I hear the sound of a beer bottle shatter on the downstairs floor. The sound rings in my ears for a moment, then I turn on some music. The song Hospital for Souls by Bring Me the Horizon fills my room. I sing along to the intro
"And then I found out how hard it is to really change,
Even hell can get comfy once you've settled in.
I just wanted the numb inside me to leave.
No matter how fucked you get,
The sun will return and you come back down!
The funny thing is all I ever wanted I already had
There's glimpses of heaven in every day
In the friends that I have, the music I made,
The love that I feel, I just had to start again."
I hear a knocking at my door a couple of times. I crack it open to see my younger brother standing there shaking. "Daddy's angry again." He says, his voice shaking. I study him for a moment then see a bruise on his arm, the shape of a hand. I pull him into my room and hug him tightly. "Don't worry Damien, daddy isn't gonna hurt us anymore." I set him on my bed and march down the stairs with a war on my mind. "ANDY!" I call out my fathers name. I hear a low groan come from the kitchen. I walk in slowly and peek my head around the corner anxiously, I see my dad asleep on the counter. I growl in frustration, he lifts his head. "Diana?" I hear him mumble. I walk up to him and push him backwards "HOW COULD YOU?! HOW COULD YOU HURT HIM?! HE IS ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD" I scream. He goes to hit me, but his hand stops. I look beside me to see Damien holding back his arm. I grab him, and run back up to my room. I hug him tightly, and lift his chin to look at me. "Come on, let's go." He nods and then I grab his hand in mine and lead him downstairs quietly. We go out through the front door and run down the driveway and into the night. I'm not sure where we are going or what exactly we are even doing, but I just know we can't stay at that house. As the night goes on we walk along the road talking very little. "Aren't you scared Diana?" Damien asks me quietly. I look down at him and grab his hands. "If I'm being totally honest with you, a little bit. But I promise to spend every moment protecting you, and making sure you're still okay." He smiles at me and we then continue to walk. I think to myself, wow where on earth are we even gonna go? I look down at my feet and sigh then begin to run to the only place I know, with Damien by my side.
