Celeste

01 | crimson

      The crimson liquid seeped heavily through the horrifying gash that rested upon my bare skin and dripped onto the cold, wooden floor beneath me. My shaky hands grasped the bloodied, torn out shirt and pressed it tightly upon the new wound that littered my abdomen.

A groan escaped my lips at the unbearable, burning pain that flashed all through my body, and my fist clenched tightly in an attempt to distract my thoughts from the daggers that were piercing into my skin.

My eyes snapped open the moment my ears registered the sound of shattering glass. I scanned the basement through my blurred vision, attempting to make sure that my stepfather — Jack — hadn't come yet.

Terrified, I used the wall behind me as a source of support to get onto my feet. My legs had no power to support my body, and my knees were eagerly waiting for the moment they'd manage to collapse beneath me.

Every part of my body was screaming at me; telling me that I shouldn't go further. That I shouldn't risk giving Jack the chance to see me. But my mind seemed to shut all those pleas out. It forced me to keep on moving towards the locked door.

I strained my ears, attempting to hear what was being said through the annoying sound that had been ringing in my ears ever since I made it to the basement. My attempts to process the muffled yells that echoed through the air were — like every other time — a failure. Nevertheless, something was different this time.

Through the ringing sound and through the yells, I heard a voice I hadn't heard in forever. A voice I wasn't expecting to hear anytime soon. And one that made a sob of relief escape my lips.

Within seconds, the yells came to an end, making my heart skip a beat. I backed away from the door despite knowing that Jack could break it at any moment if he wanted to. It was perhaps another attempt of mine to save myself from what was coming.

Sounds of heavy footsteps disrupted the defeaning silence that hung upon the air, and my body made no effort in hiding the terror that had paralysed it.

My chest heaved with every breath I struggled to take, and my vision blurred further with every footstep my ears registered. A scream escaped my lips the moment my back collided into a solid surface — the wall.

My hand instantly travelled to my mouth, shutting it as tight as possible as the realisation struck my mind. Jack had probably heard my scream. He knew that I had woken up.

I painfully twisted my neck, my eyes frantically scanning the dark basement for a corner I could hide in. Or perhaps a tool I could use to save myself from what was coming.

I couldn't find any.

One of my hands pressed the bloodied shirt tighter onto my abdomen; the pain being a good distraction from the events that were going on. While the other hand wiped off the sweat that drenched my neck.

I fixed my gaze on the door opposite to me, waiting for it to fling open and waiting for my stepfather to walk in with his familiar, sickening smirk plastered onto his lips.

My heart was racing within my chest, and my hands were trembling to a point where they couldn't grasp the bloodied shirt anymore; I dropped it to the floor, allowing the blood to seep out through my open wound.

The footsteps' sound came to an end, making my breaths hitch within my throat. The door didn't fling open like I had expected it to, neither did my stepfather storm in. Instead, the knob was twisted slowly, and the door creaked open.

I squeezed my eyes shut in response to the large amount of light that shone through the door, and lit up the whole basement.

"Celeste?"

The familiar voice rang through the air, followed by another annoying creak of the door. My eyes snapped open, my gaze meeting the familiar gaze of my stepbrother. Lorenzo.

His ocean blue eyes were void of emotions; a complete contrast to the ones that flooded them the last time I had seen him — six months ago. Strands of his dark hair hung loosely over his forehead, hiding the scar that once rested beneath them.

"Enzo?" I breathed out, a set of tears stinging my already–sore eyes, and blurring my vision. A wave of relief rushed all through my body as a glint of a smile forcefully made its way to my busted lips. He didn't respond, rather continued to scan my figure.

I took a step towards him, wanting nothing other than being engulfed within his warm, comforting embrace, only for him to back away from me. A lump formed in my throat, making me swallow every other word I wanted to say.

"Don't call me that," he said, his emotionless voice void of every emotion that would've laced it six months ago. "It's Lorenzo."

He averted his gaze away from mine and scanned the basement. His jaw clenched tightly as his hands curled into tight fists by his side the moment his gaze landed upon a blood spot that littered the wooden floor beside the torn mattress to my right.

"I'll clean it," I muttered out, my hand clutching tighter onto my bloodied abdomen. I bent down, grabbing the shirt I had previously dropped and straightened up again.

Each step I took was a torture to every single part of my body. With every step, pain jolted through my limbs, draining all the power I had left, and making my grip tighten around my abdomen.

"I'll clean that shit."

I heard my stepbrother say, his cold voice followed by the patter of his footsteps agaisnt the wooden floor.

"You ain't cleaning any shit. Let that worthless girl clean the mess she has made."

My eyes instantly flickered towards the source of the sound, my breath hitching within my throat. Rage and hatred swirled through the dark eyes that were fixed on the gash on my abdomen. And a satisfied smirk played across Jack's lips as if telling me how much he had enjoyed giving me all the wounds and scars.

"You were–"

"You won't give me orders when I'm in my house, young man." Jack's deep voice cut off whatever Lorenzo was about to say, the bitterness it held sending a shiver of fear all through my spine.

My free hand curled into a ball, my nails digging deep into my skin as my gaze dropped to the floor beneath me. I pressed my back tightly against the wall behind me, using it as a source of support to my trembling body.

"Come to the living room. I have something important to say," spoke Jack. I knew that his words were directed to his son, Lorenzo, who opened his mouth to protest, yet was cut off by his father once again.

"Both of you."

I didn't want to keep y'all waiting for too long and decided to post the first chapter. Upcoming chapters would take longer to be posted since I'll start my finals next week :)

Just wanted to clarify that Celeste's and Lorenzo's bond was really good before he left — six months ago. That was why she kinda got hurt when he backed away from her.