After Marcus had left and driven out of sight, the belt came off and whipped me in the shoulder. It came down on me again and again, always hitting my torso so the welts and bruises stayed hidden from anyone who would be rightfully concerned at the sight of them.
After what felt like hours of this whipping, the belt returned to Heath's waist. I was left curled up in a fetal position, silently crying from the pain.
"How fucking dare you!" he yelled. " How dare you embarrass me like that! You're fucking lucky that I put a roof over your head and this is how you repay me?"
I refused to answer or even acknowledge him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Get up and go to bed," he growled. "I need to decide if you'll still have a home here after the shit you pulled." He left me there as he went to his room and sleep.
It took awhile for me to be able to get up. I winced with pain at every little movement I made. I made my way into the bathroom and upon seeing my reflection angrily wiped the tears off of my face. It was hard to believe that I was even related to that asshole. We looked nothing alike and if God exists, I guess that's something I could thank Him for. Judging from my situation though I don't think I would be doing much thanking of any deity right now.
I must've gotten my looks from my mother. I'd only seen a couple pictures of her and my memory of her was fuzzy. I had her blond hair though. Granted her hair wasn't short like mine or spiked in the front but still. I was kinda handsome, or at least I had been told by a girl here and there that I was. Heath wasn't exactly the best looking guy either so I assumed that my facial features were from her side too. Not sure where the blue eyes came from though since neither Heath or my mother have that color is either of their eyes. That remains a mystery.
I stared at my reflection for a long time before my back suddenly started feeling... wet.
Wet?
I peeled my shirt off and turned my back to the mirror to see that it was covered in blood, and when I say covered, I mean the whole thing was drenched in red, dripping blood.
No idea how I didn't notice that before.
Peeling off the rest of my clothes I got in the shower and cleaned off the blood, although it really hurt just having the water run over the cuts and bruises. I almost started crying again but made myself hold it in.
I sat there for hours just wishing for a miracle, wishing for something that would take me and my little sister Sydney away from this damn place.
I'll just be honest, I was a little bit jealous of my sister. She was the favorite after all. While I was treated like complete shit, she was treated like a princess. Of course there were times where Heath would yell at her but mostly he treated her well. He even fed her well.
The thing though is that I knew him. That would all eventually change and one day, he would start treating her the same way as he treated me. I can't let that happen. Not ever.
I just needed a way out for both of us.