Random Sanders Sides Stuff

The child

Tw:Offensive slurs, death, murder mention, blood, abuse, PTSD, bullying, kidnapping mentions of killing one's self, let me know if I missed any
Virgil's P.O.V.
I whimper, fear crawling it's way into my mind again as I watch my dad beat my mother with a broken beer bottle. He keeps screaming at her, about how she's a screw up and that she should just die, sometimes even about her "faggot" brother, but whenever he stops drinking the bad drinks he acts like he loves Mommy. Mommy always is nice to me, that's why Dad hurts her. I hate being the cause of pain, and I've tried to run away before. I was 2 at the time and didn't get far, and even though I'm 4 now I'm too scared to try again. Dad has never hurt me, knowing it would get him in more trouble. I run upstairs to my room, sobbing myself to sleep.
I wake up to sirens, and I hear police men talking at the door. I slowly creep downstairs, seeing Mommy's bloody body being carried away. I hold back a sob, knowing she was my final hope.
"Your neighbor claims to have heard you shouting at her multiple times, as well as the noise of breaking glass. This time they saw you murder your own wife through the window, and saw a small child running away. We're here to take the child to a safer home, and you to prison. Put your hands behind your back sir, and we will not need to take out our weapons." A man says, turning my father around. He was cuffed and dragged away and I see the men enter the house. I run back to my room, feeling a horrible feeling clawing it's way into my chest. My eyes seem to go black and it starts getting hard to breathe as I sob quietly, curling up in a ball on my bed. I pull the hood of my jacket over my head, a special item Mommy made for me whenever I felt bad. This is something new and awful, making me even more scared as no one is here to comfort me. I hear footsteps coming and scream, throwing myself flat on my stomach and pulling my pillow over my head. I keep sobbing, and eventually my sight goes fully black as I hear a harsh voice.
This time I wake up in a different place, and I struggle to read the sign, remembering what Mommy taught me. She helped me learn because she new she wouldn't be around someday, at least that's what she said. Adoption Center it reads, and I stiffen in my bed, scared. A woman walks in, looking happy and sad at the same time.
"There's someone outside who heard your story. They'd like to adopt you already, you've been in here asleep for two days. Pretty bad anxiety attack you had." She says softly. I try to process everything, hopping out of the bed curiously, yet scared. I follow her down a hallway to see a little boy in a prince outfit, standing next to two men. One is wearing a blue shirt, a jacket around his shoulders, while the other looks like a teacher with a black shirt and a blue tie, both of them with glasses. I shrink into my hoodie a little bit, becoming extremely scared out of nowhere. The prince runs up to me, giving me a big hug and lifting me off the ground gently. I scream, panic taking over. I shove him away, kicking and screaming as memories flash through my mind of my dad hurting Mommy, lifting her off the ground, sometimes even hugging her before smashing a bottle over her head. I keep screaming as he sets me down, looking scared. I scream and run, tripping over someones foot and falling. I don't move, sobbing into the cold tile. They won't want me anymore, not after that. I cry harder, no one there to comfort me. Out of nowhere a gentle hand is on my shoulder, making me scream again, flipping around to see them. It's the man in the blue shirt, quickly taking his hand away.
"You okay there kiddo? I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want to help." He says gently, smiling at me slightly. I nod at him, wiping tears away.
"Dad hurt Mommy like that. He hugged her then broke the bottle of the bad drinks on her head because of me." I hiccup out, still crying. He frowns, and reaches out his hands.
"I won't hurt anyone. Can-can I hug you?" He asks, now sounding a little scared. I nod, fear coming over me still.  I close my eyes and sob, letting every bad moment out. I hear footsteps approaching, but I ignore them. Once I stop crying I open my eyes, looking at the strangers. The prince looks upset, the blue man sad and the teacher I can't tell.
"Why didn't you want me hugging you? That's mean, and bad." The prince says, upset. I jump slightly, backing away as I hear the word 'bad', barely hearing the rest as it repeats over and over in my head.
"I'm sorry!" I yell, covering my head with my arms "Hurt me, not Mommy! Don't hurt Mommy..." I trail off, crying again with my eyes closed. Once I calm down I turn to the teacher, not noticing all of their surprised faces.
"Mr. Teacher?" I ask quietly. He looks surprised, but nods "What does 'murdered' mean?" I ask, even quieter. They all look scared now, including the woman I notice, realizing she's here too. No one answers and the woman starts talking to them making me get lost in thoughts and memories.
Eventually things settle and I get to go home with them, but I'm scared the whole way to my new home. The prince keeps looking at me, scared. I keep shrinking away, more scared of what he will say than anything else. What if he doesn't like me? What if he thinks I'm trying to steal his parents? What if he's mean to me? What if the parents don't like me but he does? What if he hates me? What if he treats me like dad treated mom?
I come back to here and now as the car stops, a small home in front of us. I can't help my excitement as I think about being away from the bad place that was home, but I miss Mommy. I follow them in closely, not hearing anything they say and too scared to ask them. This is going to be a long process.

~3 years later~
I'm walking down the hall to the living room, when my thoughts become worse again. I see Patton sitting on the couch, I'm stilling having a hard time calling either of them dad because of the memories, but I ignore him as I try to refocus on where I am. Suddenly I bump into a table, knocking down and breaking a purple vase. The sound of glass breaking both brings me back to the moment and pushes me farther into my memories at the same time, the past and present mixing together blearily. Before he can react I bolt back down the hall to where Roman and Logan are playing, putting a puzzle together. My instincts kick in and I grab them both by the hand, yanking them to their feet with surprising ease. I start trying to sprint away with them but Logan holds me back, trying to calm me down. It doesn't work and I start crying, desperately trying to get them out of the house. Roman starts asking why and I manage to speak through the tears.
"I did something bad by accident." I choke out "We need to go, before you get hurt." I cry, tugging harder than ever before, needing to save them. Logan scoops me up in his arms despite my crying and protests. Memories flash by of when we first met, and I fall silent, seeing the bloody body of my mom in my mind. It seems to get closer and closer, until she lifts her head and says "You made a mistake, that's all. You didn't mean for me to die." I scream, a high-pitched, terrifying, blood-curdling shriek as the image plays over and over again, the sound of glass shattering playing repeatedly in the background. I screech at the top of my lungs, desperately trying to stop it, to break the cycle, wanting to save them more than ever before. I jump down in desperation, using my adrenaline to push Logan and Roman as hard as I can, managing to bolt with them down to the end of the hallway, taking them by surprise. I try to pull them outside, screaming.
