A/n: hi, everyone! Here is yet another story! This story idea and most of what I wrote came from the amazing mind of rehabreflections ! She is greatly helping me with this story, and credit goes to her for all of her lovely ideas! I hope you like this story! :)
xx
Olivia Benson had been working for New York City's Special Victims Unit for about fifteen years, and last year, she was promoted to lieutenant. Her life revolved very much around her job. She was passionate about what she did. She wanted to help victims heal and get justice. If she could do that, maybe her existence wouldn't be such a waste. Maybe her life could be more than an accident that occurred after her mother was raped. She couldn't help her mother, but perhaps she could help others before they turned into replicas of her mother.
In all her years as an SVU detective, Olivia Benson believed she had seen everything. She worked cases where teenagers were assaulted on their walk home late at night. She interviewed victims who felt they weren't victims because the abuser was their significant other. She'd worked with victims who didn't want to report the abuse. She'd seen victims in the hospital, terrified of just about everything. She'd known victims who killed themselves after violent attacks. She even witnessed the daughter of a victim shoot at her mother's attackers in the middle of the squad room once. She took her cases home with her, despite the attempted mindset of not taking your work home. Each case hit her like a ton of bricks, but there was one particular case of child abuse that changed her life in ways the other cases didn't. This particular case consisted of two young girls whose parents made the fortunate mistake of moving next door to the seasoned detective.
Bruises colored her skin, and welts decorated her torso. Make up hid the injuries that clothes couldn't. The wounds never had time to fully heal before another beating took place. Her body had grown used to being sore. Her stomach had grown used to being hungry. Her legs had grown used to being apart. She knew all the best hiding places, even though she knew hiding only made things worse. Her screams at night were loud, but they must've been deafening because nobody ever seemed to hear them. She cried often, and people just assumed she was too sensitive, but she wasn't too sensitive. She was abused.
Amanda Rollins was eleven years old, but many people who spoke to her would argue that she had the mind of an adult. The young girl had seen so much of the world at such a young age. Her mother passed away due to complications after giving birth to the young girl. Her father was a different man after that. He blamed the young blonde for his wife's death. As the baby girl grew, her father became more violent towards her. He used his daughter as a punching bag, and when she turned ten, he decided she should have to satisfy his needs since his wife was gone and it was apparently her fault.
James Rollins met Beth Anne when Amanda was eight. Beth Anne had a daughter of her own, Kim, who was five. James loved Kim. He thought she was a wonderful kid who could do no wrong. He loved her more than his biological daughter. Beth Anne didn't like Amanda, mainly because she was not her biological daughter, and both James and Beth Anne were bitter and abusive towards the little girl. James and Beth Anne were together for almost three years before they were married a few weeks ago. The dysfunctional family moved into a nice house in a good neighborhood in Manhattan a day before falling out of a tree changed the path of Amanda's life.
Amanda was in Kim's bedroom, helping the younger girl unpack. They were step sisters, but Kim always looked at Amanda as though they were biological sisters. Amanda understood the difference between step and biological, but she loved Kim very much. The two stepsisters got along well, even though both parents despised Amanda. Amanda didn't resent Kim for the abuse because it was not her fault.
"Mandy, can we go play outside?" Kim asked.
"Maybe later, Kimmy. We need to unpack first," Amanda answered.
"Okay. But when we go outside, I want to climb the trees like you do. Will you teach me how?" Kim asked. Amanda loved to climb trees, and Kim always watched in awe as her older step sister climbed.
"Sure," Amanda agreed, placing stuffed animals on Kim's bed.
"Yay!" Kim cheered, causing Amanda to smile.
Amanda did most of the unpacking in Kim's room, giving the younger girl small jobs here and there. Her room was finished after a few hours, and Kim continued pestering Amanda to play outside.
"Kim, I still have to unpack my room," Amanda reminded her.
"Do it later. Please, Mandy! I want to play outside," Kim begged, giving her sister big eyes. Amanda sighed.
"Okay, okay. We can go play, but only for a little bit," Amanda decided. Kim cheered and began putting on her converse. Amanda went to put her shoes on before going downstairs.
"You have to ask because they always say yes to you," Amanda told her sister as they entered the kitchen.
"Mommy, can me and Mandy go play outside?" Kim asked.
"Is your room unpacked?" Beth Anne asked her daughter.
"Yes, Mandy helped me do it," Kim smiled.
"Amanda, is your room unpacked?" Beth Anne questioned, a hint of venom in her voice.
"N-no," Amanda mumbled, looking down.
"Kimmy, you can go play, but Amanda has to unpack her room and do some other chores," Beth Anne decided.
"But Mommy, I want to play with Mandy. Please. Just for a little bit?" Kim begged. Beth Anne sighed. No one could say no to Kim's innocent face.
"All right. Just for a little bit," Beth Anne gave in. She glared at Amanda.
"You keep an eye on Kim," Beth Anne ordered. Amanda nodded, and the two kids went outside to play.
As soon as they got outside, Kim ran to the nearest tree.
"Mandy, help me climb it!" Kim requested.
"Okay, but be careful," Amanda said seriously. Kim nodded excitedly.
Next door, a woman was sitting on her porch, reading a book. She heard the two young children playing in their yard and smiled at them. She loved children, and she loved watching them have fun. So much of her job was spent helping children in a terrible situations, and it was refreshing to see two happy kids playing together. The woman didn't have children of her own, but she treated every child she met as though they were her own.
She watched as an older girl helped a younger one climb a tree. The two kids spoke loudly, and Olivia figured out their names were Mandy and Kimmy.
"Kimmy, grab my hand. It's okay," Amanda tried to soothe her younger sister. Kim was growing nervous as she got higher, and she was starting to regret climbing the tree in the first place.
