24th February 2017

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Ella sat at the window of the tiny room she shared with her mother and at the birds which had began their journey across the sky. The rooster which was perched on the stone fence crowed loudly, heralding the dawn of another miserable day for Ella.

The sun was rising from the horizon colouring the sky in different shades of blue and orange.

Sighing, she lifted her blue dress and stood up. She pushed her feet into the brown leather shoes she wore every single day and stared at her mother's sleeping figure.

Several of the bells in her room started ringing, indicating that she was needed at the different rooms the bells represented.

There were five tiny bells, the upper first bell which was green in colour represented the balcony, the middle one which was blue represented her stepfather's room, the last one which was yellow represented her stepsister, Courtney's room. Then the lower bells which were pink and black represented the living room and kitchen respectively.

Gently opening and closing the door to her room, she hurried to her step father's king-sized room where he was perched on a chair awaiting her arrival.

"Take those clothes out for washing." Brian gazed at her with much hatred. She wasn't his child so why should he love her?

Ella obediently grabbed the dirty clothes and tucked them into a laundry basket. She was about hurrying out of the room when he spoke up.

"While you're at it, get me a cup of hot coffee, will you?"

Ella nodded. "Yes, I will." She responded, stepping out of his room. She set the basket on the floor to enable her to close the door that connected the room to the large hallway.

The hallway had large windows on one side that let in the golden rays of the morning sun. It was fancifully decorated with beautiful flowers which Ella changed every two days.

She picked the basket and marched to her stepsister's room. Courtney was fast asleep when Ella stepped into the dark room, her legs were tangled in the thick blanket and her right hand dangled out of the bed. Courtney's loud snores filled Ella's ears and she grimaced as her hands picked the clothes littered around the room which was six times larger than hers.

This used to be her room.

While she fished out some dirty clothes, she pondered on the sad turn her life had taken.

Five years ago, her mother got married to Brian when things started falling apart years after father's mysterious death. Brian's wife died a year before he married Marie, leaving him with the miserable thirteen year old Courtney. Getting married to Brian was a terrible mistake Marie would always regret.

The entrance of the father and daughter into their lives brought hell along. Brian was mean to Ella and her mom, he claimed every single property of her late father as his, Courtney treated both of them like they weren't humans, sending them on errands that even a child wouldn't agree to.

What made matters worse was when Brian threatened to kick them out of the mansion if they breathed a word to anyone. They had no choice but bear the cruel treatment doled out to them. Months after his threat, Marie fell sick and had remained that way till now, the fifth month of her sickness with little access to proper medical care.

Brian was a beast, a hideous one.

Ella continued musing over these things until she felt someone's presence before her.

Looking up she realized that she had subconsciously transported herself to the main yard and the stable keeper was staring down at her.

"Ella, is anything the matter? You seem to be greatly troubled." Benjamin asked just as she set the basket of clothes on the floor beside the large basin of water she had prepared.

"I'm quite alright Ben, you needn't worry about me." She went down on her knees and stared up at Ben's chocolate brown eyes.

He nodded and gingerly strode to the stable where the horses neighed happily at his approach.

Ben had been employed a few months ago to replace the former old stable keeper, Edward. He had taken a liking to Ella and became her closest friend besides her mother. She had a feeling that Ben liked her more than a friend but he was cunning at concealing it. She wasn't to be bothered by him liking her because all she thought about each day was how her life was falling apart. With every morning, her life plunged lower and lower into misery.

Ella dunked the clothes into the water and began scrubbing them vigorously, applying soap at intervals.

At the sound of angry steps approaching her, her eyes moved up to meet Brian's angry face.

"Where on earth is the cup of coffee I asked for, you inefficient wench." He spat with fury filling up his eyes.

"I'm sorry, it slipped my memory." Ella rose to her feet and wiped her wet hands on the apron that covered her dress from the waist downwards.

