Eponine ran as fast as her feet would carry her, she wanted to get home before her father did, and that way he wouldn't be able to beat her for being late and maybe, just maybe, he would lessen her punishment.
She had screamed, she had ruined her father's plans and now she was going to pay for it.
Eponine ran through the front door, tears where already threatening to fall down her face just thinking about the beating that was going to follow shortly.
Madame Thenadier was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, a bottle in her hand, obviously passed out from all the alcohol consumption. Azelma wasn't in the house, which meant she must be out 'working'
No sooner had Eponine entered she heard her father and his gang enter. She spun round and wiped her eyes, she was terrified but she wouldn't let anyone know it, she was a Thenadier after all.
"What the hell was that?" Thenadier spat before slapping her across the face with his cold, dirty hands. She could already feel the bruise beginning to appear on her cheek.
"Pere…" she began before being stopped by another blow to her face, this time it was a fist and it caused her to fall backwards onto the wooden floor.
Thenadier's gang were now encircling Eponine who lay helpless on the floor, all but one, Claquesous. He was waiting outside the door, making sure that nobody entered the room.
Thenadier undid his belt and pulled it off, wrapping some of it round his hand and wrist to turn it into some kind of whip. This was his favourite way of beating his daughter.
Eponine lay on the floor in a ball trying to protect as much of her body as she could.
She felt the belt come down on her, hard. It stung like mad but Eponine tried not to give her father the satisfaction that he wanted by crying, as she felt the belt hit her harder and harder her body gave in and tears began to fall down her face and she began to hiss with pain.
When Thenadier was done it was Brujon who made the first move on Eponine. He kicked at her ribs and then pulled her up to his height; he planted his lips on hers and then threw her back down onto the hard, cold floor.
Eponine let out a little shriek as her body slammed against the wooden floorboards. She wanted to die, right here right now.
Thenadier knew what was to come and so he left the house, leaving his daughter alone with his gang. He would go and make some money of his own elsewhere; he did need to eat after all. As he ran down the street he passed his other daughter, Azelma, and took from her all the money she had made during the day.
Azelma continued to walk towards the place that she called home. As she got closer she could hear the screams of her sister. Azelma picked up her speed and ran into the front door, she was about to enter the room were the noise was coming from but a hand suddenly grabbed her.
Claquesous spun Azelma round "go to your room or…" he said, not finishing his sentence but instead pulling out a knife from his pocket and twirling it around in his fingers. Azelma understood the message and ran up the stairs to her room. She laid on the straw mattress and put her fingers in her ears in an attempt to block out the sound coming from below.
Eponine had closed her eyes; she didn't wish to see any of the men's faces, especially not the enjoyment in their faces as they beat and raped her.
About an hour later Azelma heard her father's gang leave and she ran down the stairs as fast as she could.
She flung the door open and found Eponine lying on her stomach in the middle of the floor, her skirt hitched up to her thighs.
Azelma went over and knelt beside her sister, she placed a hand on Eponine's shoulder. Eponine flinched. "It's okay, it's only me Azelma" Eponine opened her eyes and looked at her sister, they were bright red and swollen from where she had been crying. "Oh, Eponine" Azelma said as she pulled the hem of Eponine's skirt back down to her ankles where it was meant to be.
The two sat in silence for a few minutes; Azelma gently rubbing Eponine's back as to give some kind of comfort and reassurance.
"Come on, let's go upstairs" Azelma said. Eponine seemed to be staring into the darkness, "Eponine?" Azelma's voice broke through her thoughts.
"Sorry" she grumbled, and then she pulled herself up. I don't know how long I can put up with this Eponine thought to herself. She felt dirty and that was saying something considering she was a street rat.
She took a step and almost fell over, her legs felt all jelly-like. Azelma helped Eponine walk up the stairs and then sat her down on the straw mattress.
Azelma grabbed a cloth and some water and let Eponine wash herself.
Once Eponine was finished she lay on the mattress daydreaming about the life she could have known and slowly fell into a wonderful sleep where she dreamt about Marius.
Azelma saw her sister getting some rest and so she crawled in next to her, gently pulling a thin sheet over their bodies.
Authors Note: Sorry it is so short, i just wanted it finished in the end. Also i didn't want to go into detail about what happened when Thenadier left the room so i'm hoping you can guess what happened by the way it's written and you get the jist. Sorry about my rubbish writing, this is not my best.
Thank you for reading. xx