Young Writers Society

THE NAIL SCARRED HAND

In the beginning, it was all about the beauty. But then there was the beast and the beauty needed a savior but in the end, it still came down to beauty.

Beauty. It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. People have varying opinions of beauty.

Amy was living the Life. At least, a good number of those who had met her thought so, many even told her. 18 year old Amy Madoc was born with far more than a silver spoon; she was the daughter of Isaac Madoc of the Madoc Group of companies and to anyone who lived in her country knew what that meant. She could have almost anything money could buy. She’d attended the best schools in the country even up to the university level. As expected, she was surrounded by people, people who called themselves friends. She had loads of them, in fact, they were more of a burden to her. She knew they had their own purposes for befriending her, some for the money, some for the popularity, some for the guys and so many other reasons. She was one of the most popular people in Efil University for so many reasons, her background, her great speaking and even singing voice that very few people had heard but most knew about by word of the mouth, her good academic standing and the one undeniable fact that she was the most beautiful girl on the campus. Of every of these reasons, the one she cared about the most was her beauty. Everything else hardly appealed to her sense of protection even the money. They were all unwanted surplus. She felt she could do quite well without them as long as she remained beautiful. Even the beauty was a burden, a very great burden but also very welcome.

Amy knew men found her irresistible, for an 18 year old, she had received more advances from men than many women would receive in their entire lives , but still the things men did around her was beyond her understanding. So many things had happened that she could not understand. Her beauty had a way of turning people into laughing stocks, people had been involved in accidents, marriages broken and so many other evils had befallen people only because of her beauty.

Men called her so many pleasant names but then, men were not to be trusted. The only man close enough to earning her trust was her father but he seemed to be melting under the heat. He was behaving very differently towards her nowadays. At times, he would stare at her like he had a schoolboy crush on her; he talked to her with a tone she would expect from a lover and not a father and the way he was always calling her ‘Love’. It sounded far more than just fatherly love. She could only hope that ideas were not germinating in his mind. There was another man, more like a young man or a guy, the only man apart from her father who she cared for but he doesn’t care. What’s his name… from Biology..? He looked at her like he was afraid of her. He doesn’t count. Let men call her whatever they wanted, let them die to get her attention, it changes nothing. It does not change the fact that exactly 18 years ago, her parents gave birth to a problem in the form of a child and they called it Amy.

Let many worship her and many adore her, let them give all to have her, one man detested her. In fact, he detested her beauty more. It had gotten on his last nerve. Her beauty was ugly and it wasn’t even beauty. He hated when men called her beautiful. He hated the men that called her beautiful because they were blind. Beauty was more than great hair, blue eyes, a well developed figured and so on. Beauty was about the heart and Amy’s heart was ugly.

Evil had a stronghold in her heart and he should know. He was the foundation of that evil. He knew her before she was born, he chose her himself. That day, at her naming ceremony, he marked her to be destroyed. Since then, he had been at every major junction of her life, ready to guard her from making the right decisions. He owned her heart, her inside and he manipulated her outside to fit his purpose. Someone might ask who he was to own a person and make such mess of her life. Among men, he had no equal. He could win anyone battle he fought. He could bring any man to his knees. He was all powerful, all knowing, most superior. At least, he thought so and made others think he was, very few really knew him. He prayed they never would. One thing he was sure of was that he was proud, very proud. It was his way of life to be proud. Well, Amy’s good looks were no longer of importance to him. He’d used them to his satisfaction and pleasure and then a beautiful container does not go very well with a bad product and this product was very, very bad. He was more than a man of words; he was a man of action. Time for some action

Eric was one of Amy’s many admirers though he was never open about it. He was sure he was not in her league. He doubted she would even take a second look at him. Every time he saw her, his heart seemed to pause and it was not only because she was so amazingly beautiful, it was something, something in her eyes. He noticed it the first time he saw her, it was pain yet he saw so much more. He saw ignorance, he saw a desire to live, and he saw hunger. At times, all he saw was evil in its purest form, yet he couldn’t stop liking her. Was anyone else seeing what was going on? He wondered why someone who seemed to have it all would be so empty. There had been times he had dreamt about her needing help or crying for help and decided he had to help her. How? That had been the question on his mind since he made that decision. He could try to get close to her, befriend her but many other guys were already doing that. All he’ll probably get was “join the queue” He knew only one other way so he got on his knees and called for the Savior

The Savior smiled, that was exactly what he needed, someone to ask on Amy’s behalf, someone to call him to action. He was not a man to interrupt in anyone’s business but when called, he was ready and willing to act. Thanks, Eric. Time for action.