"NO! I CAN'T let you die!" I shriek, pulling harder. Patton appears, making me freeze in my tracks, quivering.
"Kiddo, I wouldn't hurt anyone. You seemed upset and distracted, of course you didn't mean to. I'd never hurt anyone unless they hurt one of you three, that's the only reason I'd ever do such a thing." Logan nods along, looking at me sadly yet understandingly. I bow my head in shame, realizing what I'd implied. Everything just got too much, I'd never believe that Patton would so much as hurt someone, but I was panicking and not thinking. They probably hate me now.
"I know, I'm sorry. I don't think you'd hurt someone, it's just..." I trail off, not quite wanting or needing to finish my sentence. Roman hugs me, making me look up in surprise.
"That was very brave of you. Even though you thought something bad was gonna happen you were willing to risk it just to save us. Of course you didn't think dad would hurt you, you were just scared." He says, hugging me tighter. Hesitantly, I hug him back, making him beam. Eventually he lets go, smiling brightly at me. I smile back, only slightly, but it seems to make him smile even brighter. Patton and Logan smile too, looking down at us happily. Other incidents like this occurred, but they always understood, and things were going great.

I wake up groggily, dreading school. Bullies were everywhere, and with my biological parents story, as well as gay adoptive parents, though there is nothing wrong with that, I was a natural target. Roman wasn't as much of one, since he was one of the most popular kids in school, but he still got some crap too. Unfortunately, he is almost as insecure as I am, so this damages him badly, especially since he likes guys too. Everyday after school I go to his room to comfort him, making sure he knows that nothing the bullies say is true, even though I believe most of it myself. Not that I think what they say about others is true, but about the fact that I'm worthless, should just die, things like that. But if they say anything of that sort to Roman, I'm really pissed, how can they say that to such an amazing person? I let him know this, and he's always really grateful, I'm sure if he knew I got bullied he'd do the same for me.
I get out of bed, getting dressed almost mechanically. I grab all my things and head down the hallway to the kitchen, passing through the living room which is a mess. We had family movie night, and no one wants to clean up. Dad's in the kitchen, making breakfast like always, and Father's reading at the table. People say that someone who says 'father' instead of dad are less close with them, and that used to be the case with my birth father, but I find the more formal name suits Logan, and it helps distinguish who I'm calling for, Roman also does this and has his whole life, so I don't find it entirely true. I sit down, thanking Dad when he puts a plate of breakfast for me. I see Roman walk in, bags and faint tear-tracks visible. Dad and father notice the bags too, but don't know why. We all give him a concerned look, but for different reasons as they don't know that he probably stayed up because of the bullies. I make a mental note to kill them when we get to school, though of course I'd never actually do so. I send him a look to mean 'we'll talk about this later' and he nods, almost imperceptibly.
"Kiddo, why were you up so late last night? You know you need your rest." Dad says, concern lacing his voice. He glances at me quickly before answering.
"I was studying, I have a test today and lost track of the time." He replies casually, and I shoot him a sad and understanding look. Father looks concerned, and speaks up.
"It's not good for your health to study that late. If you need help with any schoolwork you can talk to me, I'd be more than happy to help." He says kindly. Roman nods, mumbling a thanks as he gets his food. Most of breakfast goes by without a hiccup, us all chattering idly while we eat. Eventually it's time for school, so we get in the car with Father since he goes to work in the city. Dad usually stays home, paying the bills from the computer and helping out on the PTA board for our school. Once at school I pull Roman to the side, I need to know who the fuck thought they could mess with my brother.
"We both know the real reason you were up late. What did they say, and who was the idiot who did it?" I ask angrily, though I make sure he knows that the anger isn't directed towards him. He looks a little surprised, but a small smile forms on his face at my protectiveness.
"It was mostly just they using offensive slang words for me and our parents. Nothing new, and it was Dylan and his crew like usual." He says calmly, which lets me know he's over it now, it was just one of those "late night let me reflect on why I hate my life" kinda things. Still, I'm mad, but the fact that he's fine now calms me down a bit. I see Dylan across the yard laughing smugly with his buddies and my anger grows again, but I have no time to do anything as the bell rings that means 5 minutes until homeroom. We split, as we have different homerooms that we need to get to, both of which will take us the full five minutes to get to. Once in class the day goes by in a blur, at least until after lunch.
I sit at Roman's table like usual, with his friends surrounding us. Remy and Emile sit across from us, and their the biggest couple in the school. Everyone shipped them, so when they finally started dating people were so excited that the bullies ran from everyone, since they were mad at them for making them doubt the morals of their relationship. Afterwards though, I'm cornered by Dylan and his two awful friends, one of whom is smoking a cigarette despite school rules, and the law for that matter. Us all being 16, he's two years young to legally smoke, but I'm not gonna be the one to point that out. Dylan slams me against the wall, pinning me up so I'm no longer touching the ground.
"Hey loser. See you didn't take our advice yet, do you need some reminding?" The smoking one says tauntingly.
"Just go die. Your faggot parents wouldn't  mind, they'd be happy even. So would your faggot brother, how'd he get so popular anyways?" Dylan says, and that gets my blood boiling "I mean, your real father didn't want you, and you mother died because of you, so you have no real reason to live. Or is it to comfort your crybaby brother because of the truth we speak?" He finishes, and I'm so mad I stop thinking about my actions, something extremely rare for me. I punch him right in the jaw, fuming, making him drop me.
"I don't care whatever you say about me, but don't you DARE insult my family EVER, understood?" I ask, my voice murderous. A choice of words I'd usually avoid at all costs, but I'm not quite thinking straight right now, no one hurts the people I love and gets away with it. They have for too long, it's time to stop it.
They all stare at me in shock, especially considering I'm half their size. The other two come after me but I duck and sprint past them, my adrenaline kicking in. Once behind them I grab one of each of their hands, yanking them backwards so hard that they crash to the ground with a loud thud. Dylan recovers from the shock and pain, standing up and glaring daggers at me.
"Oh, you must be a faggot too, how else would you be able to stand such a disgusting and horrible family? Or are you just used to things as bad as that, having a murderer for a father should've been a nice warm up for something like that, though it's not quite as bad." He laughs smugly, a cruel grin forming on his face. He launches himself at me but I punch him square in the nose, making him drop to his knees again. I kick him as the stomach as he aims a weak punch at me, making him growl in anger.
