"Get up, boy," a cold voice commanded.

Credence trembled and bit his lip to prevent himself from whimpering. Tears of pain were burning behind his eyes; he was struggling not to let them out. Not in front of this woman. He called her his mother, but there was nothing motherly about her. No warmth, no kindness, no compassion. Not that Credence knew much about such things anyway. This life was all he knew. He was worthless. This was what he deserved.

"Get up."

His legs were shaking, the beating had been hard this evening, but somehow he managed to stand up.

"Now", his mother stated. "What do we say?"

"Thank you, mother," Credence murmured.

"That's a good boy. You may go to sleep now."

"Yes, mother, thank you."

Credence kept his head down, as always, when he slowly limped to his small nook. His whole body was hurting, but he managed to hold back his tears until he lied down and buried his face in his pillow. Worthless… Unworthy of anyone's affection…. He deserved this… Bad… Useless… Worthless… Once again the pillow muffled his silent screams. His dark despair. His pain. This was what he deserved…

He flinched as he suddenly felt a gentle hand touching his shoulder. His whole body stiffened at first until he realized who was standing next to his cot. He didn't look up; he was ashamed of his tears. Modesty didn't say anything; she simply curled up beside him. She did that sometimes after their mother had beaten Credence up.

Neither of them never spoke, they didn't have to. Once again Modesty took his hand and started quietly to hum him a lullaby. It was the only lullaby she knew and Credence loved it. No one else had ever sung to him. No one else had ever showed him kindness. It made no difference if people hurt him, but if anyone would dare to hurt Modesty…

The thought filled him with dark rage. He had fought his whole life to suppress that rage. It scared him. He couldn't understand it. Feeling Modesty's hand in his, kept it away. She kept humming until he finally fell asleep. These brief moments were the only good thing in his life. She was the only one who gave him strength to go on. His sister.