Notes: I finally decided to continue this. I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but I am traying to keep things as authentic as possible, and went to the library in order to get some books(unfortunately they don't have that many). I just hope that my writing is good enough to deal with this topic...This is the link of a site I looked through: http://www.americanhumane.org/ There were some others, but I forgot to write down the addresses.

Another thing: I will travel to Italy this weekend, so don't expect any updates during the next 2-3 weeks. I will be at the beach and enjoy the sun :P ~Kaeera

Broken Wings

by Kaeera

Living Hell


-Past-

"See ya tomorrow, Davis!", a boy shouted, grinning. "And don't forget your math homework again!"

"Uhm, yeah...", Daisuke laughed and put a hand behind his head. "I try to do that...bye, TK!", he waved back and quickly walked away from the school building. But as soon as his blonde friend was out of sight, he slowed down. It was a strange wish for a boy of his age, but Daisuke Motomiya would have given everything, just that he could have stayed at school instead of returning home. However, there was no chance....so he tried to lengthen the way home by walking extremely slow.

But unfortunately he didn't live very far away from school, and so he had reached the apartment complex sooner than he thought - or wished. The boy decided to take the staircase instead of the elevator, but even this couldn't hold him up for longer.
Finally he stood in front of the door to his apartment. Daisuke's shoulders were hunched, and for a moment he felt the sudden urge to run away - he knew what would await him inside.

Fear is an immense power. It can control your mind. And your soul. And although the rational part of his brain told him to run away, his legs didn't mind. He was just too scared. He couldn't do it.

Daisuke opened the door and stepped inside. "I'm home.", he said and wanted to go to his room. Maybe he would be safe there....

"Wait, young man.", a harsh voice rumpled, and Daisuke flinched, hand outstretched to the doorknob. Trembling he turned around. "Y-Yes, Dad?"

"Where have you been?", the man demanded, and Davis gulped. He sounded....angry. Angry was not good...no, it definitely wasn't.

"Uhm, we've had a school project...", he stuttered nervously, "I had to work on it with Takeru, Biology, and we did a lot of research..."

"So, why didn't you tell this earlier?", his father tapped on the ground. "You have your orders, my boy. One of them is being at home at 4.30 o'clock, not later! You disobeyed me!!"

Daisuke stepped back. "I didn't do it on purpose...the teacher told us this morning, and if I worked on this, I would have gotten a better biology result...I can improve a lot with it."

"Stop it.", his father growled. "There are orders. My god, why is my son such a failure??", he threw his hands up in the air and narrowed his eyes. "Do you need a lesson - again?"

The boy looked on the ground, trying to hide his trembling lips. "No...", he whispered, closing his eyes. "Father...I managed it to hold my average in maths, and I was second best in geography...I'm no failure...."
"Oh yes, you are.", he snorted. "You and all the stupid friends of yours, you aren't worth the food you're eating! I don't know why I am trying to raise, why I am spending money on you and your sister...well, at least Jun has a little bit more in her brain than you!"

Daisuke felt tears well up in his eyes and couldn't prevent them from falling down. His father saw this and immediately yelled. "And what's that? Crying like a baby? Act like a man, Daisuke! Tears are for weaklings. You don't want to be a weakling, do you?"

He grabbed his son by the collar. "It's time for another lesson!", he sighed. "It's just for your best, my son. You need to be strong. I don't want a failure as a child! And you have to learn to obey my orders!"

Daisuke shook his head, eyes widening with fear. He knew what was coming, and he didn't like it. More tears were rolling down his cheeks. I'm just glad that the others can't see me right now, he thought gloomily, They would surely go away if they saw me crying like a baby....so weak...


Humiliating...

Do I earn it? Is it my fault?

Weak, weak, weak

loser...


The first blow hit him right into the nose. Blood dropped down his cheek, but he knew better than wiping it away. The best was to hold still and to wait until this torture was over.

"Men don't cry!", his father hollered and slapped him in the face. Daisuke fell to the ground, clutching his cheek.

"Especially not MY son!", Mr.Motomiya continued and kicked the boy into the rips. Daisuke yelped and tried to roll away. Looking up at his father, he saw the evil glint in his eyes and shivered. He looked so....gigantic and mad. Like a monster. He started trembling, but this time his whole body trembled in fear.

"Don't you DARE to disobey me!", came the next shout full of rage. Daisuke winced, both of fear and pain. This wasn't his father....it was a monster. Images of previous fights flashed through his head - fights with digimon, fights he had won, because he had been together with his friends....

Why can't I manage it when I am alone?? Why not when it's....HIM?

