Luminosity (Escaping Demons Saga Book 1)

by Stacy McWilliams

  I look at her for a few stunned seconds before I finally managed to stammer “w-where is the nearest bathroom for me to use?”

  She merely growled at me, muttered something incoherent and walked away, leaving me and Nathan, who had been following her, standing in the hall. As he watched me a strange sort of electricity flowed through me again and my heart thrummed at the sight of him in front of me. He nodded his head towards my room and led the way into the room and over to a door I didn’t see as the open door from the wardrobe was blocking it. He turned on the light to reveal a small bathroom complete with lavatory, sink and shower. I started to thank him, but he had already left the room, making sure to slam the door on his way out. What was with these people, screaming at me for going into a bathroom, slamming doors, not speaking? It was beginning to give me a headache and as I walked further into the bathroom I admitted to myself that it was also beginning to unnerve me slightly.

  I put my toiletry bag onto the sink shelf and noticed that there was no soap or towels in the room, which could prove to be a problem considering I may want to use the shower at some point. They had clearly knew I was coming to stay with them, so why hadn’t they put anything in here for me to use? I wasn’t sure if I should go and ask about it, because I had clearly been told to come down only for dinner at six. I couldn’t help thinking this was some kind of strange test. I looked in the mirror above the sink and was shocked to see a pale face staring back at me. She had dark circles under her eyes which made her seem tired, but here eyes were alert and wary. She looked scared. I watched as her upper teeth snuck out and grazed her lower lip. She looked like she was cracking up. For all I knew maybe I was. I slumped down onto the pan lid with my head in my hands. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to run through the trees at the edge of the garden and never look back. It was crazy! What possible reason could I have to be scared of this family? They seemed normal enough, if a bit stingy with household provisions.

  I had two bags with me, one filled with clothes that were now all over the bed and another with shoes and odds and ends. I only owned four pairs of shoes so it didn’t take me long to unpack them. It took about five minutes to put all of my clothes away, and as I turned to sort through my other items I noticed the window had been left open. I looked out and saw I was in the room overlooking the left hand side of the house facing the garden, trees and a path. I was itching to investigate that path, but that was going to be something I‘d need to do in the day time since it looked quite old and it was going to be dark soon. The last thing I needed was to break my ankle, or my neck, on my first night here, so I turned around and finished getting myself sorted. The room looked much better with my little bits and pieces scattered around. I placed my three picture frames on the drawers, the one of the Greene’s and myself, the one of myself and Gina, and one of myself and my parents, taken when I was four years old. I was completely drained and when I looked at my watch it was twenty to five. I had plenty of time before dinner, so I decided to lie down for a while and get myself together. I fell asleep looking at the faces of the people who have loved me and dreamed of being wrapped in their arms. My mother gave me a knowing look as she handed me a rose, the thorns picking my fingers and casing me to wince in my sleep. The smell of roses filled the room, and for the first time since I turned five, I could smell the pungent aroma of rose. The smell was a comfort to me as I began to stir, but was so comforting that I felt myself relax back into my dream and nod back off to sleep.

  An hour later the sound of my bedroom door banging off the wall woke me and I woke up with a jolt. It felt like the whole room shuddered with the force of the bang.

  “Oi its dinner time. Get up,” a voice from the doorway shouted.

  I jumped about a mile of bedspread and scrambled to get up. I wondered whether this family was always this short with people they had just met or if it was just me. Nathan and Nicholas were watching me so I got up much faster than I normally would, slipped my shoes on, and stumbled my way out of the door.