"What did I say about insulting my family? You're the one who should just DIE, you're HORRIBLE and DISGUSTING!" I shout, furious still. He jumps up through the pain, and manages to take me by surprise, punching me right in the gut. I crumple to the ground, adrenaline can only get you so far and it's clear that it's not going to be much help anymore. Despite this, I don't curl up in a ball like I want to, I don't even close my eyes. I watch with a blank face as he pulls back his fist, only to be tackled by a blur of white. I catch a flash of red, and immediately I realize it's Roman, his iconic white shirt and red scarf looking like a Disney prince. I jump up the second I'm given a chance, pulling Roman back slightly to stop him from completely obliterating Dylan, his two friends still dazed.
"Hey, Roman, calm down, you got him." I say, tugging his arm. He glares at me, making me shrink in on myself.
"He insulted both of us and our family, plus your biological parents, and you expect me to calm down?" He demands angrily, making me curl in on myself even more. Seeing this, he stops, sighing.
"I totally get that, "I start out meekly "but if you hurt him too badly they won't believe you in saying it was self-defense, and we could get in serious trouble. Plus," I start talking quieter so Dylan, still on the floor holding his stomach, can't hear us "we wouldn't want our parents to get involved with this, especially since Dad's on the PTA." I say, looking at him worriedly. He nods, guilt showing in his eyes.
"Yeah, sorry for yelling at you, I just can't believe it. I saw the whole thing but another one of his friends tried holding me back. I didn't even know you were getting bullied, how could I have been so ignorant!" He exclaims, guilt and concern clear in his voice. I give him a small smile.
"It's fine." I say, just as the bell rings for the end of lunch. I had tried leaving early so that I wouldn't get stopped in the hallway, but obviously that didn't work out.
The rest of the day goes by easily, Dylan was too embarrassed to admit he had gotten beaten up by the people he bullies to go to the nurse, so no one knew about it. Well, let me rephrase that; no adults knew, the whole school was talking about how awesome it was, people were congratulating us all day. Finally, we make it outside at the end of the day, hopping into Dad's car, Father works late so he can't pick us up. Once home we drop our backpacks by the door, just chatting while Dad puts on the news in the background. All three of us are just talking and laughing when something makes me freeze, the blood draining from my face.
"Citizens, beware! A known murder named Michael Smiths has escaped his prison sentence two years early and is now running from the police. Make sure all doors and windows are locked at night, and do not open the door without knowing who it is." The rest of what they say is lost to me as I look to the TV, horrified as I see my biological father, the only difference in his appearance is that he looks older, which is to be expected after 14 years. Dad and Roman seem confused and concerned at my expression, but when they turn too understanding dawns on them, fear filling their faces. Roman runs to lock all the doors and windows before coming back and hugging me tightly, Dad doing the same.
"Oh kiddo, it's going to be alright, we're safe here." He says gently, despite the fear in his voice.
"If he tries to even come near you he'll be sorry." Roman says aggressively. Even though they're trying to help, it's not working. I turn to them, a terrified and sad expression on my face.
"He broke out to get me, I know he did. He would always blame me for everything, that's why he hurt mom, he knew he'd get in trouble if he hurt me and mom was too scared for my safety to do anything, fearing if she did he'd hurt me too." I whisper, tears forming in my eyes.
"Oh kiddo." Dad says again, hugging me tighter. We stay like that for 20 minutes, just enjoying each others warmth and company. Suddenly there's a knock at the door, making me jump about 5 feet in the air. I start cowering while Patton gets up shakily, walking to the door and looking through the peephole. He looks surprised, but unlocks the door hurriedly. Father walks in, worry and fear clear on his face as Dad locks the door behind him.
"How'd you get home so early?" Dad asks him, worried.
"The news was playing and it showed Smiths, everyone looked at me and my boss said I could go home and make sure you guys were safe." He explains, looking worriedly at me "You okay? I know this must've shaken you." He asks, dropping his own bags next to ours. I nod.
"Yeah, but I know why he escaped." I say quietly. He and Dad sit back down next to us, and we start talking about safety measures. I'm to remain either with Roman or a teacher at all times, and we're staying after school in the principals office until Dad arrives. There's no going out, not that I would anyways if he hadn't escaped, and once home I'm supposed to remain with either Dad or Roman the entire time. Roman and I are sharing a room again, though I don't really mind. We go to bed, talking late into the night since we can't sleep, until we finally can't keep our eyes open at 4 a.m.
I wake up, looking around. I'm in my old house, my tiny bed too small for me. Everything is exactly the same as the last time I was here, even the positioning of my toys. How'd they get back here? And where are Roman, Dad and Father? How'd I get here? I slowly get up, fear taking over some of my senses. I creep out the door, looking down the stairs. The bloodstains are still everywhere, though mostly in the kitchen. My father is napping on the couch, a beer bottle in hand. I freeze, terror overtaking me for a moment. I snap out of it, going back into my room and closing the door as quietly as possible. I open my window and look down to the bush below, knowing what I'm going to have to do. I take out the screen, wincing as it breaks loudly. I set it down quickly, about to jump out. I get one leg out the window when a hand grabs me, making me scream. I try to kick away from my father, but he pulls me back inside, a nasty grin on his face.
"Oh, I can do what I want with you now kid. The police don't even suspect I'd come back here." He laughs manically. I scream, kicking and punching, trying desperately to escape. He's relentless, until finally he breaks a beer bottle over my head, knocking me out.
I wake with a scream, glancing around frantically. Roman's looking at me, concerned. Roman's looking at me. Roman. Oh thank goodness, it was just a dream. I launch myself at him, hugging him tightly. Tears I didn't realize were streaming down my face stain his shirt slightly, but he doesn't seem to mind, he just hugs me back comfortingly. Once I stop crying, I start explaining.
"I-i had a dream w-where I w-was b-back at m-my old house, a-and my f-father w-was th-there, and h-he tried to h-hurt m-me. I a-almost escaped, b-but he g-grabbed me a-and b-broke a b-bottle over m-my h-head." I stutter out, trying to control my breathing. Dad and Father stand in the doorway as he hugs me even tighter.
"I'll protect you, no matter what." He says, and I eventually fall back asleep, this time dreamlessly.
I wake up again, calmly despite what happened. I get dressed easily, albeit a little shakily, before gently waking Roman. His alarm got unplugged in the night, so if I don't wake him he'll be late. Dad said I could stay home today but I wanted to go, safety in numbers after all. Once he's awake I head down the hall to let him change, suddenly remembering all the homework I had last night. I wince, hoping the teachers understand. Dad's making breakfast, and Father isn't reading for once. He looks up when he sees me, smiling slightly worriedly.
