Love & Care

Chapter 8

December 17

"Where do you think you're going?" My father was yelling at me. "You better come back here." I could hear his steps. His heavy boots on the creaking floor in the hallway as he came closer to the room I was in. I dimmed the light in the hope he just would look over me and walk away but of course no.
The door was pushed open with a bang.
"Where are you bitch?" His large figure was blocking out almost all of the light coming from the hallway. He smelled like alcohol. I could smell it eventhough he was at the other end of the room. Alcohol. Fast food. Sweat. The smell lingered in the room as he stood in the door.
"Now come here." I didn't move. My body was frozen eventhough I wanted to get up to avoid a worse punishment I couldn't.
He came towards me. I could see his face. Red. His eyes were black from the anger. Some of the veins on his head were popping out.
"Come here." He grabbed my hair and pulled me out of the room. I tried walking to make it less painful but my body was stiff and in my panic I didn't manage to walk very good. The stairs came and instead of letting me go he pulled me down the stairs on my hair. I could feel the stairs against my back. Tears brimmed in my eyes as I wanted to get away.
"See now all of you are here." My mother stood in the living room. On the floor Maya and Layla both of them pale and scared. On Maya's face you could see tear streaks.
"What to do?" She smiled. But not the smile she had when I was young. Not the smile that made her look pretty like on all the pictures we had from years ago. It was an evil smile, almost a smirk.
"I just wanna have fun." My father slurred before opening has belt.
"I'll take her." He said while walking towards me. "Well I'll play with this little one." I could see her walk to Maya with a knife in her hands.
"Now don't hurt her please. Hurt me instead just not her. She's a kid. She doesn't deserve it." I pleaded but she ignored me.
My father pushed me down and I could see my mother from the corner of my eyes. She was standing there leaning over Maya and stabbing here. She was bleeding really bad.
"Seems like she won't survive." My mother said while pushing her down. She turned Maya's face towards Layla and I so we could see her lifeless,dull eyes.
"You're next." She said to Layla with the same smirk. "No stop. Don't hurt her." I cried out my father had started hitting me with his belt when she started cutting Maya open but I ignored the pain.
"Shut her up." My mother said to him and his smile got wider. "My pleasure." He put his belt around my neck and started pulling slowly. Slow enough so I could see my mother stabbing Layla.
She smiled. Her T-shirt was full with blood. Her face had some sprankles but she turned to me smiling. Before turning Laylas face to me as well.
Now the belt around my neck was to tight to breathe. I started to struggle for air and tried slapping around me before everything went black.
"Alex. Alex. Wake up!" I felt someone shaking me. "Wake up. Honey." I opened my eyes and immediately sat up. My hands went to my neck, my breath was really fast. In my panic I tried to find the belt around my neck.
But there was none. Why couldn't I breathe?
"Honey stop. You're hurting yourself." I felt someone grabbing my hands and pulling them down. "No don't hurt me." I cried out. "Honey open your eyes. Look at me. It's me Taylor I'm not going to hurt you."
I slowly opened my eyes. Still scared to see my dad but it wasn't him. I looked in the worried face of a blonde woman.
She had let my hands go and immediately I brought them back up to my neck to look for the belt. Nothing. I looked down and saw scratches on my neck. That must have happened when she told me I was hurting myself.
"Look at me. I need you to take a few deep breath for me." I nodded and looked at her.
"In...Out...In...Out... You're doing good keep going Honey."
It took me a while to get my breath back under control but Taylor stayed with me the whole time.
"There you go honey." She seemed so worried but somehow managed to smile at me.
"Where are my sisters? I need to see them." I got out of the bed. Taylor just nodded and walked with me. She opened the door to Maya's room for me.
There was my baby sister sleeping peacefully. She was breathing and mumbling incoherent sentences in her sleep. I was walked over to her bed and sat down looking at her for a bit. She was alive. Nothing happened to her.
I got up and walked to the door where Taylor was standing.
"Laylas room is there." She walked in front of me and opened the door for me.
Layla was sleeping peacefully. The braids Selena had down for her were framing her face on the pillow. Her chest moved up and down. I took a seat on her bed and touched her hand.
She was fine nothing happened to us. All of us we're alive. Noone got hurt.
I walked back into the hallway. Taylor right behind me.
"Let's get you back to sleep darling." I shook my head scared of sleeping as I'd probably have another nightmare.
"Don't wanna sleep again. I'm good. Just go back to bed I'll be fine."
She shook her head. "I'll stay awake with you if you stay awake." She said while opening the door to the room I slept in.
"It's fine Taylor. I promise." She entered the room after me. "Just lay down I'll stay with you alright?" I sighed and nodded. I curled up under the blanket looking at Taylor who smiled at me.
"You seem very sleepy honey. Just close your eyes for a little bit I promise you you'll be fine." She said while she started to stroke and play with my hair, well the braids.
I shook my head but the longer she did the more tired I'd get.
"Close your eyes." She whispered. I still tried to fight it and than she started to sing.

I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, "I'll never let you go."
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone,"
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

Don't you dare look out your window, darling.
Everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold on to this lullaby
Even when the music's gone
Gone

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

I don't know how the song ended cause I fell asleep. It was a deep dreamless sleep.
The next thing I knew was Maya jumping on me.
"Breakfast is ready. Selly told me to get you." "Good morning baby." I kissed her and held her close.
"I am getting up. Why don't you walk downstairs already?" She nodded jumped down from the bed and ran out of the door that Taylor was holding open.
"Hey Honey. I hope you slept well after what happened." I had already sat up but she walked to the bed and sat down.
"Yeah I did. Thank you." I smiled. She returned the smile "I'm glad. Now let's get some food in you. We prepared a lot." She said grinning.
I was still smiling. We both got up. "I think I need to dress before I'll be down. So I'll be down in a few minutes."
"You can stay in this if you want. I think all of us are in our Jammies." She said and held her hand out for me.
I smiled and went down with her.
My sisters were sitting in the kitchen together with Selena who was cutting fruit.
"Good Morning." I said. Layla and I hugged like every morning before sitting down.
"Good morning sunshine."
"What do you want. If Maya doesn't eat all of them we have pancakes. Or bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, fruit. You can take whatever you want." She was right Maya was munching one pancake after another.
Layla was eating a pancake as well as some fruit.
"I don't know. I'll take whatever noone else wants." I answered. To many options overwhelmed me.
"Well you decide. You're our guest." Selena looked at me.
"Uhm toast with scrambled eggs?" She smiled and handed me both the bowl with egg and a slice of toast.
We ate in greedy silence. My sisters and I mostly because we enjoyed the food so much and I think the two grown ups because they hadn't enough coffee.
"Well it's nine am now. Your parents won't be home till 7pm right?" I nodded.
"It's raining pretty bad outside so I'll guess you stay with us for the day. We can watch some movies or bake something." Taylor said. Maya was excited. "Is it someones birthday?" She asked. "No why?" Taylor looked at her weirdly. "We only bake on birthdays." Maya answered.
Taylors give her a sad look.
"If it's fine with the two of you I'm cool with it. But if you want us to leave we'll be on our way." I said.
"Than its settled. You'll spend the day here."
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