Chapter 4: Nightmare
"NO!" I screamed, waking up to find Uncle Charlie by my side. I grabbed onto him, not being able to erase the horrible memory from my mind.
"Shh, baby, it's OK," he hugged me, rocking me back and forth.
"Charlie, I… I… I'm sorry, I…" I sobbed, "I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm s-sorry…"
"It's OK, baby, Shh," he carried me into his arms. I was glad that I was twenty pounds underweight, because he would have had a difficult time doing so.
Uncle Charlie brought me downstairs and sat me down onto the couch. I couldn't stop crying. There was already a big black spot on his shirt.
"Bella, are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," I cried, "This is the fifth time already and I-"
"Shh, it's OK," he cut me off; "You don't need to cry. You're safe, no one will hurt you."
"I just… I can't… I can't…" I breathed.
"It's OK," he embraced me once again, which was exactly what I needed; "Those nasty people will never bother you again, OK? I'm here, and I promise they won't hurt you. Ever."
"OK," I whispered.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.
"I keep seeing the same things happen over and over again," tears were streaming down my face, "And I always have the same nightmares. I always see them, they're always there."
I had been reliving my tortures in my mind. Those people, Rachel and Bill –wince–, always made an appearance. How could I forget them, after all? They were my… my biological parents. It hurt to know that I had the blood of those monsters running through my veins. And they got their sadistic satisfaction from me, their own daughter, for four years.
There were scars all over my body. The compound fracture was the most painful memory. When Bill was in a bad mood and I spilled something over him accidentally. He grabbed his metal bat and…
I wanted to die. I had made an attempt at my life about… thirty-seven times. There were scars swirling around both wrists, and I've been to the ER a thousand times. The doctors might've mistaken my parents to have Munchausen's syndrome. I didn't know.
I had told my aunt, Cathy, about it. But she didn't believe me until after I got the compound fracture. Rachel and Bill were arrested, and she got custody of me. But she thought that I should get out of Phoenix and live with Charlie. She thought I would forget, but obviously, she was wrong.
"You have school in the morning," Uncle Charlie said, "Do you want to stay home?"
"No, I'll go," I looked down, "I'll just stay up until then…"
"Want me to stay up with you?"
"No, you should go back to sleep. I'll be fine."
"OK…" he hesitated, and then went back upstairs.
I hated feeling this way. I hated feeling like a burden. But I was a burden. I've thought of running away and getting my own place, but I didn't see that that was possible at the moment. I was flat-out broke.
I had to deal with it for now.