Earthshine (Twilight Fan Fiction)

Chapter Three: Finally Free

My father dragged me down the many steps into the cellar. After so many years, he still had the strength to pull me. He heaved as he thrust me into a corner, and the wine bottles bruised my back. “What were you thinking – running away? After all I’ve done for you. Let you go to school, fed you meals, bought you clothes, and this is how you repay me? With a dead wife and a bleeding head.” He spat, showing me the faint scar the wine bottle had made. With a kick in my thigh, he stomped back upstairs and closed the cellar door.

“YOU!” I woke with a shock as my dad came stomping down the stairs, red in the face. I could tell that he was drunk the moment he nearly slipped on a step. “WHAT IS THIS?” He bellowed, thrusting a letter into my hands. I opened it and read it. I had written it when I was younger. In scrawny letters at the top of the page was the address to the closest police station I knew of. I had written everything that he had done to me, and to my mother, and signed it at the bottom.

“I-I was young… I’m sorry,” I pleaded, and I cringed as he raised his hand to hit me. His fist hit me across my cheek, and I squealed in pain.

“DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU HOW TO BEHAVE?” He shouted, and drew out a thin-bladed knife. His hand shook violently as he stepped closer to me. “BECAUSE I WILL!”

My eyes widened in horror as he drew the knife high. My body froze. I couldn’t move. It was exactly how he had killed my mother. I watched as the knife came down, but I suddenly seized control of my body and rolled out of the way. Dad cursed and stepped closer to me, this time collapsing on top of me. His body weighed me down and his knees pinned my arms down. He raised the knife again, and it came down on my chest. I screamed in pain as the blade pierced my skin, and cut deep into my chest. The pain shot down the blade and back up again, leaving part of the pain still there. As fast as the blade had gone down, it came back up, and he stabbed me again. The pain was horrible and I could feel my blood staining the already stained shirt I was wearing. As he raised the knife, I saw my blood dripping off the end of it. It was horrific. I squinted my eyes shut, each stab now taking me by surprise.

I tried jerked up from my bed, but all his weight was pushing me down. Even though the room was dark, I could still see my father, stabbing at me. I thrashed about in the dark, trying to jerk him off me, but he hung on, still piercing my skin with the blade. I tried to scream, but my voice was silent, and refused to be louder. He smirked as he stopped stabbing, and leaned closer to me. His weight pushed onto my bleeding chest, and I screamed a silent scream of pain again. He leaned even closer, shutting off my windpipe. “Have you learnt yet?” he hissed, and I nodded with all the strength I had left. I gasped for breath, and he grinned.

Suddenly the door burst open, and to figures ran in, flooding the room with light. We both looked at them, and dad swore. He turned back to me. “I ‘aint got much time left, sweet-pea. I hope you’ve learnt your lesson,” he hissed, and his fingers dug deep into the wounds on my chest. I screamed again, and nothing came out of my mouth. The two figures were by my side, instantly trying to calm me down, but my back arched as he pulled his fingers out. I started coughing now that I could finally breathe, and my chest rattled with every cough. My father sat up, satisfied with my punishment. “Good-bye Elora,” he said with a wicked grin, and then vanished into thin air. One of the men was shouting at me, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Through the coughing and the pain, I saw a pair of solid, golden eyes. His hands were on my chest, trying to control the blood that was seeping out of the cuts. My hands felt for my chest, and I found the same cuts. The pain was unbearable, and I tried to stop the bleeding by pressing my hands to them as well, but he pulled them off.

My back arched again as I started to cough more, and a few more people ran in. Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth, and my coughing calmed down, but the pain was still raging on. I whimpered in pain.