Everyday was the same.
It went like this everyday.
Except, everyday something new was broken, their was a new bruise on someone's skin, their was another cut along someone's hand. But they were never on him.
"There's no use hiding from me!" The voice was slurred and drunk, nothing unusual in the slightest. "Come out, come out wherever you are."
Trying to make as little noise as possible, the six year old pulled her legs closer to her when she hid behind the sofa. Hoping her step dad wouldn't find her, hoping he would give up and go away.
In the the room next door, her mother cooked, the empty body seemed to be pretending that nothing was happening on the other side of the thin walls, she wasn't going to help.
He'd sent her brother away, to train or find a job, he couldn't protect her.
All she could do is hope, hope that he wouldn't find her.
A small chuckle could be heard, "I can see you~"
She started crying.
"I think I've found you~"
With a crash, the sofa she hid behind was knocked over and the perpetrator looked pleased with himself. Staring down at Akira as she sobbed. His hand reached over to grab her.
She attempted to run again, to make it out of the door, or to hide behind something else, but she was caught. Her step father grabbed the back of her shirt, which was actually one of her brother's, and lifted her up towards him.
He grinned.
"You know how much I hate you," he was mad, "this is all your fault."
It wasn't.
"Why should I have to look after you! You're not my child!" His anger caused him to throw the girl onto the floor, she landing on her back and continued to sob.
"Quit crying!" He screeched at the six year old, "if you'd have been a boy, I might of been able to help you! You're pathetic!"
He kicked her in the stomach, only causing her to scream more. She screamed for her brother, or anyone who would help her, even for her mother, but this just angered him more.
"Should of left you on the streets!" He balled up his fists, going to hit her again.
Suddenly the front door was slammed open. Fifteen years old, the boy who had entered wasn't very brave, he was scared of his father as well, but hated seeing him hurt his sister.
"That's enough father," he tried to speak sternly.
His father stopped and turned his attention to his son. "I don't appreciate your attitude towards me Akio." He spat, "you're home too early."
Akio didn't know how to reply, instead he just watched his sister sit up and look in his direction, scared.
"No response? I guess they call this the teenage phase," he made excuses for his son, "right? You'll grow out of this and respect me again, right!?"
Clenching his fists, Akio could feel himself getting angrier, he had no respect for the man who beat his wife and daughter, especially when, on top of that, he was trying to make his son appreciate him.
When he got no reply he looked back down at Akira, she was shaking, she wanted to get away.
"It's all her fault, it's all her fault if you don't respect me." He spoke calmly, as if he was certain that was the truth, there was doubt in his voice. He went to hit her again.
"Stop it!" Akio cried, running to get in the way off him. His father growled and stared down at his son.
"Stop defending her!"
With his magic also in his punch, he hit his son in the face, causing Akio to be thrown across the room and hit the wall dramatically.
His cheek was beginning to go purple, partly from the bruise, but partly from the poison in his punch. However this didn't effect him that much, since he shared the same magic.
Akira watched this and became twice as frightened. He never usually hit Akio, and when he did it was continued by an apology and the question of whether he still respected him, obviously the answer was always yes. Akio never wanted him to get angrier.
Still shaking, Akira took this opportunity to hide behind the upright sofa, hoping he might calm down again before he found her.
In the corner of her eye, she watched Akio return to his feet.
"Son! Don't try to challenge me! You know I'm so much stronger than you! I'm your teacher!" He didn't apologies this time. Instead he approached his son on the other side of the room, Akio braced himself.
Akira didn't watch him hit her brother again, instead just buried her head in her arms. Wishing she wasn't there. Wishing she would just disappear. Wishing no one could see her, because it was her fault.
Akio cried out another time while Akira sobbed.
When he realised what was doing, he stopped. But only to justify himself.
"Sorry, Akio, but this is your punishment!" He cracked his knuckles, "you can't defend that child, everything's her fault!"
He didn't hit him again and Akio just sat there defeated, a couple of bruises on his face. If only he knew his strength, if only he knew he could fight back.
"Now where is she?" He turned away from his son to look for the other child in the room. "Are we playing hide and seek again?"
Akira hugged her knees more as her step dad seemed to push over more furniture until he reached the sofa she was behind.
He was getting angry, he had no idea where she was. "She must of ran away!"
He knocked over the sofa she was behind and looked down to where Akira sat.
"Err! Where did she go!" He stormed away after looking down at her. Akira watched this confusedly, did he not see her? Was he too drunk to actually realise she was there?
She looked over to the spot her brother was in, he seemed to look her in the eyes and then confusedly look around the room. He'd seen her run behind that sofa, but didn't seem to know where she was now.
Could they not see her?
Her step father resorted to smashing more things, things her mother would end up sweeping up from the floor, while her sober stepfather cried that it was irreplaceable, but it was his own fault.
"Dinners ready." A scared but empty voice called from the kitchen, her step father turned his attention to this rather than Akira.
He groaned, "Akio won't be eating today," he told his wife. "And don't tell me you made food for the other brat again!"
