4. Chapter Four
When I walk into the dining room, everyone is already sitting in their designated places. This throws me off because the twins and I are usually the first ones in here every morning.
Walking over and pulling out the chair beside Connor, I can sense the tension in the room; it’s so thick I could cut it with a knife.
I”m still in a little pain from Fraser”s visit the other night, but I won’t give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that, so I keep my eyes focused on the cotton tablecloth draped over the table, sit down, and keep my face as neutral as I possibly can.
The room is noiseless and I can sense eyes on me, but I don”t dare lift my gaze from the plate in front of me.
I don”t move; I breathe quietly, and I wait for what seems like forever for my father, Derek, to speak up from where he”s seated at the head of the table.
Finally, after another minute or two, he lets out a deep sigh before picking up his knife and fork and breaking the silence.
”You may eat,” he commands sternly and loudly, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my shoulders tighten.
The clanking of cutlery hitting china plates fills the room. In my peripheral vision, I see Cameron push out his elbow so that it jabs Callum’s injured torso. Callum lets out a quiet, pained hiss, and Cameron laughs, snorting like the pig that he is. Rolling my eyes at his immaturity, I pick up my fork, intent on eating and getting out of this place as quickly as possible.
As I move to spear a strawberry onto my fork, the doorbell rings and my body goes rigid.
”Calliope!” My father’s bellow has me dropping my fork and I look up at him instantly.
He smirks at me, mischief clear in his eyes. ”Go and greet your Uncle Fraser at the door and bring him in here. He”s joining us for breakfast this morning.” Bile rises in my throat at his words, and my usually emotionless mask must slip because his smile becomes sinister and his dark eyes show his evilness as they sparkle with excitement.
I nod at my father and stand to go towards the door. Before I even take a step, Connor rises from his chair, nostrils flared, hands balled into tight fists and his head bowed, containing his rage-filled face from our views. My father’s eyes slide from me to my brother, and his lips tilt up in amusement. Cameron leans forward in his seat with a wide smile as he waits for Connor’s next move.
My heart beats wildly as I pray that Connor will sit down and contain his outburst until we”re out of this house and on the way to college. Callum clears his throat across from us and Connor’s head snaps up to glare at him.
I see the subtle head shake and watch out of the corner of my eye as Connor scowls at Callum before turning his eyes to me. His face softens, but his gaze remains hard yet apologetic. I slowly move, taking steps to leave the room and he retakes his seat.
I plod along, wanting to waste as much time as I can, but the front door is only a few steps away and Fraser is leering at me through the glass panes. His beady, perverted eyes roam over the pale blue sundress that I slipped on this morning because I stupidly wanted to look nice. Now I”m regretting my choices majorly.
As I reach the door, his eyes trail leisurely back up my body to my face, the eye contact making me shiver. He gives me the same creepy smile that he”s given me for the past two years as he taps the door handle outside, a signal to open it. I take a deep breath, steeling my face and masking my emotions before yanking the door open.
”Hello, sweetheart. You look rather desirable today. Give us a twirl, why don’t ya?” he drawls, his eyes greedily roaming over my body. I hold back the cringe and the hateful words that I want to spit at him, knowing that it will just make matters so much worse. I do as he says, slowly twirling around.
When I face him again, he has a predatory look in his eyes, and he steps forward so that we”re only an inch apart.
”Hopefully, Derek”s feeling generous again today. I didn”t get enough of you the other night,” he whispers, wrapping his arm around me and smacking my arse cheek hard enough for the sound to echo through the entryway of our house. He then grabs my arm in a tight hold and leads me back to the dining room.
I gulp, pushing the bile back down my throat at the feel of him touching me and painting a look of indifference on my face as we enter the dining room again. Connor and Callum are both shooting daggers at Fraser, who is still tightly gripping my arm and dragging me towards the table. I keep my face blank, knowing that if I have any reaction in this room, the twins will likely turn feral and my father will be satisfied. Likely seeing it as a worthy reason to punish us all.
Fraser sits on the last empty chair and attempts to pull me down onto his lap but I hold my ground.
He looks over at my father, and he dips his head at Fraser, permitting him. Fraser looks up at me with contempt. ”Sit with me,” he says through gritted teeth. I shake my head, quickly glancing at the twins and seeing that both of them have their hands balled into fists and their faces screwed up in anger. ”NOW!” He shouts, yanking my arm. I wince at the pain and practically fall into his lap.