  I glanced at my watch and saw it was twenty to six. They told me dinner would be at six, why would they wake me up like that if it wasn’t time yet? Confusion engulfed me and my relaxed feeling from my dream earlier had shattered. I debated staying in my room until six, but decided to walk downstairs anyway, as the boys were watching what I would do and I didn’t want to give them any satisfaction. As I walked down the stairs Nicholas pushed past me, catching my shoulder as he went and nudged me into the banister. I didn’t know why but I got the feeling that this boy really didn’t like me. Jenny had also appeared at the top of the stairs and also bumped me as she walked by, but this time I tripped up and staggered down a few steps. I watched them walk into a room I hadn’t noticed earlier and had just started to follow them, when a voice said “stay there.” I automatically froze on the spot, unsure of why I obeyed the voice. Was I going crazy, or was that a real voice I had just heard? Who hears voices inside their heads and actually listens to them, oh yeah, that’s right, people who are batshit crazy, that’s who . . .

  I was so busy questioning my sanity that I didn’t see Mr Stevenson glaring at me. I apologised and quickly started to follow him into the room, but as I tried to move realised that my ankle was hurting, like I had twisted it or something. I decided not to say anything about it since Mr Stevenson was already waiting on me, and followed him into the room for dinner.

  The dining room was huge, painted in blues and yellows. The family, all except the younger son, were seated on chairs dotted around the room. There was a large table pushed against the wall. I was sat at end of the table all on my own, which surprised me. I noticed that there were many places set around the huge table and, when I looked up, I observed Nathan leading a few more people into the room. I recognised one of these new arrivals as my doctor from when I was much younger, about age ten or eleven I think. I smiled at him, but he showed no sign of recognising me. Nathan left the room again, I assumed to greet more guests, as he soon returned with more people.

  I got another surprise when I recognised one of the new guests as my primary seven teacher. Mr Stevenson asked me to help Nathan bring in the plates, and I quickly did as I was asked. The pain form my ankle made me wince as I stood up, but I gritted my teeth and asked where to go to help. I was shocked at the unexpected appearance of people from my past, including my first ever social worker who had walked into the room with my childhood psychiatrist.

  I was led into the kitchen, where Nathan and Jenny were already putting food into dishes. I looked at Nathan, then at jenny for some instructions, but no-one said anything for a few tense minutes. Eventually Jenny told me to begin taking the soup bowls through, pointing to bowls beside her. I did as I was told. I fully intended to do whatever was necessary to fit in here—I wanted this family to like me, to be the last family I stayed with before I began my own life as an adult. I took a moment to contemplate this and in that moment I realised that I had begun to hope again that this time was going to be different. I looked at Jenny and her brother talking and was about to leave with the bowls when she caught me looking at them. She glared at me and said in a voice laced with venom, “What are you still doing here? Can’t you carry some bowls or do you need an instruction manual to do it?”

  For a second I just looked at her, and I felt my eyes brim with tears, but I walked away with the soup bowls so she couldn’t see me cry. Crying equalled weakness and I learned from an early age not to give bullies ammunition or they would come after you with everything they had. I was tougher than I looked, but I still paused for a second at the door to take in the scene—there were many more people in here than before. I stumbled into the room and spilled a little of the hot soup on my fingers. It hurt, but I had had worse done to me. I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself crying out and placed the soups down in front of two of the newest arrivals. They all stopped talking and looked at me, which was very weird and unnerving. It
made me feel so self conscious that I tripped over my feet on the way out the door. I somehow managed not to fall, but it took me a lot to stay on my feet.

  Thankfully, I managed to serve the soup without further incident. The dining party, except myself and Nathan, moved into the sitting room. I was told to help Nathan clear up, which I did smiling. It didn’t matter I had a burn on my finger from the soup, I was just glad to be spending time with the only person in the house who didn’t look at me as though I was a piece of dirt under his shoe.

  I stood at the sink and rinsed off the dishes. The rain battered off the window pane and bounced off the ground outside. The branches of the trees lining the garden bended and twisted in the wind, looking so pretty as though they were dancing around enjoying the freedom. It was odd at how strong the wind was as it seemed at odds with how beautiful the night sky looked—it had just gotten dark and the stars shone brightly, twinkling overhead. There was nothing to be done once the dishes were done, and Nathan had already rejoined his family, so I walked over to the back door and opened it. The outdoors was beckoning me. I knew going outside would mean doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing, but at that moment I didn’t care. I wanted to feel the rain and wind on my skin and have a few moments on my own to try and come to terms with the weirdness that had occurred since I had arrived. The wind was much stronger than I expected and the rain drove hard onto the concrete just outside the back door. The night was clammy, too close and hot. It made me think a storm was brewing, treacherous and fierce.

