DAMAGED

chapter23 ☪

tiny author's note :-)
I know I changed the title and the picture but it's because it suits the story better, so yepsies ! (-:
•••
Wolfie's POV

I closed the door behind me to find my mom sitting on the couch. "No!" She yelled suddenly and pushed me back immediately. "You're going to get the whole house dirty, you - What did you do, absorb the entire ocean?"
I blinked as she handed me a mop. "Clean up after yourself, and just try to go away or something."
I nodded, partly confused. "Um... Can I talk to you?"
She looked at me before bursting into hysterical laughter. I remained right where I was, unsure of how to react.
"Why in the world do you want to talk to me? You think I'd want to talk to you? What a waste of time!" She clapped her hands together, unable to stop the hysteria. Wow, thanks.
I stayed quiet.
"Just wait 'till Richard gets here! Oh, when I tell him, he's going to be cracking up as well! Oh, my-" She began, laughing even more.
"Whoo!" She sighed at last, rubbing tears of laughter from her eyes. "Alright, enough of that. Just look at all this disgusting water all over my damn floor. Clean it up."
"No." I replied. "Not until you talk to me."
She was about to laugh again before looking at me with disgust. "You were serious, huh?"
I nodded.
She rolled her eyes. "Alright. Just don't waste my time too much. Some people are coming over to buy the house today. Something about making it an elders' home or some shit."
"No. Tell them not to come." I said.
"Excuse me? Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" She growled. "You better not mess this up. If these stupid people don't buy the house, then we won't be able to move."
Oh, really? Interesting...
I smirked. "Fine. Clean the house yourself."
I gave her the mop and dragged my soaking-wet self onto the couch, putting my feet up, not even bothering to take off my shoes.
Her mouth flew open. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Relaxing while you're working your ass off, that's what." I responded.
I ignored the fear gripping inside me, growing stronger by the minute. I have to do this. I have to. For Kassie.
"You ungrateful bastard." She spoke through gritted teeth as her fingers wrapped around the rope, which was on the table.
I felt paralyzed now, my hands cold and numb as my eyes froze right on the rope. I was about to give in and try to fix the problem, but something wasn't allowing me.
I'm doing this so I can stay with Kassie.
I kept repeating this mentally, until finally, I stood up, trying to make my voice come out as normal as possible. "What are you going to do about it?"
I tried my best, and surprisingly, my smirk came out quite naturally.
And then she came right at me before I could even realize what was going on.
The familiar stinging feeling came repeatedly with each lash, and I shielded my face with my hands.
I gulped. Kassie. I have to do this for Kassie.
"Say it." She snarled, fury in her eyes.
"I-I'm w-worthless." I mumbled as the lashes kept adding up. I swear, it felt like my body was being set on fire.
"Keep going." She ordered.
"I ruined y-your life and I shouldn't b-be alive." I tried not to wince or sound weak. I can't be weak.
"And?" She laughed bitterly, letting the rope linger over me.
"I w-wish I had never been born." I breathed, trying to ignore the pain. The people hadn't arrived yet. I needed to keep dealing with this until they did.
"Good. Now get the mop and clean." She huffed.
"N-No." I replied, immediately shielding my face again as more whips came along. I felt blood dripping onto the couch from my sides. "Stop...Please."
She frowned. "You don't tell me when to stop."
More burns were added to my collection just as the door opened and there were a few shocked gasps.
My mom immediately stood up and threw the rope at me. "We were just-just playing, you know. We play around like that. Right, son?" She glared at me quickly, as if saying, tell them the truth and I'll kill you.
I groaned, trying to make my sides hurt less. "Oh, my - Somebody call the police!" A woman said in a very startled tone, and soon everyone was talking and pretty much freaking out. I closed my eyes, trying to comprehend what happened. My plan worked.
Now I can still be here with Kassie.
I felt someone helping me up, and I went along with it.
"I think we need an ambulance!" Someone exclaimed. My vision was blurry because one of the rope whips hit my eyes. "I'm fine." I muttered, limping over to the door.
"Yeah! He-He's fine! No need to call the police or anything!" My mom said nervously.
"No." I spoke through gritted teeth. "Call the police. I've had enough of your shit."
"I'll go get some ice!" Someone yelled, and I realized that person was Esperanza. What the hell?
Multiple people were talking nervously and asking me a bunch of things at once.
"I'm fine!" I kept repeating, irritated.
