PRETTY HURTS: The Other Side Of Pretty

9.OXYGEN

TRIGGER WARNING
ABUSE

Within your mystery,
Lies a pain dwelling,
A realisation,
no one will ever know the real you
Laura Jane

10 years ago

AMELIA
"Stay here and don't  come out no matter what you hear okay" my mom says, locking my 9year old self in a small closet

I hear a bottle break and look through the tiny space the closet provided
My dad slaps my mom across the face and she floors to the ground

He kicks her multiple times on her chest and stomach until I see her cough out blood
He starts to shout at her accusing her of stealing his money and asking her to give it back with each kick

I hold my mouth to stop my sobs from making a loud sound

~~~~~~~~

"Stay in here and don't come until I say so okay" I nod and she closes the doors of the closet again

But I don't listen I run out of there and head downstairs
His beating her up mercilessly and the look on his face tells me his not planning on stopping anytime soon

I jump infront of her
"Stop.please" I cry

He tries to hit me but mom stops him before he could
The fight each other, screaming and shouting curse words

I'm surprised the neighbours haven't called the police for a disturbance

He stumbles down to my side and run to a corner holding my feet together trying to stop myself from crying

~~~~~~~

"I'm serious this time. Stay here and don't come out"
I hear them yelling so loud it feels like the house and the ground beneath me are shaking

I look around the small closet suddenly feeling scared. I hear his voice like his right infront of me.

I close my eyes and ears but that doesn't help, my breathing becomes heavy like I'm in desperate need of oxygen

I get out of the closet and fall to the ground clenching my chest trying to take in as much oxygen as I can

With trembling legs, I get up and walk into the scene of my parents wrestling each other on the kitchen floor

"Stop it" I yell
"You're a stupid evil man" my 10year old self says
"How can you do this to mom? you bustard" I spit tears rolling down my face
"Oh I see you're a smart mouth now" He walks over and I back away from him

He rises his hand but falls to the ground before he could hit me. I look away from his unconscious body and stare at mom holding a piece of a broken bottle in her hand

It went on like this for 2more years

~~~~~~~~~

She locked me up in a small room and locked the door
I banged on it but she didn't open, just told me to stay quiet

She doesn't know how much my chest hurts when I stay stuck in these small rooms

The walls around me feel like there closing in on me, the world is spinning and my breathing becomes heavy. I start to cry and look around for a light switch

I feel like in the dark I'm vulnerable. Anything, anyone can easily hurt me and I wouldn't see it coming

His voice starts to eco around the room and the house. It's loud really loud. My chest hurts and my throat is dry