Title: Behind Closed Doors
Rating: M- For child abuse
Summary: Alternate Universe. Life as the children of Stephanie and Hunter McMahon isn't the fairy tale the rest of the world believes it to be. Behind the glamor and luxury lies a horrible and dark secret that four sisters are forced to live.
Notes: For reference, the ages of the girls are as follows. Bayley: 7, Sasha: 9, Charlotte: 12, Becky: 12 (Charlotte and Becky are twins)
They were sisters, first.
It was the only way they knew how to survive.
One for all, and all for one.
Seven-year-old Bayley crawled over from her bed to Charlotte's bed, carefully crawling into the bed next to her sister.
"Charlotte. Charlotte, wake up."
The twelve-year-old groaned as her sister shook her awake, rolling over onto her back as she opened her eyes, staring at her baby sister who was currently pouting.
"Go back to bed, Bayley," muttered Charlotte, sighing when Bayley reached her arms out for Charlotte.
"I wanna sleep with you. I had a bad dream," replied Bayley, sticking her thumb into her mouth.
Charlotte sighed, sitting up herself before pulling her sister into her lap. "You can't. You have to sleep in your own bed. You know the rules, Bay," said Charlotte, picking her sister up and carrying her over to her bed.
"No, Charlotte! I'm scared! Please, let me sleep with you!" cried Bayley, tears now streaming down her face. Her cries managed to wake the other two occupants of the room.
"What's going on?" asked Becky sleepily, turning over so she could see Bayley's bed across the room. "Why is she crying?"
"She wants to sleep with me," said Charlotte, pulling her sisters blanket over her small frame, Bayley still clinging to her sister's arm.
"Bayls, you can't. You want mommy and daddy to put you back in the crib again?" asked Becky, the mention of the crib sending Bayley into even more of a panic.
"No! No! I don't want to go back into the crib!" cried Bayley, Charlotte glaring at Becky.
"Great, thanks for that. Now she'll never fall back asleep," muttered Charlotte, gently stroking her sister's hair.
"Shh, come on Bayley, just close your eyes, okay? I'll stay with you until you fall asleep again," whispered Charlotte, laying down next to her baby sister as she continued to stroke her sister's hair, Bayley snuggling up to her sister.
"Char, if mom and dad find you in her bed…." whispered Becky, Charlotte rolling her eyes.
"I'm just gonna stay with her until she falls asleep, then I'll go back to my own bed, Bex," whispered Charlotte, her eyes refusing to leave Bayley as she started falling back asleep.
"We can't baby her, Char," said Sasha, speaking up for the first time, all four girls now awake. "It's not gonna make it hurt any less when they punish her," remarked Sasha.
The room fell silent after Sasha's comment, Charlotte's heart breaking as she thought about their situation. Sasha was only nine. Nine. And at nine-years-old, she knew the truth far too well. Hell, it wasn't as if Bayley had never taken a punishment before, either, and she was only seven. She got spanked just as often as the rest of them caught the wrath of their father's belt. Hell, their mother had gone so far as to force her to sleep in the crib for a week after months of trying other punishments to get her to stop sleeping with her sister's at night. That had been a rough week for all of them.
Now they were just more careful about making sure their parents didn't find out that she still tried.
As soon as she was certain Bayley had fallen back asleep, Charlotte returned to the other side of the room, sitting down at the edge of Sasha's bed.
"Hey, kiddo," whispered Charlotte, gently placing a kiss to her sister's hair. "How you feeling?"
Sasha shrugged, refusing to make eye contact with Charlotte. She knew what she was referring to.
"Just leave it alone, Char," muttered Sasha, moaning when her sister gently lifted up the back of her shirt. "No, don't," she whispered, trying to hold in the tears.
"Dad was pretty angry about that phone call from your teacher, wasn't he?" asked Charlotte, closing her eyes as she caught sight of the welt marks lashed across her sister's back. "Oh, Sash…"
"It's fine. It's not a big deal," she whispered, her voice now filled with tears. "It happens to us all."
"Doesn't make it hurt any less," whispered Charlotte, placing another kiss to her sister's hair.
"Please, can we just go back to sleep?" asked Sasha, glancing over at the sole clock in their room. "It's almost time for us to wake up. I don't wanna fall asleep in school again," whispered Sasha, wincing as she turned back towards her sister. Charlotte nodded, sighing.
"Alright," she whispered, struggling to leave her sister's side. She was the mother of them, the nurturer. She and Becky both, really. Being the oldest, the two had always felt a strong need to protect Bayley and Sasha, even if their protection meant more punishments for them. They all cared about each other. They all took care of each other. They had to. Nobody else had ever tried to protect the girls from the wrath of their family. Nobody else knew about the horrors that hid behind the walls of the McMahon empire. All they had was each other.
"I love you, Sash," she whispered, placing one more kiss to her sister's forehead this time before going back over to her own bed, crawling once more under the covers. It was only another couple of hours before their mother would unlock their door and a new day of just trying to survive would ultimately begin.
A/N: Let me know if this is a story you guys want to see more of! Please review, follow, and favorite if you like it!