I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm
I felt someone putting a bag of ice on my arms. "Who is this?" I asked, immediately tensing up and pushing the ice bag off. "Esperanza." She answered as calmly as possible. "My mom was here to buy a house for her new job, and I came, and - why didn't you ever tell me this?"
I let her ice my arms as I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision.
"I didn't want to." I shrugged just as I heard the wail of the police siren. Everybody was outside in all the chaos. Hell, even news reporters were there.
"You-You have blood everywhere." She told me, trying to lift my shirt up to ice what was under it. I stopped her immediately. "Don't you dare."
"That-That's why I had to get drunk every time we would...You know...Do it?" She asked me slowly.
I nodded in response, looking down at the floor.
"Where's your bathroom? You should clean your face." She told me afterwards.
I went to my bathroom without telling her anything. I wanted to be alone more than anything, but I reminded myself that I was doing this for Kassie. I could care less about going to an orphanage. I mean, I'm going to get out as soon as I'm 18, right? Besides, the orphanages here are close enough to let me see Kassie.
I washed my face and my vision became clear again. I saw the stains on my shirt and the new marks as well.
When I got out of the bathroom, I almost felt refreshed...Almost.
A set of cops were all waiting to question me, along with a news reporter.
"How long has this been happening?" One asked.
"Do you have any siblings?" Asked the other.
"Who are the witnesses and/or people who know about this?" Another asked.
"Who else has abused you? Is the abuse only physical, or-" Yet another began, but Esperanza suddenly got in the way. "Don't you think maybe he should go to the hospital first before you start bombarding him with questions?"
"O.M.G! Is she your girlfriend? Was she here during the abuse?" The news reporter asked. I frowned and shook my head. "No."
"Oh, so you answer that question?" Esperanza huffed in annoyance. I rolled my eyes and tried to cover the camera. God, I hate showing up on camera. Especially when it's to gain worldwide pity for people.
"Don't do that!" The reporter glared at me. "I felt like it." I replied quietly just as I heard the ambulance. "No. I'm not going to a fucking hospital." I told Esperanza.
"Wolfie, you have to!" She whispered back. "No." I replied, freeing myself from the grasp of everyone. What the hell is happening?
I tried to light a cigarette in peace, ignoring all of the people invading my space, but a paramedic grabbed it from my hand and threw it on the floor, trying to take me into the ambulance. "Stop." I warned, not moving an inch. "Leave me alone."
"Everybody, including the paramedics, out! We have to talk about classified information. Everyone get out." An officer announced over a speakerphone.
Immediately, everyone was out except for me and the officer. "You sure you're okay?" He asked as I picked up the cigarette and lit it before putting it in between my mouth.
I shrugged. "Happens everyday."
"Okay. I'm going to need you to answer some questions." He said, taking out a piece of paper. "You know your mom's going to jail, right? You'll have to go to court, too. I'm the one that's going to do all the talking, but we need you there for proof."
"Whatever. Just take my dad as well." I told him, letting the fumes of the cigarette calm me down.
"Yeah. Another thing I'm going to ask you about is your age." The officer stated.
"Seventeen." I answered simply, crossing my arms.
"Alright." He sighed, writing something down on his paper. "I understand you had siblings that passed away?"
I closed my eyes, trying to stop myself from having a pointless, dramatic flashback of Abby and Daniel.
"Yeah. My sister, Abby, was twenty-two. It happened two months ago. She died as well as my niece, Kaylie. My brother, Daniel, was five. I was ten when it happened."
"Your sister and your niece supposedly passed away due to a car crash, right?" He asked.
I nodded.
"That's weird. Nothing here mentions anything about your brother. I mean, it says his name, but not the cause of his death." He frowned, looking through some papers.
"He was too weak to handle much abuse, so..." I replied quietly.
"Oh, my God... Well, you're lucky we're here, right?" The officer said.
"Yeah. My parents wanted to move to Florida since my, um..." I hesitated. "Girlfriend... Saw them abusing me. Now I won't go, and I get to stay with her."
I smirked, just because I'm so damn clever.
"You're in luck. A foster home nearby has agreed to take you in. Since it's close, you can stay at your school and visit your girlfriend whenever you want... However, since she is a witness, I need both of you at the station tomorrow." He replied.
"Okay." I agreed, thinking everything would finally get much better.

Boy, was I wrong.