Saving Charlotte (Now on Radish)

Chapter 6

I was shaking the whole way home. Who was I kidding, certainly not Daniel. Father had beaten the shit out of me Sunday night and into early Monday Morning. He burned the bud of his joint on my skin as a reminder that I was his property. Not his daughter, his property. He reminded me that he could easily use me as collateral with one of his suppliers if he "ran short on cash". I hate that man so much.

I pulled into the driveway and got out slowly. There were a few cars besides Father's and I didn't know who's they were. I tentatively opened the front door and stopped dead in my tracks. They weren't in the living room. They're always in the living room, or his bedroom, but they weren't anywhere downstairs. Where were they? I threw my bags on the floor and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. They wouldn't go up there, they couldn't. I stopped outside my door when I smelled their foul odors. No.

"Martin, why are we doing this again?" One stoner asked.

"That bitch's been lyin' to me. She said that I was delusional when I saw a letter from Ru-" Hiccup. "Rut-" Hiccup, "Rutgers University. She said she didn't dream of leaving me." There was a loud crash and some curse words before the heathens found what they were looking for; my acceptance letters.

"The lyin' bitch," He roared. "There's no way in hell she's leaving! He vowed. I shuttered; he always kept a promise.

"What 'er ya gonna do?" Another stoner asked.

"I'm gonna drain her bank account and find someone to knock her up like I did her mother." Father spat, moving closer to the door. "I think Frank Costello is close enough to her age, good product too. I'll call him later about getting the little whore preggers." Three men emerged from my room, Father at the very front. His eyes flashed with anger as he raised his hand with his wedding ring and back-handed me across the face. I didn't have time to think as he grabbed me and shoved me hard against the nearest wall.

"Who do you think you are, hiding those letters from me, whore." He spat in my face. Tears formed in my eyes but I refused to shed them. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of making me cry.

"You are going to pay for lying to me, Charlotte Katherine Moore." He growled in my ear. "You are your mother's daughter, and I'll make sure that someday, you'll die the same way too." Father dropped me on the floor and left to go downstairs with his henchmen. I crawled into my room and closed the door and cried.

I was property.

*

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I walked into school and tried to ignore the butterflies that erupted in my stomach when I saw Daniel waiting for me at my locker. I was nowhere near ready to admit my feelings for Daniel, where as he was ready for me to move in with him. I couldn't risk him getting hurt. Daniel moved over as I placed my hand on my locker and opened it to grab my English binder.

"Mom said to come over between three and five this afternoon." Daniel said as I closed my locker. There was still ten minutes before class started, so I started walking and Daniel followed. I kept my distance from Daniel as we passed by Peyton and his group of friends. He shouldn't have been near me, let alone talking to me. He was setting me up for Peyton's backlash. Daniel took my hand as he called my name.

"What?" I asked quietly. Daniel cupped my chin as he stopped us, and made me look into his eyes. I felt like I couldn't breathe as I looked into those beautiful brown eyes of his. Yesterday he said that he was wrapped around my little finger, but he's wrong. I'm wrapped around his little finger.

"Charlie," He murmured, winding his free arm around my frame and pulling me against him. His hold on me was strong and I wasn't going to try to break free because right now, with everything my father planned on doing to me, I needed him. Daniel's mouth was pressed firmly over mine, and after a few moments, I kissed him back. Daniel seemed shocked, but still kissed me. Peyton screeched from behind Daniel and stormed away as I pulled back. Oh shit. She was going to kill me. Daniel held me tightly in his arms as I began to shake, like last night. Actually, I was shaking because of last night. I needed to tell Ashton about this. I couldn't tell Daniel because he would demand calling the cops on Father; Ashton wouldn't, at least not right away. I backed out of Daniel's arms and walked to Ashton's locker. Daniel didn't follow me, thankfully.