"Hey. I'm staying home today so we can discuss more safety measures, the police are going to come by and talk to us about our options, they might be providing personal security for you." He says calmly, though the worry is clear in his eyes. I nod, grabbing my breakfast and eating it in silence. Roman shows up a few minutes later, and we starts talking a little more normally. Conversation is a little forced and not quite casual, all of us have a lot on our minds. Eventually we grab our bags and get into Dad's car, Father riding shotgun. Once we get out of the car we get a lot of stares, obviously most people saw the news. Remy and Emile run up, worry on their faces.
"Dude, are you guys okay? We saw the news last night, along with pretty much the entire school. What's gonna happen?" Remy asks, very clearly worried.
"We don't know, right now we're just hoping the police catch him, though they might be giving us personal guards." Roman says since I'm too anxious to speak. They continue to talk about our situation, but I tune them out, analyzing everything in sight. My gaze land on a black car with a suspicious looking man in it. I memorize the license plate; KLN-9265. I try to get a better look at the person in the car, but the second they notice me looking at them they drive away, fast. I catch a glimpse of their face, and I think it looks like my father, but I can't tell. Regardless, I take out my phone, still ignoring Roman Remy and Emile, who are now all staring at me. I go to Dad's contact and type out the license plate, glad I have some sort of information in it.
DarkStrangeSon:KLN-9265 LI NY license plate
Now I notice them staring at me, and I see Roman glance at where the car was. I bite my lip anxiously, scared to admit what I suspect.
"I think that might've been him, I texted dad the license plate just in case." I say nervously. Fear flashes across his face for a moment before protectiveness overtakes it.
"He wouldn't dare try anything in front of everyone, that's probably why he drove off." He says confidently. I'm about to respond when he bell cuts me off, making us rush to our homerooms. Remy stays with me and Emile goes with Roman as we're in the same homerooms. In fact, Remy and I share most of our classes, and Emile shares most of his classes with Roman. The only one we don't have together, math, is the one class I have with Roman, so it works out perfectly. All of our teachers understand completely when we tell them we didn't do our homework and lets everyone redo it, but they tell Roman and I we don't have to, and that it's fine if we fall behind on homework as long as we pay attention in class. At the end of the day we go to the principals office, but he sends us out, saying that there's a police car waiting for us outside. Immediately red flags go off in my head, but I can't convince Roman not to go.
"Don't you think Dad or Father would've texted us to let us know there was a change in plans, especially on the first day?" I ask anxiously. Roman shakes his head, though he does look a little worried himself.
"Maybe they couldn't." He explains away, staring at the car as we approach. Fear is too strong, so I text Dad.
DarkStrangeSon:The principal sent us out to a police car in front. Why didn't you tell us about the change of plans?
He doesn't reply, so I nervously get in the back with Roman, unable to see the officers face. My anxiety spikes as we start driving the opposite direction of our house, and Roman seems to notice too.
"We're taking you to the police department to meet up with your parents." The officer explains, but his voice makes me uneasy. It doesn't sound right, like somethings wrong. My phone vibrates and I look down, my blood running cold.
Dadster:There is no change in plans.
Dadster:Don't get in!!!
I show the phone to Roman, the blood draining from my face. He looks to me, terrified.
DarkStrangeSon:Too late! He said we're going to the police station but he didn't sound right. Help!
It's pathetic, there was one rule and we broke it, why would they even want us back? Well, of course they'd want Roman, but why would they want something as pathetic as me? I've known it my whole life, there's no way they'd love me forever.
Dadster:Stay calm, the actual police are tracking your phone, they should be able to find you.
I'm about to reply when the car jolts to a stop, and when I look up I see the same black car, the license plate I memorized on back.
DarkStrangeSon:He stopped! He's gonna move us to the car I saw earlier, with the license plate I texted you!
"Leave the phones." The 'officer' growls, the voice unsettlingly familiar. I drop it, sending one last message.
DarkStrangeSon:SOS
I get out shakily, raising my hands in surrender. Roman does the same, guiltily glancing at me. I force myself to take a step forwards, hands still held high.
"I'm doing as you ask." I state calmly, despite the sheer terror coursing through my body. He sneers at me, and I instantly stop talking.
"Yeah, for once. Mother's death taught you something, didn't it? Though I suppose you didn't really learn much. You heard about her faggot brother, and yet you left to a family of only faggots, they even converted you!" I bite my tongue to keep from shouting at him, the taste of copper filling my mouth. We get into the car without another word, and as I give the cop car one final glance I see my phone light up, a message appearing on screen. I try as hard as I can to read it, but just when I think I figured it out we start driving away. Instead of slouching back like I usually would, I sit up straight, putting my hands respectfully on my lap. I shoot Roman a look telling him to do the same, and he does, worry and finally, fear, showing on his face. I think the reality of the situation finally got to him, and I can't do anything to comfort him. We get to a otherwise lovely looking home that would seem normal to most. My father takes us out of the car, a gun in his hands. We walk inside stiffly, and he brings us to the basement, pure concrete walls, floor and ceiling, so there's no chance of escape. He points to the sets of cuffs on the floor and we each scramble to one, trying to keep him from getting even angrier. He cuffs my right hand to one cement pole and Roman's right hand to another, wrongly assuming we're both right-handed. He then leaves, finally lowering his gun and locking the door. I wait until I hear the noise of the TV before speaking, my voice a terrified whisper.
"Okay, if we're going to get out of here alive, you need to know a few things. He hates anything abnormal or anything that's not perfect, that's why I was such a 'nightmare' to him, young kids are messy and everything he despises. Be polite and pay him respect, no matter how little he deserves it. Do not, snap at him or talk back unless you want cuts and bruises, especially in this position. Basically, treat him like royalty and try to slowly earn his trust." I sigh, closing my eyes. I had a chance at that when I was younger, I rarely disobeyed but my hair would be a mess or my clothes wrinkled or I'd spill something or talk back by accident or start crying in front of him and he hated it, so he'd take it out on Mom. She was so brave, willing to literally die to keep me safe. But now that she's gone, who will? Tears start forming and I immediately snap my eyes open, wiping them away harshly "Oh, and no emotions, he hates that too." Roman looks distraught. Guilt, fear, worry, concern, anxiety, and anger in his eyes all at once. The guilt and anger are most prominent though.
"I'm so sorry. If I had just listened we wouldn't be here, but I didn't and you are suffering because of it. But I just can't understand how someone would willingly have a child and then treat them so horribly, especially someone as wonderful as you!"  Tears form in his own eyes, and he lets them fall. I send him a sympathetic look, not really able to do much else.
