We survived

Ch1

I tuck my little sister in, and I place a light kiss on her forehead "Goodnight, mi amor (my love)," I whisper to her.

"Goodnight, sissy," Lucy whispers and then closes her eyes, falling into a deep slumber. I sigh and shut off her light as I lightly close the door of her room and quietly walk downstairs to do the dishes before my stepfather gets home, knowing what he would do to me if they were not done.

I was putting the last dish into the dishwasher when I hear a door slam outside. My eyes widen, and I quickly put the soap in the dishwasher and start it as the front door slams open and then slams shut behind my stepfather.

"What are you doing?!" he barks at me with pure annoyance in his voice.

"C-cleaning," I mumble out.

"What was that bitch?!" He asks as I cower away from him.

"I-I said I was cleaning." Now he's standing just inches away from me as he slaps me extremely hard, making my head smack into the cabinet.

"You speak clearly when I'm talking to you!"

I bite my lip and then nod slowly "Yes, sir.."

"You are a fucking disgrace for a child!" He yells out as he tightly wraps his hands around my throat.

"Let her go!" A tiny voice yells from the top of the stairs, and my eyes widen.

My stepfather chuckles and lets go of me, turning towards Lucy "Fine. I guess I'll just have my fun with you instead."

"No!" I let out a blood-curdling scream as I grab on tightly to his arm "You can do anything you want to me; just leave her alone."

He turns back to me with a slay smirk, and I look at Lucy with a look that says, 'I'll be fine. Go back to bed.' Lucy understands and walks back to her room, and I sigh a sigh of relief as my stepfather grabs me by the hair and drags me down the basement stairs.
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It's been weeks since that incident, and my stepfather hasn't been back to the house at all yet. I'm not worried because that gives me a break from all the torture, and that means Lucy is safe. And it's not like this isn't normal. He does this all the time. Either because he's drunk, high, or both.

I'm walking to school holding Lucy's hand with my best friend Dan, also known as Danny. We drop Lucy off at her elementary school before continuing our way to the high school, which is only half a block away. Today is the first day of freshman year, and I am not excited.

Once we get to the school, we both went our separate ways because I have AP math, and he has gym which is on the other side of the building. I'm sitting at my desk in class, drawing random things in my notebook, when there is a light knock on the classroom door. I look up to see the secretary walk in and whisper something to the teacher before they both turn to me.

"Mrs.Richards? Please come with me." I sigh, and I pack up all of my things, getting up and walking slowly behind her. Well, this is a new record for getting in trouble without actually doing anything.

She walks us into the principal's office, and my eyes widen. The principal is sitting at her desk while on the opposite side, my sister and a social worker are sitting.

"Please do sit." The principal gestures to the empty seat, and I mumble something under my breath as I sit down.

"As you may know, Mrs.Richards," the social worker starts, "Your father-"

"Stepfather." I correct her, and she looks annoyed as she continues.

"Your stepfather, Charlie, has been missing for several weeks, meaning you and your sister have been alone therefore, we have to put you into a different home. We found your birth family, and they are more than eager to take you in. The family consists of your father, stepmother, 7 brothers, and 1 sister."