“Calliope, I’d suggest you listen to your uncle otherwise I’ll be forced to contact that PI again. We wouldn’t want that would we?” My father”s threat hangs heavy in the air, sending a spike of fear through me.
Connor punches his fist into the table whilst levelling my father with a look so powerful it sends a shiver down my spine. His face is red with fury and his gaze venomous. My father laughs at him, rolling his eyes. Fraser doesn’t acknowledge what’s going on in the room as he moves me around on his lap until he deems it comfortable.
”Fraser, I think we all deserve a little show this morning before the kids go off to college.” My gaze snaps to meet my eldest brother’s. He winks at me and my stomach bottoms out, realising what he”s going to make the twins witness.
”Hmm, good idea. Open these legs, sweetheart. I”m not quite comfy like this.” Fraser’s tone is joyful as his hands attempt to pry my legs open. I can feel his small member hardening underneath me, and my stomach twists in disgust. I shake my head. No, I can”t have my brothers witness this. It will scar them both for life.
“You can’t let him. Please, Dad!” I plead. He grits his teeth and stands, hands placed firmly on the table, disgust evident in his steely eyes.
“It’s your own fault that you’re in this mess. You’re worthless to me!” He snarls. “Now shut that whore mouth of yours and sit still.”
”No, please. Let Connor and Callum leave and I”ll do whatever you want!” I beg, my voice frantic.
Fraser tuts from behind me, bracing one arm over my lap to hold me tight against him as he grabs a sharp knife out of a holster under his jacket.
”You want to disobey me, Calliope? Maybe Callum should lose another finger due to your stupid mistakes? Is that what you want? You want to inflict pain on your brother?” He taunts. I look up at Callum. who’s staring back at me with a hard glint in his eyes. He nods, his way of telling me that it”s okay to disobey Fraser. Of course my brother would be so selfless.
I shake my head. I can”t be the reason my brothers get hurt. I especially can”t be the reason for another finger being cut off. I remember how much pain he was in last time, and I remember Connor and I having to help him for weeks afterwards.
I can handle this. It’s just like every other time. Just block it all out.
Releasing a deep breath, I relax my legs, making it easy for Fraser to pull them apart and loop them over his. I glance at Callum, and then Connor who”s also staring right at me. ”Don”t watch” I mouth to them. Connor is furious, but he obeys and closes his eyes.
Callum, however, looks stuck for a moment.
Fraser”s hand grazes against my inner thigh, nausea spreading throughout my body.
As his finger finds my underwear and starts to push it to the side, I throw Callum a pleading look and he quickly puts his head down on the table, eyes closed and hands over his ears.
My eyes water as the first finger is roughly shoved inside of me. The burning sensation almost makes me cringe. Every single time Fraser touches me, I’m disgusted with myself because as much as my body and my mind know I don”t want this, it still reacts. My core still gets wet, even though it”s not much. Fraser always notices and usually taunts me because of it.
As I”m trying to focus on blocking everything out, movement from where Cameron”s sitting makes me lose my concentration. When my eyes slide over to him, I regret it instantly.
”You”re sick,” I spit at him, causing Connor”s eyes to jerk open, side-eyeing me.
“Nothing wrong with it, Callie. You ain”t no sister of mine.” My father sneers at Cameron as he always does when he makes those sorts of statements.
His words catch Connor”s attention though, and his eyes drift over to Cameron. He must be able to see Cameron with his hands down his trousers because a ferocious, deadly growl leaves his mouth, making him sound like some kind of wild beast. His hands curl around the edge of the mahogany table, gripping it so tightly I fear he might break it.
My dad’s fist strikes out, colliding with Connor’s face. “Sit there and shut up.”
Connor glares back at him with contempt, molars grinding and nostrils flaring.
Cameron simply laughs and pulls his trousers further down, revealing his tented briefs. Connor and I both avert our eyes quickly.
Fraser bites my shoulder, reminding me of what he’s currently doing. The palm of his hand connects with the side of my face in a firm slap as his teeth clamp down harder, and he starts slamming his fingers into me. I press my lips tightly together, containing the pained noises begging to be released.
