Curious Stars

Chapter 1 - the dead body

Trigger warning: physical abuse

"Ophelia!", cried her father from downstairs. He sounded like a little child begging for help from his parents, except she was the child and he was the parent. Or to be precise, she was the teen. The girl should be the one who asked for help, but not in this house. Never in a million years would she dare to ask him for help - or worse, beg for help. The rules were different, but she tried making the best out of it.

She glanced at the alarm clock. 02:00 a.m.. Pretty normal for her dad to come home. "Ophelia", his voice echoed through the entrance hall once again. Carefully, the girl opened the door of her room and walked to the staircase. She prepared myself for what was about to come, kept her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Once her father had sighted her, he started complaining: "You filthy piece of crap. Get your lazy ungratful ass down here!" She wasn't surprised as this wasn't new to her. One could say it was like an evening routine.

Judged by his looks he wasn't in a great mood. He looked miserable. Dark bags underneath his eyes, greasy dark brown hair and teary eyes. He looked pitiful.

Not wanting to upset him even more, she scurried down the stairs as fast as she managed without tumbling over. Her pulse quickened and her breathing started getting more rapid. Once she had reached the bottom of the stairs, her dad started swaying and if she hadn't caught him right then, he would have fallen to the ground. She sighed heavily as she carried half of his weight. Anxiously, the girl asked him in a low voice: "Aren't you tired? You had a long exhausting day. Do you want to lay down?" Her voice sounded strong, nearly emotionless, not like it normally wold. It sounded not like her.

The anxiety she was feeling didn't show through at the slightest. On the inside though, there was an overwhelming ball of panic that pulsed through her. All she wanted to do was lying on her bed and sleep. But Ophelia knew she had to help him. Not only due to the fact that he would punish her the next time if she didn't help him right now, but also because he was her father after all. He raised her and she couldn't just let him down, could she?

"You're are right. My day was indeed exhausting unlike yours. I bet you didn't do anything like always. And when I come in this house, after my long day, you haven't cleaned it yet! Are you even capable of doing anything?", her father's voice boomed through the room, letting the girl shiver slightly, which sadly didn't go unnoticed by him. "You weak thing! This is not how your mother and I raised you. But I guess everything was just a waste of time. Someone probably needs to show you how to behave, don't you think?" His lips nearly touched her ear and she could smell the alcohol in his breath. She swallowed hard and stood still, not moving the slightest bit.

They remained like this for some seconds until he tripped over again, but this time Ophelia was too slow to catch him properly. While she grabbed his arm, he fell down and took herself with him. The impact that she made with the stairs was rough and the girl couldn't help whining slightly at the noise her arm made. It certainly didn't sound good at all, but she would have to ignore it for now at least and help her father who struggled with standing up. Carefully she wrapped her other arm around his waist and pulled him up. Step by step she helped him climb up the stairs and even though she was sweating from exhaustion from carrying half of his weight, she didn't dare to make a single noise.

As they reached the bed in his room he let himself fall down and started snoring. The girl slowly took of his shoes and spread a blanket over her now so calm and peacefully looking father. He looked so vulnerable right there and then that it was hard to believe that he was such a tempered man. Slowly backing up, she let my eyes slide to the door which she closed as fast as she could do it quietly. A relieved sigh escaped her lips.

Already half asleep she scurried into her own bedroom and got under the warm and comforting sheets. And faster than she could have imagined she closed her eyes to fall into a deep slumber, exhausted from the day. But at this point she had no clue what was about to happen in the next days.