Make it stop.

I whined as a constant buzzing rattled my eardrums, demanding my lids to part.

Oh, God.

The sound of dogs barking and sirens wailing in the distance joined the mix. A groan ripped from deep within my throat, and the pillow was nowhere within my hand's reach.

It won't stop. Why won't it stop?

My lids that were lazily dropping, still laden with sleep, snapped open as violently as if I had woken from the sounds of explosions, my ears on alert. I plucked the phone from the dresser and stifled it in the mattress. I laid in my bed, wide awake, and tried to hear if there was any noise coming from the other side of my locked bedroom door. Finally, satisfied with no sound coming and convinced that my father wasn't home, I peered at the device. The name Rose, one of my close friends, is nestled in bold on the screen.

My thumb slid up the bright green button, "Hello, Rose." My raspy morning voice echoed through my outdated Samsung phone.

"Hey, Eylna. Morning, do you need a ride today?"

Unlike mine, Rose's chirpy voice was a mix of bubbly happiness as usual. I often wondered how we became friends. She was the popular girl that everyone wanted to be friends with. Me? Well, I was the girl who sat at the back of the class, twiddling with my two thumbs. To conclude, I was a nobody. I didn't like conversations, I didn't like friends. I didn't like people. My reality was something they could never understand. The more people got close to me, the harder it was to keep the secret that chained me to a world I never wanted to know existed.

"Kay, ah, you sound so tired, though. Did you sleep last night? Is everything okay?" Rose asked, concern dripped from her words, worry flooded her voice.

My teeth sank into my bottom lip. A hundred responses swirled in my head. A hundred different lies I could have told her. However, today I played it safe. Or that was what I wanted. "Everything's okay. You don't need to worry. It's probably because exams are coming up." A shaky laugh slipped out along with it.

I couldn't help myself. The lie just slipped from my lips before I realized it was easier to believe than the hard truth. Keeping up an act became easier and easier as the years rolled by. It just builds up without me even trying. All the lies I told, all the things I hid, all the walls I built. I lied to the people I love, to protect what?

I didn't even know.

"Okay, pick you up in twenty. See you then, love. Bye!" She cut the line before anything else could be said. My nostrils released the breath I didn't realize I held.

Lying was never easy. It left my tongue heavy and built another wall around my heart. I didn't like it either, but how could I tell people that my father wasn't really dead? He was a criminal? A wanted person? A psychopath who lathered himself in deadly drugs for a living? My gaze lingered on the phone. I wish I could tell her, but no one could understand.... Not even Rose.

An exasperated sigh passed my lips as I stared down at the dark screen of my phone. Before the guilt began to seep in, I yanked my fluffy comforter off of me and stumbled into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, after I had freshened up, I was digging through my closet to find something decent to wear. I slipped off my oversized tee, switched it with a light pink crop top and a pair of ripped black jeans. I glanced at the time on my phone, hoping my father hadn't already woken up. I lazily pulled half of my hair up and added a touch of makeup to make it seem I had my life put together.

As soon as I opened my door, my nose stung from the familiar scent of marijuana and weed. Every other aroma was eliminated by the dominant fragrance. I wiggled my nose in an attempt to get clean oxygen as I descended the metal stairs, watching a figure as it emerged slowly. Downstairs on the couch, empty whiskey bottles surrounded my father. While he slept, he hugged a half-empty bottle in his grasp. At this sight, my heart ached, and my eyes stung. Why does he always do this? My teeth sunk in my lower lip, my trembling fingers balled in a fist, trying to quell the anger that rose. Even though I had always feared my father, not knowing what he might do to me next, seeing him made my blood boil in anger and disgust. Was it really that hard for him to be normal?

I hated him. I hated myself more for being too weak to stand up to him, to the man who had ripped away my only shot at happiness. He tore us apart; he murdered my family. On rainy nights, I could hear my dead mother's voice humming a sweet melody in my ears. He did it. He took her from me.

He killed her. 

I sighed and passed by my father. A little further down the hall, I pulled the lever of the door that led to a hidden passage. With every movement, my eyes travelled to the man on the couch, praying he didn't wake. I slipped out into the passage and closed the door behind me that led to the broken apartment above ground. This door was the one thing that hid my reality from the world on the surface. My father had built an underground home and a lab under the streets, in the broken down parts of Seoul. An overhead apartment was just used as a decoy for his lifestyle. His real deals were downstairs; that was where he sold his illegal drugs to his customers..

