Rescue Me (Currently Rewriting)

Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The drive back home was quiet for the most part. No one said much of anything for a while. That is until I took a spontaneous right turn into our old neighborhood.

Sam immediately began to panic as she realized where we were heading.

"Olivia, what the hell are you doing? They...they'll know - "

"No. They won't. They don't live here anymore."

Sam fell silent and Jake turned to me, his brows furrowed. I chewed on my lip and glanced back at Sam and Sarah. Sarah was leaning her head against the side of the car and Sam was staring out the windshield, looking at our old neighborhood.

My hands clutched the steering wheel as I approached the house, turning into the driveway.

I was surprised at how much there was left still.

The cement porch was still intact, showing where the front door used to be, however, there was no door. The front of the house was partially intact, the walls with significant burn damage but still standing. The garage looked like it had barely been touched.

I took a deep breath and got out of the car, leaving Sarah and Jake inside. Sam stayed in the car for a long moment before she got out behind me and I walked up to the porch, staring inside. Sam walked up to me, standing next to me and I could feel my hands start to shake. Sam's hand slid into mine, and I took in a shaky breath.

"You...did this?" She asked as she looked around.

I nodded. From where we stood on the porch, we could see straight through into the backyard. My bedroom was completely gone, as was most of the kitchen.

"Dakota brought me here to...to face it. We went and got some of your old things so I could try and connect to you again to find you. Before we left...I tried to burn the place to the ground. It was already destroyed from the fight I had with them. This place is a hellhole."

Sam nodded.

I took a step inside, Sam following me as we looked around.

"Father...would beat me here," I whispered, looking at where we stood.

"I would walk home from the bus and he would get me as I walked from the front door to my bedroom. If he wasn't home...I would go to my bedroom and fall asleep before they would get home. He would wake me up by slamming something, usually my door..."

The memory of him slamming my door open, the doorknob getting stuck in the wall came to the surface and I closed my eyes.

"The week before I left this place...father started getting so angry that he would beat me in places where others could see the bruises. Everyone noticed when I came to school that week with a black eye and bruising on my cheek. Then...Dakota witnessed father beating me in public. He almost stepped in and stopped father, but...this cheerleader who bullies me showed up and stopped him. That evening, mother was gone with her boyfriend and father had those scum he calls his friends come over. They...they would take turns raping me in my own bedroom while mother was away. I would always blackout from the pain."

Sam stood there, tears falling down her face. I turned and looked at where my bedroom used to be.

"A few days later...I used my powers for the first time at school in front of Dakota. I don't know why. I just felt...confident. Now it makes sense if I think about it. That was the day he realized we were mates. I used my abilities and mother and father found out about it. I went home and decided...I was going to stand up to them. I was tired of it. I think...originally I was hoping they'd get so angry that they'd kill me. But I fought back.