Hostages

twenty

- Andrea -

"In prison." I bit my bottom lip to keep the tears from running out. I have never ever told anyone about my childhood life and what it was like for me growing up. I was scared that if I did, they would hate me and push me away. I was scared of what they would call me. I was scared they would take that information and use it against me.

Niall looked at me with furrowed brows and confusion in his voice. "What?" He seemed trustworthy, the way he looked at me. He seemed like he cared, genuinely, and wanted me to just let it all out. I wasn't sure whether I could really trust him after the way we've treated each other, but I needed to tell someone, and he seemed like just the person.

I looked at him, the tear escaping, slowly rolling down my cheek. I turned away, continuing to pick at the remains of red nail polish on my fingers. "At least, I hope so." I choked, a thick knot tied in the back of my throat.

"Andrea, what are you talking about?" Niall asked. I could tell the minute I told him everything he would make a run for it. He would tell me to go get help and that I'm crazy. He would call me a rat and leave. My nerves started to get shaky and the beating of my heart in my chest was so loud, I thought he could hear it. I had to continue though.

"My entire life I have been planning an escape. All of my childhood was messed up and I can't...." I paused, choking on a sob. "I can't get it back now."

Niall didn't say anything so I continued.

"After my mother passed away, when I was about six, my dad would abuse me. He would beat me until I was numb, until I couldn't feel anything anymore. He would lock me in a basement. I disappeared from everyone. I stopped going to school. I stopped leaving my house. I never left that basement. My dad told everyone that I was kidnapped and taken away but I was just locked in my basement everyday and stayed there.

"My life turned completely upside down, and it was all because my mother died. It really happened that one night, I was watching a movie with my older sister Willa on the couch. My father came stumbling into the house, drunk out of his mind. He grabbed my sister and slapped her right across the face. I screamed at him, ordering for him to stop, but I was six. I was small and powerless. He shoved us both in the basement and that was the beginning of it all.

"On Willa's thirteenth birthday, he pulled her upstairs. It was a fight we both put up, but like I said: I was powerless. He just grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her up the stairs. I never saw her again.

"As the years went on, my dad became more and more vicious. He never had girlfriends, as of what I know. He would bruise me bad, he would sometimes choke me up against the wall, and at one point, he beat me so bad I went unconscious for three days. I remember waking up and looking to see snow outside. I thought it was Christmas.

"Finally, on my thirteenth birthday, my dad came down the stairs. He said happy birthday to me then told me I was getting a present. At first, I was confused but then he told me I was getting a new home and a new dad. Within those five minutes I was happy, I was excited. I thought I was finally gonna be free. I thought I was finally gonna live the life of a normal teenager. But when he hauled me up the stairs, and I finally saw daylight again, there was a man standing at the front door. He didn't look like a dad.

"He said to me, 'you'll do just fine, won't you?' Even though I didn't have very much schooling, I still understood what he was talking about. I resisted, I pulled away, I was actually ready to run back down to the basement. My dad told me I go with him or he'll kill me. I was ready to spit in his face and tell him I'd rather die then go with him, but I did what he said and went with the man. As the man paid my father, I had a split second to myself.