Secrets, Love and Lies (18+)

15 - Daughter

Warning: Trigger Content

Six Years Ago

Days pass with icy silence between Gunnar and I, while Luca and I grow closer than we've ever been. Luca won't leave my side after my father's frightening episode.

But everything is different between us now.

We hold hands and sneak into secret spaces together. A heat and magnetism has grown between us and we're virtually inseparable. I've never had a boyfriend before so I don't know what's considered normal, but whenever we're together we can't keep our hands from each other, if we even wanted to.

And it isn't just at home – he meets me between classes in school, takes me out for lunch every day. I'm so blissful I can almost believe I'm just another normal teenager living a perfect life, in love with the boy of her dreams.

That is, until I go to bed at night.

Every night the nightmares return, and I'm subjected to a repeat reel of my father's screams as he throws me around my room. Some nights he chokes me, other nights he finds new and more creative ways to attack me. In my dreams, Gunnar kills me every single night.

Though we still haven't spoken, twice now, I've awoken to my father standing above my bed in the darkness, stroking my hair and kissing my face. Each time it feels as though my nightmare has come to life. My father's presence no longer comforts me. Now, when I wake to his dark figure hovering it seems the demon of my dreams has come to life.

By Wednesday night I've hardly managed a sleep stretch longer than an hour. As usual, the nightmares return, right on schedule that night. I jerk awake in the darkness, breathing heavy and covered in sweat as I shake in terror. My face is wet with tears and my body racks with sobs.

I suddenly sense someone beside me, feeling a breath on my neck before I realize the weight across my chest is actually an arm.

"It's okay baby, it's just a bad dream. You're safe, I'm here." It's a whisper breathed against my ear.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" I ask him, attempting to sit up from my spot on the bed. One of his hands rests just under the edge of my shirt and I can feel his bare torso against my back. I wonder why the hell he's lying beside me, when he hasn't laid in my bed since I was about five years old.

"Shhh, go to sleep Ellie," he answers and presses soft kisses to my neck while his hand rubs higher under my shirt.

Last time this happened his hands ended up wrapped around my throat. I need to shake him out of his, and I need to do it quickly.

Again, I struggle to rise, but my body is held fast by his massive form, his rippled forearm locking across my shoulders while his fingers dig in deeply.

"Dad, please wake up! It's Lily...please...let go of me..." I squirm beneath his arm.

His leg locks around mine and panic spikes as I feel his wet kisses against my neck while he moans, "God, Ellie, I missed you so much."

My heart beats erratically, my fingers clawing, seeking a target. I cannot imagine facing my dad again if he doesn't snap out of this and continues what he's doing. His lips are all over me, making my skin crawl as he firmly grips my shoulder. My breath catches and I freeze in shock as I feel his hardened groin press into my backside with a moan.

His hands find the places on my body that no father should ever touch.

I'm dying inside, terrified and heartbroken.

I want to throw up.

This can't be happening. He has completely lost his grip on reality. My cheeks and neck wet the pillow as I fight against his hands and my body's reaction.