Not A Word

Chapter Thirty

Many people don't realize how terrible a bully can be. Unfortunately I had to learn about that the hard way. It took years for me to rebuild my life into something better, and honestly, something worth living.

It took nearly a year for me to trust Liam and half that time to fully trust Greg. Those two boys had been my saviors for my final time in the town. When graduation came around I left and never looked back at the buildings that had surrounded me and become a harbinger for pain.

The only thing that brings me back is my family. I am not speaking if the mother and father that beat and abused me my entire life but if the two sweetest people in the world that took in a small skinny girl that had nowhere safe to go. Greg and Denise brought so much happiness and love into my life that I do not believe they understand that they are the ones that truly saved me.

If my parents had found me alone the day they discovered that I was alive then I would be dead now and they would be free. Denise had been with me, not two blocks from the house, and had run to get Greg the moment they cornered me. Greg had shown up just as my father placed a gun to my head.

If it hadn't been for them then I would be six feet under, killed by the people who were supposed to love me the most. It took two weeks after that to have my parents arrested and charged with multiple attempted murder of a minor. They were sentenced to five life sentences with no hope for parole. They were not given the mercy if being executed and having their miserable lives end quickly. Instead they must suffer a slow death and must live with the knowledge that I am the reason they are forced to live that way, if you can call it living.

Now I have Greg and Denise that care for me and a month after my parents' sentencing they gain full custody over me. Now I know that I will always have a loving room to come home to when I need it. They have even paid for me to leave for college instead of being stuck going to the community college here.

For all of you wondering, Liam and I dared for three years. That is, until he proposed. Now I have graduated college and Liam and I have begun our lives in southern England, far away from all the horrors of my childhood.

I still have nightmares, detailing the events that I was forced to live through growing up. I dream of the terrible things my parents did to me and I dream of the horrors I loved through caused by Zayn.

In case you wonder, Zayn graduated school and has moved not far down the street from Liam and I. The rest of his followers are scattered through the country.

It took three years after Zayn moved down the street for me to approach him and ask about what he did to me. I still have not been given a straight excuse but e mentioned his cousin that I went to school with in Dublin. His cousin had been my bully then. In my opinion I believe that it rubs in the family. After that I have kept my distance from Zayn, not out of fear but our of caution.If I were to spend much time with him who knows what memories would surface.

Many if the events after my talk with Liam has become blurry with time. The other moments, the more painful ones where I was nearly killed and greatly beaten have been seared into my memory forever. I fear that those are the memories that I will never lose. I wish now that the memories of love and care were the ones that would stay with me forever, unfortunately that is not how the mind works.

I don't much care anymore, but simply push the thoughts away when they surge to the surface. These days I focus my energy on my family. Liam and I made two handsome young men and a beautiful little girl. Our oldest is Drake at thirteen years old, then we had Devon who is now seven. Liam was getting rather put out about not having a girl to spoil when we had Jaycee who is now three. She is the most spoiled little girl in all of England.

I feel happy to be able to say that I know she will be well taken care of by the men in her life. Her brothers think that she is the best Christmas present that they ever got. They never even complained about having to spend Christmas at the hospital that year.

It's been nearly twenty three years and Liam is still my closest friend, my confidant, and the only man I have ever loved. All these years we have kept each other sane and he reminds me all the time that nothing will change him back into the man he once was.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

This was the end of Not A Word. I hope you all enjoyed the story. For the last time in this story I will say, thank you for reading.