"I want this to end...".
"It hurts...it hurts...".
Curled up in a fetal position in an alley way while three girls grouped up and pummeled their fists and legs onto her, she couldn't even let out a scream of pain. These exact same girls always pulled her aside ever single day since the start of high school just to bully her, yet unable to say or do anything against it for the fear of it never stopping caused her to find an alternate to this. It was something she kept to herself ever since the first day it happened. Ever since that unfaithful day things had changed for her drastically, from her physical state to her mental state. No one was to be trusted, even if they reached their hand out to her she had lost all common sense and automatically declared them a threat. To some point her body became fragile at the spine and rib cage from the constant beatings she received. Having to dress very conservative became a hobby for her since she had to cover herself from head to toe in order to hide the bruises and cuts that covered her frame.
"I think that's enough for today...let's go" said the ring leader of the group.
"I hope you learn your lesson"said the other.
"Remember, if you ever tell anyone we'll kill you" said the last one.
Just able to sit up and give them a shaken nod, she was finally free to go home. The three girls left casually out of the alley way as she was finally able to stand up to pick up her belongings and adjust her clothes. Wearing a blue plaid skirt with black stockings and a hoddie to cover herself, she walked out of the alley way and headed home. Tightly gripping her school bag over her chest to give her some sort of comfort, it was still hard. Having gone through this several years, by now she thought she would be used to it but apparently not.
To start things off, she never knew what she did to deserve this. In middle school she was friends with a decent amount of people and cherished her friends, but once high school started it had all changed. Next thing she knew she was being ignored by her own friends and bullied by the so called 'popular' girls in school. It started off with being ignored and soon grew into actual beatings after school. Telling her parents about this would be out of the question since they weren't in this world any more and the only other person she could rely on would be her brother, Gary, but he was usually never home since he was in active duty off somewhere classified and it's not like she would call him just to tell him that she was being bullied at school. Having no option but to keep it to herself, it ate at her ever single day for the fact that there was no one there for her and it was driving her insane.
Picking up her pace to hurry on home, it didn't take her long to arrive in her quiet little neighborhood and rush into her house. Slamming the door behind her, breathing heavily only to drop her school bag on the floor and hold herself back from crying.
"Shiva, are you home?" asked a familiar voice.
That voice, it was her brother. Not wanting him to see her as she was, the stairs would have been her option if she didn't see him appear from the corner of the living room and stand in front of her.
"Bloody hell ya've grown!" he said while wrapping his arms around her for a hug.
Shocked from seeing him here, the wounds on her back weren't even an issue. Lifting her up from the ground for a tight squeeze, he was quick to set her down and drag her to the living room where two other men stood before her.
"Lads, this here is my sister Shiva. Sis, this is my Cap'n, John and my Lieutenant, Simon" said Gary.
Being shoved in front of them, she lifted her hand up to greet them.
"A pleasure to meet you both" said Shiva shaking John's hand followed by Simon.
"The pleasure is all ours, little miss" said John.
"Sis, take off your jacket won't ya? It ain't that cold in here" said Gary.
"Excuse me, I need to use the restroom" said Shiva quickly as she rushed upstairs to the bathroom and locked it behind her. Removing her hoddie to reveal her bruised up arms, she dug through the cabinet to find her make-up bag and proceeded in patching herself up before she even went back down stairs. For one particular cut she had to apply a band-aid, but aside that she packed her make-up before coming back down stairs to smile at her guests.
"I am sorry about that, nature was calling" said Shiva.
"Excited that your brother is back home?" joked Gary.
"What can I say, it's been a year since you've been home" said Shiva.
"Sorry about that sis, but work has been quite hectic. Wish I could come see ya more often" said Gary.
"Don't worry about it, brother. I understand" said Shiva.
"You're such a good girl. Which is why I have a surprise for you. I've got some time off so for the next couple of months I am off so I'll be here until then!" said Gary.
"Really?" said Shiva with concern.
"Not happy about it?" asked Gary.
"It's not that, but you sure it will be alright?" said Shiva.
"Don't worry about it, miss. The three of us are in vacation for a while so it will be quite fine" said John.
In a way this concerned her for the main reason being that he would eventually find out about the bullying, which was something she didn't want him to know about. Accustomed to this lifestyle and with her trust issues would only cause her stress. This triggered a panic reaction as she had to excuse herself from them.
"Sorry to leave so soon but I have homework to do" said Shiva.
"Go ahead, but we've got lots of catching up to do!" said Gary.
Smiling at him, she then proceeded to leave the living room and rushed up the stairs to run into her room and locked it. Resting her back against the door, once again her heart began to run fast and her breathing became heavy.
"No...he can't find out...why now...".
Slumping down on the floor as she pulled her knees up to her chest and sunk her head in between, this was as bad as things were gonna get.