Schizophrenic Sister

Chapter 17

FLASHBACK - 6 years old

"Dad, I'm going!" Channing yelled, and I was sitting at the kitchen table with a coloring book, and I looked at him, trying to show fear in my eyes, so he wouldn't leave.

"I'll be back soon Kin. Have fun with dad." Channing said, coming over and giving me a kiss on my forehead. I didn't reply, simply staring up at him, my heart beat starting to race. It was only me, my dad, and Channing home right now. If Channing left, that meant it was just me and...him. "You off Channing?" My dad asked, and he nodded and my dad said "Alright. Just the two of us then, huh Kinli?" I didn't reply, and Channing said "Bye!" And opened the door, slamming it behind him.

"Can't you at least pretend to act normal?" My dad asked, dropping his act. I was the only one who ever saw this - even if I did wanna tell, who would believe me? I'm only 6. But I couldn't tell - he'd hurt me worse if I did. "WHY DON'T YOU PRETEND TO ACT NORMAL?!" My dad screamed, raising his hand over his head, ready to strike me. I put up my hand to shield myself, but it only made things worse - pretty soon I was on the ground, and he was laughing while he hit me, over and over.

This was my life - living in constant fear of my own father.

CHANNINGS POV

I was almost out of the neighborhood when I realized I forgot my wallet, so I turned around and parked the car before going back inside to get it. As I turned the door handle, I heard my little sister small but deperate scream. I ran in, but before making any noises I saw her and my father in the living room. He was on the floor, as was she, BEATING her.

I wanted to go rip his head off, but common sense told me not to. Instead, I went into the kichen and grabbed a frying pan off the island, before creeping into the living room and slamming it over his head. Kinli gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks, and when she looked up at me she started crying even harder - sobbing. I pulled her into my arms and sat up against the wall, cradling her and rocking her back and forth for a couple minutes.

It must've been about 5 minutes before my dad started to stir on the ground, and Kinli started to literally shake with fear. I quickly stood up, her still in my arms, and ran her out the door and into the garage. I quickly put her in the passenger seat of my car, not even bothering to put her in the back or put her booster seat in, before quickly driving out of our neighborhood. I just held her hand as tightly as I could until we got to the closest thing to us - a grocery store half a mile down the street. I parked in a random spot before pulling her from the passenger seat my lap, and she laid her head on my chest as tears continued to fall.

At this point I realized my abusive father was laying uncounscious in my house and nobody knew, so I pulled out my phone and called 911, told them to go to my house, and then called my mom. No answer, but I knew she was with Harry and Justin, so I called Harry.

"Hey Chann, whats up?" Harry asked, and I said "Hey Harry. Can I talk to mom?" He put mom on, and mom said "Hey Channing." Kinli started crying harder at this point, and I just said "You...you need to come to the grocery store by the house. And you need to make the boys come too." “What’s this about Channing?” My mom asked, and I said “Mom, if you love your kids, get to this grocery store right now. I mean it. Bye.”

I hung up and immediately went back to consoling Kinli, who was sobbing harder each second I was on the phone with someone. Less than 10 minutes later mom and Harry were here, and they both got out of the car and came towards ours very quickly. Mom swung my door open and said

“Oh Kinli, my poor angel, what happened baby?” She took Kinli into her arms and put her on her hip, stroking her hair. Kinli didn’t say anything, and mom said “Elle, tell mommy what happened.” I couldn’t let Kinli tell my mom - when Kinli saw my moms face it would only make things worse. “Mom, give Kin to Harry for a minute.” I said, shooting her a glare that Kinli didn’t see. She took the hint and handed Kinli over to Harry, who took her over to the other side of the street, rocking her back and forth.

“What happened Channing?” Mom asked, and I said “Dad - that man…he’s at the house. With the police. They’re going to arrest him. Mom, he was on the ground beating Kinli.” I explained to her the horrendous details of what I had witnessed, and she stood there in complete shock. When Harry headed back over, Kinli was still crying, but she was no longer sobbing.

“Honey, has daddy done this before?” My mom asked her, and Kinli hesitated, before shaking her head no. “Honey, if he threatened you not to tell anyone, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. He’s not going to be around anymore. I need you to tell me the truth - has this happened before?” She didn’t do anything besides let the silent tears roll down her cheeks for a few moments, before she nodded her head yes and started sobbing again. My mom took her back from Harry and immediately started apologizing over and over.

The rest of my brothers arrived a few moments later, and I took them and Harry aside to explain to them what I had witnessed, and then mom said “It’s late guys…we’re just gonna go check into a hotel for the night, ok?” Smart - we didn’t know what was going on back at the house. It was probably pretty bad. Zac had Kinli in his arms when this moment came, and she was not letting go anytime soon, so he got in the backseat of my moms car with her still in his arms, and I got in the passenger seat, while the rest of the boys followed in the limo that had dropped Taylor Justin and Zac off in the first place. Zac and Kinli are extremely close - even though he’s 14 and she’s 6, he loves being with her. He’s easily the most protective, and easily the one she trusts the most.

Anyway, we checked into a hotel and ended up staying there for 3 nights, during which Kinli refused to speak. That’s when it hit us - this wasn’t just going to go away.

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hey! sorry its been so long - when no one comments I kinda just stop writing, because this story has been on the backburner for quite some time. I've been doing some other stories that I obviously haven't been posting, but they're just more fun to write I guess. but someone commented, and this chapter is dedicated to you! thanks for the motivation! also, just a reminder, this bitch of a dad is not the real dad. real dad died when kinli was 2. this is a stepdad. just a reminder :)

thanks for reading!

bell