Truth

Chapter One

Alice was roused from her sleep by the hum of pain and the soft growls and rumbles of voices outside her stark white door. Her mother's shrill but calming voice was easily recognizable, mixed in with the sounds of low throaty speech. Alice vaguely remembered the night before, the foul smell of their land lords breath against her neck, screaming for help for fifteen minutes before her mother found her, the yelps of a burned man and shouting and storming out of their dank apartment while their large and grungy looking landlord, growled threats at them as they ran. This was just about all that Alice could recall from the night, but as the time passed as she lay in a bed that wasn't her own, things began to piece together. In a way that made her wish she had never even thought of it. He had tried to touch her, before her mother found them. Something no mother should ever had to endure. Not her surprise, she sounded furious through the wood. Glancing in the ornately framed mirror across the room, she saw the bloody scratches across her face and a giant purplish bruise on her neck, he had left his mark on her, and there was no doubt in her mind that beneath the long night dress she was wearing, there was more. Where his hands had so roughly touched and beaten. Though according to him she had also left a gruesome stain. Two hand shaped burns on either side of his arm, where she had tried to push him away.

She recalled the seemingly then, relieving smell of burning skin, and his yelps of searing pain as he lept backwards. Alice was kicking and screaming as he threw her by the scruff of her skinny neck, across the hallway in front of their apartment door. Alice didn't remember how she had left the marks, but she didn't question it, nor did she deny it. He had her small body back in his arms within minutes of letting her go, the tears she had been trying to stop began to flow more freely as he tried to reach for the hem of her skirt. Seizing the slight opportunity within crouched legs, Alice thrust her knee upwards between his fat thighs. The failed attempt earned her a slap, and with it, nails streaked across her face. She let out a loud scream and thrashed wildly in his relentless arms. Most girls, in her situation, would have given up regarding physical assaults, and put all their energy into screaming, trying to coax the cowards out of their locked apartments where they ignored her with deaf ears. But Alice had a deluded vision of victory over him, trying her best she grabbed at his face and let whatever nails she had find their way into his flesh. Suddenly old thoughts found their way into her head, a small boy with brown eyes that held a steely gaze, with this vision her fingertips grew hot. The man screamed, and grabbed her hands away and with a sickening smile through gritted teeth he took a burning finger and snapped. Alice just cried going limp. He repeated the process with three more fingers as he tried to find her mouth with his blood thirsty lips. Hoping for some sympathy from the cowards, she let out three screams, each one one was silenced by a finger being broken. Her mother had heard the last those screams of terror from both of them, while stumbling through the doors, arms filled with their brown grocery bags. In a flurry, the bags and their contents were spewed from her arms and forgotten about. The last apple had just stopped rolling by the time her mother had made it up the stairs, as he had her little body against the wall pinned there in place with his own. Tears had streamed down her face faster, and they stung the scratches from his yellowing nails. Though that pain had no comparison to the one she was feeling, fear. Her mother didn't hesitate to try to stop the monster. It took less time than Alice was expecting to wrench the man from her. Her mother was so much stronger than she appeared, skinny and frail. It took them about seven and a half minutes in total to contact Alice's grandfather and collect all their belongings. And as soon as that, they were gone, packed away in their rusty old Ford Angelia.

Nervous of what would be said to her, Alice moved silently towards the door from which sobs were emitting. She swung open the door, tears running silently down her face, she had barely noticed them as she replayed the incident in her head. Alice felt instantly better as she caught sight of her grandfather poised to open the door, he gave her a weak smile, though his eyes were bloodshot. He looked at her uncertainly, not knowing whether or not to wrap her up in his arms like when she was little. Alice couldn't manage to return the smile, even as weak as it was. So instead she wiped her eyes, tried to look less sad, failed miserably and took his hand in hers.