The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Chapter 49

"You sure you can handle that, Chesyr?" Sentinel asked her. He glanced at her arms, where there were plenty of scars, some fresher than others. "It seems like a painful memory."

"It is," She admitted, rubbing absently at the scars. "It hurts to remember what happened, what I did, but if I tell you guys, then maybe I can start to get past it. Maybe the nightmares will finally stop."

She sat down hard on her rock and stared at her hands. Sentinel scooted closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook him off.

"Don't." She said sharply, making him flinch back. "Please. I can't, I can't be touched while I talk about this. It's not you, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever you need Chesyr." Sentinel scooted back to where he'd been originally. Once he settled back in, he joined the others in watching her while she tried to settle herself. She looked uncomfortable, and all at once she faded from view, leaving just her eyes behind.

"Are you okay?" Fang asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I'm fine." Chesyr answered, but she stayed invisible. Her voice was shaky. "It's just hard to have everybody watching me."

The others nodded, and Sentinel watched them start moving. Oracle stood up and started adding wood to the fire. Fang was watching her closely, and Sentinel had a feeling that he was staring at her ass. Ranger and Vyper turned to stare out into the pasture behind them. Sentinel figured he'd busy himself with grabbing another drink out of the cooler. He had already sat back down and was staring into the fire by the time Chesyr spoke again.

"My real name is Nichole, but I don't have a last name. I was raised in the foster care system. Never knew my parents, they just left me outside and walked away. It never really bothered me though, and I never really wanted to go find them. I maybe could if I wanted to, but who cares? I only wish that they would've left me in a better place.

"I wasn't raised in some state care home. I was brought up in an orphanage run by The Church.  I grew up in the Saint Ives' Home for the Less Fortunate. We were raised to follow the scripture, brought up by nuns and a priest."

"Wait, Saint Ives'?" Sentinel spoke when Chesyr stopped for breath. For the first time, he looked back over at her. She was visible again. "I remember hearing about that place. Didn't it get shut down for something a few years back?"

"Yeah, they shut it down." Chesyr shot him a sad grin. "Somebody leaked video of what they did to children they didn't like." 

Sentinel froze, and he felt everybody else do the same. Chesyr noticed their reactions and nodded. Sentinel looked back towards the fire as she started up again.

"They were very....enthusiastic in their duties. Meaning that if so much as thought about getting out of line, there was a punishment coming your way. Rulers, Hairbrushes, and wire hangers were swung at me often. If you were even more of a 'willful little brat' then you could find yourself locked in 'Hot Room'. It was the room where the boiler was, and it was so hot you'd be sweating in seconds. They'd lock you in there for hours, days even, with nothing but the crucifixes on the wall for comfort.

"Of course, that was if you were one of the good children who was bad. There were also bad children, who nobody liked, and it was worse for them."

Chesyr's voice was starting to waver, and Sentinel fought not to look at her. He could honestly feel himself shaking, with an anger he hadn't really felt before, and he could see angry reactions in the others as well.

"As for me? Well, nobody liked me. I was starved, beaten, locked in the Hot Room for days at a time. Of course, they always brought me out when prospective parents were coming by. Drug out of the room by my hair, told to clean up and look nice and maybe somebody would actually want me. They always laughed after that. They knew nobody would want me. But I was a kid, and like all kids, I had hope that somebody would take me away from that awful place.