Welcome to the Sequel of Twisted Webs! Enjoy and REVIEW!

Web of Lies

Living a broken life the once named Serena Shields struggles with herself and her husband. Her days are lived in a fantasy life that has her nephew and daughter convinced she’s insane. With an abusive and controlling husband watching her every move she attempts to live peacefully only to discover it’s all a lie and nothing is as it seems. As she untwists the webs spun around her she sees that her husband kept a few secrets from her, one hidden from her to keep her with him. The sequel to Twisted Webs!

Ghosts

The icy blue eyes of a teenage girl snapped open when she heard the soft voice of her mother talking to an invisible ghost. Seven in the morning on a summer’s day and already she was dreading today events. She quickly rose, brushed her long black hair into her typical ponytail, and then snuck into the hallway into her cousin’s room. “Ricky?”

The ebony-haired teen lay on his bed with a book perched between his hands. With a weak smiled his brown eyes looked tiredly at his cousin, his chin-length hair covering the majority of his face. “She’s up.” He sighed and returned his eyes to the book. “I can’t do it… I won’t Seriah. Not this year.” Seriah sighed and walked to his bed laying next to him and placing her head on his shoulder.

“Happy birthday Ricky.” She whispered softly and closed her eyes. She was always the first to say it and it had always calmed him. “I have your present in my room… I’ll give it to you later.” He nodded and continued to read his book.

Laying next to him on the bed she listened to her mother move about, talking constantly as she usually did. Seriah shook her head sadly. It had been sixteen years since Darien and Raye were murdered in the park and her mother held to the belief that Darien’s ghost followed her everywhere. Seriah had even heard her mother having an intense argument with her “uncle”. As if on cue the door opened revealing a beautiful blonde who was now thirty-six but didn’t look a day over twenty. Her cerulean blue eyes fixed on the teens as they stared at her.

“Time to come out of your caves!” She sung, her voice sounding happy but carried a melancholy undertone. The two rolled off the bed as she stepped in and hugged Derrick lovingly. “Happy birthday! I can’t believe you’re sixteen already.” She stepped back and admired him briefly. He looked so much like Darien, save for his brown eyes and the fact that he was nowhere near the physical specimen his father had been. “Will you play for me again this year?” She asked softly, her eyes pleading with him to say yes. “Please? I so love it when you play.” Before he could answer she pulled him out of his room and down to the grand piano that Darien had played so many years ago. He sighed as she sat him on the bench and rushed towards her cello.

Derrick looked at the keys of the piano then back up to the picture of his father that adorned every room in the house. I hate this… I’m not you! I wish I were never born… Seriah watched Derrick’s eye darken and frowned. Poor Derrick, he suffered under a terrible burden, the burden of perfection. Since they were kids Serena had been molding Derrick to be like his father. If he ever failed at something she would shake her head and smile stating that he just wasn’t what his father was. He knew it wasn’t malicious, Serena loved him very much, but not for who he was as a person, it was whom he resembled that she truly loved. Seiya would always roll his eyes and twist his finger in a circle beside his head when Serena went off on one of her Darien tangents.

His fingers brushed the keys then he winced and slammed the keyboard cover shut. “NO! I won’t do it. Not this year! I can’t! I’m not DARIEN!” As Derrick ran to his room Seiya came in the front door and looked at his wife expectantly.

“Not again Serena.” He sighed and set his keys in the bowl on the table by the door. “Don’t you think you’ve taken this too far? Let Derrick be his own person. It’s his birthday for Pete’s sake.” Seriah smiled at her father and looked at Serena expectantly. Instead of answering she stood and rushed up the stairs, following after Derrick. Seriah turned back to her father to see him glaring at the picture of Darien on the mantle. “So, another year has passed?” His icy eyes grew cold before he sighed once again. “I wish she’d just let the man go. I swear Seriah, if you ever act like your mother… I’ll bring a whole world of hurt down on you.” She chuckled lightly then looked to the stairs as Derrick came bounding down them with conviction written on his face and a bag in his hands.

“I’m leaving! I can’t handle this!” He shouted back up at Serena who was standing atop the stairs with tears in her eyes. As Derrick trudged towards the door Seiya moved to intercept him. “Get out of my way Seiya. I’m leaving and I’m never coming back!”

“Derrick, be reasonable. I’m not letting you leave.” Seiya smiled warmly thus defying the warning in his eyes. “Calm down and think about this. “Where do you think you’re going to go?”

“What’s it matter? You don’t give a shit!” Derrick reached for the door making Serena cry out in terror. Seiya gently lead Derrick from the door and sat him down. “I don’t know why you won’t let me leave Seiya.”