"I wanna get down," Kim whimpered.
"Kimmy, it's okay. Just a little higher. Grab my hand," Amanda encouraged. Kim reached for her sister's hand, but lost her balance. She fell out of tree. It wasn't a long fall, but the young girl was still in pain. She screamed out in pain, and Amanda jumped down from the tree.
"Are you okay, Kimmy?" Amanda asked, worried for her younger sister. Kim sat up, and Amanda hugged her.
"What hurts?" Amanda questioned. Kim was wailing too much to answer. Amanda was desperately trying to calm her sister down when the front door opened.
"What's going on out here?" James demanded. Amanda flinched at his angry voice. Kim got up and ran to her step father.
"I fell out of the tree," she cried in his arms.
"Why did you let her climb the tree?" He yelled at Amanda. The neighbor noticed how frightened the girl looked.
"I-I'm s-sorry. Sh-she w-wanted to climb it, and I-I thought," Amanda stuttered.
"How could you be so stupid?!" James hissed.
"I-I'm s-sorry, D-Daddy," the girl whimpered.
"Get inside!" He growled. Amanda ran inside the house and to her bedroom. She knew she was in trouble, and she was terrified.
The neighbor felt bad for the older girl, who clearly hadn't meant to do anything wrong. She felt the father overreacted, but she figured he was simply worried for his younger daughter, who was in pain. Still, the overreaction of the father and fear on the little girl's face concerned the neighbor. She overheard Kim trying to tell her father it wasn't Mandy's fault, but the father wasn't really listening. The neighbor wanted to believe he was simply stressed out with moving, but the detective in her told her it was something more than stress. She decided she would get a look at the family for herself.
Amanda was huddled up in the corner of her bedroom. She had closed her curtains to prevent the chance of anyone seeing what was about to happen. Tears were streaming down her face, and her body was trembling. She felt guilty that Kim got hurt, but she was more afraid about the repercussions she would face from her father. Her bedroom door slammed open a few minutes later, causing her to scream. Her father closed the door and approached the young girl.
"What were you thinking? It's your fault Kimmy got hurt," he growled.
"I-I'm s-sorry, D-Daddy. I-I d-didn't-I didn't m-mean t-to," Amanda whimpered, even though she knew her apology would be meaningless to her father.
James gripped his daughter's blonde hair and yanked her to her feet. He slapped her across the face, causing to her to cry out in pain. Punches and slaps attacked her body as profanities and insults attacked her heart. Her screams and cries did nothing to stop the beating or cruel words. It was as though James didn't even hear his daughter's pleas. They entered through one ear and exited through the other.
Amanda wasn't sure how much time passed before her father shoved her to the ground and exited the bedroom. He slammed the door on his way out, causing Amanda to flinch. Amanda curled up in the corner of her bedroom. She was in so much pain, and she couldn't seem to stop the trembling of her body. She tried to quiet her cries, knowing her father and step-mother hated hearing them. A couple of minutes later, her door opened again, and Amanda flinched.
"P-please, n-no m-more," she whimpered.
"Mandy, it's me!" Kim chirped, softly closing the bedroom. Kim made her way to her sister and hugged her.
"Did Daddy hit you again?" Kim asked.
"Are you okay? Does anything hurt from falling?" Amanda dodged Kim's question.
"No, not anymore," Kim shrugged.
"Good," Amanda whispered.
"Can I help you unpack your room?" Kim wondered.
"No, Kim. Go play in your room," Amanda said. She loved her step-sister, but she wanted to be alone right now. Kim got up and went to her bedroom.
After a few more minutes, Amanda found the strength to stand up and start unpacking her bedroom. She didn't have very many things, so unpacking was significantly shorter than unpacking Kim's room. Amanda was done with her room within an hour. She heard Beth Anne call Kim downstairs for dinner. Amanda didn't usually get dinner or any other meal for that matter. Most of the food she ate was either stolen or taken while her parents were asleep or out of the house.
Around seven pm, the neighbor who had watched the children playing earlier decided to go introduce herself. She knew moving into a new neighborhood was always easier when a neighbor offered friendship. She took a lasagna with her, knowing cooking was difficult when a house still needed unpacking. She approached the house and knocked on the front door. A woman opened it a few seconds later.
"Yes?" The lady asked.
"Hi, I just wanted to stop by and welcome you into the neighborhood. I'm Olivia. I love next door," the neighbor introduced herself.
"I'm Beth Anne. James!" She called. A man appeared seconds later.
"This is our neighbor, Olivia," Beth Anne smiled.
"Nice to meet you. Uh, I brought a lasagna," Olivia said, handing the dish to Beth Anne.
"What did you bring?" A new voice asked. Olivia looked down at the little girl.
"Hi, sweetie. I'm Olivia," Olivia smiled.
"I'm Kimmy!" Kim chirped.
"Hi, Kimmy. I saw you and your sister playing together earlier. Where is she?" Olivia asked.
"Amanda's in her room. That kid is such a troublemaker," James rolled his eyes.
"She didn't mean to. We were only playing," Kim shrugged.
"Would it be all right if I introduced myself to her?" Olivia wondered.
"No. She's in trouble, so she'll be in her room the rest of the night. Maybe some other time," James said, not wanting anyone to see the bruises on his daughter.
"Oh. Okay, then. Well, you have a nice night, and let me know if you need anything," Olivia forced a smile. She turned and headed back to her house.
Olivia paced around in her bedroom. She knew something seemed off about her new neighbors. She had no proof, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Olivia decided all she could do was keep an eye on the family. She looked out her bedroom window as if staring at the house next door would solve the problem. She learned that her window faced one of the bedroom windows next door. There were pink curtains drawn, so Olivia couldn't see inside the house. She wondered what was going on behind those curtains.