The sadistic old fuck gets off on my pain The knowledge that I hate what he”s doing to me helps him reach his release every time. I see my father smirking at Cameron”s actions as my eyes pass over him and it makes me want to physically throw up. He looks amused that his son is getting off on seeing his sister being used against her will. These people are warped.
A small whimper leaves my mouth as Fraser presses painfully on my clit, and Connor slams his eyes shut again.
I keep my eyes on the ornate ceiling as Fraser rubs himself against me ruthlessly, using his fingers that aren”t inside me, to rock me back and forth on top of him and pushing me roughly against himself to create the friction he needs. I can’t stop a sound of disgust from escaping me. Thankfully, he’s enjoying this too much to realise.
He starts grunting, his fingers biting into my flesh as he groans out my name and he finishes inside his trousers.
It”s always over relatively quickly for Fraser due to the mix of the pain, the unwillingness and the fact that I”m about thirty years younger than him. It turns him on beyond belief. It”s also probably the only action he ever gets.
My whole body shivers with revulsion and I”m thankful that I didn”t touch my breakfast because it would”ve come straight back up my throat after that. He releases his hold on me and I scramble off of his lap, hurrying out of the room and listening to my father”s booming laugh and Cameron’s grunts as he continues his sickening actions.
My chest feels heavy as I hold in the sobs wanting to come out and run up the stairs. I hear Connor and Callum”s rushed footsteps behind me, and I know if they reach me, I”ll break down right in front of them. I rush forward and into the bathroom before slamming the door closed and locking it. I quickly get rid of my clothes and jump into the shower, turning the water up to the hottest temperature.
Then I stand there, numb and frozen, like a statue, staring at the wall and trying to forget the events that just took place.
The car is silent as we sit in the parking lot of the college. We haven”t spoken a word to each other since I barricaded myself in the bathroom. Once Fraser was done forcing his fingers into my pussy and dry humping my arse, I couldn”t face them.
They silently stood outside the door while I scrubbed myself in the shower until I was red raw. Then, I changed into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt.
Dresses are out of the picture for the near future unless I know I won’t see Fraser. I was stupid for wanting to wear the dress anyway, as I needed the faint bruises on my ribs and my upper arm to be covered, so a long-sleeved T-shirt was the best option. I clear my throat from the backseat, tired of the silence, and they both turn to look at me with haunted expressions on their faces.
”I”m sorry you guys were there for that but can we-”
”Don”t you dare apologise!” Connor growls out, his eyes narrowing. ”You had no choice over that. Those sick bastards did it on purpose, knowing we can”t do shit about it. If anyone should be apologising, it”s us, Little C.” I shake my head because that”s not true either.
”No, I know that you two would try to put a stop to it if you could. But we”re all powerless here. Whilst we don”t know where Mum and Crystal are, we have to keep enduring all the sadistic shit they do to us. I won’t jeopardise Mum”s safety. I also don”t want them to hurt either of you because of me. I couldn”t live with that. I’m fine, I promise. I can handle it,” I tell them.
Plastering a fake smile on my face, I lean forward and kiss them both on their cheeks.
”Come on, let”s get college started my grumpy sunshines.” Connor huffs at the nickname and throws his head back in annoyance whilst Callum laughs.
Glad that I”ve managed to ease the tension a little, I climb out of the back seat and wait for them to get out. Together, we walk towards the college, ready for a small sliver of normalcy in our lives.
Walking towards the entrance with the twins on either side of me, I can feel plenty of eyes on us. I know it”s either because we’re new, or it’s likely girls checking out my brothers because it happens everywhere.
Like, yes, I suppose they”re decent-looking guys and I’d agree when people say they look like a young Tom Welling, but dear lord you don”t need to stare at them so much. I duck my head slightly, feeling uncomfortable, hoping that my concealer has covered the handprint marking my face. Connor opens the entrance door and Callum leads us into the busy hallway.
”Right, you have homeroom with Connor, and then you’ve got double English Lit after that. We”re not in those classes with you but in every other class, you”ll have at least one of us with you, if not both, okay?”
I smile, hoping to ease the concern written all over his face.
