The yelling had begun again. Upstairs in his room, Apollo flinched as he heard something in the living room smash. Little Athena, who was only nine years old, whimpered and buried her head under the covers of her bed. Apollo glanced over at his twin sister, but Artemis was reading a book by the window and either hadn't heard or was trying to ignore it. Apollo knew it was probably the latter.

After a while, everything went silent. Apollo and Artemis exchanged a worried look. They knew what that meant. Artemis quickly got up and lay down in bed next to Athena, cuddling her close. His heart pounding, Apollo lay down on his little sister's other side and put his arms around both his sisters.

Then they waited.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. An angry curse, then a loud yowl from a cat. Apollo felt a thrill of fear. Their little cat…! Poor Wendy. Had their father stood on her, kicked her, or…or worse…?

But he couldn't dwell on it too much because just then, their father burst into the room. Athena's grip on Artemis tightened automatically.

"Everybody up!" their father bellowed. "NOW!"

Pushing the covers back, the three children jumped up and scrambled into a line. Apollo and Artemis were standing on either side of Athena, whose hands they were clutching tightly for comfort. The youngest Hastings sibling was trembling with fear.

Leon Hastings glared at his children as if he was a drill sergeant. "You!" he snapped suddenly, jabbing his finger in Apollo's face. "Your report card today. You didn't get a single A!"

Apollo gulped and managed to stammer, "I g-got a-all B-Bs, th-though…"

"Bs are rubbish!" Leon snarled. "You'll never get anywhere on Bs!"

Apollo fell silent, too terrified to mention that his mother hadn't received a single A in her life, and yet she still became a professor of literature.

"And you!" Leon whirled on Athena, who nearly began crying right there and then. "What's this I hear about you getting into trouble at school?"

"A boy bit her and pulled her hair," Artemis replied for her sister. "She didn't get into a fight; all she did was push him away. He ran and told the principal, like a crybaby."

"Rightly so!" Leon snapped. "You should not have pushed the boy over!"

"He was m-m-mean!" Athena cried.

"Boo hoo! GET OVER IT!"

Poor Athena's heart couldn't handle any more yelling. She bent her head and began to cry. Apollo let go of Athena's hand as Artemis drew her into a comforting hug. But a moment later, Leon roughly pushed them apart and grabbed Athena's wrist.

"If you get in trouble, you get punished! Remember?"

Athena started crying out in terror.

"NO!" Artemis shrieked, trying to get her father to let go of her sister. But Leon aggressively pushed her away and began dragging Athena out of the room.

Apollo rushed to make sure his twin was okay. As he was helping her sit up, they both heard a very loud, very worrying sound, followed by a scream. Their hearts filling with fear, the twelve-year-old twins sprinted out of the room and onto the landing.

At the bottom of the stairs, Athena was lying on her side, clutching her arm, crying softly in pain. Leon was just storming into the living room, so Apollo and Artemis raced down the stairs to their little sister's side.

"What happened?!" Apollo gasped, as Artemis gently lifted Athena onto her lap. "Are you okay?! Thena!"

"T-T-Tripped," croaked Athena through her tears.

"He must have been pulling her so hard that she fell down the stairs," Artemis growled in disgust. "Stay here with her."

She gently shifted Athena onto Apollo's lap. He reached out and caught her wrist as she stood up. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"I'll be right back," she said, her face dark.

She pulled her wrist out of Apollo's grip and went into the living room. Apollo's breath caught in his throat.

A few seconds later, Athena reached up with her uninjured wrist and tugged on Apollo's shirt. "P-P-Polly…"

Apollo attempted a smile down at his sister. "Thena. Are you okay?"

"My hand hurts," she whispered. "Is it broken?"

Apollo gently took Athena's injured wrist in his hand and examined it. "I don't think so, Thena. Does it hurt?"

Athena nodded tearfully. "Where's Arty?"

"She's-."

A scream interrupted him. That was when Apollo knew something was horribly wrong. Artemis had never screamed before in her life.

Lifting Athena to her feet but keeping her behind him, Apollo hurried to the doorway of the living room.

Their mother, Anna, was lying on the sofa, either asleep or unconscious, or…worse. Leon was standing in the middle of the room, holding Artemis aloft by her hair. Artemis was crying in pain, and her left leg was out in such a way that it was clear her knee was broken.

As soon as Apollo saw that, he felt his own leg erupt into pain and his own heart begin beating even faster. He and Artemis shared a link; they could feel each other's pain. Apollo almost passed out from the pain, and it wasn't even his.

His blood froze when he saw that Leon had drawn back his fist and was preparing to hit Artemis again. Leaving Athena behind, Apollo charged forwards and got between his father and his twin. Of course, Leon ended up hitting him very hard in the face. Artemis screamed again, clearly feeling the pain, herself. Ignoring his own pain, Apollo punched his father as hard as he could in the stomach, so that he would finally drop his twin. When he did, Apollo grabbed her and began pulling her out of the room. Athena followed them as they made it to the front door. It was unlocked, so they quickly rushed out into the front lawn.

It was around that time that they heard sirens. Hoping that someone was coming to help them, they hid between two bushes in the garden, nursing their injuries.

They watched as a police car came to a halt outside their house, and three police officers got out. Leon had already come to the door to find his kids, but when he saw the cops, he tried to flee. But the cops caught him easily.

A policewoman found the three children and gently knelt down in front of them. "What are your names?" she asked softly.

"I-I'm Apollo," Apollo croaked. "A-And they are A-Artemis and Athena."

"Is that your father?" She pointed over their heads to where their father was being held against the bonnet of the car.

The three children nodded slowly in unison.

"And where's your mother?"

"I-Inside," Apollo replied hoarsely. "W-What's happening?"

"It's okay, children. You're safe now. We're going to take your dad away and make sure your mom is looked after, okay? Then you three will be able to be taken care of properly."

Apollo and Artemis squeezed each other's hand and put their free arms around Athena, who rested her head on Artemis's chest.

They were finally safe.