He left the room to where her mother was, leaving the two children alone.
Akira went to stand up, but fell back down due to her shaking legs. She cried and made a thump as she hit the ground.
Akio looked over immediately when he heard her, his eyes widened when he realised what had happened. Slowly and quietly he managed to approach her and kneel in front of where he thought she was.
"Akira..." softly saying his sister name, she was probably terrified, "are you here?"
Carefully, he put his hand out suggesting that, if she were there, she should take it. She did.
When she came into contact with her brother, he could see her. She still looked a little terrified but Akio wore an impressed expression on his bruised face.
This caused her to lighten up a little, she calmed down, making sure to more tightly hold her brothers hand.
He examined her bruised face before going to pick her up, "let's get you fixed up shall we?"
She smiled.
The development of Akira's invisibility magic came as an advantage to her. It took a month for her drunk stepdad to work out what she was doing and he half gave up on trying to find her.
Unfortunately he turned his violence towards her brother and mother, especially her mother. He'd hit her when she was cleaning and then hit her again when she hadn't done it properly. Akira hated it. She hated it so much, she wanted to run away but had nowhere to go.
Until one night the opportunity came.
Akio returned home from his forced training one night, it had been a year since Akira had learned how to turn invisible so he felt more at ease when he was forced to leave her alone with his father.
He had his hood up, he wanted to avoid the attention of the man who was just about to enter his mother's room. He'd left the door open as he left some money on the table outside. Sadly, this caused Akio catch a glimpse of his mother, in next to nothing, sitting on the edge of her bed. Her expression blank, she wasn't really there.
Usually she would leave the house to 'work', but on occasions someone would come to their house. Akio hated it. He opened the door to his and Akira's shared room, his expression as blank as his mother's.
Akira waited on the other side, she had been waiting by the door for Akio to come in, he could tell it was because she was scared.
The sound of the creaking hinges caught the attention of the man about to see the children's mother. He glanced in their direction.
He took a look at Akira, his eyes seemed to twinkle disgustingly, before he shouted to their father.
"I'll pay double for the girl tonight."
Akio hissed at him, making sure Akira was behind him before going to slam the door. However his father stopped it from shutting, he seemed possessed by opportunity.
"Well if you-" his father began.
"No." Akio glared at him, there was no way on the planet that was happening.
"Akio you do not get a say in this." His father growled in a low voice at him. Akio didn't get a say in anything.
He tried to pull the door out of his father's grip, who angrily pushed it open more, revealing all of the scared Akira behind her brother.
"I won't let you," Akio glared at his father, who responded by pushing Akio out of the way, no longer caring about whether he hurt his son or not.
Akira tried to jump back as her stepfather went to grab her, but he caught onto her arm. She cried.
As a reflex, her brother sliced his arm with his magic causing him to let go.
The man growled at his son, "your attempt at bravery will be quickly ending, you know I'm stronger than you."
Akio stood up straight, between his sister and his father, knowing this will only end up in pain.
"Besides there's a customer here, let's not make things awkward." He hissed, not wanting to scare the man away, since he was offering money.
"No, no, I see that it was an inappropriate question," the 'client' shook his head, "maybe another time,"
"Of course!" Half disappointedly he answered,
"Never," Akio mumbled,
"I see your son has a temper," he looked amused, but shook his head, "ignore what I said."
He then proceeded into their mother's room and shut the door. There was silence in the rest of the house.
Until Akio's father pinned him up against the wall, and screamed at him.
"What did you do that for!"
"I won't let you do that Akira too!" He choked, before pushing his father away from him.
He stumbled back, anger filled his eyes.
"This will not be the last opportunity! Don't think you can defend her forever!" He didn't seem to attack Akio again, probably because there was someone else in the house. He went into another room and made sure to slam the door when the opportunity came up.
Akio did the same, Akira looked a little shocked and looked down when her brother turned to face her.
"We can't stay here." He shook his head, "not another night."
His sister looked pleased, and a little more safe but questioned her brother as he began to throw random necessities into a bag he found. "What about Mum?"
Akio seemed to have consider this and didn't look back as he answered the question. "She'll come with us, we'll get her later."
Akira nodded and then aided her brother with the packing, she was excited, she was glad to be going.
The man left later that evening, giving the children an opportunity to sneak into their mother's room hand in hand, hoping not to disturb their father.
When they entered the room, their mother was there wrapped in a blanket, staring blankly at the wall.
"Mum," Akio whispered, the room was dark and the two approached her, "Mum," he repeated.
She turned to look at her children, her expression hardly changed but you could tell it was a little softer. She shared Akira's eyes, and they were equally as soothing, but just empty.
"We can't stay here," Akio shook his head, "we're running away, come with us."
The women seemed to process this, her expression changed, although neither of her children could tell what it meant.
"I... want freedom."
Akio looked confused. "Yeah, get your stuff then."
A sad smile reached her lips, she went to speak again.
"In the kitchen, below the sink is money I've been saving, it's not much but take it with you."
