A/N: Sorry for no updates in a few days I have had a busy weekend. This chapter has some upsetting scenes, you have being warned.


Chapter Nine

Injury

Esmerelda went back to school the next day, wishing she had being able to stay at Cackles instead. The teachers did not really care she was absent and she told them she was not well which they seemed to accept and then she took her seat at the back of the room, ignoring everyone and trying to focus on her work. Luckily for her she had not seen Cynthia and the others yet as her father had paid someone to bring her to school not trusting her not to skive of again.

She was therefore fine for her first two lessons but when she was walking down the corridor at breaktime Cynthia, Amy and Laura saw her and walked up to her smirking.

"Where were you yesterday?" Cynthia asked her unable to wipe the smirk of her face.

"My sisters had a show on at school so I went to watch" Esmerelda lied. Not wanting Cynthia to know she had not being able to face going in.

"Oh dear well you will have to make up for it, we missed a whole day with you" Cynthia told her and before Esmerelda could move Laura put her hand over her mouth and started to push her forward as Amy went the other side. They pushed her until they reached the toilets.

"Cynthia why are you such an idiot, let me go" Esmerelda said as soon as she was released heading for the door. When she was about to reach it Jessie of all people walked in and looked around concerned when she saw her sister's gang surrounding Esmerelda.

"Jessie just the person I was looking for, come here" Cynthia said pulling on her sister's arm and whispering something to her. Jessie glanced at Esmerelda concerned but nodded once Cynthia pinched her.

Cynthia grabbed a hold of Esmerelda by the front of her blouse, forcing her back against the sink and Esmerelda knew she had to fight back, she had no idea how to do it but she did the one thing she could think of. She reached up and grabbed Cynthia by the hair and pulled and Cynthia screamed as Esmerelda looked at her hands in shock as a row of hair came into her hands that had clips on it. She had no idea what it was though.

"You bitch!" Cynthia shouted throwing Esmerelda onto the hard titled floor. Esmerelda felt her head hit it hard and felt dizzy from the impact but she didn't have much time to think because Cynthia was pulling her again and held her down hard as she started to roll Esmerelda's sleeve up.

"Get off what are you doing" Esmerelda screamed out fussing with her and trying to push her off but Amy and Laura came to help as Cynthia reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife. Esmerelda kicked Amy so she would let go of her.

"Jessie, come here and help now!" Cynthia told her stepsister in a demanding way. Jessie jumped but walked over to Esmerelda to cover her mouth and help hold her in place and Esmie tried to fight the girls off but there was just to many. She looked at the knife Cynthia was holding with fear in her eyes? Was she going to stab her? She wouldn't put it past Cynthia.

"You know Esmerelda I don't like it when people make me mad, and if you are going to resist then I will just have to make you react won't I?" Cynthia told Esmerelda as she put the knife down for a moment and grabbed Esmerelda's exposed arm.

"Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?" Cynthia asked her victim in a nasty way. Esmerelda tried not to show the confusion she was feeling by that. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, something to do with inking your skin?

Esmerelda shook her head not knowing what a tattoo was exactly and not wanting to give Cynthia the wrong idea. Cynthia looked at the girl's arm again as if trying to decide what to do.


"Oh really? I have the perfect one for you!" Cynthia told Esmerelda as she picked up the knife again and Esmerelda closed her eyes, preparing to be stabbed in the stomach or something.

She did feel pain but not in her stomach, on her arm. She opened her eyes and saw Cynthia pressing the tip of the knife into the skin on her arm and Esmerelda started to scream from the horrible pain in her limb, even Jessie, who had done nothing to help Esmerelda so far, knew it had gone to far this time.

"Cynthia stop, this is evil!" Jessie told her stepsister as she saw blood start to trickle down Esmerelda's arm from the cut on it and heard the girl screaming. Cynthia pressed the knife in more and Esmie's screams intensified. She had never felt pain like this in her whole life, she doubted childbirth was this painful.

"Shut up Jessie and do what I say!" Jessie told her stepsister as Esmerelda took the distraction to bite Jessie's hand and then talk.

