I'm the youngest. I have twelve older brothers. They ignore me. But it's not them I worry about, it's my father.
I was the unlucky thirteenth. An accident, a mistake, as some of my brothers call it. I wasn't planned and when my mother gave birth to me she was very sick.
She didn't survive but I did.
That's why my father hates me. He beats me every chance he gets. Whenever I do something wrong like trip over a rug or knock over a pillow, he beats me and sends me to my room without dinner. Whenever my brothers say I did something wrong, whether they're lying or not, I get beaten and sent to my room. If I ever go to my father to complain about what one of my brothers did, I get beaten and...well you know by now.
I thought it would never end until one day when I was twelve Alex, my oldest brother, came back to visit us for a while.
I was his favorite, I still am, and when he came I was locked up in my room.
"Where's Anna?" Was the first thing he asked Papa.
"I don't know." Papa lied.
Alex knew that he was lying and he ran up to my room, ignoring the shouts from Papa.
He knocked on my door. "Anna, Snowflake, are you in there?" He asked.
I didn't know what to think when I heard his voice. "Alex? Is that you?" I asked.
"Yes it's me. Are you ok?"
"No, Papa locked me in here. He's been beating me ever since you left."
Right then and there, Alex decided he would never leave my side. Whenever he had to leave to go to a store or a friend's house, he took me with him. The few times he had to leave me home Papa took full advantage and beat me senseless. But whenever Alex came home and saw me he would curse my father out and take me to his room. He'd nurse my wounds and let me stay in his room when I was too scared to stay in mine.
Papa got worse and his punishments got worse along with him. When Papa locked me outside in the snow I got hypothermia and had to be hospitalized. Alex had had enough.
He adopted me and we moved across the country.
And now, two years later, I'm as happy as can be. I have an awesome best friend named Kristoff. He has a crazy reindeer obsession and I think it's weird. I have a great relationship with Alex and he takes better care of me than Papa ever did. But still, there's something missing but I don't know what.
I'm about to find out.
"Hey Snowflake." Alex said after coming home from work. I was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework.
"Hey Alex." I said. He came and sat beside me. Usually he offers to help me with my homework but today he didn't.
"Anna we need to talk."
I closed my textbook and gave him my full attention. "Talk about what?"
"About Mama."
I had never met her but whenever Alex told me about her it made me feel even guiltier about killing her.
"What about Mama?" I asked.
"Well not about Mama, but moms in general."
I gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I realized that you've never had one." I didn't like where this was going. "I want you to meet someone."
Alex got up and walked into the living room. I followed him. He stood beside a woman with platinum blonde hair tied in a braid that hung loosely over her left shoulder. She had unusually pale skin and her blue eyes lit up when she saw me.
"Anna, this is Elsa, my fiancée."
My eyes widened. "Your what?!" I yelled.
Elsa looked shocked and she sent Alex a worried glance.
"Anna calm down." Alex said.
"Calm down?! How can I calm down when I just found out you're getting married!? To someone I don't even know!" I started pacing. "How long had you even known each other?"
"About a year and a half." Elsa said. Her voice was soft and gentle.
"What?! How?" I asked.
"Anna you know those 'night shifts' I've been telling you about? They weren't real." Alex said.
"So you've been going out behind my back and then lying about it?!" I had enough. I grabbed my coat and ran out of the house. Alex ran after me.
"Anna where are you going?!" He shouted after me.
"To Kristoff's!" I shouted back. "I don't want to talk to you."
When I got to Kristoff's house I knocked on the door. His mother came to the door. "Anna?! What's wrong, why are you crying?!"
I was? I couldn't tell. "Where's Kristoff?" I choked out.
"Come in dear, he's in his room." I went in and ran to Kristoff's room. He was at his desk doing homework.
"Kristoff!" I said.
He turned around and his eyes were full of concern and worry.
"Anna, what's wrong?!" He asked.
"It's A-Alex." I said. "He's getting married."