"It's fine, you trusted the authorities, like most people would. Don't blame yourself, the only reason we're in this mess in the first place is because he wanted me, you just happened to be there and he couldn't have witnesses so he took you too." This seems to calm him down a little, and we sit in fearful silence of his return.
About an hour later he comes back, and I instantly realize he's drunk. I glance at Roman, eyes wide with fear, and quickly stand up, looking respectful again. I fold my hands in front of me carefully, once again signalling Roman to do the same.
"Hey! What're you doing in my house!" He shouts, and Roman looks hopeful. I quickly save us both by answering, knowing that Roman's response, though it may seem logical, wouldn't work.
"You brought us here. If you wished for us to leave, we would happily do as you pleased, but whatever you wish is what we shall do." I say, giving a small respectful bow. Roman stares at me, astounded, before regaining his composure.
"That's right, I brought you here. Wasn't thinking really, gonna be hard hiding you. At least I have my son back though, 't's all I wanted. Bad way to do it, but hey, stupid decisions happen." He mutters, clearly not realizing we can hear him. My eyes widen, because most drunk words are sober thoughts. Not all, but if he's usually trying to kill someone when drunk, why would he be lying about actually caring? Or maybe I'm just getting my hopes up, it's not the first time. He could be sober and just trying to get us to be more obedient for all I know, I haven't seen him in 14 years after all. He wanders back upstairs, a nostalgic look on his face. I glance at Roman, scared.
"What was that? What did he mean he wanted his son back? And why did you say that? No offense, but we could've escaped." He says, confused and slightly upset. I look down, memories of the basement finally coming back. They were so bad I started repressing them the second I got upstairs, so it's no wonder they didn't come back at first.

"Stop crying you little b*itch!" My father yells, grabbing me by the arm. I see the basement door coming closer as he drags me and wail, shaking uncontrollably, not being able to breathe quite right. He shoves me inside and I scramble down the stairs, afraid. He puts the handcuffs on me and tightens them like always, throwing a sandwich at my face for food.
I wait for what feels like weeks, sobbing and crying, desperate for something, even some sort of light, but nothing. After two days he finally comes back, looking angry to see I haven't eaten.
"Why haven't you eaten? People are gonna find out!" He screams, uncuffing me. I whimper, still shaking. Mommy is out of town for the week, so father has no one to take his anger out on. I'm kinda glad, this way Mommy doesn't get hurt.

"I-it wouldn't have worked, trust me. If we offered to get out as long as he unchained us, no matter how politely, he'd start to remember. About once a week I was chained down here, and the first few times I begged for him to let me go, the first time he asked me I did just that and he slapped me, it was the only time he ever physically hurt me the entire time I lived with him." I say, somehow managing to keep my voice steady after the initial mess up. My father always hated my stuttering, so I learned to control it, but with Dad and Father I learned that it was okay to make mistakes, though I still flinch every time I stutter. Roman seems to notice especially now and connects the dots, his eyes widening in shock and guilt.
"I'm sorry, I never meant to bring up any memories, I shouldn't have said anything. You wouldn't know why he said that, and you knew better than I do about this so I shouldn't have acted like I knew everything. I'm so sorry." He says, sliding down to the floor. I twist my arm behind me, making it so I have an extra foot of wiggle room. Crawling forwards, I remember how to move with only one arm, and I get all the way next to Roman as the pipes the handcuffs are on aren't that far apart. He looks up from his hands, surprised that I managed to get so far.
"Hey, look, it's okay." I put my arm around him "Of course you'd be curious, I am too. And you like having control over the situation that's fine, I understand you not knowing about him, especially since you never lived with him. It's fine, I understand." I say gently, hugging him with my one available arm. He looks up and smiles at me, albeit a teary smile, but a smile all the same as he puts his arm around me too. We just sit there for however long, enjoying the small amount of peace there is.
However, nothing lasts for long, and eventually I hear the floorboards creaking, signalling that my father is coming back. I hurry to run back, standing fearfully as he comes slowly down the stairs, glaring the entire time.
"I see you knew how to behave when I was drunk. You could've escaped, yet you didn't. May I ask why?" He says, smirking cruelly. I try to swallow my fear, speaking despite it.
"I knew how you would react. Why would I make things worse when you spent every moment with me teaching me to not act stupidly?" I ask, trying to keep my voice from shaking. He nods, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Very good, I see you have not forgotten. It's a shame though, I could've given you a reminder. I guess I'll have to let him take it instead." He says, jerking his finger towards Roman. I shake my head immediately.
"No no! I think I forgot actually, but I told him everything and he has the best memory of everyone I know, you can reteach me!" I reply instantly, not caring that I'm playing into his hands. I know he's gonna do the same thing he did to Mom, I can't let Roman take the fall for this. Roman himself looks surprised, oblivious to what my father means. He chuckles, taking out the empty bottle from before.
"I see. I hope this helps you remember, the sooner you do the quicker I can give him a little welcoming to this technique." He says, the same evil smirk on his face. Before Roman has any time to react he smashes the bottle over my head, shocked as I do not flinch. I have spent years flinching at smaller things, until finally I was able to not jump when something giant fell right next to me, despite people even 10 feet away, who are rarely scared, jump in fear. It still terrifies me, but I am able to keep the fear internal, allowing me to remain stock still.
"Virgil!" Roman screams, not able to stop himself as he looks on in horror, desperately tugging against his handcuffs. My father grabs another bottle, breaking it too above my head. Still I do not move, letting the blood from shards that had made their way into my skin trickle down my face. He screams in frustration, before uncuffing me and throwing me across the room, into a pile of broken plates by the opposite wall. Still I show no sign of pain, not even a small wince. I simply stand up, allowing the pain to invigorate me. He smirks once more, before heading over to Roman with a third bottle in his hands. Roman looks shocked and fearful, but I know he wants me to run. I can't leave him here, to get hurt because of me, no way! I leap across the room, adrenaline fueled by my anger towards my father for trying to hurt Roman, as well as a surge of protectiveness over my brother taking control. No one has any time to react as the bottle comes crashing down and onto my chest, luckily no blood spilling this time. My father growls, lifting me and chaining me up once more, before heading back upstairs and slamming the door shut, Once I hear it click I finally drop to the ground, quickly sorting out all of my cuts. There's only one that's bad enough to need any real attention, so I rip off some of my shirt, which is easily hidden by my hoodie, and tie it around the cut on my leg, allowing the pressure to stop it from bleeding for now. The pain starts to catch up to me but I don't let it show, I guess I'm as good as hiding physical pain as emotional. Roman looks over to me, upset and concerned, a slightly disappointed look in his face.