Akira tensed up, "you're coming aren't you?"
"Go get the money," she instructed her children, who hesitantly left to the kitchen.
Their mother was right, beneath the sink, a bag of money lay. It really wasn't much, it wouldn't be able to pay a months rent in the house they lived in now, but it was a nice gesture.
Carefully they returned to their mother's room, who had barely moved since they had gone.
"You should pack some stuff..." Akio told her, pulling out a bag from the wardrobe and placing it on her bed, quietly of course.
She went to speak again, but was this interrupted by creaking in another point of the house.
"Go now," she urged her children, knowing what the sound belonged to.
Akio's eyes widened, "not without you! Come on, forget the stuff, let's just go now." His whisper was loud and agitated. Holding his mum's hand, he managed to pull her into a standing position. She wobbled a little.
The creaking continued, and soon it began to approach were the rest of the family were, where they planned to run away.
"Leave now Akio," his mother nodded at him, he was holding both her hand and his sister's, until his mother let go.
The door opened to reveal a half a sleep man at the door, probably confused, and he was about to get angry.
"And what," he began, "is going on in here,"
Everyone turned to face him, fear in the eyes that looked at him. Akira held her brother's hand tighter.
He looked around and assessed the situation, noticing the back pack on his son's shoulders and the coat wrapped around Akira.
"Oh I see," he groaned, "you two were going to run away!" He stepped into the room and towards the bed his wife was on. Leaving the door way open.
Nobody answered him, Akira and her mother were afraid, and Akio was trying to figure a way out of this.
"I don't think that-"
The sixteen year old, who had got a little braver over the year, grabbed his mother's hand and made a charge for the door. Their mother dropped her blanket to reveal her pyjamas, unsuited for the outdoors. Akio was making sure Akira was in front until there was no chance he could grab her.
But it wasn't Akira he grabbed, her mother was pulled back into the clasp of her husband. Forcing Akio to release her hand with a cry.
"Lets sort this peacefully, I say, everyone goes back to bed, and then tomorrow we pretend this didn't happen."
"Yeah right," Akio prepared himself, if he could hit his father with his magic for a second, he could distract him enough for his sister and mother to get away.
Unfortunately he noticed this and pulled his wife in front of him, he used her like a shield.
Akira hid behind her brother, not seeing a way that this could be resolved.
"Let her go," Akio aimlessly said, he wasn't going to. Instead of releasing her, the man just chuckled, proving what Akio thought.
The son was refusing eye contact with his mother, he didn't want to see how distressed she looked, her usually empty eyes had seemed a little hopeful not long ago, he didn't want to see how they looked now.
Instead, the Mother tried to look at her other child who hid behind her brother, grabbing onto his hand as if she'd die if she let go.
She tried to to speak to her without her voice. Mouthing words to her, "please go on without me,"
Tears welled up in her eyes, and in Akira's. She didn't want to leave her here!
"Please," she mouthed again.
Her tiny fingers pulled at Akio's hand, as if giving him the hint to go.
After a deep breath, Akio sighed.
"We'll come back for you."
And with that, both children turned invisible and ran out the door.
"You won't get far before you come crawling back!" His father screamed, "you'll come back!"
Ignoring the words the two ran into the night and away, to the nearest train station, in hopes of getting far away.
Akira wasn't as fast as her brother, he made sure to keep it at a pace she could run at, besides they were invisible, he couldn't find them now. But just in case. They didn't stop running.
Akio didn't look at his sister, just on the direction where he was going.
But she was sure she saw him, sure she saw him cry.
------------
A month later, a sixteen year old and his sister got off the train at the same town they'd run away from. It was the same time at night, the same time they hoped they could help someone else escape.
They were invisible as they approached the house, still aware of the danger inside of it, the nightmares that lived beyond the door.
Holding his sister close, Akio peaked through the windows into what would usually be his mother's room. It was empty.
The whole house was empty.
Akira let her guard down and turned off the invisibility.
"They've moved." A voice spoke to them, neither of them could see who it was in the dark.
"Who are you?" Akio asked,
"A neighbour," he dismissed it, "your father told me that you might come back, he even left a message for you."
"What was it?"
"Something along the lines of," he paused, acknowledging the small child, "fuck you."
No one responded.
"Where did they go?"
"No idea," the man still hadn't fully revealed himself.
Akio sighed, he said he'd come back for her...
Guilt, flooded through Akira.
"I suggest you go back to your new guild," the man spoke, freaking the siblings out. "It'll be safer there."
With that he disappeared, leaving the children confused.
Akio didn't hesitate to leave this house of nightmares. There was no point reminiscing anymore.
------------
Another background story thing. I wasn't really sure I wanted to write this back ended up with 3000 words...
I understand if any issue raised in this chapter is triggering, I apologise if this upsets anyone. Also I am lucky enough to have never had experience with this kind of situation, so feel free to tell me if you find this chapter inaccurate. And if you feel upset by any of these themes I'm always there to talk!