WARNING

This chapter may not be appropriate for younger viewers. Read at your own risk

I ran up to my room and locked the door. Any minute my father would be home, and I had to be ready. I had cleaned the house spotless, and set up his couch the way he liked it. I hoped he would just come home and pass out, but as usual, my luck ran out fast. I heard the back door open and slam closed.

"Child! Get down here!" The loving voice of my father rang through the house.

I held my breath, hoping he would just pass out on the couch.

Thud, thud, thud.

He was coming up the stairs! I dove under my bed. Maybe he would go away.

No such luck. The pounding of his fist hitting my bedroom door rang in my head. A few tears escaped as I closed my eyes.

Please I prayed, If you're up there, please help me. Send my daddy away. Don't let him get to me

The doors burst open. I peeked from under my bed, and saw my father's boots. They had a mixture of mud and some other substance that looked like throw-up.

"Come out, come out where ever you are, girly," he said in a menacing voice. He sounded like a monster. "Boo!" he lifted up the bed skirt. I screamed as he dragged me out.

"Why were you hiding?" he asked.

I shook my head violently.

"I said, why were you hiding?"

"Um... I wasn't?"

"Don't lie to me, girl!"

"Um... Because I was, uh, afraid of you," I gave him the best puppy eyes I could muster.

"Oh," He set me down on the bed. I was confused. He was acting like he was before mommy died. Almost...kind. "And why is that?"

I melted into his arms and sighed. "Ever since Mommy went to see God, you changed, Daddy."

He tensed a little, but I didn't think much of it.

"I-I'm scared of you alot of times, Daddy. And I want to love you... but, but-" I couldn't continue. I burst into tears.

Daddy rubbed my arm and comforted me. As soon I got drousey he tucked me in, turned on my nightlight, and left the room.

I breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't do anything to me, thank the Lord. But, I should've known my luck would run out, because as soon as he got downstairs he yelled, "NYMPHADORA!"

I sighed and hoped out of bed. I ran downstairs as fast as I could.

"Y-yes?"

"Yes what, Nymphadora?" His menacing voice was back.

"Yes sir?"

"What did I specifically ask you to do before I left?"

I thought about what he had told me. He had given me many instructions before going of to get drunk. The main one, though, was to sweep the kitchen.

Oh no, oh no, I thought.

What's he gonna do? Will he punish me greatly? Will he let me off with a warning? Many questions swarmed my mind.

"I'm sorry!" I said immediately. "I'm sorry! I'll do it right now! Please let me go to bed!"

He grinned and evil grin. "Not this time, girly." As he took his belt off, I whimpered and scrambled into a corner.

"This is for your own good," He said.

He brought the belt down hard. Pain erupted on my back, the tears escaped, and I curled up into a ball on the floor. Every time the belt came into contact with my skin, my hair changed color. It went from navy blue, to dark purple, to blood red, and so on. After two minutes of this torture, he left me in a hump on the foyer floor. When he left me, I was actually naive enough to think he was leaving for good. As usual, I was wrong. He came back with a fire poker from our fire in the living room.

I backed up into the corner. The poker came at me, and my stomach was engulfed in pain. Black spots danced across my eyes as he dragged the poker horizontally across my abdomen.

Happy seventh birthday to me, was the last thing I thought before the darkness surrounded me.