Stolen at Birth

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Keira didn't go to school for the next two days, but Jakob would return home with her homework for her and left it outside her bedroom door. He never tried to touch her or talk to her, which she was thankful for as she didn't have the energy to deal with his guilt at that point in time. Her father also never tried to touch her either. He must've been happy enough with just watching Jakob take her virginity, but he also never hit her either. Her father was a sick man and she hated how evil he had become, as if he was a creature from hell sent by the devil himself just to torture her life.

Her mother though, was forcing her to go to school on Wednesday, much to Keira's dismay. So when she woke up that morning, she slowly got herself ready for school, but made sure that her scarred arms would not show at any point. She didn't want her friends to see the wound she made herself. Since that horrible experience on Sunday, Keira had cut again four times, but on her legs this time so they were more hidden from view.

Keira didn't bother with breakfast, she simple walked past the kitchen and out the door and waited for Jakob in his car. She didn't have to wait long and soon they were headed to school. Keira never thought the day would come when she didn't want to go to school, but here that day arrived. She already knew that she was going to say to her friends that she had gotten a little sick and had to stay home.

"Hey, Keira!" yelled a voice she immediately recognised as Daniel's. She watched as Daniel waved his arms around like a maniac and ran up to her. He went to hug her but she took a giant step back from him. "Are you ok? How come you weren't in school the past couple of days?"

"Yeah, I was sick, but don't come near me, I don't wanna get you sick too." She tried to smile, but she hated that she had to force a smile, so she gave up and just stared around the school yard with a blank expression on her face.

"Oh no! Keira's been contaminated! Don't touch her!" he laughed. She knew that he was only kidding, but him saying that she was contaminated really hurt her, so she held back the tears and walked away. "Hey, wait up! You know I didn't mean it like that. Are you still able to come to my house this weekend?"

"Yeah, I can, but do you mind if I come over Friday after school? My father's having a bunch of his mates come round and I don't feel like being at home." Keira never asked her father if she could go, but she will pay for that on Sunday, for now she was going to try to enjoy that she'll be staying at her new best friend's house.

"Nah, that'll be fine." Daniel smiled at her and she managed to give him a smile in return that didn't feel so forced like her other ones. Just then the bell rang for classes to start, so they headed off to English.

Lunch had arrived, but Keira didn't go to the table where she hung out with all of her friends. Instead she went into the girl's bathroom and locked herself in one of the toilets. Then she proceeded to pull out the tiny razor blade she had stuffed into her bag that morning. She pulled up her sleeve and cut one thin line along her forearm, under the already three existing cuts. Using toilet paper, she wiped away the blood and razor blade before stuffing it back in her back and flushing the blood stained toilet paper. Keira felt better after doing that, so she headed to the table to have lunch with her friends. None of them seemed to notice how long she took getting there, so she was happy that she didn't have to make up some excuse of needing to pee.

"Keira? Your brother's coming over here," informed Paul. Keira looked up and found that Paul was right as Jakob was headed in her direction.

"Keira, can I please talk to you?" he asked once he reached the table. All of Keira's friends stopped their conversation to listen in on theirs. Up close you could see how tortured Jakob has been over the situation between himself and Keira; he had dark circles under his eyes, face as pale as a ghost, but Keira couldn't find the energy to force herself to care about him when she was just as broken down as him.

"No Jakob, please leave me alone," she begged her brother to give her time and space.

"Why? I left you alone last time and still you have not spoken to me!"

"It only happened five days ago! Less than a week!" Keira had stood up from her seat and was no shouting in her brother's face, not taking notice of the crowd they were attracting. "I need more time to deal with it! I can see that you're hurting too, but I seriously doubt as much as I am! Think of what father was planning for me! Think of what he would've done if you hadn't done it first!"

"How do you think I felt having to do that?! I hate myself for what I did, that there was nothing I could do to stop it!" Jakob stopped yelling at Keira and begged, "Please, just please don't hate me anymore."

"I could never hate you, you're my brother." Keira walked up to him and placed her hands in each of his cheeks and looked into his eyes. "But right now I'm terrified of being anywhere near you, so please stay away from me and give me some space." Keira dropped her hands as Jakob took a sharp step back away from her as if she had slapped him, and with her words, she might as well have. Keira watched on as he turned from her and all but ran from her sight. Only then did she remember that they had an audience. Looking back at her friends, she saw they were staring at her in shock, surprised that she had said what she said, and then she ran from everyone's prying eyes and ducked into the library.

It was there that Keira hid from everyone and silently cried for what felt like years, but really only a couple of hours. It was there that Daniel found her after school finished seconds ago. He didn't say anything, but he sat down next to her and carefully wrapped her into his arms, scared that's she would run if he moved to fast. Keira let him take her into his arms, she felt safe and protected there.

"Do you wanna come to my house tonight, instead of this weekend?" he asked after a moment of silence. Daniel hated that she was hurt. He didn't know what had happened between her and her brother, and their father, but it sounded like their father was a bully that was really controlling. It also seemed that her brother had hurt her in some way and Daniel hated that he couldn't keep her safe. "I get the feeling that you don't want to be at home anymore."

Keira didn't say anything, but she pulled her sleeve that covered her cuts up to show him just how much she despised the idea of going home. "Home is hell for me. I did this after something that happened when I got home from Jared's on Sunday. No one else knows, so please don't say anything."

"I won't," he said after a while. Daniel was shocked by the cuts on her arm, but he didn't say anything about it. If Keira wanted him to know, he knew that she would tell him when she was ready. "Come on, let's go to my house."

When they got to Daniel's house, she was introduced to his parents, Karen and Donald. She was scared of them at first, because they just stood and stared at her for so long that she felt uncomfortable and weird. Keira hated people looking at her for no reason.

"Hey, mum, dad," said Daniel. "This is my new friend Keira I was telling you about. Keira, these are my parents Karen and Donald."

"Hello dear," welcomed Karen, who seemed to snap out of whatever world she was stuck in before. Keira couldn't help but feel like she had met these people before; they looked so familiar with their dark hair and bright eyes. Karen had hair as black as Keira's and green eyes that were dulled with sadness. Donald looked a lot like Daniel with dark brown hair and blue eyes. "It's nice to meet you; Daniel's told us all about you."

"It's nice to meet you too," she replied politely.

"Is it ok if Keira stays here tonight?" asked Daniel, getting right to the point. "She's having some family issues and doesn't want to go home."

Karen and Donald looked at each other, seeming to have a silent communication between the two of them and when they looked at Keira, they saw something in her eyes that screamed: don't ever let the girl go. They didn't say anything, but they nodded their permission and left the room.