Cracked: A Tratie Story

Chapter 4 Nightmares On The Road

Travis's POV:
After our little convo, I noticed Katie got quieter. I turned to look at her and saw she was asleep. In the rear view mirror, I saw that Connor was asleep too. I'm bored! There's no one to talk to! "S-Stop. Stop it!" I heard a small whimper. I knew it wasn't Connor, the voice was too high to be his. I looked at the shot gun seat and saw Katie squirming. "Please don't use the whip. Please. I-I'll obey! I won't try to run away. Just, please don't use the whip." She cried. What is she talking about? A whip? What does that mean? I pulled over the car and looked at Katie. She started moving around and hitting me. Of course, I did what any sane person would do, I got out of the car and to the back to avoid getting hit. I just watched as Katie struggled against an invisible force, trying to get free. "Please! Please! Don't whip me anymore please! I promised to be good! I won't go to camp anymore! Please, just, just stop hitting me!" She curled into a ball and started bawling. She then started crying silently. I wonder what happened in her dream.

Katie's POV:
In The Dream
I wake up to see I'm strapped to a chair. A chair? Are the Stolls pranking me? Yeah, this is probably one huge prank. "Hello? Is anybody there? Stolls?" I called out. "Hi Katie." An oh so familiar voice said. I looked to my left and saw Jonathan. "What are you doing here? Where am I? Leave me alone Jonathan!" I said. He slapped me. "That is no way to treat your father!" He screamed. He started slapping me harder. "S-Stop. Stop it!" I whimpered. He stopped and got his favorite weapon of choice, a whip. "This is what you get for not obeying and running away!" He screamed and whipped me. Each whip was harder then the last one. I started squirming around, trying to break free. "Please don't use the whip. Please. I-I'll obey! I won't try to run away. Just, please don't use the whip." I cried. He stopped for a moment. "Only if you promise to be good and won't go to that retched camp of yours." He sneered. "No! Never! I will always go to camp!" I said. He started whipping me again. Karisa joined too stabbing me with a high heeled shoe. "Please! Please! Don't whip me anymore please! I promised to be good! I won't go to camp anymore! Please, just, just stop hitting me!" I curled into a ball and started bawling. They kept hitting me. I then realized that I'm going to lose my voice so I started crying silently. I really hope this isn't real.

Travis's POV:
After I was sure that she wouldn't start hitting me again, I climbed back to the front and tried to wake her up. She just wouldn't. "Katie. We're at camp. Wake up." I said. She seemed to calm down a bit and woke up. "Where are we?" She said. "At a gas station. Katie, are you okay? You looked like you were having a pretty bad dream." I said. She just nodded. "I'm okay. I'll be right back. I'm gonna, freshen up a bit." She got out of the car and went to the bathroom. I hope she's okay. In the meantime, I'm gonna put gas in here.

Katie's POV:
When I went to the bathroom, I made sure to bring my purse. I locked the door and took my razors. They seemed to be saying, 'Welcome back. Did you miss us??' I did. I just can't stop. I almost feel addicted to them. WARNING! UP NEXT IS A TRIGGER! IF NOT COMFORTABLE I RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT READ IT! I started cutting. One for Travis almost finding out. One for being useless. One because I keep stopping the trip. One for being worthless. And one for not being good enough. I already made my decision. I can't turn back now. After I cleaned myself up, I put down my sleeves and washed my face. I dried it and walked out of the bathroom towards the car. I got in and started listening to my music hoping that there's a song that can make me feel better. Just my luck, it was the first one!

Warrior-Demi Lovato
Italics-Singing
Reg.-Thoughts

This is a story that I've never told
I gotta get this off my chest to let it go
I need to take back the light inside
You stole
You're a criminal
And you're stealing like a pro

I looked to my left and saw Travis looking at me with a cute confused face. I smiled to him reassuringly, saying I wasn't talking about him, and continued singing.

All the pain and the truth
I wear like a battle wound
So ashamed, so confused
I was broken and bruised

I thought back to when Karisa would abuse me without my dad knowing. I was broken and bruised. My dad did nothing to help me.

Now I'm a warrior
Now I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor, is made of steel,
You can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me again

Steel. The only steel I have on my body is my blade. I have no armor, I'm not protected. Anyone can get in. But first, they face my wall of lies and fakes.

Out of the ashes, I'm burning like a fire
You can save your apologies,
You're nothing but a liar
I've got shame, I've got scars
That I will never show
I'm a survivor
In more ways than you know

When the song said liar, I saw Travis pout. When it said scars, I touched mine through the fabric. I'm never gonna show them off. But it shows how I survived in more than one way. I could've ended my life, but I'm still living it.

Cause all the pain and the truth
I wear like a battle wound
So ashamed, so confused
I'm not broken or bruised

I am broken. Nothing can fix me. I've tried. My scars have all the ugly pain and truth. I wear them like battle wounds. Never to be seen by anyone.

'Cause now I'm a warrior
Now I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor, is made of steel,
You can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me again

I started thinking back to my blade. It's longer than my razor and cuts deeper. Should I use that one at camp? I'll think about it later.

There's a part of me I can't get back
A little girl grew up to fast
All it took was once, I'll never be the same
Now I'm taking back my life today
Nothing left that you can say
Cause you are never
Gonna take the blame anyway

I thought about my childhood. I did grow up too fast. I had to fight monsters and be serious. I was abused and had to learn to grow up without proper care. The only real father I had was Chiron and Dionysus. Dionysus helped me with gardening and Chiron treated me like a daughter. That's why I wanted to be a year rounder, but Jonathan always made me go back, but not this time. I'm never going back. Besides, I have a real life at camp and it's not like he'll take the blame anyway.

Now I'm a warrior
I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor, is made of steel,
You can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me again

No on, yeah, yeah

You can never hurt me again

He can try. But I won't let him. "So, who's the song dedicated to?" Travis asked. "What makes you think I dedicated it to someone?" I asked. "Well, you sang it like you meant it, you had a thinking face on the whole time, and I know it is. So who?" Travis said. I sighed. "My 'father'." I whispered. "Who?" Travis asked. "A monster. The sane monster that did this to me." I said pointing at my eye. "Oh. So not me?" He asked. "No not you." I reassured him. He nodded. "Good. If it was for me, I would've thought you didn't like me or something." He said chuckling at the end. I laughed too. "Nah, you're my friend, of course I like you!" I said. He didn't respond to that. I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. Might as well sleep for a bit. After that, I fell asleep in a dreamless sleep.

Travis's POV:
"Good. If it was for me, I would've thought you didn't like me or something." I said chuckling at the end. She laughed too. "Nah, you're my friend, of course I like you!" She said. I didn't respond. S-She likes me? I mean, like a friend cool. But, I kinda hoped, we could be more. She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. I hope she doesn't get more nightmares before we get to camp.