Divergent High

Chapter Nineteen

This chapter is a little violent, just warning.
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Tobias's Point of View

During lunch, my father texted me to come home. The second text he sent said 'You're going to get it.'

I was slightly afraid of the reason, but I knew what was going to happen. I needed to prepare myself for the worst. My car parks in the driveway and I walk into the door. Right when I step into the house, I get a second to see empty bottles strewn across the floor and then a hand to my face. Then blackness.

***

When I wake, I find myself lying in the entryway. A sharp pain goes through my cheekbone and temple and I feel a liquid crawling off my face and onto the carpet. I start to get up but then I feel a foot kick me down and a sharp ringing in my ears. I flinch due to the pain. I hear something ripping my shirt off and I now know that it's coming. The first comes. Then the second. It continues until my dad's belt has literally fallen apart. I try to focus on other things but the pain consumes me and I let out a small, quiet wimper. I must be strong so he can't see my pain. My dad throws the belt down and then drags me by my hair up to my room.

"Why do you disobey me?!" He questions, but I have no idea what for.

He opens the closet and sees the mini fridge. He drops me and goes to the bathroom. Rumbling through the cabinet, he finds the first aid kit. He drops it in front of my face, takes my phone, and walks out the door: making sure to slam it just for good measure. I slowly crawl onto my window seat and lay down on my stomach. I look out the window and see a girl sobbing into her dad's chest. She looks a lot like Tris. In fact she is, her father works with my father on the occasion. I hate to see her cry but I hate her even more because she actually has a supportive father. Her dad would never beat her almost to death or misuse his money to buy alcohol of all types. Her dad leaves and she soon leaves too, wiping away her tears.

I try not to linger on her or her great family but she keeps popping up in my mind. I try to fall asleep after a hour or two but a crash and yelling starts up and disturbs me. My father stomps up the stairs and bursts open my door. He comes in slightly swaying, obviously drunk. I see my phone in one of his hands and a bat in the other.

"What is this?" He grumbles, stuffing the phone into my face.

Only then do I realize that I didn't delete my text messages from Tris or Zeke. One conversation was about me sneaking out of the house and the other was about my dad abusing me. Zeke texted me that I should call the police or else he would but I told him that my dad is basically in charge of everything in this city; it would be pointless. I am brought back to reality when the bat is swung to my face, hitting my mouth. Blood immediately engulfs my mouth, causing me to spit and cough up tons of blood. I hear a shreak from another house but it doesn't matter- right now I am fighting for my life.

My dad takes my throat into one of his big hands and somehow lifts me up the wall swinging the bat into my stomach. I escape his grip but I am too weak to move. The bat is pounded into my scars causing all of the wounds, fairly old or new, to open. I feel my own blood consuming me, gushing onto the ground. My head starts to spin as my father kicks my sides but also swings the bat at my sides and my nose, causing a horrible crack to emit from my nose and blood to spew everywhere. I faintly hear the sound of shattering glass and the sound of my father screaming. Someone starts to kick his sides as he falls to the ground. That same person starts to drag his body out of my room, to somewhere else and then comes back, locking the door as they shut it. I hear the crunching of glass as the person runs over to me.

"I'm here. Common, stay with me," is all I hear in a feminine voice as I start to black out.