“I’ve raised you, I care about you and I just can’t let you run away. Besides, if Seriah and I have to suffer through today you had better do it too.” Derrick ripped his arm away from Seiya and glared.

“I’m NOT Darien! He’s dead, get over it!” Derrick shouted making Seiya smile. “I’ll never be as perfect as he was.” Derrick let his head fall as if he were ashamed of himself.

“Be thankful you’re not your father. He was far from perfect Derrick… your aunt only saw of him what she wanted to see but I knew the real Darien. He was no role model. Believe me.” The ominous glint in Seiya’s eyes had always bothered Derrick. Maybe it was the icy color that truly bothered him but he couldn’t help but feel as if Seiya was the crazy one in the house. Serena had always acted crazy but she was predictable. She always did things she though were right. Seiya was a different type of crazy, the type that should be feared. “The last thing you want is to be like him.” Seiya then stood and smiled at his wife who looked positively horrified. “Will you calm down Serena? He’s not leaving.”

“I’m not worried about what he’s going to do.” Her voice was normal, as if she were finally grasping reality. The two remained staring at each other for a while before Serena turned her head to the side and down. “I plan on going to the graves today… I need some flowers… please?” She asked softly making Seiya smile.

“Absolutely Serena… what type would you like? The kids and I can run to the store and get them. I need to pick up Derrick’s cake anyway.” Derrick looked up at his uncle and smiled thankfully. He didn’t really liked to spend time with Seiya but if it meant escaping Serena then he would. “Sweet face?”

“I um… whatever you think is pretty Seiya.” She sauntered down the stairs looking defeated and wilted. Seiya nodded and walked to her, deliberately kissing her lips before turning to the two teens.

“Let’s get going then! Derrick, Seriah.” He called and walked to the front door as Serena walked to her cello and sat in her chair. The kids walked out allowing Seiya to stay behind for a moment. “Behave this time okay? I really don’t want to deal with one of your moods. Understand me?” His voice was a harsh bark.

“I understand Seiya.” She sighed and tuned her cello quickly. Seiya nodded and left her alone in the house her brother once lived in. She breathed deeply as she pulled the large bow across the strings for the first note of the song she loved so much. She played the entire piece until the last note was left hanging in the air. Once the sound had ceased to reverberate off of the walls she opened her eyes and stood the cello against it’s stand and looked at the empty piano bench. Sadly, her blue wells fixed on the picture on the hearth and picked it up so she could tenderly trace the outline of the image’s lips with her index finger. “I miss you Darien… so much… I even miss you being an over protective ass. Seiya was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made Dare… he’s so abusive… not to the kids. Never to them. He’d never dare to hurt them… but me… I don’t fight back… I don’t care enough. I’m afraid for the kids though… I can see a romance beginning to blossom… I don’t want them to suffer like I did but I can’t let them be together.” Tears started to stream down her face as she spoke to the picture. “It’s so wrong that I’ve gotten to see him grow up and not you… he’s gotten so big, he looks more like Raye to me but he’s still a handsome boy… and he’s so good to Seriah, always looking out for her much like you looked out for me. How you protected me… but… you’re not here to save me anymore and it’s been so long… it’s getting harder for me to believe you’re alive. You have to be though, you know? That part of my heart… the part that belongs to you isn’t as decayed as the areas around it. But… as time has gone by… I just… I don’t want to believe that you’re truly gone and that you’re not going to walk through the door and sweep me off my feet.” She then began to sob harder, replaced the picture, and buried her make up smudged face in her hands hoping to bury the world.

“I like these ones Daddy!” Seriah grabbed a large bouquet of daisies that were dies different colors. Seiya smiled at his daughter and nodded as Derrick stood close by with his hands in his pockets watching all the people with shopping carts pass by. “How about these Ricky?” Seiya looked at Derrick, carefully gauging his reaction to Seriah’s question.

“I don’t care Riah. I really don’t. Just get whatever.” He looked at Seiya and ran his hands through his hair like Darien used to do. The motion infuriated Seiya. “Can we get my cake and go home? Grandma and Grandpa are supposed to be over.”

“So is uncle Andy! He promised he’d come to your party!” Seriah squealed happily. Seiya sneered. Andrew was a royal pain in his side. Since the funeral Andrew had been watching him like a hawk.

The three gathered their items and returned to the house where Serena sat in her chair with her face buried in her hands. She was sobbing much like she was during the funeral. Seiya growled and shoved the grocery bags into Seriah’s arms as he briskly stalked over to Serena and grabbed her hands to reveal her face. “You didn’t behave like I told you to.” He hissed in a low tone so the kids couldn’t hear him.

