SHATTERED

╣FOUR╠

     FOUR YEARS LATER

“♪♫Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you, Ethel Happy birthday to you ♪♫” her Mum, Dad and her baby sister sang
“Hip! Hip! Hip!” Rex shouted in excitement.
“Hurray!” They all chorused.
“Thank you.”Ethel smiled shyly. She blew out the light on the thirteen candlestick on her big round cake and made a wish, a wish only known to her, that one day, she will be free and have the chance to see her father again.
   Her birthday was celebrated with only here Mom, Rex and her baby sister, Eleanor. They gave her gifts and the night ended with eating of the homemade dishes.

               ➰➿➰       

   After the party ended, Ethel went to her room, she ripped open the wrappers of the gifts given to her. She was too impatient to wait till tomorrow. Eleanor's gift was a birthday card and a white teddy bear, her mom's gift was a cellphone and a dress...... Rex's gift was the last one she opened, she saw a white paper in the box he wrapped. She rolled open the paper, it was sprayed red with spray paint and something was written on it with a black marker.
It read:
༼Dear love, you have done a good job keeping our relationship a secret. I know today is your birthday, but that does not stop me from eating my cake tonight, so prepare from me tonight, it is going to be a memorable one. Love you baby.༽
Ethel read quietly, a single rose was attached to the letter. Not today again, she knew what he meant by eating his cake . She kept the letter and the rose in the drawer under her bed, she immediately changed out of her birthday dress to her pyjamas, she didn't bother to shower, she packed her blonde hair into a ponytail. She was going to do what she had been planning to do all these years.....run away. She wore a thick red cardigan, a head warmer and hand glove, as she pushed open the window in her room, a scary thought crossed her mind, it was already dark.

Vampires and Zombies move at night, don't they?

She will risk it, if she got caught and perhaps eaten by them, good, at least she will be free from the vampire that lives with her, in the house– Rex but,  if otherwise, awesome! She climbed the window and jumped down. She walked to the fence and successfully climbed it. She immediately started down the street ignoring the funny feeling in her stomach. The street light illuminated the street as she walked to God knows where. She took a quick glance back at her house, warm tears rolled down her cheeks, if her mum actually cared about her, she would have noticed when her stepdad will come into her room to molest her. She increased her pace as she saw a car coming towards her direction, her heart beat quickening. She sighed in relief when she saw the car drive past her. When she arrived at the bus stop, she stood there. The road was a bit busy. She put her hands into the pocket of her cardigan, she felt a paper in it and brought it out.

Oh! Miss Sebastian house address.

She boarded a taxi to Miss Sebastian's house though she didn't have any money on her, as soon as she arrives at  Miss Sebastian’s  house, she will tell her to pay.

              ➰➿➰

      A light tap on the door made Miss Sebastian jolt from the couch. She looked at the wall clock, it was already 11pm. She had slept off on the couch tired after spending hours cleaning her little apartment.
Who would come visiting her at this late hour of the night? The light on her front porch was left on, she tiptoed to the window to open the curtain quietly, so she could see who the person is. She had to be very careful to make sure it wasn't robbers trying to break into her house, especially as a house four blocks away from her house got robbed last week.
“My God! Ethel!” she gaped in surprise as she saw one of her student standing on her front porch shivering. She unlocked the door, letting her in and hugged her.
“How did you find your way here?” she said raising Ethel's chin up.
“Good evening, Miss Sebastian… please can you help me pay the taxi driver over there?” she pointed to the taxi parked on the drive way.
“Alright, please get in.” she picked up her coat from the hanger before going out to pay the taxi driver.
“Ethel, I hope there is no problem?” she said after she had locked the door and then, lighting up the fireplace so her unexpected guest could be warm and then, sat down beside Ethel
“I am so sorry for bothering you… it's just that I can't take it anymore, that's why I came to your house.” Ethel said as she wrapped her hands around herself as she sat close to the fireplace.
“But, you could have waited till tommorow, you shouldn't have come alone especially as it is late in the night, it's dangerous… Anyway, thank God you are safe. What would you like to drink?”
“I am okay, thanks.”
“I'll get you hot tea.” Miss Sebastian said as she got up, walking into the kitchen to make tea for the both of them.
“So… tell me how are you enjoying your Christmas holiday?” Miss Sebastian said to  Ethel as she stirred her cup of hot tea with her teaspoon.
Ethel sighed, “Miss Sebastian, I must be sincere with you… I'm not enjoying my holiday at all and that is the reason why I'm here.”
“Seriously! Why?” Miss Sebastian sipped her tea, starring at Ethel over the rim of the cup.
“Miss Sebastian, I need your help…” she swallowed the tea that had become sour in her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.
Miss Sebastian reached out to touch her hand that was clenched inward on the table. “Ethel, you can trust me with anything you want to say.”
“It's my Mum and my stepdad, they don't care about me anymore, my Mum doesn't want me to visit my dad in jail and she didn't believe me when I tried to tell her that… that my stepdad… ” she sobbed, starring at her now cold cup of tea as she narrated.

Could she really trust Miss Sebastian with what she wants to tell her, though she appears to look nice? Her stepdad looks nice too but, he does despicable things to her, would she even believe her just as her Mum didn't believe?

“Ethel,” Miss Sebastian called her name making her shudder from her thought. “Tell me.” Miss Sebastian stood up and held Ethel shoulder, looking into her blue eyes. “Trust me, Ethel. Please, trust me” Ethel saw tears slip out from Miss Sebastian's eyes.
“He rapes me, my stepdad rapes me.”  she blurted out. Miss Sebastian hugged Ethel, wiping her tears away.
“It is going to be okay.” Miss Sebastian assured her. “Do you mind sharing a bed with me? It's already past one o' clock.”
Ethel wiped her tears away with the back of her palm, nodding her head. Miss Sebastian took hold of her hand leading her to her room.