This was where I grew up. 

I walked out of the front door and down to the alley beside the old, run-down houses where I lived. I made a quick stop there before I started walking to the spot at the end of the block where Rose picked me up regularly, to check on my motorcycle. The bike I had bought a while back with the money I stole from dad. It was hidden here under a few old crates and dirty rags. I usually rode it to school on days that my father was out of town but last night, Dad came home from a business trip. If he ever found out I stole some of his drug money to buy this for myself, he'd probably kill me.

Grateful it was still safe, I made my way down to the end of the block where Rose would pick me up. Reaching the end of the block, I could see Rose seated in her Mercedes-Benzs. She wore the same frantic look when she came into my neighbourhood. I jogged up to her car that she got a few months ago on her sweet 16 birthday from her parents.

Rose's eyes scanned the area every so often. Slender fingers beckoned me to hurry. Chuckling to myself, I strode to the car and got in.

"God, how do you manage to live here?" She quickly locked the doors, "I wouldn't even last a minute in this place." Her foot floored the gas pedal.

My shoulders bounced while I stared out the window, "I don't know. I guess it's something you get used to." I said as I looked out the window, hugging the backpack that sat on my lap.

Rose was from a wealthy family. She wasn't used to bad neighborhoods and broken-down houses like mine. Most times, she'd barely say anything about it. Both Rose and her parents believed I was an impecunious orphan, who barely had enough money to afford the bills, let alone food. Because of that, they treated me as if I was a part of their family. I couldn't complain, I liked being around them. Yet, sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if all they had done for me was because they pitied me for what my mother did to me.

What she stole from me before she left this world.  

       ..................

It didn't take long before we pulled up on the school grounds. Rose parked her car in the school parking lot and we got out.

A long sigh escaped my lips. The frosty air chilled the carbon dioxide, as it danced in the air before me. Although I was one of the best students here, the only reason why I made an effort to come was because I knew it would give me a better life; a brighter future. I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't my father's daughter. I could be anyone I wanted to be. I could get a job where I didn't have to hide my identity from the world, where it wasn't a crime to let out every breath I took. It was my only chance at normality, living in a normal home, and having little feet running around my room as I grow old with the person I love....Sometimes I felt as if I was just asking for too much, that these things were only a distant dream.

We strolled into the school building, passing by several students chatting among their peers while others wandered the hall, waiting for their classes to begin. They all seemed happy like they knew their purpose, who they were, where they were headed, and their past. I envied them.

If only I could have a life that easy.

Rose and I trotted down the crowded hall while she rambled about a party that one of her friends was having next weekend, trying to convince me that I had to come. Everything was okay until she came into sight. I froze, my gaze glued to her, unable to move. There she was, Jennie. She was standing in the middle of the hall with smiles, with confidence as her friends gawked over her new designer bag. She hadn't noticed me yet, standing there, watching her.

It's been four years since we became like this. Honestly, it's insane that the person who I used to tell my secrets to, the one who always held an umbrella over my head, my sister, began to resent me. Jennie became a girl I didn't recognize. A stranger. A stranger that walked down the same halls as me, who knew all my secrets....knew the things that no one would, not even Rose.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" A palm blurred the vision of the past. I blinked, leaning away from Rose's waving hand.

I took a step back, "Yeah, Jackson's party, right?"

"What are you looking—" Her sentence stopped mid-way when her eyes followed my gaze. She gripped my arm, knowing the emotional turmoil that started to boil within my veins.

"Come on, Elyna. She's not worth it." She pulled on my arm in an attempt to get me to move, "Besides, you're the one who's going to get expelled anyways."

Rose was right. If Jennie and I ended up fighting, I would be the only one on the hot seat. Jennie gets away with almost everything. I guess it came with the privilege of being the principal's niece. But I wasn't a coward... at least not for her.

Jennie looked up, her cold, chocolate brown eyes stared back at me. A devious smirk tilted her plump pink lips as she made her way over to where I was, making me suffocate from the exhilarating tension in the air, while she took her own, sweet time strolling over.

"What do you think happened to them? Didn't they act like sisters?" A blonde nearby stated.

"I don't know about you, but I think Jennie's going to rip Elyna's head off," another girl giggled. 

