Chapter One:
He leant forwards, typing into his computer, attempting to finish his tedious paperwork. A sudden noise came from the direction of the crib. Curious, he walked up the stairs, where he found Olivia tossing and turning violently, still asleep, attempting to escape the claws of a distant memory.
Flashback Begin
Olivia walked home, her mother had forgotten to pick her up from school again. Olivia wasn't worried; she was used to it by now. Her mother rarely ever paid attention to her and the only time she did was to either boss her around or use her as a punching bag.
She reached the house and climbed through the back window, just as she had done for the past few months. Looking around, she realized that her mother had not yet come home. The floor was still tidy from Olivia's cleaning the night before, and the house was yet to smell of booze again.
Walking to the fridge, she quickly prepared a meal that could be heated later. She pulled out her homework and began to finish her spelling and math homework. A sudden rattle of the door pulled the six year old out of her deep concentration.
Olivia walked over to the door, and opened it, revealing her very drunk mother, being held by an officer.
"Thank you sir." Olivia said, in a much older voice than should belong to a six year old.
"Is your father home?" the officer asked, looking past her at the spotless living area.
"Yes, but he's sleeping. I can take it from here." She lied, gently pulling her mother from the officers grasp, before shutting the door firmly in his face.
"You bastard child." Her mother yelled at her, the moment the door closed, "Where's my dinner?"
"It's here Mama," the little girl handed her mother a dish. The woman drunkenly stumbled over to a chair.
"Get out of here, you idiot." The woman told the girl, her voice extremely harsh, as she looked into the little girl's deep brown eyes.
"Yes Mama." The girl responded, before quickly picking up her backpack and homework and fleeing the room.
As the evening wore on, no more contact was had between mother and daughter. The girl had changed and showered, and prepared her clothing for the following day for both mother and daughter. A sudden yell, startled her out of her gentle slumber that had graciously enveloped her.
"Yes Mama?" she question, as she entered the room. She surveyed the damage, mentally calculating how long it would take the pick up the mess. Three bottles of vodka littered the floor followed by a tray of discarded food, and several piles of vomit.
"Clean up this mess, you whore." The mother yelled at her, before drunkenly stumbling to her room and passing out on the bed.
"Yes Mama," the little girl said softly, to herself as her mother left the room.
For four hours she scrubbed the floor, throwing out bottles and food. The scent of vomit still tainted the air, and Olivia knew that it would not disappear without a few more hours scrubbing.
When she decided the smell was acceptable, she looked at the clock, 1:00 am. 'Not too late' she thought to herself, before walking to her room, and falling asleep instantly from exhaustion. Not even two hours later, she was once again woken, but this time in a much more unpleasant manner.
A number of forceful blows were being administered to her side. As she tensed and tried to block out the pain, a hand reached out and tightly grasped the waist of the little girl. The hand forced her to turn, until her front was exposed, the feeling of vulnerability at its peak.
More blows were rained upon her small already sore frame. As the blows became more vigorous, she passed out from pain. When she awoke again, there were a number of fresh bruises upon her body and she was late in getting breakfast.
She dressed and raced toward the kitchen, finding her mother standing there with a sour expression on her face.
"Where's my breakfast?" the woman asked nastily.
"Sorry Mama," she whispered, "I'm making it now." She immediately busied herself making breakfast.
"Bye Mama," she said, gently kissing her mother's cheek, heading off for school. As she walked the long distance to the school, she knew that she had to come up with yet another excuse as to the various bruises and pain she experienced daily.
Flashback End
Elliot watched in horror, as he heard everything that she was saying. He couldn't believe that she had had such a horrid childhood. Sure, she had told him that it had occasionally been tough, but this was hard to imagine. Seeing that she was about to go into another memory, he shook her awake.
Olivia sat up, startled.
"Oh, Elliot." She said, trying to make up the fact that she had just awoken from a memory of her troubled past, "What are you doing here?"
"I heard something, came up here. Did you really have that tough of a childhood?" he asked gently.
"What?" she looked confused, scared even, "No. It wasn't that bad."
"Olivia, please don't hide from me. I won't think any differently of you if I know."
"Yes you will. You'll think I'm weak."
"No, honey." He said, pulling her into a soft hug, "I won't ever think you're weak."
"Yes you will." She claimed stubbornly, "I couldn't ever defend myself. I just sat back and took it. I'm a weakling."
"Olivia, how about you tell me about it, and then I can decide for myself if you are weak or not." He said, knowing full well that he would never think of her as weak.
She knew it was a stupid idea, but she needed to get some memories of her chest. She nodded and was immediately thrown into another flashback as she recited a memory for him.