Melanie Richardson was a tall and slim woman. Her hair was worn short, cut in a bob. Her skin was flawless, unmarred, and without any pimples. Her eyes were brown, a deep brown that could have been mistaken as black when she was angry. She decided to wear a well-fitted navy blue skirt and vest ensemble, with black stilettos. Melanie was a proud woman and it took a lot from her to take her feet to Unnamed Girl's Headquarters and demand to see her cousin. On her way to the building, Melanie rehearsed the conversation a hundred times. She imagined a very understanding and gullible Sara, after all, wasn't she a pop star? In her head, talking to her felt easy. It felt like a formality that would not take long to complete. The reality was different. Before she was a towering Sara. She was holding her head high, her black eyes were staring at Melanie's soul, and her red lips drew the older woman's attention. Sara was intimidating, wearing black pants with a white blouse and a black blazer. She was wearing heavy makeup that covered her freckles and at her feet were a pair of black flats.
"Melanie. I assume that if you're here it's for a good reason."
"I..."
"I do have 15 minutes available for you. Come." She said as she walked back into her office. Melanie swallowed a lump and followed her cousin who seemed to be far more confident than she anticipated. She closed the door behind her and walked to the desk. She sat on the chair in front of Sara's and put her bag on her lap.
"Yes... thank you... Do you remember Ralph? My older brother?"
Sara closed her eyes for a brief moment. She remembered when she was a little girl, how Ralph used to pull on her hair to the point of making her scalp bleed. He also cut it once, to her neck and watched as she was wailing on the floor. He said that she deserved to lose her hair because she thought she was better than them. He accused her of showing off her good hair and said that it was the only thing that made her cute. He didn’t care about her tears. He didn’t care about the consequences of losing her hair and angering her parents. If anything he was gleefully awaiting the beating she would get from her parents for losing her asset.
« I remember him. »
« He became a lawyer. He’s married with two kids. »
« ………. Good for him. »
« Do you… erm, remember my baby sister, Kendra? »
Kendra was a vicious and jealous girl. Sara remembered being slapped and stomped on her stomach for no reason other than envy. Kendra had always wanted to be famous, to be on TV, and to go to pageant contests. She thought Sara had stolen her life and for this ludicrous reason, the young teenager she was didn’t hesitate to physically hurt and bruise Sara. She never cared about the little girl's tears, never cared about anything but her petty desires. It made Sara twitch a bit on her chair but she kept her composure.
« I remember. »
« She’s settled! She’s a doctor now and married with kids as well. »
« .. Good for her. »
Melanie was visibly upset because she couldn’t get a reaction from Sara. She wanted her to be more curious about her family but all she had was a cold and strong wall.
« Do you… well, by now you also might be remembering my brother Charles. He is a car salesman. Also with family. And I… well. I am also married with children. I became a teacher and I also have a family of my own. »
« Noted. » Sara replied coldly. « you didn’t come all this way to tell me about your family, so maybe you could state the reason for your presence here. »
Sara clenched her teeth. She had flashbacks of what Charles and Melanie did to her. While Charles was more of a manipulator who tortured her mentally, speaking about how much her parents hated her and were disappointed in her, Melanie was the ring leader. Melanie was the one inciting her siblings to attack Sara. She made it her life mission to destroy Sara. Seeing her in her office made Sara’s blood run cold and she considered all the ways she could hurt her. She wanted to use her powers to manipulate the pens on her table to stab Melanie right between her eyes. She imagined how much of a relief she would feel if she made Melanie grovel at her feet, and apologize for all the wrongs she did but could it change anything? Could it make her feel better? Sara, I knew that it would not bring her childhood back. It wouldn’t take away the pain she felt at the time and that molded her into the person she was today.
