Darkness Rises-Harry Styles

Chapter 22

"This is now your room. The Room of Punishment. We've spent three years preparing this for you." my father hisses before walking out of the room, slamming the metal door behind him. I sat there in that room, crying and crying for hours at my burning skin. I couldn't move and I couldn't talk, just cry. That was where it all began.

Two years later, when I was five, I was let out of that room. It was the first time in two years that I had seen daylight. My seemingly permanently bruised face shone with relief as I looked around at the forest they had brought me to, but my relief didn't last for long. "Come over here." My mother hissed at me and I nodded my head slowly, walking over to her before she yanked me to her by my hair, making me whimper.

"Hold on to this." She instructs, handing me a heavy metal object and I nearly fell to the ground because of the weight. "Mummy, it's heavy." I murmur and she slaps me. "Don't complain, you ungrateful rat!" she snaps and I sniffle, trying not to cry. If I cried that meant more pain for me.

She left me there after instructing me to stay put. I stared down at the metal object curiously, not knowing what this was. It was solid and it was shaped like a round ball. I think...I'm not too sure...I haven't been taught anything yet. Only pain. Pain is my teacher. And that's the only thing that will be my teacher.

Soon, I saw someone appear in front of me, a boy with blonde hair and grey eyes. "H-hello?" I ask and he smiles at me darkly. He had to be at least five years older than me, he looked older. "So, you're the wretch who took the sphere." He states and I shake my head fearfully.

"No, no. Rose hasn't took nothing." I mutter, my grammar not good enough to match his. "Don't lie to me! Our parents told me the whole thing. So you better stick to the truth." He says sickly, coming up to me with a whip in his hand. "Please...please don't hurt me." I whimper, flinching as his hand strokes my hair away from my face, just like father had before he cut me with the knife.

"You've been a bad girl." He says before lashing the whip across my skin, making me cry in pain. I fall to the ground, dropping the metal thing and holding my arm painfully. He laughs at me, whipping me some more while I begin to bleed horribly, the blood pooling around me and onto the forest floor. He cackles, throwing his head back before kicking me several times in the stomach, laughing at my pain.

"I'm surprised they've kept you alive for two years!" he snarls at me and I cover my face with my hands as he continues to kick me. My side is on fire, as well as the rest of my body. I think I would rather take daddy's beatings to this. At least daddy doesn't whip me this much, this guy...he's cruel and ruthless. He continues to whip me and kick me until I feel dizzy and I can hardly move, my blood covering the forest floor.

When he stops, I slowly look up to see him holding the metal thing, a smirk on his face. "You'll be seeing me soon, I can promise you that." He says and turns to walk away, but pauses and looks back at me. "The name's Seth, by the way. Don't forget it." He says and leaves me on the forest floor, a wreck, bleeding and in pain.

Another two years pass, and it's my 7th birthday. Daddy said they had something special in store for me, but that news only made me more afraid. I never liked mommy and daddy's surprises, they always led to me getting hurt badly. I didn't like Seth either, he was...cruel. He even said he was my brother, and he treats me so badly.

Why does my family hate me? What did I do?

I was led in heavy, silver shackles to the forest, now the usual place for my punishment. My father grabbed me by the back of my neck and held it tight, making me cry out. "You're dead to us now." He says hatefully, throwing me to the ground, making me land in the dirt hard.