𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

And if Aaron saw how bad the wounds were, he would yell are our father and only get himself in trouble. No, I only needed one person and it was Emmaline.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

     Aaron held me to him, the two of us hiding in the hallway closet. I was six, he was nine. My heart was beating out of my chest as silent tears fell down my face.

He was shushing me, not in comfort, but in desperation. Our mother was not home, and he as looking for us.

He was drunk again, which meant we didn't have to do anything wrong for him to be angry with us.

"Stop crying," he pleaded with me, his voice hushed. "He'll find us. Please, please, be quiet, Aurora."

I bit my lip, trying to hush my cries. I hid my face in his shoulder and took in shaky breath. I missed my mother. Maybe we could hide until she got home.

The door slammed open, and I squeaked in fear, trying to make myself as small as possible so maybe, just maybe he wouldn't see me. I just wanted to disappear into the wall.

He was speaking, but my heart was beating too loud to hear a word. I felt a hand grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the closet.

I screamed, clawing at the ground to get away from him. He let go of me for a second, and I heard Aaron grunting in pain. He fell to the ground next to me.

I felt a hand gripping my hair as I was pulled to my feet. A smack across the face caused me to whimper, cowering away from him.

He flung me to the ground and started kicking me in the stomach. I sobbed in pain, the air leaving my lungs.

His kicks began meeting my face, arms, legs, and anywhere he could find. I tried pleading with him, but anytime I opened my mouth, blood came flowing from it. His hands wrapped around my hair as he yanked me up. I could barely stand.

"Let go of her," Aaron spoke up, trying to wrench me from my father's grip.

He let go of me, and I fell to the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to listen as he turned on my brother.

The sound of footsteps up the stairs caused me to sit up. Through my blurry vision, I could see my mother approaching us.

I could barely hear her screaming, but my pounding head wouldn't let me comprehend the words. She managed to get our father away from Aaron, who sat down next to me.

He wrapped his arm around me, letting me hide my face in his shoulder as our parents fought. I was vaguely grateful that I couldn't hear a word that was being said, though I was sure I would faint any moment.

A sweet cinnamon scent filled the air, and I looked up, seeing my mother kneeling beside us. I felt my lower lip tremble, but I didn't have it in me to cry anymore.

She picked me up and took Aaron by the hand, leading us to his bedroom. Aaron got into his bed as my mother sat me down on it.

"I want you to stay in here tonight," she whispered to me. "Just to be safe. And, Aaron, I want you to lock the door when I leave."

"Where is he now?" Aaron asked in a hushed voice.

"He passed out," she informed us with a sigh.

She left for just a second, coming back with a few ice packs and some band-aids. She quickly fixed us both up and gave us some Tylenol, then kissed us both goodnight.