« Sara..I… you’re right. I came to see you because Mom is sick and she needs help. She needs a very expensive surgery that we can’t afford to pay for. So I came all this way to ask for your kindness and for some help. We need money and you have money, and you’re family, so I thought that maybe we could ask you to pitch in for her surgery. »
« …. »
How bold she was. She had the nerve to come to Sara’s office and bring up the fact they were family to appeal to Sara’s generosity? Tabitha, her aunt, was the worst of them all. She hated Sara and didn’t waste a second to humiliate that child. She would pour some cold water on her, wake Sara, and mock her for wetting her bed at her age. She would confuse the child, she would always protect her children and believe their lies rather than see how abused Sara was at their hands. And once Sara’s powers became stronger, what did they do? Tabitha rejected Sara, she called her the child of the devil. She refused to take her in after Sara became an orphan. She refused to take her in when Sara visited them when she outgrew the system. They all did. The singer remembered the rocks they threw at her, the insults they hurled at her, and their laughter as they rejected her. Family? What family? They asked while Sara recoiled and prevented herself from killing them all from rage. So how could they dare come to her and ask for help? How could they after they spent the last seven years trying to break her career? She pinched her lips together and tilted her head to the side.
« You got something wrong. I am /not/ your family. You said it yourself when I last visited you. »
«We were young and dumb, Sara! You can’t hold it against us! »
« Young? When I was an orphan and they called your mother, what did she say when they asked if she could take me in? »
« I don’t know. I wasn’t—. »
« Ta ta ta… you were there. You were all there, whispering to her, urging her to say no. You were put on speakers and I heard how you refused to acknowledge I was family. »
« Sara! We were afraid. /You: had powers! »
« And when I was younger? When I was just a child? What’s your excuse, Mel? What’s your excuse for all the tears I cried? For all the bruises you gave me? Ralph used to cut my hair, and he would laugh when I was crying. Kendra slapped me and stomped on my chest when I was the most vulnerable. Charles used to torture me! He told me that my parents hated me, that they wanted to sell me, and that they were disappointed in me. And you? You led them all. You encouraged them to hurt me. I can still remember your gleeful smile as I was wailing and pleading. I can still remember you, screaming that nobody would ever help me. »
« We were children, we didn’t know any better! Sara, you can’t hold it against us. Didn’t we take you in? Didn’t we give you a home? And didn’t Mom give you everything she had? »
Sara stood up, her face colder and her eyes turning purple as anger took over. She pointed her forefinger at her cousin who stood up, visibly afraid of what Sara was about to do.
« Aunt Tabitha was the worst of you all. For some reason, she hated me as a child. She wanted to humiliate me and I still can feel my skin burn from the hits she gave me. Yet I forgave her. And when she was asked about taking me in and she refused? I forgave her. I came to you, freshly 18. I came to you to bury the hatchet and become family. What did you do? What did she do? She rejected me again. You all did. You called me a freak! You called me many names and all I could do was contemplate the idea of killing every single one of you or letting you live. Since you’re here today, you know that even then, I showed you mercy. »
Melanie's eyes grew wide as she realized that her cousin was genuinely telling her that she wanted to kill them. She could have, now that she was older and could control her powers better. She could have. Her eyes grew even wider as she noticed the purple flecks on Sara’s eyes and was afraid for her life. Sara clearly didn’t forget and refused to do so. She was older now and far stronger than when she was a child. Obviously, Melanie could not stop her if she wanted to kill so she stood up, one hand in front of her to protect herself.
« Sara. Think about what you want to do next. I am a mother… a teacher. You don’t want to hurt me. »
« I could easily do that,» she said, tilting her head as she focused on the lock on the door to turn it. As Melanie realized she was trapped, she screamed. « I could easily throw that pen and stab you with it. I could so easily break your neck if I wanted to. »
« What…. What do you want Sara? Do.. what do you want? Please! Please don’t hurt me! » she cried and fell to her knees with both hands up. « it was a long time ago…. I can’t take that back… »
« All this blabber and you still don’t apologize. It’s so typical of you. You take and take and take and when you can’t have it or you have no more use of it, you destroy. I was a child! You tortured me and for what??? » she used her telekinesis to slowly suffocate her cousin and as soon as Melanie pissed herself, Sara stopped. She put her hands on her desk and unlocked the door. « Leave and don’t ever come back. You rejected me when I needed you and today you allowed me to reject you when you need help the most. So good luck with Tabitha. »
As soon as Melanie left, Sara slammed the door behind her. She looked at Dotty, hoping for some sympathy from the older woman but she simply looked at the woman with disgust. She had no empathy for her or that side of Sara’s family so she mouthed a « good riddance. » to the shocked woman who left, too shocked to say something now and too confused to know if she wanted to retaliate to that humiliation or if she wanted to hide from Sara.
-TBC-
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