( from an old journal found in an abandoned forest )
Lyia always said she deserved better.
She wore second-hand shoes like they were shackles.
Always complaining about the smell of boiled potatoes and rice from the kitchen.
She would groan whenever her father picked her up from school in a rust-bitten car that coughed smoke every few blocks.
She always said to herself that she wasn't like them.
Not like her mother, whose hands were always cracked from cleaning other people's houses, or her father, who would wake up at dawn to push crates at the fish market.
They were always tired but grateful for the scraps, but she hated them for it.
To her friends, Lyia spun silk from mud.
She told them her parents were " aboard " working for a multi-millionaire company, that her ride would be late because " the driver got lost "
And when she met her mother while hanging out friends she would give a disdain look and said, " eww, who's that woman, what a creep"
Her mother didn't say anything, she just turn and walk away, with her shoes soaked in slush.
Lyia's friends laughed at the woman.
They laughed a lot when she was around.
And she fed on that.
It was on a sunny Friday that she got a message.
" hey there beautiful, my name is Aden, your friends told me you're a real deal, mind if we hang out tomorrow?"
He was tagged in photos standing next to yachts, bottle of rare imported champagne in hand.
Sharp cheekbones, even a sharper suits.
She told her friends and they swore he was loaded.
" he likes classy girls", they said, " you'll finally get a luxury treatment "
Lyia didn't ask how they knew him.
She just asked " when and where?"
On the day of the date, she dressed in her mother's most elegant gown, a dress her mother kept from her younger years.
She never asked if she could wear it.
She didn't care about her permission.
" are you heading out?", her father asked as she slipped past the kitchen.
" to meet someone who's not a failure " she snapped.
Her mother came in with a worried look, "please be safe and call us if you need anything "
Lyia scoffed, " i don't need it"
She left the house, it was rainy outside that day, but she smiles and walked with her umbrella, her heels clacking on the broken concrete road.
Aden met her at the gate of an estate she had never seen before, just outside the city.
He drove a car that purred like a beast and smiled like a camera flash- too bright and wide.
He took her hand and kissed it gently.
" you're even prettier in person"
Lyia's heart bloomed. He said am pretty!!
Inside, the estate was cold despite its size.
The furnitures were ancient, polished like bones.
The walls were lined with portraits of him, or people who looked exactly like him, in different eras.
" family resemblance ", he said.
" oh, i see ".
The lights dimmed , the windows had no curtains.
Outside, the trees swayed violently- though there was no wind, just a normal rain.
They dined by the candlelight.
He poured her wine that tasted like rust and roses.
She began talking none stop, complimenting his house, cars and even his taste in fashion.
She told him she was from wealth too, that her parents owned a property in Paris.
He just smiled, " of course they do"
Later, he offered to show her "something special ".
He led her down a spiral staircase she hadn't noticed before, into a part of the house that smelled of earth and iron.
At the bottom was a long hall, doors on either side.
Cravings etched into the stone-old symbols she didn't recognise.
He stopped at the end, in front of a black wooden door.
"This", he said, " is where i kept my collection "
Before she could ask, he opened it.
Inside were portraits. Hundreds of them.
Every one of a young woman, smiling, frozen.
There skin pale with glassy-eyes painted in disturbing details.
Too much details.
" what are these?" Lyia asked.
Aden stepped between her and the door.
" they all wanted something " he said.
" wealth, fame, escape "
Lyia took a step back.
Aden gritted his teeth, " they all lied to me"
" so i gave them what they asked for, now they live forever"
His smile returned, but this time, it didn't reach his eyes.
Lyia ran.
He didn't follow, not with footsteps. The house shifted around her, the corridors she didn't pass before twisted into dead ends.
The portraits watched her, some began to whisper.
Shs tripped, screamed, her dress tore, she called for her parents-
But the house swallowed every word.
At last, she stumbled upon an opened room lit only by the flicker of dying candles.
There was a chair, and a black canvas.
Tied to a chair was a girl, she was silent, barely breathing, her eyes glazed.
Aden stood behind the canvas, brush in hand.
" every stroke is a promise " he said softly,
" every lie must be preserved ".
Then he walked towards Lyia.
Lyia tried to run again, but her legs weren't responding.
She watched with horror as Aden got closer.
She fought, screamed with tears falling down her cheeks.
But the brush touched her skin- and she felt her soul drain.
Colours left her vision, her muscles tightened.
Her memories flickered out, one by one.
The first was her friends.
Then her name.
Then her parents- no.
Those memories stayed and it burns like fire.
She remembered her mother's touch, her father patting her shoulder.
She remembered the meals she mocked, the clothes she scorned.
The apologies they gave her even when they did nothing wrong.
And she remembered what she said in return.
" you two are useless!! Why should i be born to the two of you?!!"
"Stop embarrassing me!!"
" Don't ever call me if we meet outside".
Her jaw unhinged in a silent scream as the last stroke sealed her.
****
Months later, they found her...portrait .
Buried deep in an abandoned manor's cellar, it was discovered by fire fighters after a freak blaze consumed the forest around it.
Her face was elegant, smiling.
It looked so unreal. Too perfect.
No body was even found, just the painting and a note, nailed to the back:
" she said she hated the poor"
" so i gave her the riches of eternity "
" so tell the next one:
" lie with your tongue, and your soul shall follow"
[ Kia returns]
Ahh, a girl who is obsessed with champagne and chandeliers, what do you guys think?
(@Oviesix: it wasn't the poverty that cursed her, it was the shame and it rots faster than meat)
[@Enchomay: sighs, she traded gratitude for glamour. Poor human]
Did you guys notice how easily she stepped past the final warning? It shows that some humans love walking into traps wearing heels.
[@Jaija: i liked the part where she forget her name but still remembered their faces. How poetic. Filial guilt always lingers the longest, hehe. ]
Yeah, but isn't it funny? She kept pretending her parents were strangers, look at her now, she is a stranger to herself.
Now lets talk about masks.
How long can you wear it before it becomes part of you?
[@Enchomay: long enough to forget where the real face ends ]
[@Jaija: she lied because she wanted luxury and riches. But she got permanence ]
*Smirks * permanent's a good word, Jaija.
She is not dead you know, she's just stuck between the brushstrokes and the beg"
[@642: she denied her roots, now she's planted in a frame, sighs... i wonder, are her parents still waiting ?]
They are. Everyday, her mother would be sitting beside the window. Same tea. Same tears.
The father has lost his smile, blaming himself for everything ".
[@Jaija: Aww, how sad but do you think Lyia regrets it, Kia?]
" nahh, she regrets getting caught.
That mask has taken over her"
[@Oviesix: Damn, the world is full with liars. Some lied so hard that the world lied back.]
[@Jaija: Pffff...]
" indeed.....which brings us to you , my sweet readers....."
How many of you pretended ?
Faked your life? Designer knock-off?
Daddy's money?
How many of you hate where you came from, but still want to be loved for who you really are?
Haaah..... what a tragic world.....
Aden's chair is never empty for long, so keep pretending, darlings.
Lie big . Lie loud.
The walls are always listening.
Bye now.đź‘‹