Haunted King

EIGHTEEN | my parents

Cold. That was what greeted her at the door. The large walkway winded up to the modern mansion. The up hill driveway blew a cold breeze downhill. Melody trudged through the wind and stopped at the metal gate. She typed in the code into the black pin pad and waited for a green light. The light went red. Melody stared at the pad in confusion and typed in the code again. Red again.

She almost lost her wits about her and nearly tried a third time till she remembered the guard dogs that would come if she failed a third. Her parents had changed the code on purpose. "They want me to call them," she grimaced.

Melody pulled her phone from her pocket and nearly laughed at the black screen. Her phone was shut off. Her high school years flashed through her mind. She wouldn't be able to call anyone except her parents. Not even the police.

Melody stared up at the marble prison she once called a home. She had promised Crystal she would call if things went awry but now she was completely alone. Her heart twisted and pleaded with her to walk away. To find a way to do this on her own and find a way to survive by herself.

But trying to pay for a full medical degree by herself was immature thinking. She wouldn't be able to pay that all back till the day she died - not that her parents would let her get a job. Melody took in a deep breath and released it slowly. Then, she pressed call.

The pin pad went green. The gate doors slowly opened. Melody looked up again and noticed a small silhouette in her parents bedroom window. She hadn't felt this feeling in a while. Like she was being chained down. Like she was being reminded who's hands her life was in.

"Well don't just stand there Melody. Come inside. It's supposed to start raining in half an hour," her mom's thick Asian accent seeped through the phone. Melody didn't answer, she just moved her feet one at a time.

The gate slammed closed behind her making her jump. Tears pooled in her eyes. She could feel her body shaking with panic. 'This was a mistake,' she shivered. "The front door is unlocked. Lunch is on the table, when you finish eating come up to my office," her mother ordered and then the call went dead.

Melody opened the front door and walked down the long white halls. She turned right and then pushed opened the glass doors. On one end of the dinning table was a bowl of soup and side of rice. A small cup of tea was steaming and ready for her.

She ate with disdain. Compared to the extremely unhealthy ramen and soups she would eat with Crystal this gourmet meal tasted worse. The tea felt bland next to Crystal's. Small tears slid down her cheek. She wanted to go home.

She ate at a slow pace. And when she was finished she took her time walking to her mothers office. She opened the doors and saw her father and mother waiting on the couches. The white and grey room was as lifeless as the expressions on their faces. They regarded her with a bored expression.

They waited for her to sit down before her father spoke first. "We will pay for all your classes on one condition." Melody's body went cold. They knew why she was here. Of course they knew, but it still bothered her that it hadn't crossed their minds to even pretend to welcome their daughter home like normal parents. To pretend like they were excited to see her. But no, this was all a business transaction to them. "On what condition?"

Her father, a big and pale man with a cleanly shaven face, always spoke to her with terms and conditions. Even if they phrased it like an offer there truly was no room for debate with them. Whatever they were offering she had no choice to begin with.

"You get married."

Her stomach sank. There it was. The new chains they would use to tie her down. "But shouldn't I be focusing on school? Why should I be rushing to get married?" Her mother narrowed her eyes, "if school was so important to you, then you should have kept your grades up! What the hell were you thinking Melody! Are you so self absorbed in your own delusions that you thought it necessary to throw your whole life away!" Her mother was seething with rage. She cursed in Chinese and ran an aggravated hand through her hair.

Melody's father was the calm one of the two, but he was still firm. "It's either you get married or we send you to China and you focus on your studies in your grandparents care." That was a fate worse then death. Her parents were saints compared to how controlling and abusive her grandparents were. She would loose her mind. "Okay," she whispered. She was crying again.

Her father went to his wife's desk and pulled out a folder. Orange folders always meant there was a contract. They were seriously making her put this in writing. They offered her a pen. "Can I at least meet the man first?"

Her mother huffed, "you already have. He is one of your classmates. He is an honor roll student who is planning on becoming a neurosurgeon." Melody felt like she knew the answer before her mother said it.

"Christain Davis." Her father slid the pen into her hand. "He already agreed to it." Of course he did. Because this was never a question for her to begin with. The only thing Melody wondered was how they would make her agree to this if she hadn't lost her scholarship?

"Can I think about it?" Melody asked. Her mother rolled her eyes but her father nodded. "Take your time," he nodded. They weren't in a rush because she had no choice. But it made her feel better to think that she did.