Amy sat on the ground in the lecture hall. She was tired, tired of running, tired of existing. She’d run from her room in the hostel, into the cafeteria and sat down for a few minutes yet she felt the urge to keep running, so she stood up and she ran. She’d sat down on the sidewalk crying for some time and then stood up to continue running .Only two cars had passed by her on the road, none had stopped to see what the trouble was. Anyone who had seen her must have thought she was not so well. Who cares what anyone thinks, this is my life as it really is. Amy Madoc, the very beautiful, very crazy daughter of a very rich man troubled by a very powerful man .Great! She didn’t stop till she got to the lecture hall in the academic area.

It was a rather peaceful Saturday night, there were very few people roaming the campus. Her friends who were in the room with her should have been worried about her or at least made an attempt to call her, she doubted they cared. She always knew she had no real friends, it only shocked her how far away from friends the people around her were. She could have been running to her death and they would not move an inch. Ironically, she was indeed running to her death. Those who were after her were going to get her anyway. It’s only one person, Him. She needed to die and die now. Some people in the hall were beginning to gather around her, she did not need attention, she needed death. Somebody kill me before he comes to do it himself. She closed her eyes in resignation.

When she opened them, what she saw startled her. It seemed she was in the hall but not there, the people were gone. It was no longer night, it fact it was the morning. She felt strong, though she was still afraid. They must still be after me, no they are not. She rebuked herself it all came back to her. That was it; she must have been imagining things again. No one was after her, she was running from nothing. That explained her life for the past 7 years. She was always afraid.

She was afraid of darkness because it hid things yet she was afraid of light because it exposed hidden things. She was afraid of any form of transportation including walking because of the dangers therein yet she was afraid of remaining in the same place. Twice, she’d refuse to go out on a family dinner because she was afraid of been involved in a road accident. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out till they left. When she came out of the room, there was no one in the house. The maids had gone back to their quarters. She was all alone in the house. Those 2 hours were probably the most unforgettable of her life, she paced like a hungry lion round the house afraid to go out or to remain in the same place till Natas came. He was her companion for the rest of the time till the family returned. She might have some form of ultimate beauty but it must come with another package of greater fear. This doesn’t explain why I’m still here. Nobody was passing, even if it were in the morning, lectures should have commenced or almost commenced here. Something odd was going on and it only made her more afraid. Natas is still after me

Of all things she was afraid of, she was most afraid of losing her beauty.

If she died beautiful, people would come to her burial but remaining alive and been ugly was not an option at all. She had to protect her beauty at all cost. I have to survive whatever is going to come my way and remain beautiful or I'd rather die. Either someone does it for me or I do it myself. The only principle that governed her life was: My Beauty is my life; it means the world to me. I lose it and I die because life has lost meaning.

For Natas, her death was the only option. He was more than ready to kill her but he would not let her go so easily. He wanted to kill her slowly, he had already started but things were about to get to another level.

No one could save her. He was The Beast that was always in her nightmares. He had worked so long for the past 7 years; the coming days would only be a reward for his efforts. Time to move on. He was not in a hurry, he had all the time. He had cornered her in this world of his where there was no one to love her or care what was going on.

The stage was set for the showdown. The next time Amy would she another human being was never, she would be dead. It was time to lay down the rules. She knew him very well but a little re-orientation wouldn’t hurt. Let the game begin.

The Savior smiled again, he had his game plan right from the beginning, even before he was called. Winning the game was not up to him, it was up to the player. Time for the showdown.

Natas entered the lecture hall by the back door, he knew Amy would not notice him since she was so lost in her thoughts and he knew that it was he who occupied her thoughts

“Need some water, old friend”

The moment she heard that voice she knew he was around. Yet, she felt her fear decrease. She knew he was going to get her anyway; it was only a matter of time. She made the decision to end this today either in her favor or not, though the second option was more likely. She had to start somewhere, so she stood up, faced him and slapped him. She knew that moment that she had gotten what she was asking for. Natas laughed, he had expected this day for a long time. Apparently, they had both reached their breaking points. 7 years together has been a long time, this relationship better end before it is strained any further.