”All good. I need a little break from you two anyway,” I joke. ”Make sure you behave Sunny, and keep Grumpy in check when you”re with him,” I fake whisper. Callum laughs as Connor scoffs before walking away. I say a quick goodbye to Callum and then speed walk down the hall, following the grumpy giant that is my brother and catching up to him once we reach the door to our homeroom.
I”m about to walk in when I feel Connor grab my arm and pull me to a stop. I peer up at him, my eyes tracing the light bruising that’s started to form from this morning. He stares down at me with a rare softness on his face and hands me two slips of paper.
”You come and find us if you need us, okay?” I assure him that I will and then follow him into the room, glancing down at the two slips of paper, they”re copies of both Connor”s and Callum”s schedules. A small smile slides onto my face and I put the papers into my handbag.
Sitting down in the seat next to my brother, I hear my name being called from the front of the classroom. I look up to see a smiling Kat with her brother following behind her. I wave and see her point out the table next to us before heading over, pulling her brother along. Connor mutters something under his breath and I roll my eyes, knowing he”s not happy about them joining us, the antisocial bastard.
”Hey, Callie!” She smiles sweetly as I say hello back and wave to her brother, who”s staring at me over her shoulder. She glances over at Connor, looking unsure as to whether she should say anything to him. I elbow him in the side and he glares at me before turning his stony expression to the two sitting next to us, giving them a slight nod and then looking back at the desk where he”s tapping his fingers together.
“I”m glad we have homeroom together. I honestly only have a few other friends besides Nate and Brad, so it”s nice to know I”ll be seeing you around too.”
”Yeah, Connor and Callum are the only ones I know. It’ll be nice to have another girl around. We need to balance out the testosterone levels.” She laughs at that, and I feel myself relax slightly. Maybe I can do this whole friend thing just fine.
”So, is that like a thing in your family?” Nate asks, leaning back so that I can see him past his sister. He must see the confused look on my face due to his question because he rubs the back of his neck in a kind of nervous gesture before continuing, ”All your names start with a C, your parents do that on purpose?” It”s an innocent question but it makes Connor freeze up beside me. He hates people asking about our family.
”Uh, yeah... my Mum”s name is Clarissa, and her brother was called Cristopher, so she liked the idea of naming us all with C names,” I tell him softly, offering a smile before turning to face my brother, putting an end to the conversation so that he doesn”t pry any more information out of me.
I place my hand over Connor”s, stopping his incessant tapping. He looks over at me in annoyance and then places his hands in the pockets of his jogging bottoms. ”Relax, I know you”re uncomfortable, but you”ll be back with Callum in literally twenty minutes when homeroom is finished,” I tell him as he glowers at the teacher who”s just walked into the room.
Connor may be a big, intimidating guy who is practically fearless, but he always gets nervous and irritable whenever Callum isn”t close by. I used to think it was due to everything that goes on at home and him wanting to make sure we”re all as safe as we can be because Connor is our biggest protector. But I think it”s more of a twin thing. They literally could not live without each other. Three years ago, shortly after my Mum disappeared with Crystal, a few weeks before my 17th birthday, ”Uncle” Fraser came to visit for the first time.
When my father told me what he expected me to do for Fraser”s needs once I was eighteen, I obviously refused, which, of course, caused my eldest brother Cameron to punch me.
It was the first time any of them had been violent towards me, and I still remember the shock of what Cameron had done. I froze and stared at him in disbelief. He stared back, a playful smirk etched on his face. Callum heard and saw what was going on, so he jumped on Cameron and started raining punches down on him until Dad, Paul, and Fraser pulled him off. They then beat him to a bloody pulp and said we needed to learn our place.
They cut off his baby finger in front of me as a punishment for me refusing to let Fraser rape me and for him attacking Cameron. They had a doctor come and patch him up, then put him down in the basement.
That was the day we all learned about that place. We never even knew it existed before that, and little did we know, it’s been there for years. Callum was down there for days, and the whole time, Connor was physically sick. He didn’t leave his room; he lay in bed and stared blankly at the wall. He was deadly silent; not a word or sound left him. He was a shell of a person until Callum came back.
That was when all three of us saw my family’s true colours. They were terrifying and they didn”t care how badly they hurt people. If they got their way, they were happy.
My mum had clearly been our saviour beforehand because after she”d left with our baby sister, everyone became ruthless. Derek made it clear to all of us that he could easily find and hurt my Mum and Crystal if he wanted to.