"You could've ran. You could've saved yourself, and tried to get help, even if it was too late by then." He says quietly, trying not to let his tears fall, yet I notice anyways.
"I couldn't let you get hurt because my father wanted me. If I had ran he would've killed you instantly out of anger." I respond, looking him in the eye. He nods, looking down.
"But you got hurt." He whispers, looking ashamed. I stand up.
"Hey, it's okay, I wanted to. If he hurt you I'd feel so much worse, but I know I'm able to handle it. Plus" I pause, looking at the glass shards all over the floor "That might've just allowed us a chance of escape." I crouch down, picking one up carefully. Wordlessly I slide it into the keyhole, fidgeting around in the lock for a minute, not focusing on Roman staring at me, or the dogs howling outside, but concentrating on the lock itself. After another minute I hear a click and it springs open, the other side still chained to the pipe. I freeze for a moment, listening intently to the sounds of the house. After a moment passes and there's no indications that he's coming back I walk over to Roman, testing to make sure it works on his too. We walk around freely for a few minutes before my father starts moving around, making us redo the handcuffs. I check my watch, confirming my thinking.
"He's gonna check on us every hour, to make sure we haven't found a way to escape." I whisper, before quickly putting the shard in my hair, tying it there with a few strands. I shift the rest of my hair to cover it, but not enough that it looks suspicious. I try not to wince as the door opens, watching silently as he comes down with a nasty look on his face.
"I see you've recovered." He says, looking us over "Every five hours you shall have another dose of pain, even during the night." Luckily he still hasn't noticed my watch "I'm surprised really, who knew you would've grown so tough over the years? I suppose I taught you well, I will have no crybaby for a son." He turns abruptly, his hands behind his back as he marches up the stairs once more, a terrifying look on his face as he locks the door. I wait a moment before speaking, making absolutely sure he isn't close enough to hear or standing by the door and listening in.
"Okay, so in the hours  that he's up there we'll uncuff ourselves and look around the room, trying to find an exit and using anything we can to our advantage." I whisper, beginning to work on my own cuff as I speak. He nods as I start to unlock him, and we begin our search again. I take note of where every single piece glass is, if it moves while we're asleep later then we'll know he did something to it. At one point Roman finds another piece of glass like the one I have, putting it in his own hair so that if one of us loses it, the other can still help us both escape. We only manage to cover a quarter of the giant room before the hour is up, and the farther we get the sooner we're gonna have to come back. This time he does nothing, but the affect is just as creepy. It's a tiring and repetitive process, unlock ourselves, check the room, run back, act innocent, repeat. As we're on the final time for this room, all the way in the back I notice a strange outlining, it blends in seamlessly with the wall but the floor around it is scuffed and there's a peculiar hole in the wall, like a doorknob is missing from where it should be. I reach in, pulling it slightly open. As I do so I catch a glimpse of my watch. I hurriedly shut the door, motioning for Roman to follow me. We sprint back to the main area, putting the handcuffs back on panickedly. This is going to be the fifth hour, so I prepare myself mentally, forcing a calm and collected look, Roman doing the same. As the door creaks open I see the glass visible in Roman's hair and silently motion for him to hide it, quickly distracting my father.
"Hello. I see you have not given up on us as you had done so quickly last time." Provoking him is probably the last thing I want to do right now, but all rational thought goes out the window anytime my family is threatened, only partially a side-effect of what happened to my first family. He snarls at me.
"Yes, but I thought you'd be wiser after that. I see that I failed, at least it's already time to remind you." This time he takes out a whip, something he rarely used on Mom, only when I'd done something "despicable" in his eyes. I do not close my eyes in anticipation, nor show any sign that it scares me. He frustratedly brings it down, making Roman and even himself flinch at how loud the crack of the whip is. Yet still I do not move, staying still as a stinging pain is inflicted into my side. His eyes grow wide and he glances down at the whip, fear evident in his own eyes. He quickly drops it, backing away slightly. He jolts back to the moment and takes another bottle out, but with shaking hands. He raises it slightly, before throwing it at the wall and scrambling back up the stairs. As he closes the door he addresses me.
"Don't think the next one is cancelled!" He calls, trying and failing to seem like he isn't afraid, though of what I have no idea. Regardless I continue as though this had been the same as all the other visits by him, only to look up in surprise once I'm done releasing myself and find Roman already standing there, worry in his eyes.
"You shouldn't have done that! You got whipped so I wouldn't get in trouble! You made him even angrier!" I shrink back slightly, only to be even more shocked as he hugs me tightly, carefully avoiding the new injury. I hesitantly hug him back.
"A little pain now is worth it if it means we have a better chance of escape." I say, making him pull back slightly so he can look into my eyes.
"A little?" I don't respond, and he pulls me into another embrace "You're really just as brave as you were when you were 7, stupid, but brave." I smile slightly, but I know we can't waste time, so I regretfully pull away. He has an understanding look and we rush back to the other side of the room, letting me pull the door open again. Wordlessly I slip into the room, glancing around at the darkness. At the very end I see a brief spot of light and I cautiously make my way to it. As I finally make it to the light I see - grass? It's an exit! I check my watch excitedly, only to hear a fearful call from the main room. My eyes widen, I didn't tell Roman I was in here. I sprint back, closing the door behind me just as I get tackled with a hug.
"Don't do that! Especially since you're the one with the watch!" He says, not letting go. I hold onto him tightly, he's right.
"I'm so sorry, you're right, I should've told you, I didn't mean to do that. There's an escape through there, but right now we need to get back, he's coming soon." I say, and we make our way to the shackles once more. I notice the furious look on my fathers face as he comes down the stairs and I know he's gonna use this time to make up for not doing anything last time. Before any of us can say anything he breaks a bottle over Roman's head, knocking him out successfully. I start internally panicking, yet I still don't let it show. What if that killed him? That's what happened last time my father got too mad! Oh, I shouldn't have said anything, he probably wouldn't have even noticed it anyways! I can't do anything right, Roman's dead now because of me, just like my mom, why couldn't I save him? I thought I learned from last time! I-
My rampant thoughts are cut off my glass showering down my head, leaving me to join Roman in his position on the ground.
I wake up groggily, glancing around before everything comes rushing back. I check to make sure I'm not seriously injured, then look up to see if my father is here. He's not, so I check my watch to know when he'll come next, only to find we've been asleep for five days! Faint memories come back and I realize that every time we've woken up he's knocked us back out, but he's not here this time. I rush to uncuff myself, crawling desperately over to Roman. I lift him gently from his position, putting his head in my lap so he's not resting on the cold concrete. He wakes up and looks around wildly, relaxing as he notices me.