“No!” Serena shouted and began to hit Seiya desperately. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” He sighed and looked at the two teens. They had seen this before, Serena always went into fits like this. It always happened when she was crying. She’d stop and begin to act as if Seiya was going to do some horrible thing. “Get away from ME!” She shouted. Her make-up was smeared in such a way that it made her look like a gruesome clown.

“Seriah, get the tranquillizers, your mother’s gone into on of her fits.” Seiya said calmly as he trapped her wrists so she couldn’t hit him. “Stop this Serena. You’re scaring the kids.” Seriah rushed past them and into the bathroom cabinet where they kept the tranquillizers. They were gone, of course, her mother often got rid of them so she couldn’t be drugged.

“They’re gone Daddy!” She breathed as she rushed back in. Seiya looked at his daughter then to his wife with an angry scowl.

“Why did you have to go and get rid of those… you know better.” He whispered into her ear then smiled. “That’s okay… I have something else to shut you up.” She really began to struggle and she even tried to kick him. “Don’t just stand there Derrick! Help me! Seriah… in my desk, in the office, there are three syringes I keep just in case she does this. Go and get one of them.” Seriah nodded and quickly ran to her father’s office as Derrick rushed to Seiya’s aid.

“What’s wrong with her?” Derrick frowned and looked at his aunt who was now screaming at him to help her. It was a sad sight and unfortunately one that he saw every year on his birthday.

Seriah rushed back into the room with the syringe in her hand then gave it to her father. “Thank you honey.” Seiya took it as Serena glared at her daughter as if she were a traitor. “I’m sorry sweet face.” Seiya jammed the syringe into her thigh and emptied the contents into her body immediately stilling her. “Thank you Diamond.” Seiya sighed and released Serena. Her eyes were still wide open making her look like a demented doll. Seiya then smiled and moved his finger’s over her eyes shutting her eye lids.

“What was that stuff? It works faster than any tranquillizer I’ve ever seen.” Derrick knitted his brow as Seiya scooped Serena into his arms. Her body was so limp it almost looked like she was dead. Seiya didn’t answer, rather he took Serena upstairs to their bedroom and tossed her onto the bed.

“You had to start didn’t you? You know better Serena so why do you keep trying? Just submit and live with it. He’s dead okay? He’s been dead for sixteen years.” He growled angrily and began to put her wrists and ankles into the cuffs he kept on the bed. “I didn’t want to use that stuff on you, you know I don’t like it but it certainly comes in handy at times.” He locked the cuffs as tightly as he could without completely cutting off the circulation. “Your dear friend Andrew’s coming over today apparently… looks like you won’t be seeing him.” Seiya laughed and stepped away from his restrained wife. “You’re going to get it when this wears off.” He moved back down the stairs where Andrew was talking to the kids calmly. “Andy! Good to see you!”

Andrew glared at the man in front of him then smiled for the kids’ sakes. “Hey Say… how are you today? Heard Serena’s having on of her episodes.” Seiya squared his jaw as Andrew’s smile widened. He hated the blonde before him because Andrew was the only one who knew Darien well enough to act like him. “Shame. I would have like to have talked to her.” Andrew ran his hand through his hair then slapped his hands together. “Well, I brought presents… shall we get this party started or what?”

“Sure…” Derrick shrugged making Andrew glare at Seiya once more. Seriah watched Andrew and her father exchange looks and wondered why they didn’t get along. That, however; was a question for a different day. One that didn’t involve her mother flipping out.

The sharp tingling feeling ripping through her body was amplified by Seiya’s violent thrusts into her body. The whole thing made her want to scream in pain but she wouldn’t. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her. She hated him, she wished she could run away, run to someone who could protect her from him but it seemed that there was nowhere to run. The only person she could think of was Sapphire but he had vanished years ago.

“If you ever act like you did today again I’ll start beating Derrick. Understand me Serena?” She nodded weakly as he moved away from her and laughed. That was always his threat, she had to be good or he’d punish the only living link she had to Darien. He knew it was effective and she had no doubt in her mind that he’d carry through. Seiya always carried through with his threats. “He had a good birthday though. John and Karen stopped by to wish him a happy birthday. It was nice to see them again.” She only closed her eyes hoping he’d be quiet and leave her alone. “Seriah wants to go to summer camp… what do you think? I figure there’s no harm in it. Send them both to camp so we can have more time together.” He chuckled. “I’ll leave that to you sweet face.”