~Everyone has a past.~
*Trigger Warning~Chapter contains a scene of abuse.*
As the two little kids got into the old Benz, they wondered about where the old man was taking them.
Shortly, they arrived at an old-looking house but it had managed to withstand many seasons and times. He brought them into the house. Inside, it looked like an antique museum.
It was really beautiful.
"Make yourselves comfortable while I go prepare your baths."
"My grandchildren visit me every year, they forgot their clothes here last Christmas."
"They're about your age, you remind me of them." He smiled at them both.
He went into the kitchen and brought out two steaming cups of chocolate. He placed it in front of them.
"My grandchildren love chocolate, I hope you like it too." He went upstairs to get their bathes ready.
The two exchanged excited looks. They picked a cup of chocolate each and did justice to it.
"Julie, we didn't say 'thank you' to the elderly man. That's not how mom taught us." She took a sip out of her hot chocolate.
"Living on the streets can do that to a person."
She shrugged and took another sip out of her chocolate.
"Julie!" Was her brother's rebuff.
"Okay, okay, sheesh." He rolled his eyes at her. She was such a delinquent.
He stared down at the hot chocolate in his hands, lost in thought.
It was like a play button had been pressed in his head and memories he had long suppressed came rushing out.
"Which one of you ate the chicken I kept in the refrigerator?" Julie and Ronnie both exchanged frightened looks. Their mother took a huge gulp out of the bottle of vodka she was holding.
"Answer me!" She yelled at them and they both cowered back in fear.
"You're not ready to confess now, are you? Wait for me there, don't you move." She ran upstairs and came back with a thick black belt, no doubt out of the one's their father had forgotten to take when he left them."
"I'll beat both of y'all if none of you has the decency to speak the truth." She moved towards them both, staggering with the belt in one hand and the bottle of vodka in the other hand.
"I taught you better than that." Her red swollen bloodshot eyes trained on his.
"Aaron, was it you?" He gulped, he knew the fear was evident in his eyes. He wasn't the one who ate the chicken, it was Julie but he couldn't let his mom beat his little sister.
"Y-yes, mom." Julie's frightened eyes widened and looked at her brother.
His mom squinted her eyes to see if he was really telling the truth.
"You're not lying to me now, are you? You know I hate lies."
"I don't want you becoming a lying pig like your father. A lying, cheating bastard!" She swung the belt in fury. The first hit landed square on his left shoulder.
Julie screamed.
"Mommy, please stop!" Julie held her mom's hand in an attempt to stop her from beating Aaron to a pulp but she pushed her roughly away.
"You better shut your mouth or I'll cut all your hair." Julie covered her mouth with both hands in fear.
She flogged him repeatedly, all over. He curled in on himself in a fetal position on the floor.
With each strike, he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. He couldn't even feel the pain anymore.
His vision blurred, he couldn't see, he tasted something metallic in his mouth and he faintly registered it as blood. In his hazy vision, he could see his best friend- flamy, the demon which had holes with red glows for eyes.
It was smiling, no, grinning at him. It whispered to him in a snake-like voice.
"Go to sleep." He closed his eyes and everything went dark.
"Hello, earth to Ronnie." Julie waved a hand in front of his face.
Aaron blinked and he was brought back to reality. He shook his head and looked down at the hot chocolate in his hands which wasn't so hot anymore.
"What were you thinking about? You zoned out there for a minute."
"Are you alright?" She looked worried and the last thing he wanted was for her to be worried about him.
"I'm fine, it's nothing." She wanted to prod him some more but then the elderly man emerged from the stairs.
"Your baths are ready. Come on." He beckoned to them. Aaron drank the rest of his lukewarm chocolate and they both followed him upstairs.
When they had finished having their bathes and changed into clean clothes-his grandchildren's clothes.
They both came downstairs when they were done and joined him for dinner.
After the delicious meal, they all sat around the fireplace. Aaron had missed such warmth. The old man told them his name.
"I'm Paul. What are your names." His eyes crinkled at the sides as he smiled warmly at them both. Aaron was the eldest so he spoke first.
"My name's Aaron and this is my little sister, Juliet."
"Pleased to meet you two. Are you warm enough or should I add more wood?" He asked.
"It's fine, thank you, sir," Aaron answered quietly.
"Now children I know this might upset you, but where are your parents?" They both exchanged looks the old man couldn't have possibly understood.
When he noticed their hesitance, he spoke again.
"It's ok if you don't want to talk about-"
"No sir, we'll talk about it." Aaron looked at his sister for assurance. She nodded and that was all the push he needed. He took a deep breath and began.
"Everything was fine..." He paused.
"...until the night dad started staying out late. "
"He did for months, always giving excuses for staying that late out." Aaron continued in a small voice.
"It didn't take long before mom found out he was cheating on her." A lone tear fell from his left eye, he wiped it away and sniffed. The old man gave him a tissue.
"It's an ok little one, we can talk about it later." He had a sympathetic look in his eyes.
Aaron shook his head.
"No, it's ok."
"He was cheating on her with a 19-year-old, he didn't even deny it when mom confronted him about it." Aaron continued.
"He packed his things and left. Our dad walked out on us to be with a teenager." Aaron sniffed and the old man's heart broke in that moment.
"After dad left, our mom became a wreck, she started drinking and that was when the hitting started."
"Sometimes, she would hit me so bad I would lose consciousness." He wiped his nose with the tissue.
"It was just me at first, she said something about how I reminded her of dad. When we were all still together, she used to talk about how much I looked like my father."
"It was when she started hitting Julie too I realised we couldn't stay. I couldn't allow her to hurt my little sister."
"It's alright little ones." The old man said softly.
"How long have you been on the streets?"
"I-I don't know. Weeks? I can't remember, it's been a while." Aaron replied.
"Do you still remember where you live?"
"Yes, why?" Julie asked.
"We're going to pay your mother a visit."
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Authors note: I deeply apologise for the super late update. Every day I see the reads increase, it always makes me so happy.
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I might update again today, but it's a maybe though😅