Twin Souls: The Story Behind The Broken Roses

Chapter Sixteen: August 26, 2014

Esme Panchek

The light filtered into Esme's window like an unwelcome visitor, making her groan as she tucked her face under her blankets, willing it to go away... She didn't want to get up and face another day, every day since she'd returned from camp had been utter torture, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. She had no agency over her life, she had to let everything happen to her or he'd kill her mother without a second thought. Normally that threat wasn't something that someone would take seriously, that's what they always said in 'stranger danger' classes, to still tell a trusted adult if something is happening even if they're giving veiled threats, but Esme knew that her father's threats were anything but empty.

He wouldn't do the things that he did to her if his threats were veiled, her entire body wouldn't ache constantly if his threats were empty... She wouldn't be scared for her life every single day if his threats were empty.

She heard a knock on her door and burrowed further under her blankets, her heart racing in her chest... It was too early for her father to be awake, he should've been knocked out for at least a few more hours, she was supposed to be safe for a few more hours.

Where was her safety? Shouldn't that be the universe's birthday gift to her?

"Esme?" Her mother's voice came through the door and Esme felt every muscle in her body relax as she let out a sigh of relief, slipping out from under her blankets as her mother creaked the door open. "Esme, are you up?" She asked, and Esme cleared her throat, nodding. She had no idea why her mom was home right now, she was supposed to be working a double... But she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the face.

"Yeah mom, I'm up." She felt the bed dip and she looked over to see her mom, weary and disheveled, still in her waitressing uniform... She'd picked up a few extra shifts to make up for their impromptu stay in Statesville, which had led to a massive fight with her father... One that had resulted in her mother having to give herself stitches in the kitchen.

She grimaced at that thought. It'd been horrifying, and she knew that she wasn't meant to know, but the image of her mom stitching up a deep gash on her arm wasn't something that she was going to forget anytime soon, even if she didn't know that she'd been seen.

"Happy birthday, kid. Brought you this." She said, pressing a muffin into her hand - banana chocolate chip. Her favorite, and it wasn't even stale. She smiled as she unwrapped it, resting her head on her mother's shoulder, feeling her hand run through her hair.

"Thanks mom..." She cleared her throat, lifting her head as she took the wrapper off of her muffin, taking a bite from it... It was soft, delicious, not normally the stuff that her mom brought home - she got the day-old ones and beyond for free, this was fucking heaven. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She asked, and her mom grinned, nodding as she ran her hand up and down Esme's back, pressing another kiss to her temple.

"Yeah, but I wanted to come home and say happy birthday." That made Esme grin - she loved that her mom would do that when she could, that she came home on holidays when she worked even if she had to miss out on a little money so that she could spend even a second with her. It showed that she cared, which wasn't something she'd appreciated that much before camp, but she could now. It was nice to have someone care. "And... Dad's in one of his moods, so I'd recommend sneaking out your window and calling Colt to hang out... And then make your way to the diner around seven and we'll have dinner." She said, making Esme's heart sink as she drew her knees to her chest.

She didn't know how to talk about the horrible things that her father did to her every single day, she was scared that it was going to break her heart or that she'd be mad that she kept it from her for so long... Plus, it wasn't like she could remember most of it if her dad had her take the pills that he normally slipped her or if she cleaned up the alcohol that he left around the house... Esme didn't know why he did those things to her. She knew it wasn't normal that her mom had to warn her to leave the house through the window to keep her safe...