My Life As It Is

Chapter Two

I wake up later on my bed with a throbbing pain in my core. I painfully twist my head over to look at my alarm clock to see with shock that it is just past midnight.

I cry. I cry and cry, unbelieving my father would do that to me. Not quite grasping what this means. Not accepting the fact that my dad just raped me. I make a promise to myself that I would not tell anyone if I could.

He must have dragged me up the stairs and threw me on the bed, because I can tell by the bruises on my rump and back that he wasn't gentle when doing so. The greenish purple painful marks that have flourished on my wrists remain evidence that he had been brutal when he held me down.

When my mother got home, I dared not tell her in fear of dad finding out and hurting mum more. Somehow she found out, tears dripping down her face when she forced me to tell her what happened.

We live in fear.

Day after day he abuses me and my mother for trying to protect me, saying she is weak and useless. My efforts to make him stop prove useless. He continues for months. I almost gave up on my life. Until my sweet sixteenth.

My mum gave me a present. A gorgeous bracelet that had sparkling rubies that twinkle from where the light reflects off it. It has different colored rubies all the way around the various sizes and they all reflect the light in a multitude of directions. Put differently, I was stunned by the beauty of it. My first thought was how much it would have cost.

Money wasn't a problem for us. Dad believes that women should stay home and complete the housework, shopping, and cooking, whereas men should do the working and rule the house. He controls where the money goes. Therefore, naturally, I was wondering how my mother got the bracelet.

"Mum, how did you buy this? Please tell me you didn't steal money or steal it from anyone..." I say in a low voice, not looking at her, instead, at the reflections of the light.

"No my darling, I didn't steal. I've been saving money from my daily shops. Don't worry about the price. It is unimportant." The look in her eyes when I turn to face her was filled with care and warmth, comforting me. Love overrides all other emotions in her eyes and it made me want to cry, that such an amazing woman was getting abused. I reach out to pull her into a hug and broke down in tears.

We spent the rest of the night in that position, talking to each other, reassuring us both, overlooking our problems for as long as we could.

When we went up to my bedroom, mum decided she would sleep with me tonight, as we both needed to maintain a sort of stable company around us.

Midway through the night, I wake up with a terrible feeling in my gut. I panic and looked around for my mum.

"What's wrong?" She gushes out when I shake her awake.

"I think dad's home; he was meant to be out on a work trip... And he sounds drunk."

We both jump when we hear the harsh sound of a man tripping over himself trying to get up the stairs. My mother starts to open the door with wide eyes, just to see what her partner was up to.

"You bitch!" He screams in her face, striking her in the head with the back of the knife that he must have grabbed from the kitchen. She stumbles back, gripping her head. I watch the crimson blood drip from in between her fingers, creating waterfalls down her face.

I panic as he turns to look at me.

"Now now Stormy, come back here and let's have some fun." With a wicked smile on his face, he comes closer.

"No!" I scream.

The cold glint in his eyes intensifies, and he lunges at me with the knife ready to strike.

"Shit!" I yell in pain, realizing he had struck my arm. Dark red warm blood starts to gush out of the deep stab wound.

"No, no, no!" I painfully yell, and his expression turns more sinister.

He jumps at me again, this time with the intention to kill. I swing around, grasping his arm.

Time stops.

I looked at dad's body to discover the knife sticking out of his neck; his body slumped on the bloody floorboards.

"Storm?"

I can hear her talking, but I can't take my eyes off my dad's lifeless body.

"Storm!" Mum says as she clutches my arm. I look up and see she is covered in blood. Her hands are shaking so uncontrollably, so I nudge her over to the wall next to us and shift her so she is sitting down.

I look down at my clothes and see that they are drenched in blood too.

With unsteady hands, I pulled out my old brick phone, not having a new iPhone because my father wouldn't allow me to have one.

I dial the number that my mother had hammered into my mind for years.

"111 what's your emergency?"

My mind goes blank. My mouth tries to form words.

"Um, h-hello? Yeah," I take a shaky breath. "My name is Storm Black, and my father has a knife sticking out of his neck. He's dead."



Word count: 925