"Stop...please…..I am sorry..." Esmerelda said her voice coming out in deep breaths. Cynthia only smirked at her.

"So rude, I am giving you a free tattoo" Jessie told the girl as she kept slicing her arm and Esmerelda screamed more, feeling blood drop down her arm but not caring about that only the pain. Esmerelda started to cry badly, for once not able to put on a brave face.

"Cynthia please..." Esmerelda begged through her tears. Cynthia all of a sudden let go of her arm and sighed at her.

"Why didn't you say so? You are so confusing" Cynthia told her smirking as Esmerelda shook as pain raged through her arm. Cynthia clicked her fingers and the girls let go of Esmerelda and stood up. Jessie was as pale as a ghost and was not wearing the same smirks the other girls were wearing.

"Come Jessie" Cynthia told her stepsister, having had enough of torturing the blonde.

"We can't just leave her" Esmie heard Jessie say through her half conscious mind.

"Do you want a tattoo too? If you don't I suggest you walk" Cynthia threatened her sister and Jessie reluctantly turned away to walk out. She stopped at the door and looked at Esmerelda who was just lying on the floor, not attempting to move but letting her body fall into a faint. She waited until Cynthia and her friends had left through the door. She knew she was an awful person for allowing this to happen to Esmerelda but she could still do something. Jessie kneeled down to inspect her arm but she knew the girl was in so much pain, she didn't even touched her and she flinched and whimpered through her sobs clearly struggling to catch her breath. Jessie stood up and ran out the room, finding a teacher that didn't actually teach her or Esmerelda but she would have to do.

"Miss….I have something to tell you" Jessie told the teacher as she explained the story.

By the time the teacher walked into the toilets Esmerelda's body had finally given up its strength and she lay unconscious on the floor. Her arm hanged limply and was a bloody mess and the teacher was not sure how deep the cut was.

"Jessie go tell reception to call an ambulance and her parents" the teacher told her student as Jessie zoomed out the room.


Esmerelda woke up with a throbbing in her arm. She hissed in pain as she turned over and sat up and realised she was in a hospital. It came back to her then, what had happened with Cynthia and Esmerelda was just wondering how she ended up here when Mr and Mrs Hallow entered the room.

"You got into a fight in school" Mrs Hallow told her and Esmerelda looked at her bandaged arm, the pain did not seem to have died down and she moaned clutching it.

"It wasn't a fight….a girl attacked me" Esmerelda told her parents. Mrs Hallow sat down and looked at her daughter.

"Darling we know what happened, some girl told the teacher" the woman told her daughter.

"Cynthia something" Mr Hallow replied and Esmie wanted to have a tantrum. Whatever she had said it would not be good.

"She told us you tried to….kiss her...so she used self defence, of course I don't agree with it but..." Mrs Hallow told her eldest.

"She is lying, she is bullying me!" Esmerelda replied not preparing to sit there and listen to this rubbish Cynthia had made up.

"Esmerelda don't be so silly, how could someone like you be bullied, you are a Hallow!" Mr Hallow replied not buying that story.

"So? I am the perfect target as I don't know anything, Cynthia is evil that is what the problem is" Esmerelda told them.

"Esmerelda" Mrs Hallow said in a way that was telling her to stop lying.

Esmerelda fell her heart break. She didn't exactly care what her parents but she had now lost everyone's trust, except her sisters but they were not bloody there, but she knew this was only the beginning, Cynthia had showed no remorse she wasn't going to stop. There was only one thing she could do to stop this.


That night when her parents had gone home Esmerelda stood up and walked clutching her throbbing arm as she did so. She followed a nurse until she walked into the medicine cabinet and hid in the corner out of sight, in the darkness. The woman hummed to herself as she looked for various medicines for her patients and then went on her way.

When she had gone Esmerelda reached into the nearest drawer and pulled out a box of pills. She could see warnings on the box warning of what could happen if someone took to many but she ignored it. She emptied the pills from the silver foil into her hand and stuffed them into her mouth, swallowing them down and waiting for her nightmare to end. She felt her vision going blurry and knew the overdose was setting in. For the second time that day she ended up on the floor in a dead faint, only this time she was not breathing.