Desolate

Chapter 1

Mirabella's POV

Alone.

If I was to choose a word to describe myself, that would be it. For as long as I can remember, it's been me versus the world. I've never stepped foot off this property. I never got to experience what it feels like to go to school and make friends. I was homeschooled my entire life. I was never allowed to talk to the other students, I didn't go to school for making friends, I went to get an education. An education that I was thankful for. Without the homeschooling program, I wouldn't have two associate degrees, business administration and healthcare management. This is going to be especially helpful in planning my escape out of my mother and stepfathers grasp. I cannot take this life anymore. The abuse, the imprisonment, and the loneliness, all of it is enough to hate my life. My human incubator has never once told me she loved me, my stepfather makes sure I know that he isn't my real father, but I should be grateful "at least they actually wanted me." It's a lie, they don't want me, they just want me to clean their house, cook their food, and be their personal punching bag. I don't think I can take much more of this. I know that I have a broken foot, daddy dearest stomped my foot with his boots on because "I didn't say thank you after my last beating and tried running away", my knee and my shoulder are dislocated from being thrown down the steps by mother dearest because "I look too much like my biological father," and my ribs are broken, but that's normal. I've tried running away from this hell, but my stepfather was the chief of police. There was no escaping, I never made it off our property, someone always found me.

"Mirabella, is there a fucking reason our food isn't plated and on the table? It's 6:00 p.m. You know that's when I sit down to eat, not when you should be plating the food. I don't know what's hard about following the directions we give you, Mirabella? Are you that goddamn stupid that you can't do a simple task? You would think with how much we paid for your education and letting you graduate early, that you would be smarter than this. Now lay the fuck down and know you deserve this." He pulled my hair and threw me on the floor. He made sure I was face down so he wouldn't mark my face, no one will know that poor little Mirabella was abused. He ripped off his belt and started swinging, it didn't matter where he hit as long as it wasn't my face.  I didn't scream or talk, the pain was numbing, I barely felt anything anymore. The only thing that still bothered me was that my mom watched from the corner of the room laughing at me.

"Awh, look how pathetic you are. I can't believe you actually are related to me, how could someone so weak be related to me. Always looking at me wishing I cared about you, that's hilarious, Mirabella. No one will ever love someone like you, you're worthless. There will be no one who tolerates you the way we do. You should be fucking grateful you have a roof over your head. Better than your father wanted you to have, he wanted to give you up. Isn't that just sad, how unlovable do you have to be for your parents to not want you? Now, let's play a game. How long does it take for you lose consciousness while I choke you?" She laughed. Bitch.

I smirked at her and spit in her face, "do your worst, mother dearest." Maybe she'll kill me this time. I stared into her eyes while she choked me, I could feel my vision start to blur. I hoped for death as I drifted into the darkness.

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I woke up to a loud, thunderous noise. I sat up slowly and locked eyes with a police officer. I shot my head back down to the floor; they can't find out. I won't survive if they find out. I saw boots come into my line of sight; the police officer crouched down in front of me. "Sweetie, can you look up at me? I promise we're only here to talk." I slowly raised my head, silently smacking my own back for wearing a turtleneck, so they couldn't see the marks my mother made on my neck. "Great job, hun. We hate to come and meet you under these circumstances, but your mother and stepfather were killed in a car accident last night." The pretty officer paused to allow me a few seconds to process her words. The police officer, a woman likely in her early 30s was giving me sympathetic eyes, I stared back emotionlessly. I couldn't show my real emotions, I don't want to have to explain to the officers why I was practically jumping for joy that my mother and stepfather were finally dead. I was free. "Now we do have to ask you to pack your things, we're going to take you back to the station and use a DNA test to determine if you have any family that would take you in. Do you know of anyone, sweetie?" I shook my head. "Okay, that's perfectly fine, now you take your time to pack your things, we'll be in the cruiser if you need anything, don't hesitate to let us know." I gave her a small smile and waited for them to go back outside to make my way to the room.

I was grateful they didn't want to follow me to my "bedroom" because I lived in the utility room. It was a three-bedroom house and I had to live in the utility room, crazy isn't it? I didn't have much so this shouldn't take very long. I had three outfits, including the one I was wearing and one of the others was a pajama set. I packed my clothes and went to my cubbyhole behind the washer. I hid my valuable items behind the washer, so they wouldn't find them. The first items were my books, I told them they were for school, but they were for my own entertainment. I love anything that has to do with the mafia. I used to dream that I was a long-lost mafia princess, and my father and brothers would come and save me from this hell. I know it's farfetched, but those thoughts kept me sane. Another fantasy I had was that some mafia don would barge in here, confess his love for me, and save me. I'm very aware that these were silly fantasies, but it kept me occupied most days. The other item that was in the cubby was my stuffed Pitbull puppy. On its collar, the word Enzo was embroidered on it. I don't know why I felt such a connection to this stuffed animal, but it kept the nightmares away on the nights I knew mother and her husband wouldn't be home to check on me. If they would have found the stuffed animal they would have destroyed it in front of me. I grabbed the pain medication out of the bathroom and packed it as well. I zipped the duffel bag up and hobbled my way to the cruiser. Silently, I got in the cruiser and nodded my head to the officers, letting them know I was ready to go.

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We've been at the station for a few hours. When we got here, a doctor met us in Cara's office, the pretty cop that was at my house, and took my blood. I told him I didn't like getting blood drawn from my arms and asked him to draw from my hand, so I didn't have to expose my bruises. John, Cara's partner, walked in with some subway subs. I can't say I wasn't thankful, I haven't eaten anything in three days. I grabbed the 6-inch turkey sub and ate silently while they discussed the case. This entire station didn't seem to upset that their chief of police had just passed away. I even heard Cara tell John that morale was up with the temporary chief of police. Maybe Jimmy, my stepfather, was a dick at work too.

Cara's phone started ringing breaking me of my thoughts. She was agreeing occasionally and finished the conversation with whoever was on the other end with a thank you. "Alright, sweetie, the doctor found some living relatives. It looks like you have a father and 5 brothers, who want to take you in." I stared at her in shock, mother always said that my dad didn't want me, why would he want me now? "They'll be here in the morning, let's take you back to the bunks and get you some rest until they get here in the morning. Now I see your gears turning in your head, try to keep an open mind. They seemed very eager to find you honey. Don't overthink this, get your rest, I'll be in my office if you need me. The bathroom is that door right there, if you need to use it."

I wonder if they'll hate me too. Will they also think I'm unlovable? I pulled Enzo out of my bag and laid on the bed. I wonder what they look like? I already know I kind of resemble my father. I wonder what he's like? Will they hurt me too? What's having a sibling like? I didn't know the answer to those questions, but I did know that I wasn't getting very much sleep tonight.