It's never been easy for Saella and Sebastion. Living their lives in secrecy and pain would never be easy. Betrayal always comes from someone you love but over time they learned to lean on each other only and became each other's rocks when no one el...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•Saella Masiline•
Seb sat beside me as we did our homework in silence. It was about four in the afternoon and we were still recovering from our shit day at school. All of a sudden, we were forced out of our content silence when we heard the front door slam shut, meaning only one thing. Seb stood up, grabbing my hand.
"Come on Ella, you know the drill" he whispered urgently and we quickly rushed into the closet (barely big enough to hold us both) shutting the door behind us. Seb always tried to protect me from our father, Thomas Masiline but he was often held back by our mother, Maria Masiline who was surprisingly strong for her age, weight and height. We heard their heavy footsteps approaching our room and Seb squeezed my hand reassuringly though we both knew the outcome of this. My breathing was heavy and panicked as I prepared for what was to come and tried to calm my breathing down.
I don't talk so it's not like anyone would hear my screams or pleas anymore which is just what my father wants. The bedroom door started jiggling as our parents tried to get in despite it being locked. A few moment later, our door slammed open making me jump. Seb pulled me into his chest as a way of protecting me but he and I both knew the inevitable event that was to come next.
⚠️TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️
We could hear Father moving around our room as we held our breaths. "Oh, Saella. Come out, come out wherever you are." He slurred and I easily realised he was drunk. I was pulled tighter into Seb's chest as the tears rolled silently down my cheeks. The closet door ripped open to reveal Father grinning down at me.
"Ah ha, there you are." I was torn away from Seb's comforting embrace as Dad dragged me away by my hair. "Ella!" Seb cried out as our mum grabbed him tightly, holding him with immense strength. We were both dragged down the stairs and into the dreaded basement, where dried blood coated the floor and splattered the walls in a sickening painting, a chair and chains in the corner of the room and old scattered knives lay around the basement.
In the corner of the room was a chair where Seb was tied up with chains as he was forced to watch me get punished. We were both helpless all over again "Right, stay down bitch and it won't be as painful," Father demanded and I did what he said. My top was torn away from my body revealing the angry welts from the other day's beating as well as the old scars and bruises. Out of respect, Seb only held my gaze, not looking anywhere else which I appreciated.
I could hear Father's belt being undone and braced myself for the lashes he would give me. And I was right. Whip after whip tore my skin apart, blood pooling down my sides, as I knelt there silently, keeping eye contact with Seb as we both had unshed tears in our eyes. As the hits got slower yet harsher I felt myself losing consciousness.
And after a moment, everything around me went black.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•Sebastian Masiline•
I was forced to watch as Ella got beaten once again. My eyes never wavered from hers as I tried to not think about what she must be going through, how bad the pain was. I could tell she was losing consciousness but Thomas didn't care, his hits only got slower but harsher. I couldn't move, tears were pooling down my cheeks as I watched helplessly. Ella has been through too much for her age, she has been through more than me and I can't help her. When she passed out, Thomas stopped whipping her and placed his bloody belt back around his waist as if to show what he did.
He grins down at Ella's bloody back and I felt rage boiling through my veins. He kicked her ribs and laughed at her. "She's a worthless bitch, she is lucky I haven't killed her yet." I stayed silent watching him in anticipation. He made Maria untie me and when they left, I rushed to Ella. "Come on Ella, please wake up for me," I murmured as I carefully pulled her against me. I just held her for a while until she finally opened her eyes for me.
"Do you want me to help clean your wounds?" I whispered and she nodded, tears making their way down her cheeks. I knew it was less of the pain and more of the betrayal she felt. We were very different despite being twins, and my heart broke seeing her so sad and in so much pain.
Despite everything that Thomas and Maria have done to us over the years, Ella still loves them in some way, maybe because they let us live with them. She doesn't fight back, we know it's useless. I pull out the medical kit from under an empty barrel and begin cleaning her wounds.
•••
Later that night, I removed my hoodie and gave it to her, then pulled her tightly into me for warmth as we lay on the one clean spot on the basement floor. We fell asleep in each other's embrace.
•••
The next morning, we were woken up by the basement door slamming open against the cracked stone walls. I pulled Ella closer to me when Thomas came downstairs. "Get up and make breakfast you worthless brats." He ordered only then to leave the room with the door unlocked. We quickly ran upstairs and to the kitchen, I grabbed a very small vial from under a barrel before we went upstairs.
As we made breakfast, we used sign language to communicate as Ella has selective mutism so she doesn't talk, she hasn't since we were eight. "Are we heading to school after this?" Ella signed and I nodded. Once I laid out the breakfast on the table with its little 'surprise' I added behind Ella's back, we grabbed our bags and walked as quickly as Ella could out of the house.