  The rain felt cool against my skin, especially my sore ankle and I started to dance in and out of the puddles, forgetting the pain. I laughed at the sound of the rain hitting the ground and hitting off the tree’s surrounding the backyard; it was beautiful music and soothed my confusion. Thunder sounded in the distance and I laughed even louder at the thought I was right. It was almost like I was psychic or something.

  Suddenly, a movement near the back door caught my eye. My eyes darted over in fear. Nathan stood by the door watching me with an odd expression on his face. He beckoned to me to come inside, but I just looked at him and laughed. He moved towards me, all the while never taking his eyes off of my face. As he reached me, he motioned again to the house, but I ignored it and begin dancing again. I smiled and danced in a circle. He laughed and moved closer to me, not once touching me, but moving as I moved. After a few moments, he reached out towards my face. His expression was torn, but his green eyes flashed with determination. His fingers brushed my cheek, causing electricity to flow down my skin and make me feel like I was crackling. His breathing sped up as I lifted my hand towards him, and as I touched his lip, his breath stuttered out for a beat before we both dropped our hands. Standing there, staring at each other, we jumped as another jolt of thunder sounded overhead. A second later the back door banged against the wall, alerting us that someone was there. We both looked over in alarm to see Mr Stevenson was standing in the doorway. A fork lightening flashed in the night sky and illuminated his face—he looked positively livid. Nathan shot about a foot in the air and his face visibly paled as his dad barked a command into the night air.

  “Come back inside, both of you. You’ll catch your death out here.”

  Nathan walked back into the house without a backwards glance. The thunder sounded again and, for a split second, I felt terror as I began to squelch my way slowly back into the house. As I reached the door and took off my shoes, Mr Stevenson said,

  “Get upstairs and get changed at once! We have guests in this house and I will not have you looking like a drowned rat in front of them.”

  I went back to my room to change and tried not to think about how much stranger the day was becoming, I didn’t think it could possibly get any odder.

  I had the sensation that someone was watching me, and turned to see Nathan was in the room across from mine, sporting a bloody lip. He sat on a bed scrubbing at his face with his hands, mumbling something to himself. I took a step forwards, intending to go and ask him if he was ok, when the floorboard creaked underfoot and I froze as Nathan’s eyes focused on me. He looked at me as though I was the devil incarnate and as though he wanted nothing more than to hurt me.

  I stood frozen in his death glare and could do nothing but watch as he got up and slammed his door closed. I reached forwards with shaking hands and closed my own door completely, shocked at the venom in his look and how odd he was. I didn’t want to think or speculate about what had happened to him to cause him to look at me like that. The look in his eyes haunted me and unnerved me because I felt as though I had lost my only ally and felt more alone than ever.

  After a few minutes I realised I needed to go back down stairs and face my new family, but I was truly scared. It seemed completely irrational, but I felt like one wrong move could have me in serious trouble. Conscious of the fact that I had no choice, I gathered all my reserves and got on with it. I was about to enter the dining room when an order to help Jenny in the kitchen was barked out at me. On my way to the kitchen, I heard voices talking in a room to my left—they had mentioned my name.

  ‘Yes, she’s arrived. We have to wait until she’s eighteen of course but it should be really good. No, she has no idea.’

  I was weird and I wished I could hear more of the conversation but I knew that if I didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping then I needed to move. Jenny took no notice of me once I got to the kitchen, but continued positioning food on serving plates. Her mother was also present and nodded to me to take the platters that were ready through.

  As I left the kitchen with the first of the platters, Nathan and another boy I hadn’t noticed before walked out of the room next to the dining room. I stopped to ask if he was ok, but he looked straight ahead and paid me no attention at all. I walked into the dining room seconds after him, but he had already disappeared through the crowd of people.