"He knocked us out again every time! He made me stay awake and watch him hit you, I wished I could help but getting us caught for escaping the locks wouldn't do much for us would it?" He sits up and hugs me, letting his tears fall into my shirt.
"Shh, it's okay now, we're both here and awake, no one's going to hurt us. He's not here right now, we'll be fine." I comfort, allowing him to let everything out. Once he's calm I check the time again and let out a regretful sigh. I stand up, heading back over to the pipe I'm supposed to be at. I hear the door open once more and recompose myself, luckily I'm in the direct line of sight from the stairs, while Roman is not, giving him time to do the same. My father looks even angrier to see me awake and standing, so he turns to Roman instead.
"Now Virgil, it's time for you to see what it's like." He says, smirking cruelly. He grabs a bottle from behind him and I can't help but inch forwards, not wanting for my panic to be noticed but also unable to stand still when Roman's about to be hurt. He slowly winds up, only allowing my fear to grow, my heart racing and my breathing becoming uneven. He finally lets it go and sends it smashing into Roman's head, making him fall limp again. I can't help but let out a small screech of fear, backing away hurriedly. I start shaking my head, now unable to stop the anxiety attack. My father watches in slight confusion as I drop to my knees, my vision blurring as my thoughts become too much. Roman's gotten hurt again, and had to watch me get hurt over and over with no one to comfort him. Now I'm left alone with my father, curled on the ground in a way that will only make me seem more pathetic, barely breathing and letting my heart-rate spiral out of control. I see his blurry figure move slightly and I brace, for once letting all of my true terror show since I'm not thinking clearly anymore. I let out a small whimper, wanting only to be back home, in a warm bed with my parents and brother safe beside me. Tears start streaming down my face as I realize; it's all my fault. I knew something was up and could've tried harder to stop Roman,  I could've called someone or shouted for help once in the car, once here I could've ran for it, now I could've unlocked myself as he wound up and stopped him, letting Roman run as I stayed behind to finally face him. But instead I let all of this happen, hurting the people I loved most with my stupidity. I start shaking in fear as the silence starts to overwhelm me, only allowing the voices in my head to become louder. Finally the bottle hits me, allowing a brief moment of clarity. I see my father, looking guilty yet firm, his arm still reaching in the follow-through before everything goes black once more.
This time as I wake I'm prepared for my conditions, but not for my father to be actually standing there this time. He smirks again, his guilt long gone. As Roman starts to stir he silently picks up another bottle from the floor, leaving me to watch helplessly as he knocks Roman out again. Like Roman said; getting us caught for escaping the locks wouldn't do much for us. He walks back over to me, putting me into a sleep filled with more terror than waking.
Nightmares surround me, each time one ends another comes and I just can't seem to escape. I know I'm dreaming, but I can't control anything, and each time my father steps into the dreams, changing them. As I feel myself starting to wake up one final nightmare starts, worse than any other.
I look at my hands and they're small again, but not like when I was four, more like I'm seven. I check the mirror in my room, noticing it's the same one that I had when I lived here, and it confirms that I am indeed seven, but it's as if I never moved out of my fathers house. I creep out of my room, looking down the stairs. There I see the same scene that I've relived many times, but the body looks different, less like a woman and more like a- like Roman?! They roll it over and I'm proven right again, his signature outfit glaring up at me. Everything is the same, even the positioning of the bloodstains, but now it's Roman dead. Realization hits me hard. That's what's going to happen, Roman will go just like my mom; protecting me. I scream, rocketing down the stairs. I don't pay any attention to the police officers at the door, instead I sprint in the kitchen and grab a beer bottle, not caring that it's still full. I see my father standing there and both he and the officer freeze as they see me, forgetting that he's about to be handcuffed. I scream again, launching myself at my father, the man who ruined everything. I hear the repeating sound of glass breaking, but this time I don't care, only focusing happily on the bloodstains on my father.
"You did this! You hurt them! You made me like this, like you! A psychopath!" My thoughts are no longer coherent as I attack him, pure aggression taking over. He seems to scream but I laugh, despite no longer being able to hear anything.
I wake with a jolt, staring around as I realize it was just a dream. I hope I don't become like that, but if Roman does end up dying because of me there is no guaranteeing I won't. Thankfully I didn't end up sleep-talking, it would've been hard to explain after all. My father is standing here again, and he simply knocks us both out at once, not leaving any time for panic.
This continues for days, but he seems to be getting bored of it, the few moments of waking and the amount of blood just sitting by us. Finally he stops, still checking every hour. It's now been 3.5 weeks, each time we slept longer than the last.
Once we get used to this again hope starts to blossom in my chest. He comes down, for what I hope is going to be the last time, and by looking at Roman I can tell he's thinking the same thing. He grins maliciously, the whip back in his hand. Wordlessly he hits me twice, though both times it's much lighter than he did the first time, enough that combined they only amount to half the pain that the first mark caused. I hope they don't leave scars too. He then walks over to Roman, hitting him once even more gently on the arm before walking back upstairs, still silently. I sigh, there's no way we're escaping this time, we'll have to wait an hour just to make sure we'll be as fast as possible in our escape.
"Next hour, since he won't be adding to the pain." I whisper, earning a nod from Roman. We sit there, trying to move as little as possible so as not to make the pain worse. As it nears the end of the hour the stinging finally fades, letting us stand up without wincing as we hear footsteps approaching the door. It opens to reveal my father, looking more guilty than I've seen him in my life. He cautiously walks down the stairs, looking afraid of us.
