"This is your fault!" He yelled, staggering over towards Emma. "She left because of you!"
He was much closer now, and Emma could smell the alcohol all over his breath.
He slapped her across the face, hard, and she whimpered, trying to crouch down against a corner in her room.
"P-please Daddy, I'm s-sorry!" She said, her eyes filled with tears.
She didn't even know what she was apologizing for... Emma had been subjected to various beatings since she was around five, but as she grew older, they only grew in frequency and intensity.
"I-I'm sorry!" She said again, hoping her words would reach her father.
Her mother had always known about the beatings, but never said anything. She acted like they were normal, so Emma learned to as well.
But the week before her mother had left, and now every day she was beaten worse than ever before until her dad passed out from the alcohol he chugged from the moment he got home.
"Daddy please!" She tried again, but all it got was a sharp, hard kick to her shin. Another bruise immediately started forming there surrounded by others.
"Get up!" He ordered her
She stayed crouched against her wall, trembling, not knowing what to do.
"Da-daddy please stop, your h-hurting me" she said.
He yanked her up by the arm and threw her on the bed, then paused.
First, she was relieved, thinking he was to tired to continue with his beating, but his eyes had a sinister look to them, and that feeling of relief washed off just as soon as she felt it.
"Take off your shirt." He growled.
"What?!" Emma exclaimed, terrified. He had always beat her, but this was something he had never done.
"Take it off!" He yelled, much more angry now.
Trembling, she began to lift it above her head, and he yanked off her pants and underwear before it even made it off of her body.
"You're mother left because of YOU!" He repeated "So now, you're going to give me what she can't" he said with an evil look.
He stood up and unbuckled his belt, and his pants fell to the floor.
Emma didn't know what he was talking about, or what he was going to do, but knew it couldn't be good with the evil smile that was spread across his face.
He returned to the bed and pinned her arms above her head with one hand, and started groping her small body with the other.
"Daddy stop p-please I don't li-like this" she said squirming, her eyes welling up with new tears.
As usual, he ignored her. He forced her small legs open and without warning thrust all the way inside of her.
Emma screamed, louder than she had ever screamed in a beating. It was pain unlike anything she had felt.
"NO!" She yelled "Daddy stop STOP!" She screamed again, but her kept thrusting hard in and out of her, until he came on the sheet under her.
After another punch to her eye, he staggered out of her room.
Emma stayed, frozen, confused, and in excruciating pain. She eventually looked down to see a tennis-ball sized pool of blood on the sheets between her legs, next to something clear and sticky.
She jumped up, ignoring the pain, and got into a scalding hot shower, scrubbing every inch of her.
Tears were still streaming silently from her small eyes when she walked back into her room and huddled down in the corner, and eventually fell asleep there.
Morning came too soon as she heard the loud beep of her alarm clock, and groaned.
She opened her eyes, confused for a second as to why she was on the floor, before the pain of the previous nights memories washed back over her.
She looked down and saw purple marks across her wrists from where her father had pinned her hands.
She stood up, and started walking to her dresser but the pain coming from between her legs was so bad, that she had to pause and grit her teeth before forcing herself to continue. With each step it was like a knife going through her, but she knew she couldn't miss the bus.
Even though she was only 11, she was able to expertly apply concealer to her cheek where another bruise had formed. Her mother had always made sure she did to cover bruises before going to school, so she knew she shouldn't stop now even with her mom gone.
She brushed her teeth, and put on leggings and a long sleeve tee shirt to hide her injuries, despite how warm the fall weather was.
She silently crept out into the kitchen and saw that thankfully, her dad was still passed out on the couch. She put together a lunch of scraps that she found in various cabinets and managed to make it outside just in time for the bus.
Relieved that she hadn't missed it, she climbed on and saw as usual, her best friend Maureen Stabler saving a seat next to her in the front.
"Hey Emma!" She greeted, moving her backpack.
"H-hey Maureen." She said back, trying not to act out of the ordinary.
"How was your weekend?" She chirped
"Um, it was good" Emma lied. "How was yours?"
"So fun! My dad had off work so we got to go play tag and soccer in the park and then we got ice cream!" She said, smiling.
Emma smiled back, wondering what it must be like to have parents who played outside and bought you ice cream.
"And tonight" Maureen continued "were all gonna get pizza and Kathleen is having her friend over and- oh! Maybe you can come over!" Maureen said, proud of her idea.
Emma nodded eagerly, grateful for any excuse to get her away from her dad for the night. "That'd be so fun!" She said, truthfully.
"I'll ask mommy when we get to school." Maureen said. Her mom worked part time as a secretary at the elementary school's front office.
Emma nodded.
A/N-- What do you think? Leave me a review to let me know your thoughts and ideas so I can decide if it's worth continuing! :)