The two girls sniggering blended in with the merciless whispers that erupted around the hall.

"How's mommy, Elyna? I wonder if your sisters are giving her good company?" Her poisonous chuckle sent shivers down my spine, "Say, why don't you do us all a favor and join them, hmm?" Her disturbing words crept into my eardrums and set off an alarm in my head. She walked past me, an impish grin on her face. And, all I wanted to do was to run home and hide under my bed. Her bittersweet whisper rang in my ear. It made me want to run out of the school and hide underneath my bed covers. Just like when I was a kid, it was where I felt safe.

..................

I rested my cheek on the palm of my hand, watching the bright red leaves pluck themselves from the old oak tree by the classroom window and drift to the ground. The room buzzed as it filled with the end of the day jitters since classes were almost finished before the long weekend. I only had math class with Mr. Seo left for the day. My lips curled, remembering that I had boxing classes after school today. Fighting was the one thing that I enjoyed. It let me release the pain and anger that I had buried deep inside of me and kept me from forgetting my sister completely. Even though I could only remember a glimpse of her velvet laughter, her heavy tears, the way she used to hold me in her arms, I could never forget watching her fight, the unforgettable aura she had. I didn't know who she was when she stepped inside the ring. Years had gone by and I could still remember always sitting and watching her as she practiced for hours, sometimes late into the night. On those cold nights, I would end up falling asleep on the gym mats as I listened to the rhythmic punches she would throw at the beat-up gym bag.

Consumed by the wonders through the window, I didn't notice when Rose packed away her stuff. She swivelled in her chair to face me, "My mom gave me some cash this morning. Do you want to go to the snack bar with me after class? My treat."

"Sure." My answer came just in time as Mr. Seo strolled into the classroom. He settled his books on his desk, clearing his throat. The class hurriedly sat down on their seats, the chattering ceased as Mr. Seo began his lesson.

While I took out my notebook, my cell phone started a buzzing session. My gaze flickered to the front of the class to see Mr. Seo's back facing the classroom. My hand snaked to the edge of the desk where my phone laid, sneaking it on my lap. I glanced at the caller ID but pressed the power button when I realized it was an unknown number, and placed it back in my pocket, thinking it was nothing. However, it kept ringing, desperately seeking my attention.

Irritated by the constant buzzing, I whipped it out to turn it off but stopped when I noticed a message. Opening the messages, my eyes widened at the contents. My heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds. I lost all feeling in my body as I started reading the messages, hoping that what I was reading was just a nightmare...

*NOTE: I changed Y/n to Elyna so please don't mind the ID names please ;)*

My finger danced over the keypad, hoping this was a joke. My heartbeat drummed in my temple, my palms got clammy; for a slight second, I couldn't breathe.

"Eylna, are you okay?" My brain took several minutes to register Mr. Seo's question, " You look like you just saw a ghost. Are you not feeling well?"

I stared at him dumbfounded, my brain working overtime. For the past twelve years, my father had never bothered to call or text me, let alone acknowledge me as his own daughter. I had been the bastard child, forced to raise myself. Some nights, I laid alone starving, others I was freezing myself to death. But the thought of something happening to him made my heart ache for some unspeakable reason. My thoughts jumbled together as each one always came out worse than the last.

Did one of his enemies find him? Was he still alive right now? Maybe he was drowning in his blood already.

My heart sped up at the last thought. "I'm sorry, sir. I have to leave. It's an emergency." I hurriedly packed my things, each item being thrown in my backpack, desperately trying to quiet my burdening thoughts. Tears built up in my eyes at the thought of what might be happening, or worse, what might have already happened beneath the floors of the broken down shack.

A key sat on the middle of my desk. My blurred gaze flickered from Rose to the car keys. She nodded and swirled back around in her seat. I grabbed the keys and dashed towards the door.

"I can't let you leave, Eylna. The class just started--" Mr. Seo's words were far from interpretation as the horrors of what might be happening beneath the floors of our broken-down shack plagued my mind, "Eylna, if you take a step out of this classroom..." The remainder of the sentence was spoken out of earshot because I was already halfway down the hall.

I dashed out into the parking lot to Rose's car. As usual, she was a lifesaver. She knew something was wrong. My head throbbed about what lie I was going to have to tell next to explain this mess to her. My grip tightened on the key as my steps quickened. 

That is, if I manage to make it out of that basement alive.