Adelena | 18+

Adelena | 8

Everything hurt. There were marks all over my body. There were tangles in my hair. There were bruises covering every inch of my skin. 

My mother had been knocking on my door for the past few hours, but I wanted nothing to do with her.

After catching me in my lie, Charlie grabbed me from where I stood and dragged me back to our dwelling. I couldn't keep up with his aggressive stride and keep falling over my feet. This did little to deter Charlie. He dragged me along the ground and all the little twigs and branches that came our way ended up scratching whatever skin they touched. By the time we got to our dwelling, I was already bleeding and exhausted. But of course, he didn't stop there. He threw me onto the floor and closed the door behind him. My mother came running into the living room just as Charlie was coming towards me again. She put herself in between Charlie and me.

"Charlie! Stop! What's going on?! What happened?!"

He pushed my mother out of the way and picked me up by my hair. "Don't worry about it, Clara. Go back to bed."

He started dragging me up the stairs towards my room. I cried and pleaded with my mother to help. I begged her not to let him hurt me, but she just stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched me with tears in her eyes as he dragged me up the stairs. He pulled me into my room while I was kicking my limbs and struggling against him. He punched me twice in the face before telling me to shut up. He kept a tight grip on my hair to keep me from falling on the floor. He punched me three more times before I finally stopped screaming. I cradled my throbbing jaw. I look at up Charlie from where I kneeled on the ground with tears still streaming from my eyes.

"You have a demon in you. You're being corrupted from the inside out. You are sinning. And I will not tolerate your sins."

He paced back in forth while collecting his thoughts. He turned to me once again and I cowered away from him. But all the cowering in the world couldn't protect me from his anger. Even my own mother wouldn't protect me from him.

 "What are the rules when going into town?"

I backed away from him until my back hit my bed.  I maintained my silence, ignoring his question because I was scared I would anger him again. I looked at the floor as he stomped towards me. He grabbed a fist full of my hair and forced me to look at me.

He spoke through a clenched jaw. "When I talk to you I expect an answer."

I whispered, scared of using my full voice. "We are supposed to go into town, buy groceries, and return."

He backhanded me with all his strength, forcing my head to slam into the bed frame. I bounced off the bed frame and hit the ground. I laid as still as possible as he continued to lecture me.

"Do you think you're special? Do you think you don't have to follow the rules? Why were you talking to him?"

I shook my head as an answer.

"Why were you talking with him?!"

He got louder. I just wanted to disappear into the floor. I muttered my response. "I don't know."

He lifted my head from the floor. "I can't hear you."

"I DON'T KNOW!"

I screamed my response this time and I regretted it immediately. He slammed my head into the floor causing my nose to start bleeding. 

"I don't accept that. Who is he?"

I wiped the blood from my upper lip. "He's no one."

He glared down at me from where he stood. "If he's 'no one' then why were you walking with him?"