Chapter Five #2
“Someone get Kreed!” I hear Cali yell as she stands from the table and pushes Carly away from me.
That’s the last thing I see and hear as I fade into a memory.
Today is my seventh birthday. I woke up happy until I heard my aunt calling my name.
She was mad about something as I jumped out of bed and rushed down the warped ladder in the barn where I stayed.
I wasn’t allowed in the house with my aunt and uncle.
They said I didn’t deserve to use their heat, water, be around their food, or be comfortable.
I was an obligation they were forced to take in and that’s how they were choosing to deal with me.
“Anni! Get your ass out here right now!” my aunt screams, her voice making me miss a few steps and scrape my legs against the old wood. I can feel my legs tear open and a few splinters hide under my skin.
“I’m sorry, Aunt. What did I do?” I ask her the second I’m standing in front of her outside the barn in the frigid morning air. I’m wearing a thin pair of pajama pants and an old tee-shirt filled with holes.
“You should have been inside to make breakfast an hour ago. You’re so damn lazy!” she yells at me before grabbing onto my shoulder in a painfully tight grip and leading me inside the house.
My uncle is waiting for me just inside the door.
I can smell the alcohol on him before I get too close to him.
This means he’s going to be mean and he’s already angry.
It’s only proven when I notice the belt in his hands as he glares down at me.
My body is already trembling in fear as he lashes out with the belt.
Once again, the belt buckle hits my skin and breaks it open.
I manage to hold in the scream wanting to rip free as the pain takes over every single inch of my body.
My uncle doesn’t stop there. He lashes out repeatedly until his arm gets tired and I’m a crumpled mess at his feet.
“Get the fuck up and make our breakfast!” he yells at me before shocking me.
My uncle takes a bottle of alcohol from the table and dumps it over my head.
The smell consumes me as it soaks my thin pajamas and coats my skin.
I’ve never seen him waste his alcohol like this before.
In seconds my body is on fire where the alcohol lands on the open cuts on my body.
Still, I don’t give him the satisfaction of screaming out in pain as my uncle finally turns and walks away from me.
It’s not long before the TV is blasting loud and I can pull myself up.
If my aunt tells him I’m still on the floor, he’ll come back in and beat me again.
It’s happened before and will happen again when I offend him in one way or another.
My uncle doesn’t truly need a reason to beat me, he makes them up in his own mind most of the time.
I try to be good and quiet, to do what I’m supposed to.
Instead, I’m beaten multiple times a week for his various reasons.
“Pixie, I need you to come back to me,” I hear a man’s voice as if it’s coming from a distance. “Come on, Annistyn. You’re okay. Nothin’ here is gonna hurt you. I’ve got you.”
I follow the sound of the voice very slowly.
It seems to take forever, but everything comes back to me.
I’m sitting on the floor of the common room.
Kreed’s body is wrapped around mine and no one else is close to us.
Kreed is cradling my head against his chest so I can hear his heart pounding steady and strong as he continues to whisper words only I can hear.
I’m not sure what he’s saying, but it’s working to pull me out of my mind and reliving one of the many nightmares I suffer through daily.
“I-I-I’m o-o-okay,” I whisper when I can finally suck in a breath and the tightness in my chest eases a fraction.
“You’re not, Pixie. You’re far from okay,” Kreed says as he lifts me in his arms and sits me in the chair at the table I was previously at. I honestly have no clue how I ended up on the floor. “What the fuck happened? I want to know who hurt Annistyn and caused her to have a panic attack.”
“It was Carly. She asked Annistyn if she ever had a drink before. When Annistyn said no, Carly decided to have Evan bring over shots. Evan didn’t bring the drinks over.
Annistyn kind of faded into nothing and fell from the chair just before you ran in here,” Cali answers as I remain locked in Kreed’s arms, trembling in the aftermath of the panic attack and memories.
“Carly, why the fuck would you take it upon yourself to get Annistyn to drink? If she wanted to have one, she’d order it herself.
Who the fuck are you to demand anyone do anythin’?
” Kreed asks the woman in question, his voice cold and hard in a way I’ve never heard before.
I’m still not scared of him. Deep down I’m starting to believe Kreed would never hurt me.
That thought scares me more than anything else.
“If she’s gonna be here, she should do what the rest of us do,” Carly says, a sneer on her face as she glares at me.
“Annistyn isn’t like you and never will be.
She’s pure, innocent, and in recovery. For you to pull this shit because you’re drunk is more than enough reason for me to kick you the fuck outta here.
You’re the only girl who has treated Annistyn this way and I won’t tolerate it at all.
Annistyn is mine and you won’t ever go near her again.
I will bring up in church you bein’ kicked out.
For now, you’re on probation and not allowed to drink until further notice,” Kreed orders as Evan and one of the other guys drag a screaming Carly away from the common room. “Let’s get you up to your room, Pixie.”
I nod my head and allow Kreed to remove me from the room.
I’m embarrassed anyone saw me lose my shit and don’t open my eyes the entire time he guides me to the stairs and then up them.
I listen as he unlocks my door and opens it before guiding me inside.
The door closes behind us and I feel Kreed put me on the bed and lay down before he climbs in next to me.
I’m wrapped up tight in his arms as exhaustion claims me and pulls me under into a nightmare free sleep.
It’s not uncommon after I have a panic attack.