[Bella's Point of View]
Jameson was kissing a lady.
I dropped my credit card, and Janice immediately tapped me. That, I came back to my consciousness.
"Bella, are you okay?" she asked and paid my bill.
I just looked at her and smiled faintly. I don't know why but I can feel my heart in pieces.
Could I possibly be jealous? No, that's not it.
Maybe it just hurts because Jameson used to kiss me, and now he's kissing another woman.
But does that make any difference? I shouldn't feel jealous at all. We're just-
"Bella, what just happened to you?" Janice asked, and I looked back at where I saw Jameson and the lady, but they were gone.
Maybe it wasn't Jameson.
"Nothing. Let's go."
...
The next day, I couldn't focus on anything at all. I wanted to talk to Jameson about what I saw yesterday, but it would make me look like a jealous brat.
It shouldn't bother me, but I just can't help thinking about it.
I hit my head and groaned in frustration.
"Hey, Bella, duty this night," Janice uttered.
I wonder if I could even work. I feel so exhausted for no reason.
BUT WHY WOULD JAMESON KISS A LADY?
Argh!
I rummaged through my bag and grabbed my phone. Since last night, Jameson has been messaging me, but I didn't reply to a single text.
He's such a jerk.
...
Janice and I walked through the clinic's hallway in the middle of the night. I wonder if there will be any clients this late.
"You seem out of the world this day, Bella," Janice spoke, but I wasn't paying attention.
"Hey, Bella! Earth to Bella!" She waved her hands in front of me, and I finally got the nerve to look at her.
"What's your problem? We can't be working properly if you're befuddled," she muttered and scowled.
Hah, now she's nagging me? Isn't she the one who was always dozing off at work?
"You see, last night at the grocery, I saw Jameson kissing another girl," I said, trying to be nonchalant.
Janice gasped, and her eyes widened. She looks like she has seen the dead.
"Are you for real? Maybe it wasn't him. You know, our eyes trick us sometimes," she replied.
It could be, but I'm so sure it was him.
"Did you ask him?" Janice asked.
"No. I don't have the guts to ask."
"Do you want me to ask him for you?"
I nodded my head at her. I'm just curious if it was really him, that's all.
"Give me his contact number."
I gave Janice Jameson's cell phone number, and she started dialing him, but he couldn't be reached.
So, she just texted him. I wonder what she said, but it doesn't matter anymore.
As we arrived at the clinic, I proceeded to the sofa and sighed.
"I'm so tired. Can you duty alone? I'm not feeling good," I said while resting my head on a pillow.
"It's still 6pm. Some clients may come. And I don't want to work alone. Do you know that there's a ghost in this place?"
I just laughed at her.
"I don't believe ghosts," I said.
"Really? I actually heard that there was an ill patient here before. She was a psychopath, eventually killing herself for some unknown reasons."
That made me intrigued. If that's true, what could be the reason why that psychopath killed herself.
I will never know.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Janice and I looked at each other and then looked at the door.
"Open it!" I screamed and immediately positioned myself correctly.
"Hello," Janice greeted the clients.
Two people came in. One was an adult and a child.
Probably mother and son.
"How may we help you?" I asked.
The mother of the boy smiled at me sweetly.
This old woman, I think she's kind of familiar?
"Hi," the child greeted me with all smiles. He is holding a carrot plushie while wearing his jumper and a blue shirt with holes. He also seemed somehow malnourished. As soon as our eyes met, I felt warm towards him.
"Aw, how cute," Janice mumbled.
The client sat on the couch, and I kept looking at the mother of the child. She doesn't seem sane at all.
"How can we help you?" Janice asked them.
"Uhm... It's my mom. She is not normal. Sometimes she's kind, and sometimes she hits me so bad." The child showed his scars from all the beatings he received.
Janice gasped in shock. "So, you do want to help your mom, don't you?" she asked.
The little kid nodded and looked at his mom.
I couldn't help but look at the mother of this child. She really looks familiar.
"What's your name?" I asked the child.
"Oh, I am Richard," he said in the cutest way possible.
I can't believe this child still had the guts to smile like he's not hiding those scars from his mother's abuse.
All of us are a facade. It just happens that some are actually better at hiding their true colors than others.