"Hello." He says meekly. I stare blankly at him "Look, I know this is wrong, and I should never have hurt you at all. But I can't do anything to change the past. From now on I won't hurt you, that wasn't even my intent in the first place, I just got so angry and didn't want to cause more fear by not complying to what I said, leaving you to wonder when I actually would hurt you. And then I thought keeping you asleep might help, but I was slowly killing you. I still want you here, and I know that the only way to make you stay is by keeping you chained up, but I promise I won't hurt you again." He says, looking down. I stare at him in disbelief, but that still doesn't make up for everything he did. He's still keeping us locked here, with multiple scars on our bodies, and he could've easily just never hurt us, the fear would've actually been better than watching each other get hurt by him. He's not even going to give us more room, or do anything that would make this better! He's just deciding to stop doing what he didn't want to do in the first place! He probably did want to do it, he just got scared that he'd end up with a repeat of last time! I know he was faking it at the beginning now because I've seen him actually drunk and he acted nothing like that! He just wanted our sympathy! He still does! As he notices our glares he shuffles back upstairs, but neither of us are buying his guilty act, he just wants us to gain our sympathy so we spend less time trying to escape. Once we're both sure he's gone we look to each other and unlock our cuffs with a nod, getting up quickly. We quietly sprint to the room I found, using my watch's light to find our way through. As we make it outside I have to shield my eyes, it's way too bright to be the actual sun. I knew it would take some getting used to, but I didn't think it would seem that bright. I put my bangs in front of my eyes, pulling my hood up as well to shield myself from the sun. Roman does the same with his hair, using his hand instead as extra protection. We walk to the front of the house and I look around, for once thankful for my extremely good memory. It used to be a curse being able to remember everything that happened at my old home, but now I can use it to find my way back to the school. I check my watch, it took about 30 minutes for us to get here and school ends in 4 hours since it's about noon, so we should be able to contact someone. I look in the window, sighing in relief as I see my father with his back to us, watching TV calmly. I motion silently for Roman to follow me and we make our way down the street, slowly making our way back the route we came. We have to take a few breaks, and it's 2 hours before we even get anywhere familiar, but my father doesn't catch us so I'm happy nevertheless. After another half-an-hour the school finally comes into sight, and we both let out huge sighs. It's lunch time for our grade so everyone is outside, including Remy and Emile. I decide to try something, surely this will make at least Remy turn. I turn to Roman with a slight smirk, he smirks back as he realizes what I'm about to do.
"STARBUCKS!" I shout, no doubt making Remy turn. Sure enough I see him running to the edge of the street, since lunch is usually spent in the courtyard next to the curb. He looks around frantically for who shouted, Emile being dragged behind him, before both screeching as loud as they can when they see us. Now everyone else turns, everyone else screeching as well as we look on from across the streets. I can't help but smile at how excited everyone is, they actually are glad that we returned, and I see Roman doing the same thing. A teacher comes to investigate and ends up on her phone as well as half of the other students. They all turn their phones towards us to show that they're all Skyping our parents, who are on their way. I see the car pull up and we run to it, embracing our parents as the kids start crossing the street as well.
"Oh kiddos!" Dad exclaims, hugging us tightly, Father doing the same. Remy runs over, smirking yet still looking annoyed. he hits me on the head, not noticing the flinch that comes with it.
"Really?! That's what you say to get our attention after being gone three weeks? Starbucks?" He asks, before hugging us as well. I shrug.
"I knew that it would get your attention specifically." I say simply, making him smack me again. This time though he notices how badly I flinch, his expression immediately morphing to one of guilt.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have-" I cut him off, waving my hand casually.
"No, it's fine, I'm just half expecting it to be a glass bottle, especially since it's harder to see with the sun so bright!" I say, only jokingly annoyed. Roman smiles too, both of us not quite realizing everyone else's concerned expressions.
"Glass bottles?!" Emile asks, worry written all over his face. I nod.
"Yeah, we actually were asleep for about a week or two if you add all the time up, he hit us hard." I'm actually surprised at how well I'm handling this, but I know that the reality of this is going to hit later, so I'm enjoying this while it lasts.
"He's right. I'm actually pretty lucky, this is the only real mark I got." Roman says, pointing to the whip mark on his arm. Everyone visibly flinches as they see that, horror growing on their faces.
"Did he whip you?!" Dad asks, anger clear in his eyes. I nod again.
"Yeah, the first time he did it was with so much force even he was surprised." I admit nonchalantly, lifting my shirt so they can see. They all flinch again as they see the harsh mark on my right side, as well as the two fainter ones on my left, plus all the minor cuts. I pull my shirt back down and finally realize how hot it is, so I roll up my sleeves slightly. They're even more  surprised when they see the dark lines on my wrist, now noticing Roman's too.
"He chained you too?" Father asks, anger in his eyes too. We nod, and I realize that we retied the glass out of habit. I reach up and undo mine, Roman doing the same.
"We used these to unlock them, he checked every hour though so it took a while to find the way out." Realization dawns on me and panic begins showing on my face " It's been almost three hours though, if we want to catch him. I can tell you the directions." I say, and I quickly hop in the car, Roman, Remy and Emile following. Dad and Father get back in the car and I start directing them through ever turn, until we're finally there. Several police cars started following us along the way. We sneak in the front door, watching as he heads down the stairs. Silently we all follow him, I'm surprised that with all of us we're still unheard.
"How'd you like the three hours this ti-" He cuts himself off as he sees the empty shackles "HEY! WHERE'D YOU GO?!" He screams, looking around frantically. I let the stairs creak beneath me, alerting him to our presence. He whirls around, glaring as he can only see me and Roman "Hey! I gave you extra freedom, and I agreed to no longer hurt you, and this is how you repay me? You can't escape!" We try to move to the side so he can see all of us, but he pulls out a gun, aiming it at us "NO! You think you can just escape? Think again. Now come down here or I'll shoot!" Before we can do anything Dad shoves between us, practically barrelling down the stairs, followed closely by Father.
"Like hell you will!" Dad screams, ripping the gun out of his hands.
"This is for kidnapping our friends!" Remy and Emile shout, following quickly and running up to him, stretching him between the two sets of handcuffs. I run down the stairs as well, anger taking over me as I take one of the spare bottles. No one makes a move to stop me as I break it over his own head, all looking satisfied as well.
"And this is for hurting my brother!" I scream, furious at everything he's done. Roman looks shocked.
"But he hurt you too. Aren't you mad about that?" Now everyone turns to me, but I just shake my head.
"I knew he'd do that, but he shouldn't have taken you, the only reason you got hurt in the first place was because of me, which is completely unfair." Roman looks even more surprised, just like everyone watching.
"But you didn't even flinch as he hurt you! Yet you had an anxiety attack because he hurt me! You should be more concerned about yourself!" He shouts, making my biological father wince, before covering it with a smirk.
"I guess he was too concerned about another person getting hurt because of him. He saw the same situation play out with his mother." He says casually, making me turn and spit in his face.
"You're the reason she's dead, don't you dare talk about her like that!" I glare at him, for a moment forgetting about everyone else in the room. And then I'm in another group hug, Roman, Dad, Father, Emile and Remy all joining in. I hear the police officers start to deal with my father, but now I could care less. Right now I'm just with my family and friends, and I can be at peace soon. I can finally stop just being "the child".

Okay, so this is 100% going to have a sequel, but it would've been too long if I added it here. As it is, this thing is already 12,000 words long, so I cut it short. This is something I've been working on for a long time, so I hope it was good. I don't think I should say "I hope you enjoyed" though, at least not the majority of it since it was so dark. Thanks for reading