𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝟖 (𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂)

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟔 | 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐨𝐫 𝐔𝐒, 𝐌𝐀𝐌?

ORLA LYNCH

"Stop!"

"You're a little fucking liar! A dirty whore!"

"Shannon!"

"Shannon!"

A faded, distant slimmer of my little brothers panicked screams, and my fathers dirty words, had me jumping up from the small blanket I had laid on the floor, and bursting through the door with my heart thrumming in my ears.

Shannon's back.

Da's mad.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins had me barging into Joey's room and collecting his hurley stick from the corner before I bypassed my sobbing baby brother and stormed down the stairs, fear weighing heavy on my chest.

I have to fight.

I have to forget my fear.

I have to save her.

My body near dropped when I had followed the trail of blood to the kitchen, and saw Shannon curled up in a ball with her hands covering her head, and my da kicking at her small body relentlessly. She was shaking, and gasping for air to fill her lungs.

Save her.

With my body tremoring with fear, and her gasps beating into my ears. I caught sight of my little brother, Tadgh, holding his head in his hands, splayed over the kitchen tiles.

There was blood on his face.

Save them.

Clutching the stick of Tadgh's hurley tighter than ever, I gritted my teeth and focused on the adrenaline soaring through my body, and the anger and fear mixing in my chest.

"Get off of her." I roared, fury seething in my tone as I glared at the man I was ashamed of to call my father.

His brown eyes locked on mine and I felt my skin crawl with disgust. "Shut yer face, girl. And prance your pretty little body up those stairs before I bruise it."

A shiver wanted to run down my suddenly flaming body, but my fury and anger had mixed and bubbled the strongest feeling I had ever felt.

He smiled wicked before turning his attention back to my sister, he reared her leg back to kick her again but my body moved faster than It had ever moved; I reared the hurley stick back and aimed for the old mans head.

The stick nearly cracked under the pressure of it hitting my Da's head, but it was enough to have him stumbling back and away from my sister. I dug my fingers into the stick and didn't hesitate to rear it back and hit him again, this time in the back of the neck.

"You're a pathetic piece of shit, you are nothing but an alcoholic who likes beats little girls because it makes his ego feel bigger." I spat, rearing the stick back again to hit him in his stomach this time.

Red had blurred my vision, and pent of rage was seeping through my limbs, soaring through the air with every hard and precise strike I gave him, each more relentless and swift so he wouldn't have the chance to defend himself. My voice so poisonous and my words so foreign, I almost didn't recognize the girl I was right now.

But none of it mattered, because I was getting him back. I was protecting them, I was doing something other than cowering in the corner in fear.

"Does it make you feel better? Huh?" I hit him harder.

"Is your ego big enough, Teddy!" I hit him harder.

"Huh! Are you fucking satisfied, old man?" I hit him harder.