“Amy, Amy, Amy, it has been quite a while. Did you enjoy your break?” Amy didn’t have time for all this. Today was very different, she knew from the moment she woke up still in this hall “Natas, I know all you have to say. It’s the same boring speech every time and it’s all lies. I know I deserve to be punished and you are going to do me a favor by not giving me the capital punishment. But you know what?” He just kept smiling and looked like he was not even hearing what she was saying. It was too late to stop “That’s what I want. I believe death would offer me freedom”

Natas was impressed; he didn’t expect her to face death so confidently. However, she wasn’t aware of her ignorance because even death could not save her from him. Even killing herself would only be a faster means to the same end. He didn’t want that however. “I guess its time for some reorientation. For the past 7 years, you’ve known me as different things. You know me as your master because what I say you must do, no matter how bad it is. You know me as a killer and as someone who destroys lives yet you know very well that you did everyone of those things yourself. You’re just as evil as I am” Amy burst into tears. The memories came back. This man instilled fear in her, manipulated her ignorance and turned her into a beast. She had a heart that wanted to do good, she was cheerful and very friendly, very selfless, full of dreams and great plans for the future then this man came and erased her hopes for a future. Now, she didn’t even know who she was anymore, she was filled with sorrow at almost all times and forced herself to smile just to avoid comments, she primarily cared about no one else but herself and her beauty and she lived just for today without thinking of the consequences that lie ahead tomorrow. She knew deep down that her lack of friends was caused mainly by her, even those who wanted to come close, she never allowed, she’d made for herself a heart of stone. Maybe that was what Eric was afraid of, he must have seen how mean she was. Eric...that’s his name, Eric.Good thoughts. She wondered what he would do if he knew she had an hand in killing her own mother.

Amy loved her mother very much, her mother was a fundamental part of her. Every good sense she had was instilled in her by her mother. For most of her childhood, her father had not been at home. He was busy trying to establish himself among the top CEOs in the country. Her mother had taking it upon herself to see that Amy and her 4 years older sister had the best training. Her mother had thought them that life was not all about money, position and achievements, it was about love, about helping others fulfill their dreams. She also thought them how true beauty came from inside and it was not all about appearance. Right from their young ages, she always encouraged them to be the best wives they could be to their husbands. Mother had thought her so much and helped give her a good foundation in life. Apparently, Natas would not have any of that, she was the first person he sought to eliminate and he used Amy to achieve that. He came to her in her room like he always did when she was at home one night after her mother had scolded her and sent her to bed early. She didn’t know how he got into the room without getting detected, he told her that her mother didn’t like her anymore since she’d been a bad girl and now loved her elder sister more, Amy out of childish ignorance felt bad and started crying, Natas gave some powder in a piece of paper and told her to put into in her mother’s food when the chance provided itself and that her mother would love her more than ever. He insisted she told no one about him and made sure no one saw her with the powder. She kept the powder and did not use it for about a month, Natas kept coming to her bedside once in a while but never even talked about the powder, he spent sometime reading her some stories and talking to her about things that contradicted everything she had learnt. One night, her sister offended her and she cursed, something she learnt from one of Natas’ stories. Her mother punished her and grounded her from watching the TV for a week, Natas came to her to console her that night and reminded her of the choice she had to make. As if it was divinely planned, the very next morning, an opportunity “presented” itself. Amy thought carefully about it but then what she wouldn’t do for love. 3 days later, her Mom had an heart attack and died. Amy knew it was the powder that caused it, maybe she had used too much but Natas had told her to use it all. The family was heart broken, her father had cried for days and her father and mother’s friends had come to greet them. I was a time she would never forget in her life. She thought the doctors would find see that the powder caused it and expected Dad would come home one day and ask about it but he never did, no one saw anything. The secret was between Natas and herself. Dad had become very withdrawn after that time and only spoke when necessary. She wondered how they had made it out of that period. 2 months later, Natas came back as a different man, he was no longer friendly or suggestive, he commanded her and blackmailed her. That was the beginning of her life of slavery. At 13 years old, she had killed her mother just because she desired to be loved, and she already was, she was just too blind to see it. Since then, life had been a downward spiral.