He bragged about his friendships with the police, lawyers, and politicians. He made sure we knew we wouldn’t get any help from them. He also told us about the Private Investigator he’d hired to keep tabs on our Mum and Crystal’s whereabouts. That’s when we realised we”d have to deal with everything he threw at us, we had no choice if we wanted to keep my mum and sister safe and protected from this monster.
I struggled for a while to understand why my Mum had left without us and left us in the clutches of our monstrous father, but a few weeks after my father and Cameron had begun treating us with their cruel behaviour, Uncle Johnny came to see us.
He”d managed to slip an enveloped letter to Callum whilst we were all seated at the dinner table and later that night, we locked ourselves in Callum”s room before we tore it open. All of the anger that I had felt towards my mother those previous few weeks disappeared as we read over the words she had written to us.
My babies,
I understand that all three of you most likely resent me now because no doubt your father has turned his wrath from me onto you. It’s completely valid for you all to feel furious towards me, but I”m hoping that writing this letter will soothe some of that anger inside of you. For many years, your father and I were happy, and he was a loving and generous man. In the last decade or so, since he overtook your grandpa”s business, things have changed. He’s become cruel, vindictive and downright disgusting, and I want you to know that I feel terrible for leaving you all with him.
Last month, Robert offered to look after Crystal so that Jasmine and I could have a girl”s night. She came to our house, and we were having drinks, it was a nice evening until she saw some severe bruises on my arm and asked me about them.
After hiding for so long and pretending to be okay, I felt that I needed to tell someone about the abuse. She’d noticed, and I knew she cared, so I told her everything. Jasmine was shocked by my revelation. She told me that I had to find a way to leave. She mistakenly mentioned a secret of mine that I had shared with her years ago that only she and I knew about. She was trying to comfort me and give me a solution to the problem, but yourfather had overheard our conversation and now knew of the life-altering secret that I had hidden from him.
That night, I went up to bed, and your father beat me sobadly that I ended up with a broken arm, two broken ribs and a fractured skull. He dragged me through the house. I was screaming, begging for help, but he laughed and told me that everyone was knocked out cold. He threw me out into the driveway, pressed a gun to my head and threatened me, telling me he’d kill you all if I didn”t leave.
I promise you, I didn”t want to leave, and I tried to get back into the house but he shot me in the leg, telling me that it was my only warning. He stood there until I agreed to leave, and then he just left me, walked back inside and locked the doors. I had to force myself to stay conscious until I could get somewhere safe.
Thankfully, I managed to get down the street to Jasmine”s house. When Jas saw the state that I was in, she and Robert immediately patched me up as well as they could and then got Crystal in the car and drove me to the hospital.
One of the nurses asked me if there was anyone I could call so that I could get some help and get to safety. I had the number of a detective that I knew was already looking into your father because of his dodgy business. He collected me and Crystal from the hospital and took us away. He’s found us somewhere safe for now. He”s working on something to try and get you kids out, I promise. He just needs some evidence to stick. Your father is quite a powerful man, and he knows how to get exactly what he wants. If I could come and save you myself, I would, but I can”t leave Crystal defenceless and alone. If something were to happen to me, she’d have no one. She”s only a baby.
Johnny knows where we’re staying at the moment, but after he gives this letter to you, he won”t know anything. I know you probably have some questions, and I hope that sometime soon in the future I will be able to see you all again and give you the answers you want, but for now, I have to stay hidden. I love you all with my whole heart, and it is breaking me apart knowing that it”s my fault that you”re all now going to suffer. I just don”t see any other way around it to get us all out of this alive.
I miss you all terribly already, and I”m so sorry for leaving you with that bastard. I hope that one day you can forgive me. I love you all so much. Please try and stay safe.
I will get you out of this. I promise you I will! It”s just going to take time.
Love, Mum
At this point, we have a theory that Mum”s secret may be that I”m not my father’s biological child.
Cameron has made many comments over the years that make me positive that I have a different dad and the twins assume that that”s why my father has handed me over to Fraser as some sort of retribution towards my mother. Uncle Johnny has never told us anything regarding my mother since that letter and neither has Jasmine, not that we ever really have the chance to speak to either of them much anyway.
We also assume that no evidence has been found and this detective may have given up on helping us.