Us *Editing*

CHAPTER 20 (Pic of Daniel)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> PIC: Daniel Brooks

Chapter 20

Arelie invited him inside; nervous about what he was going to say. Was it really that bad? Did he do something that made his parents not want him? Or was it the parents? Did he runaway?

“Arelie,” Trystan’s voice pierced through her haze of thoughts.

“Hmm?” she hummed an answer.

“Stop thinking for a moment.” Trystan said softly. Arelie nervously bit her lip and nodded, waiting for him to start. They went over to the living room and Trystan ran a hand through his hair, his mouth frowning as he thought of a way to explain things.

“My mom and dad . . . they weren’t exactly good people.” Trystan said slowly. That was a start.

“What kind of people were they?” Arelie whispered.

Trystan shrugged. “They abused me . . . sometimes. Their abuse to me was all the time, so I never knew what I did that made them do that.” Arelie sucked in a breath. Her mom and dad had abused her, too, but . . . it was always triggered by something she said or did.

“Didn’t you tell anyone?” Trystan shook his head with a humorless laugh.

“I didn’t think of it. I was terrified. I used to worship their every step, but after . . . I hate them, with a passion. No child should hate their parents at a young age.” Trystan scowled. Arelie wanted to gather him in her arms and hold him to her.

“H-how long? How long did they . . . abuse you?” Elie sighed the last part.

“Since I was three.”

“But you were a child!” she cried, Trystan shook his head.

“It never mattered, not to them anyways. I lived with them for sixteen years, they got more aggressive after a while, especially as I got older, and believe it or not, I wasn’t always this buff. It took a long way to get there.” Trystan smiled wryly. “Kyle was my only friend then.”

Arelie couldn’t help but burst into giggles then, “Kyle?”

“Weirdly, yes. He was helping me throughout the whole ordeal. I owe him a lot, that’s why I somehow still keep him, and give him a home.” Arelie shook her head and looked away.

“So he was with you, he knew about you’re parents? Before everyone?” she asked. Trystan nodded.

“But I’m not done.” Trystan interrupted. “One day, my mom and dad were fighting with each other, and I happened to be in the middle of it. Instead of just figuring this out like a normal adult, they ganged up on me, they beat me, so bad, I had knife marks all over my body and had to miss almost a month of school. Somehow I was able to catch up with everything and move on to the next term.

“After a while, they found no more pleasure in abusing me, but they still did anyway. Kyle was starting to get pissed; he didn’t like what they were doing and only kept quiet ‘cause I asked him to.” Trystan paused, watching Arelie. She wasn’t pitying him, or even showing sadness.

She had pride and admiration in her gaze. “You aren’t . . . angry?” he asked slowly. Her eyes widened and then turned fiery.

“I’m furious. I would kill your parents if they were here right now. Tear them to pieces and kill them all over again!” she growled.

“Hey, hey, I’m the violent one here.” Trystan soothed with a dry grin. Arelie moved over to him and sighed. But Trystan held up his hand. “I’m not finished.”