THE CULPRIT'S VERDICT
CHAPTER 1

The time is near to claim another of her kind. This has not come to her understanding yet, even if it had, there's no way she can escape.

"Oh my! Maxine, did I just replace a perfect dress for you?" My mom's eyes sparkled at the sight of a fitted, backless, black dress that looked effortlessly elegant on the perfectly-shaped mannequin. I rolled my eyes as it was so short, it won't even cover my knee. She swooped the dress and overlapped it on my black turtleneck sweater examining how it will look like if I wore it.

"Perfect!"

"I will not wear this, mom," I said dryly.

She made a sad face, making me feel guilty. Not that I was boyish or whatever, but wearing a dress, especially the one she was holding, would suffocate my soul.

"Aissst! Take a look first before you argue." My mom puffed an exasperating tone. Suddenly, her hands grabbed my arms; my legs started to move as she exerted force to drag me in front of the mirror.

"Now look and say it's not good enough!" I stared at the woman on the reflection. An ordinary girl with messy golden brown hair, with excess fats on her lower chin, big ebony-colored eyes, flat nose, and a skin as pale as a powder. I pitied myself for looking so ordinary. The dress was awesome, perfect as she said, but not on me.

"Mom, you should know better that I don't wear dresses like this, I prefer those that will cover my body. I'm more comfortable with it." I said, then held her arms and dragged her with me out of this inclusive room for highly fashionable dresses.

"But you are about to attend a very important gathering, you must look pretty!" she said while bustling her way back to the dress. Well, of course, I did not let her.

"Mom! I don't think I can match the beauty of other attendees by wearing that dress! So, instead of having a trying hard aura, it will be best if I'll be as unsophisticated as I actually am," I said coldly.

"Oh dear, why are you so harsh on yourself?"

"I am not mom! I'm just being truthful." I wore one before, but I ended up being bullied. I kind of forgot though, or better yet, I pushed myself to erase those unwanted memories. "Believe me my dear you are beautiful! You just have to unleash that!"

"Mom, what for? I have made some friends in Canada just by being me, for sure there will be some who'll accept me as I am here in our country, and I hope you're the first one to." "But-"

"Mom, you know your arguments won't work on me! So, let's just enjoy our time together, okay? I'll be able to replace an elegant dress soon."

When she had completely given up, I phoned Baba to come over and eat with us in the restaurant.

"Baba's meeting is about to end, he'll come over," I excitedly announced. Mom, in return, just smiled.

Two weeks later

"Oh, you look pretty...." I was walking down our Brazilian Cherry Stairway, glancing at my wavy dress on the reflection from one side of the double helix with starlight glass balustrade, when my cousin dropped by and stopped to say that alien phrase. Honestly, I had just encountered those words, I wonder what it meant? I sighed a little in relief then she added, "... horrible!"

Urg!

I looked down to examine my black off-shoulder dress. The sleeves were long, though there was a little peek at the waist level, I felt more comfortable with it. The fabric was soft and refreshing. It was beautiful, but as expected, it didn't shine because I was the one wearing it.

"Isn't it too tight for you?"

"Nope, just fit enough to display my curves."

"Curves? You have curves? Where?" She looked everywhere but me.

There was no way she could get into my nerves!

I leaned my face closer to her and uttered in a whisper tone, "Get out in front of my beautiful face if you don't want me to spill your dirty little secret, my dear." I played my hands and face in harmony just to add a little emphasis to the words 'beautiful face'.

Just when I saw the madness swelled on her eyes, I walked fast, jerked her, and didn't look back. I wondered how red her face became. Giving other people the privilege to insult and humiliate me wasn't in my dictionary, only I have the right to do that to myself.

I walked straight through our laser carved door and gawked at the sight of three black luxurious BMW X7 lined up on the garage.

My Mom was leaning her back on the first car, busy fidgetting her cellphone. There was a trace of dread on her face and I had no idea what was causing it.

I approached her; her face lightened when she noticed me.

"Oh, my precious daughter! Is that really you?" She smiled broadly and I could feel the amusement my appearance had brought her. "Thank you for wearing that dress, you don't know how happy you have made me," she said and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm glad that I made you happy." I smiled and hugged back. In my mind, you don't know how much I'm enduring just to make you happy.

"This is the day you'll be able to see the world I and your father had lived for years. I tried to pull you away from it but there isn't any escape for this." I gave her a confused look as I didn't get what she meant by her remarks. Suddenly, I felt a soft caress when she brushed her finger on my face, she then cupped my cheeks with her two hands. It was cold yet full of warmth.

"This is your destiny and you'll be living with it for the rest of your life. Be brave enough to accept this reality."

"What do you mean, Mom?" I asked perplexed about what she was trying to say.

"The Serobia had chosen you," she mumbled softly as she brushed her fingers on my hair.. Her face showed nothing less than happiness.

"Serobia?" My eyes furrowed. The name wasn't new to my ears. I knew I had heard it before, but for some reasons I couldn't bring out the information out of my head.

"You'll know it very soon." She placed her lips on my forehead. For seconds, I didn't feel like I wanted her to stop. But when she did, when she pulled her hands away from mine, and as I watched her disappear and make her way into the car, I felt lonely and empty. I longed for her that instant.

My Baba and grandparents were also in the same car. I kissed and hugged each of them.

How I wish we're always complete like this.

My heart squirmed the soonest I stepped my way to the car next to them. My world stopped as my heartbeat became erratic. My intuition told me something was wrong, but without any clue what it was, I disregarded the thought. Little did I know that I will soon regret not listening to the warning sent by my psyche.