in"
Aunt Lola said before stepping out of the car as well.

"Salome has hands."
I grumbled as I brought the box out.
It was very heavy and as I tried to drag it up the stairs, one of the wheels popped out.

A loud shriek almost left me deaf.

"She purposely damaged my box. It was one of a kind. I won it at the fairy exhibit two years ago."

"You're a fairy? Good. Then fix it. Or better yet, carry it yourself."
I huffed, letting the box go as I watched it roll down and hit her.

"Point of correction. I'm not your help so respect yourself or you'll be sorry"
I sneered, anger quickly overtaking me.

"Or else what?"
She taunted with a raised eyebrow as a flash of blue light began forming in the palm of her hand, taking the shape of a sword.

Even though I didn't know how to do whatever she was doing, she wasn't going to intimidate me either.

"Why don't you try and find out?"
I asked as the now familiar darkness began to envelope the room, the aura of the room dropping and the terrible stench saturating the air.

Salome's face twisted in horror and I was losing touch with my senses which I found odd.

The blue light flickered in her hand and her face got paler as she began to tremble.

"S...s...stay away f-f-from me"
She said taking in a breath and coughing it back out.

Serves her right...

The darkness quickly disappeared as my anger cooled but Aunt Lola's voice quickly knocked me back to reality.

"What do you think you are doing?"
Her eyes only on me and her voice deathly cold for some reason I couldn't fathom.

•••

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really occupied and the phase has not passed yet but I hope it gets better.

One of my friends texted me on WhatsApp and told me to update after listing out some serious threats of what she will do if I don't.

She told me it's not cool leaving her in the dark even though the title of the book is lost in the dark. Pun intended.

But it's honestly texts like that that make me happy and channel whatever free time I can find into updating...

So for every other person being an encouragement to me, low-key or straight up, I really appreciate it.

And I'll do my best for you.