  The dining table had been moved again towards the window to make room for the number of people in the house. I was astonished to see my dentist and some of the carers from homes I once stayed in. No-one took any notice of me though, and not one person spoke to me as I carried the trays of food. I was ravenous, but as they started serving themselves, I was told to stand against a wall on the far side of the room, near the door, feeling more alone than I had ever felt in my entire life.

  Suddenly, someone walked right into me, sending me flying through the swinging door and across the hallway. When I looked up, I saw it was Nathan. What was he playing at? My ankle was agony. I searched his face for an answer, but he just shrugged walked away.

  I took refuge in my room. Looking around I noticed that the bed was made and my pictures were gone. Suddenly I was furious and was about to let them know about it, but when I walked towards the door I saw them in a heap on the floor. I crouched to pick them up when the door behind me banged open. It was Mr Stevenson. He glared and grabbed my sore arm and half dragged me back downstairs.

  ‘We have guests,’ he hissed. My arm throbbed in agony and I tried to pull it out of his grip, but he just tightened his fingers and dragged me down the stairs. ‘Go and help Jenny and Nathan get the drinks ready,’ he snarled as he shoved me towards the kitchen, causing me to stumble. Seriously, I thought will you lot quit fucking pushing me, I’m not a raggy doll.

  I managed to keep my balance by catching hold of the person passing by me, which happened to be Nathan, who looked shocked that I had caught hold of him. He quickly replaced the look of shock with a sneer and brushed me off him without saying a word. As I hobbled into the kitchen door, I looked back to see Mr Stevenson was watching me.

  My eyes brimmed with tears as I helped Jenny pour blood red wine into glasses, but I swallowed them back, forcing my fears to down inside. My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely pour the wine into the glasses, but I managed before taking the glasses into the room on a tray to serve the guests.

  On one of my rounds serving a man grabbed hold of my sore wrist while getting up to go to the b
athroom, a man I recognised as one of my childhood doctors. I winced in pain as he squeezed tighter, almost making me drop the tray I was carrying. Luckily there was a small table nearby and I manage to put the tray down and massage my wrist for a second before carrying on serving. No-one spoke to me and finally at midnight everyone left. Nathan, myself and Jenny were left to do the cleaning up. I was bone tired but after half an hour we had managed to finish and head on up to our beds.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, I flopped down gratefully on my bed. Within seconds, despite my aching body, I fell into a fitful sleep full of blank faces and screams of pain.

  When I woke up I felt convinced that the previous day had just been a nightmare of some kind, that I had made it all up, exaggerated the events to some crazy level. Things would be ok, I thought to myself. Soon Mrs Greene would come in and wake me up for school. It was a few minutes before the reality of my situation washed over me, and I realised that yesterday had really happened. I rolled over and tried to find sleep again, but my mind was suddenly too active and my wrist and ankle were too sore. I headed into the bathroom to get dressed and planned out what I was going to do that day. Exploring the path and trees at the edge of the garden seemed like the best plan. I headed downstairs and out the back door, opening it as silently as I could. I stepped into the light rain of the morning and began to limp around the yard in exploration. I headed around to the left hand side of the house, where the old barn with the tree stood. The doors were lying wide open. Just as I drew close enough to take a look, a hand grabbed my sore arm and jerked me back. Nathan. He shook his head at me, saying nothing. I pulled my arm away to continue into the barn, but he grabbed me again, pain slicing up my arm as he caught where my wrist hurt. I glared at him, about to ask what was going on, but he shook his head vigorously, indicating he wasn’t about to explain what was going on and pulled me back to the house. Who did he think he was? I pulled away and glared at him. My arm was turning black and blue and I was fed up at being dragged around by these people. I knew he wanted me to go back to the house, but I purposely began to walk back towards the barn. I could see a path behind it that led into the trees where I wanted to explore, when he grabbed me again.