Pick up the pieces.
Percy sighed with relief as he finally made it to his room. He was on the floor, slowly dragging himself towards the room, leaving a trail of blood and sweat behind him. Gabe had lost a big gamble today, and the anger eventually came out on Percy. He did manage to protect Estelle,though.
The thought of her sister, the sweet and small bundle of joy made him want to smile, but his jaw hurt. A lot.
He slowly extended his hand towards the doorknob and began to (try to) pull himself up, but fell back, exhausted.
Get up Jackson.
He extended his hand again, towards the (now bloody) doorknob and managed to heave himself into a standing position. He leaned against the door, knowing that Estelle would've locked it according to their protocol.
"Code blue."
"I don't like this password." Replied a small voice from inside.
"Well, let's change it after I get in, please?" Whispered Percy, making an effort to sound cheerful.
"Well, it is the correct password."
The door swung open, quietly, and Estelle peeked from behind it,the mischief in the brown and cheerful eyes extinguishing as soon as she saw him. Usually Estelle knew when Gabe was lashing out and locked the door, but sometimes Percy just told her to follow the protocol and she hid without a question. EStelle still wasn't used to see him like this.
"He did it again, didn't he?"
"It wasn't that bad ,he was pulling his punches."
He stepped inside his room and locked the had kept it dark, with all lights switched off, just like she always did whenever Gabe snapped. Which was..a lot.
Estelle ran and brought the first aid kit he hid under his bed.
"Thanks."
She smiled considered smiling too, but his jaw throbbed began working on his wounds. His side had been ravaged with a rod. Bruising and cuts littered it. He took a deep breath. Estelle began to hum a tune he could never recognize.
He had been stuck in this circle for an eternity. Wake up, take care of Estelle, drop Estelle to her school and then leave for his. Come back to get beaten up and then put up a mask in front of Estelle. She got scared whenever Gabe hit him, and Percy hated to scare her.
Done with the first aid, he pulled Estelle towards himself and put her head in his lap.
"You have to go to the new school tomorrow?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"Hmm." She closed her eyes, holding Percy's hand.
He ran his hand through her soft brown hair. Sometimes Estelle reminded him of his mom and that led to numerous other memories. Estelle connected him to his life. Percy would've ended it all a long time ago, but thinking of his sister, he would put his knife down.
I have to protect her.
Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes to sleep.
