Mrs. Smith looked over at Bayley, the young girl not seeming to have heard the conversation she had on the phone, or even the mention of her sister's name. The young counselor walked over again to Bayley, kneeling down in front of her.
"That was your sister's teacher. Sasha's gonna come join us, if that's okay?" said Mrs. Smith, Bayley frowning.
"Why? What's wrong with Sasha?" she asked, sighing when Bayley simply shrugged her shoulders.
"The same thing that's wrong with all of us," muttered Bayley, burying her face into her knees.
"What is it, Bayley? What is going on? Is it something at home?" she asked, Bayley shaking her head.
"Is it one of your sisters?" she asked, the young girl again refusing to open up. Dammit. Maybe inviting Sasha into here wasn't the best idea…
Before the counselor could change her mind, there was a knock on the door, Miss. Wilson pushing it open, a very upset Sasha following closely behind.
Bayley immediately looked up at her sister, rushing over to her at the sight of Sasha crying.
Both adults instantly closed the door, Bayley curling up into Sasha's arms as she sat down on the couch. Neither adult said anything, simply observing as Sasha brushed her sister's hair back, whispering something into her ear as Bayley wrapped her arms around her neck.
"Okay. We're gonna let you two be together," started Mrs. Smith, "but you need to talk to us. Both of you. Something is going on. Something is not right. We know it. But we can't help you if you don't tell us what's going on."
"Why are you crying, Sasha? What happened?" asked Mrs. Smith, softening her voice as the young child simply focused all of her attention on Bayley, who was still in her arms.
"I don't want to tell you. Just leave me alone!" she cried, tightening her grip on Bayley.
"Bayley, do you know why your sister is crying?" asked the counselor, Bayley looking up at Sasha, using her hand to wipe away some of her sister's tears.
"Sometimes Sasha just gets sad," she said, playing with her sister's hair as she refused to move away from Sasha's arms, Sasha refusing to let her.
"What makes her sad?" asked Mrs. Smith, Bayley again looking at her sister.
"Don't, Bayley," warned Sasha, placing a kiss to her sister's forehead.
"We can tell her, Sasha. She said she won't tell mom or dad…." said Bayley, glancing back and forth between Sasha and the counselor. It definitely was not a good idea to bring them together. Sasha was clearly going to prevent Bayley from talking.
"Bayley…." warned Sasha, rolling her eyes. "We can't tell."
She whispered something else in Bayley's ear, the young girl shrugging it off.
"Sasha, just tell me why you're crying. That's all I wanna know," said the counselor, Sasha averting her gaze once more.
"It doesn't matter," she muttered, shifting Bayley in her arms. Bayley frowned, pouting.
"Maybe they can help…" offered Bayley, looking at her sister. Miss. Wilson went to speak, the counselor stopping her, wanting to let the girls talk to each other first. She thought that maybe if they just listened, she'd find the answers she was looking for. Maybe. Hopefully.
"They can't. Becca helps us. Charlotte helps us. Nobody else can help us, Bayley," whispered Sasha, stroking her sister's hair.
"They can't help us, either. They're just kids! You said that yourself!" yelled Bayley, clearly going frustrated with her sister, shoving herself out of Sasha's arms. The action left Sasha heartbroken, needing her sister for comfort. As soon as she started to cry again, Bayley went to go back into her arms, the counselor stopping her.
"It's okay, Bayley," whispered Mrs. Smith, placing the young child off the couch. "Let her cry," she said, Miss. Wilson placing a hand on Bayley's shoulder as Mrs. Smith stepped closer to Sasha, placing a hand on her knee.
"Sasha, I can help you, if you let me. Your teacher and I only want to help you. We want to help you not be sad anymore. We want to help you and Bayley. We can even help Charlotte and Becky too, if they need help as well," said Mrs. Smith, keeping her focus solely on the crying child in front of her.
"You can't," she moaned, beginning to sob. "Nobody can help us. Nobody can ever know. Nobody would believe us!" she cried, reciting all of the things Becca and Charlotte had told them over the years.
Sasha hugged herself, wrapping her arms around her legs, sobbing into her knees. Mrs. Smith moved her hand to Sasha's back, gently rubbing circles on her back as she cried.
"You can show them, Sasha," whispered Bayley, crawling over to her sister, placing her hand on Sasha's shirt. Sasha shook her head, swatting Bayley's hand away.
"Stop, Bayley! Stop!" she cried, shoving Bayley away from her. Bayley fell, hard, on her bottom, pain instantly shooting through her from the spankings she had taken this weekend. As soon as the initial shock wore off, she began to cry.
"Oh, no. Oh, no! Oh, Bayley! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she cried, jumping up to help her sister, both adults in the room now very confused as to what was going on, but there was no way in hell they were about to let these girls walk out of this office without finding out the truth.