Brian's nostrils flared out as he abandoned his resolve to hit her because of the numerous eyes watching him. Even though he was mean, he wouldn't dare raise a finger against Ella because it was against the law for a male to raise his finger against a female whether free or not.

Ella escaped into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee for Brian. She took it to his room and gently laid the small cup on the small table that flanked his favorite chair by the window.

As she turned to leave, the door was opened and Brian made his entrance, he bypassed her and went straight to where she left the cup of coffee.

Ella hurried back to the yard and rinsed out the clothes with clean water. She took them to the clothes lines situated behind the kitchen.

While she hung them, she hummed her favourite song, the one her mother often sang to her when she was younger.

After Ella served breakfast to Brian and Courtney, she hurried back to her room to tend to her mom.

"Mom, how are you feeling?" Ella anxiously demanded as she sat on the floor next to her mother who was breathing rather unsteadily.

Marie's eyes flickered open and with them she regarded her beautiful daughter for a short while before closing them again. She felt so weak inside but couldn't bring herself to tell her daughter that she was dying. She didn't want the smile on Ella's face to fade away, no, she couldn't allow it.

"I'm a little bit better."

Ella smiled brilliantly at her mom. Finally, her mom is recovering, what a great day it is, she thought.

"What a wonderful news, mother." She said joyfully and skipped around the little room like a little girl.

Marie watched her daughter as she swung her arms around, laughing like she had no problems at all. She reached out for the necklace wrapped around her neck and tugged it away from her skin. She pushed the old blanket from her frame and sat upright, supporting her body with the wall behind her.

"Come here, Ella." She spoke softly. Ella obediently waddled over to her mother's side.

"Here I am, mother." Ella sat on the floor and placed her hands on the bed. Marie took her hands and placed the necklace in them.

"Mother, this belongs to you." Ella stated as she stared at the necklace which had a butterfly pendant on it.

"It's now yours." Marie replied and held her daughter's hand. Her gesture drew Ella's attention from the pendant.

"You know I love you." Marie said and took in a deep breath. Ella was panicked, wondering what had demanded her mom's sudden confession. But she nodded anyways and looked into Marie's brown irises.

"Just remember to be good to everyone, great or small, good or bad, treat them equally. My child, don't forget to smile because your smiles are like the sun that brightens the sky. You are destined for greatness, Ella."

Tears started trickling down Marie's eyes as she stared at her daughter with so much love. Ella drew out a handkerchief from a drawer close to the bed. She used it in wiping away her mother's tears just as the ones in her own eyes started cascading down her cheeks.

"Mom, why these words?" Ella demanded in a shaky voice.

"Ella!!!" Courtney  yelled from the stairway outside the room.

Ella hesitated to answer pesky Courtney's call until her mother gave her a little nudge.

"Go, I'll manage." Marie encouraged. Ella rose to her full height but she didn't move. One glance at her mother told her otherwise.

"Mother are you sure?" Ella demanded. Her mother looked really pale and she wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving her all alone. She wouldn't mind a good scolding from the devil's messengers she lived with, so long as her mother's welfare is concerned.

"Mother..."

"Just go, Ella." Marie pleaded, trying to ignore the pain in her heart that hurt more than anything she's ever felt.

Ella gave her mom a weak smile and left the room with great disappointment. She was unhappy that her mom has asked her to answer Courtney's call. How badly she wanted to remain with her mother, not minding whatever her punishment might be.

Ella didn't want to see her mom in so much pain anymore, she didn't want to suffer anymore. But she had no choice or did she?

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Hey dear reader, thank you for reading the first chapter of ' Twisted '.

A lot of things nudged me to begin this book. Firstly it's the fact that not all things I'm life come with a platter of gold. I want to incorporate reality with this book, making sure life is portrayed as it really is.

The first dedication goes to my amazing friends:

Candice_Is_Crazy ,she made amazing covers for my other book ' End of the Beginning ' and they're simply amazing. Thank you, Candice.

BenPaul_fwc is another person who I'm glad to have met here. Thank you Ben for exchanging your ideas with me. 😘😘