Chapter 3- Reporting Her
NAOMI ~~
"It hurts… it hurts so much," I sobbed to myself. My voice was so weak I could barely hear it.
Suddenly, my eyes started to close on their own. I tried to open them again, but they felt so heavy. I knew this wasn't the time to be falling asleep, not now when I still had work to do. I knew if I didn't do everything I was told, she would find a way to hurt me even after death. She would drag me from wherever I was and make me finish the work. That's how much I feared her.
But no matter how hard I tried to keep my eyes open, the darkness was too strong. My body gave up, and I fell into that dark, empty place.
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I woke up to a sharp pain in my head. A foot had kicked me right on the same spot where my head was banged against the wall. My eyes shot open from the pain.
Why can't they just leave my head alone? I thought as I sat up quickly, my heart pounding so hard I couldn't even breathe properly.
Then I remembered what I had been doing before I blacked out. The dishes…. I felt a wave of fear wash over me.
Oh no… I thought I had defeated sleep, but it defeated me instead.
I looked up and my stomach dropped. Standing in front of me was no other wolf than my stepsister. Her eyes were cold and full of disgust as she looked at me.
My heart jumped to my throat. I couldn't breathe.
"Please," I said, my voice trembling as I crawled over to her. I grabbed her knee and knelt down. "Please don't tell our mother you found me sleeping. Please, I beg you."
She shoved my hands away from her like I was something dirty. "Get your filthy hands off me," she spat. Then, before I could say another word, she slapped me so hard across the face that my ears started ringing.
For ten seconds, it felt like I couldn't hear anything but that loud ringing noise. My cheeks burned with pain. My eyes watered again, but I forced myself to hold them back. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
"Don't you ever call my mother your mom again, you worthless, cursed omega," she said, her voice filled with hate. I nodded quickly, my hands still holding my stinging cheek.
Then she looked at me with that same cold stare. "I'm going to tell my mother that you were sleeping when you were supposed to be doing the dishes and making dessert."
"Please don't tell her," I begged, my voice cracking with fear. "She's going to kill me if she finds out." My hands were shaking so much I could barely keep them pressed together.
"And do you think I care?" she said coldly, looking down at me like I was nothing. The way she said it made me feel even smaller, like I was already dead to her.
My heart sank into my stomach. Oh no… I haven't even healed from the last beating, and now Melinda wants to go report me to her again. This time, I wasn't sure I'd survive. I could already feel my body trembling at the thought of it.
No. No, no. I can't let this happen, I told myself as I fell to my knees again and clutched her leg tighter. "Please, don't do this to me. I promise—I promise I'll do anything you want," I sobbed, my tears dripping down to the floor.
She stopped and looked at me with those sharp eyes. "Anything?" she asked, her voice low and cold.
I nodded quickly, my head bouncing up and down as I kept crying. My throat burned from how much I had already cried today.
"Okay then," she said after a long pause. "I won't tell her. But just know… you owe me now." She turned around and started to leave.
"Thank you… thank you so much. I really do appreciate it," I said quietly, my voice shaking with relief.
She didn't answer me. Instead, she slammed the door shut behind her so hard that I jumped. My heart was still racing, but at least she was gone.
I stood up slowly, my head still pounding but not as bad as before. My hands were numb from kneeling on the hard ground, but I forced myself to keep moving.
I went back to the sink and started washing the dishes again. My hands moved fast, scrubbing and rinsing, scrubbing and rinsing. It took me over an hour to finish, but I didn't stop until every single plate and cup was clean and back on the shelf.
When the dishes were done, I turned to the dessert she wanted. My mind felt empty, but I tried to focus on what I needed to do. I'm going to make cupcakes, I told myself. I gathered the ingredients and mixed them together carefully, trying not to think about how tired and sore I felt.
When everything was mixed, I put the cupcake batter into the oven and shut the door. The sweet smell of baking filled the kitchen, but it didn't make me feel any better. I folded my arms across my chest and stood there, staring at the oven and waiting for the cupcakes to bake.
My mind was crowded with thoughts. They all came at once. I didn't even know what I was thinking about—just that my head felt heavy and my heart ached.
I turned my face to the other side and noticed a small mirror hanging on the kitchen wall. I slowly walked over to it, my feet dragging on the cold floor.
When I looked into the mirror, I froze. The person staring back at me didn't even look like me. My face was so pale, my eyes were swollen and red from all the crying. My cheeks were blotchy, and my lips were dry and cracked.
I barely recognized myself. It was like I was looking at a stranger, someone broken and lost. Someone who didn't know how to be okay anymore.
The swollen eyes in the mirror seemed to belong to someone else. They looked like they'd been crying forever, and I didn't think they'd ever stop.
The person in the mirror had a swollen head and swollen eyes. Their face looked so broken, so lost. I whispered to myself, "This can't be me. This can't be me…"
I couldn't stand to look at the mirror any longer. My heart hurt too much, and I could feel more tears building up. I lowered my head and turned away, walking back to the oven. I needed to wait for the cupcakes to bake.
The moment I got there, I just… zoned out. My eyes were wide open, staring at nothing, but I wasn't really there. My body felt numb and heavy, and my mind was floating in a thick fog.
The oven timer dinged, breaking me out of that dark space. I blinked and came back to the present, only to realize that tears were running down my face again. I wiped them away quickly.
"You need to be strong, Naomi. You need to be strong," I told myself in a shaky voice, trying to calm down. But my own words didn't help at all. My chest was tight, and my head felt like it was going to split open from all the thoughts inside.
I didn't want to be chased away from this house, but in a way, I felt like it would be better to be sent away when I turned eighteen. At least then, I wouldn't have to be beaten and treated like trash every day. Maybe I'd be homeless, but at least I wouldn't be someone's punching bag.
I took the cupcakes out of the oven carefully and placed them on a tray, arranging them neatly like my adopted mother had told me to. I took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen, the tray trembling in my hands.
As soon as I stepped out, I heard them. Their whispers. Their cruel, mean words.
"Isn't that the bastard omega that killed her parents?"
"That's the cursed omega, right?"
"I hope she doesn't kill us the way she killed them."
"Do you think she put poison in those cupcakes?"
"I'm not going to eat from that omega's food. If she can kill her own parents, what about us?"
"Wow. The beta and his wife are too kind to let her stay. If it was me, I would have let her die in the woods."
I tried to keep my face still, like none of their words mattered. But inside, my heart was breaking all over again. I'd heard these things so many times, every day. At least five times a day, someone would say something like that.
You'd think I'd be used to it by now. But no matter how many times I heard it, it always hurt. I was still human. I still had feelings.
I wish my parents could come back to life, even for just twenty-four hours. Just long enough to tell everyone that I didn't kill them. That I'm not the monster they all think I am, I thought, my throat tightening with the tears I had to hold back.
"Why are you scaring my guests by coming out here instead of staying in the kitchen?"