With the last bit of my strength, I straightenmy back while pulling myself up. Blood drips out of my nose and spreads itself on my lips.
I can taste the iron in my mouth as black dots fill my vision.
I lower my head and make sure that the ball of my foot is on the ground and my heels are against my ass.
I lower my head even more while in one swift motion placing my hands on my thighs with the palm upwards.
I breathe heavily as blood rolls down my body before landing into the big pool of blood underneath me.
"t-thank you sir" I whisper out, voice horse.
I just hear him chuckle maniacally when everything goes dark.
I lose my balance and before I know it I'm falling down to the ground.
———
All I can feel is pain.
Everything hurts, it's overwhelming
I open my eyes slowly but shut them immediately when a bright light interrupts my vision.
Carefully I open my eyes once more.
I don't dare move, I know it'll hurt, a lot.
I look around as far as I can without moving.
I'm in the basement- my room.
I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the extreme pain that would overcome my body in about a minute, but stop when a tormenting feeling enters my ribs.
I bite my lip harshly and drag myself up.
I grab my bottle of painkillers and pop the bottle open before quickly gulping down two of them.
My eyes feel heavy as the big pressure behind my eyes only grows.
I lean against the dirty wall which makes me groan in pain when the open wounds on my back make contact with it.
I look up and immediately stare into the dead eyes of my mother as I hear the front door upstairs open before being thrown closed again.
I swallow deeply trying to stop the tears from coming when I feel my eyes close again.
I let sleep take over for a few more hours until I know I'll have to get up.
———
The painkillers started to kick in when I wake up around an hour later.
I avoid looking in front of me since I know what I'll be seeing.
My mother- my dead mother.
My mother that was murdered in front of my eyes by my stepfather.
My stepfather who introduced my mother to even worse drugs than that she was already taking- who introduced me to drugs.
My stepfather who got my mom so high that she wouldn't notice when my stepfather came after me until it was too late.
Too late since my stepfather hit me
Too late since my stepfather drugged me
Too late since my stepfather raped me.
Too late because my stepfather killed my mother.
Why?
Because she got mad for not having enough drugs. It all happened so fast. One second my mom was there, yelling and screaming. The next she fell down to the ground dead.
I still remember my stepfather dragging her down to the basement before locking me up in there- with my dead mom.
She never really was a mom to me to be honest.
She had been doing drugs for as long as I could remember.
She was distant in my childhood, never really there but present.
She made some money through prostitution to pay for the bills and her drugs but that was it.
I learned to live with it to be honest, I grew up learning everything on my own and I was okay with it.
My mom lived her life and I was/am living mine.
That was until she met my stepfather, John.
My stepfather was the same like my mother but over the years he got worse.
After my first beating from John, I ran away when I got a little strength back.
I met him back then, that's a story for another time.
I slowly stand up by grabbing onto a random bar that's hanging in here.
I stumble to the corner of the basement where a bucket of water is standing that I can use to wash myself up.
I clean all the blood up from my body before I quickly change my clothes.
Suddenly a loud knock sounds on the front door.
I freeze in my spot.
My heart beats faster when the person starts pounding their fists harder against the door, "police, open up!" A man screams loudly.
I start walking upstairs, well more like limping.
As fast as I can I make my way to the front door when I catch my reflection in the mirror that's positioned in the hallway.
There's a big swollen cut on my head and a handprint is imprinted on my cheek from the beating I received a few hours ago.
I lower my hoodie a little to see the handprint from when John chocked me earlier.
Shit.
I pull my hoodie up so it covers the print, then I untie my hair rather quickly so it covers the cut and handprint then I throw the hood on.
"Police, open up!" The voice calls out once more while banging on the door.
I flinch by the sudden noise but immediately obey and open the door.
I look up at the 5'8 man while making sure you can't see any of my bruises.
"H-hello?" I whisper nervously
He can't come inside the house.
"Are you miss. Athena Rossi?" He asks me.
I nod my head, "yes that's me..officer" I say
He gives me a sympathetic smile, "could I come inside please?" He asks gently.
My eyes widen, "I- euhm, m-my stepfather isn't h-here" I say slightly panicked.
"I know dear, I need to talk to you for a few minutes." He states.
Fuck
I'm going to get a beating for this
A big, harsh beating
I nod my head slowly, "okay" I say while opening the door further.
I see his face scrunch up a little when the alcohol and obvious smell of drugs hits his face.
However he doesn't comment on it and just follows me as I lead him to the living room.
The only place in this house that is somewhat clean.
Yes there are bottles of alcohol and drugs lay everywhere but there isn't any blood in this room unlike the others.
The officer and I sit down making sure to leave enough space between us so I wouldn't be uncomfortable.
"I'm so sorry dear, but you're stepfather John Williams isn't here anymore. He got into a car crash and sadly didn't make it, I'm sorry for your loss" he tells me, in such a gentle voice like as if he would talk any louder, I would break like glass.