I walked towards the mother and knelt in front of them to see their faces. The lady looked at me like she was a sane person. She was smiling and randomly blinking her eyes multiple times.
"What's your name, miss?" I asked the woman.
Now that I can see her features clearly, she is becoming more familiar.
"Her name is Priscilla," Richard replied to me.
Wait, Priscilla is the name of -
"Hi, Bella."
My mom.
Or could she really be my mom? Is that why she looks so familiar?
Suddenly, the woman hugged me and buried her head on my shoulder.
"Bella, my daughter," she said. Her voice was cracking.
"Uhm, miss, please stay away from Bella. You might've mistaken her for someone," Janice said and pulled me away.
I looked at Priscilla and Richard.
No freaking way.
It's been years since I last saw my mom in jail. I don't know whether she was released or rotted as a felon.
I frantically looked at Richard's scars, and it brought me back to when I was a child, being abused by this woman.
THIS WOMAN SITTING IN FRONT OF ME IS PRISCILLA SALVADOR. A SOCIOPATH, MY MOTHER.
I immediately grabbed Richard's wrist and pulled him away from Priscilla.
"What are you doing here, mom?" I said. I almost choked myself for saying the word 'mom.'
"Aren't you happy to see your mother, Belladonna?" She stood up from the couch and grabbed something from her back.
"Ahh!" Janice screamed as Priscilla pointed a gun at me.
Seeing my mom again brought back all the hatred, anger, and pain I experienced as a child.
I became a psychopath because of her.
"What, you're going to kill me? YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?!" I screamed as loud as I could.
Richard, who was hiding beside me, is now crying.
"Oh, Bella. Look how you've grown to be such a disrespectful lady," Priscilla replied.
"EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT, MOM! EVERYTHING!" I fell down on my knees and cried.
I can't believe every single thing I buried from the past revealed itself again.
I cried like a child as I remembered all the abuse I experienced from the people around me.
WHEN ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TO BE LOVED!
ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TO SURVIVE.
But why?
Why did I have to experience all those?
Why?
"I thought you were a psychopath. Why are you crying?" Priscilla spoke again.
"Mom, stop this right now and let me live in peace." I looked at Richard, still holding the hem of my uniform.
"Let me and my brother live in peace."
"NO! I WILL DRAG YOU ALL WITH ME TO DEATH!" Mom screamed and started shooting bullets on the ceiling.
Janice kept screaming, and Richard kept crying.
"Janice, please take Richard away. Call the cops, GO!"
They went outside the room, and my mom shot a bullet on Janice's leg. It made her fall on the floor.
"HOW DARE YOU?!!" I attacked my mom and tried to grab her gun, but she was too strong.
How could she be so strong?
She pushed me away from her, and I bumped my head on the table corner. I'm bleeding.
No. She's going to kill me!
"Bella, I've been a good mom to you, but I remembered the look on your face when I was in jail. You look proud. You are not my daughter. My daughter is not a devil!" She was angry. Her face, her eyes, her body is full of rage towards me.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU WERE A FAILURE! IT'S NOT MY FAULT I WAS BORN! IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU ARE THE WORST MOTHER!" I screamed as I accepted my fate.
I closed my eyes, and a tear rolled on my cheek.
Is this the end? I've been fighting my whole life to be killed by my own mom?
"Goodbye, Bella. See you soon."
I heard a gunshot and waited for seconds...
and seconds...
That's when I opened my eyes. I was not shot. Priscilla dropped the gun and gasped.
I looked down and saw Richard, he caught the bullet for me.
He got shot by our own mother.
"I'm sorry. I know you are my...my sister. When I f...first heard about you, I wanted to meet you. I love you and mom. I love the both of you," Richard stammered as he was fighting for his life. He looked at Priscilla and smiled for the last time.
He...
He loves me?
And he loves mom? Who abused him?
I cried my eyes out because I knew he had more to say. This kid's life was taken too early...
That's when my blood reached its peak. I grabbed the gun and pointed it at my own mother.
"YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!" I screamed and shot a bullet at Priscilla. I don't care. I DON'T CARE IF SHE'S MY MOTHER. SHE DESERVES TO DIE AFTER ALL SHE HAS DONE!
To me, and to Richard...
My eyes got blurry after I shot the bullet, then lost consciousness.
Love.
I now know what it is.