Detriment

12. in my arms...

     "I'm such a good actor, don't you think? Oh Charlie, please you have to get away from Cameron. Tell somebody. I love you so much." Bradley laughed, placing his hands on the wall behind me as he stared down at me.

     It was yesterday when they had put me down here and all night I had sobbed, screaming for someone to let me out. For someone to help me, to not allow me to die in this place. No one ever did though, leaving me to cry myself to sleep.

     "God, someone give me a medal! I deserve one putting up with this shit for so long."

     A kick was swiftly aimed at my side, eliciting a breathless cry. My vocal cords were suffering from the strain and even with everything happening at that moment, I couldn't help but think about how bad it would be for my singing. I thought about how mad Derrick was from my absence and how annoyed everyone else was. I even thought about Ayden and how I had said that I would call him.

     I looked back up and could barely make out Bradley's form through the darkness. Even though I couldn't see him, I still knew there was pure excitement on his face, just by his voice.

     "Weak, weak, weak!!" He exclaimed, a kick with each time he said it. With one last vocal kick, Bradley was away from me, his footsteps slowly quieting down. Suddenly there was light shining in my eyes, Bradley holding a flashlight In his hands.

    In his other hand, he held my phone. "Mom says hi." He started off, no doubt reading my texts. "She says that she hopes you'll make it home by Christmas. Spoiler alert, you won't."

       "Your agency and Derrick wonders where you are, spam texts, a fan got a hold of your number...Oh Ayden. He wants to talk to you, he called yesterday but, I took care of it. Don't you worry."

     Ayden... I hope he he wasn't too worried about me. From as long as I could remember, Ayden was always nervous when it came to me. Only, I've never really noticed it, too preoccupied with trying to get him and his annoying antics away from me. Now that I looked back onto it-

     God, I'm such a fucking idiot. Why did it take him to see the abuse from Cameron before I had actually started to pay attention to him? He cared about me from the beginning. Alot of people cared about me and what did I do? Lie to them and tell them I'm fine, because I was scared to tell them the truth?

      Maybe...I wouldn't be in this situation if I had admitted it. Maybe I wouldn't have been in pain anymore.

     "Dad texted you. He's coming down to see your next concert and he wants to hang out with you afterwards. Funny, I received not one text from him, but I'm not as important right?"

     Bradley turned my phone off before dropping it to the ground and stomping it to pieces. "Fucking family." He muttered mostly to himself than to me.

     Painfully, I tried to sit up in the spot that I was in. I was filthy from last night, tremors from the freezing cold still running up my spine. "Br-Bradley..." I whispered, not meeting his eye. I couldn't stand to see the hatred from my own brother. It was just like looking into Cameron's.

     Was...Was everyone lying when they said they loved me? Did everyone just hate my guts, merely pretending to like me for the hell of it all. I was beginning to doubt my fans, doubt Ayden and worst of all, myself. Maybe I really was this unlikable person incapable of receiving love from another human being. Maybe I was  a selfish ass for abandoning the only family I had at the time.  Maybe I didn't deserve to live. What was the point?

     Bradley growled, taking the light off of me as he grabbed onto my collar and slammed me into the wall hard. I never really noticed how strong Bradley had become. Or maybe how weak I had gotten from the years with Cameron. Whatever it was, the action had caused the metallic taste of blood to fill my mouth.