"Shh, shh, shh, Bayley. Don't cry. Don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," whispered Sasha, wrapping Bayley into her arms once more.
Sasha held her sister tight in her arms, tears falling down her own face. She had hurt Bayley. She had just hurt her baby sister. How could she?
"I'm sorry, Bayley," she moaned, choking on her own sobs. "I'm so, so, sorry!" she cried, Mrs. Smith stepping in to ease Sasha away from Bayley.
"Sasha, please tell us what is going on. Please tell us the truth. We can help you, sweetheart. There is nothing you can tell us that we won't help you with, Sasha," whispered Sasha, wrapping her into a hug as she continued to cry.
Bayley wiped away her own tears, crawling back over to Sasha. Mrs. Smith pulled away, once more allowing Bayley to talk to her sister.
"Just show them, Sash," she whispered, touching her shirt once more. "They have to believe us, if you show them," she whispered, Sasha shaking her head.
"We can't, Bayley. It's not that easy…." she whispered, taking her sister's hands in her own. "It can't be that easy."
"What if it were, Sasha? What if showing us whatever it is Bayley is asking you to show us, were that easy? What if it helped you?" asked Mrs. Smith, trying to reason with the oldest of the two.
Sasha hesitated, feeling her breathing start to quicken. It couldn't be that easy. She couldn't tell. Becca and Charlotte always told them they couldn't tell. Nobody would believe them. Mom and dad would find out. Mom and dad would hurt them really bad if they told. They couldn't tell. It wasn't that easy.
"Sasha, honey, breathe," whispered Mrs. Smith, watching as the young girl began struggling to catch her breath, her eyes zoning out.
"Hey, hey, hey, Sasha, Sasha, look at me. Look at me. Just breath," whispered Mrs. Smith, quickly interjecting as she watched this little girl start to have a full blown panic attack.
Sasha whimpered as she struggled to breathe, the counselor gently coaching her back to where she needed to be. "Good girl. Good, good girl. Just breathe," she whispered, Bayley starting to cry as she watched the scene unfold.
After a few more moments of coaching Sasha, her breathing slowly coming back to normal, Mrs. Smith continued.
"What's under your shirt, Sasha? What is Bayley asking you to show us?" she asked, Sasha whimpering once more. Everything was falling apart. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. None of this was supposed to be like this!
"Show them, Sasha. Please," begged Bayley, giving her sister another hug, tears in Bayley's eyes as well. "Please, sissy?" she whispered, Sasha closing her eyes as she saw the pain and sadness in Bayley's eyes; the pain and sadness that sat in Sasha's stomach all the time. The pain and sadness that made her not be able to sleep anymore. The pain and sadness that made her cry all the time. The pain and sadness that made her wish she was dead.
Why did this have to be on her? Why did she have to do this? Why couldn't Charlotte or Becca do this? Why did she have to tell? Why couldn't they? Why didn't they?
"Sasha?"
Bayley's voice was tiny, her eyes watching her sister intently, her little hand reaching up to grasp Sasha's hand. Sasha took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Her mind was screaming a million different things at her. Everything hurt. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to die. She wanted to run away. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Sasha's fingers trailed the hem of her shirt, the young girl trying desperately not to think about what she was doing, about all the consequences this could have. They could tell her mom and dad. They could not believe her. They could tell her she was lying. They could tell her parents and then send them home again. She'd be punished with the crib, for sure. She'd never seen sunlight again. She'd long for the days when being whipped or tortured with ice showers was how she got punished.
She thought about Becky and Charlotte; about Becky's stomach and the pain she was in, about Charlotte's screams as their father burned her torso with cigarettes. She thought about Bayley crying and screaming as their mother beat her with a belt and then forced her to sit on her wounds, about Bayley crying this morning as her mother forced her into another diaper…
Why was this all on her?
Why did it have to come down to her?
"It's okay, Sasha. You can do it," whispered Bayley, her eyes refusing to leave her sister. It was Bayley's voice that brought Sasha back to reality, staring again at the hem of her shirt.
Slowly, Sasha lifted her shirt, her eyes scanning the dark, angry, purple welts. Higher and higher until her entire upper body was revealed, the welts covering her from her chest all the way down past her stomach.
"Sasha."
The counselors voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "Sasha, I need to hear these words from you, okay? Can you tell me in words, baby girl? Who did this to you?"
Sasha closed her eyes again, panic once more rising through her. She had to see it through. She started it. She had to finish it.
"My mom and dad," she whispered, breaking down as soon as the words left her mouth.
A/N: And there it is! The moment you have all been waiting for! (Well, sort of). Lol.