Another blow hit his upper arm, sending an burning pain through his whole left side.

"I don't want a failure in MY house!", Daisuke was taken by the taller man and thrown against the sofa. He breathed heavily, fists balling in pain.
His father glared at him, and the boy curled up, hugging his knees. He tried to crawl away from this devil, as far as possible, but there was a wall in his back, and all he could do was lifting his arms in a weak attempt of protection. Tears were cascading down his face, drenching the t-shirt, mixing with the blood. And the next blow came.

A new wave of pain shot through his body, and he bit on his lower lip, not permitting himself to cry out aloud. His face felt hot, burning, and all he wanted to do was to crawl away and to hide...under a rock, in a cupboard....in a place where nobody, not even the sunlight could reach him.

The next movements were a blur. He would remember the voice, and the pain, but he couldn't make out images. Just the metallic smell of blood in his mouth. His father shouting at him, although he didn't hear the words. The pain. PAIN. And...shame. Shame that he was a failure. Shame that he was treated like this.

He tried to feel hatred, but there was none. Only the fear....an overwhelming fear in his heart, fear of this certain person. Humiliated. Beaten. Injured. Mentally abused. Whatever.

----- Physical Abuse is characterized by the infliction of physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child. The parent or caretaker may not have intended to hurt the child; rather, the injury may have resulted from over-discipline or physical punishment.

----- Emotional Abuse (psychological/verbal abuse/mental injury) includes acts or omissions by the parents or other caregivers that have caused, or could cause, serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders. child's behavior or condition, are sufficient to warrant child protective


The next thing Daisuke knew that he was in his room. He was lying on the floor, his head aching and panting heavily. He didn't move. His body was shaking so hard that he couldn't control it, and still the tears were flowing down his face. He coughed a few times, spilling the floor with blood. Although he felt weak, he crawled to the other side of the room. He wanted to get away from his father, and every meter counted. Daisuke opened the door to his cupboard and climbed inside. He curled up in a ball and closed the door. Here, in the darkness of the cupboard, he felt at least a little bit safe. HE was out there, but HE couldn't come into his place. In the darkness, he was safe.

The air was sticky, it was uncomfortable and he was hungry. But nothing could have convinced him to leave this 'safe' place. Everything out there was territorial of the enemy. Of the beast.

*******************

Later that day his sister returned. Over the last months, Jun had started to check on her brother on a daily basis. Since their father had started this, she felt responsible for her smaller sibling. And guilty, too, because her father would treat her much better than him. He beat her, and it hurt, but compared with the things Daisuke had to endure, it was nothing. But the girl was as afraid as her brother, and she feared that he would probably kill them both if she told anyone about this...so she kept her mouth shut and tried her best in patching up her and her brother's wounds, hoping that someday this would end and she could live peacefully again...like she had did two years ago. Maybe three. Or even four. She didn't remember it exactly. It just had....started.

However, when she came home this day, she knew exactly that it had happened again. Daisuke was nowhere to be seen, and the living room was untidy; signs of a fight. She peered into the room of her brother and sighed sadly. He had, again, hide himself in the wardrobe, a habit he had gotten used to over the last months. Every time his father would beat him, he would go into the cupboard, refusing to leave it and claiming that it was the only safe place.

She went to the kitchen and searched for some food. Experience had taught her that her brother surely hadn't eaten anything, and the boy really needed to be strong.

With a tray of food she sneaked into his room, trying to be silent because she knew that her father would be mad at her if he knew that she was doing this.

"Daisuke?", she whispered, softly knocking on the cupboard door. She didn't get a reply.

"Davis? I know that you are in there."

"Go away.", came the sniffled answer.

"How bad is it?", Jun asked worriedly. The voice of her brother sounded full of pain, and she winced when she heard the defeated tone in it.

"Go away.", was the only response.

"No.", she said. "I have food for you. You are hungry, aren't you?"

"Leave me in peace.", the boy sniffed again, although his stomach was growling.

Jun sighed. "Daisuke, I just want to help you. You don't have to come outside....it's enough when you open the door a little bit."

"No."

"Please."

"No. Go away."

"Let me help you!"

"No. You can't help me. Nobody can."

Jun leaned her head on the door. It was bad this time, and she knew that she wouldn't get her brother out of the cupboard before the next day. Sometimes he stayed there for over 20 hours. She sincerely hoped that it wasn't one of those times, but her feelings told her different things. He sounded far too frightened...

"Davis....you have to eat something. And I have to look at your injuries..."

"....."

"Would it be okay if I came inside?"

"...I don't know."

"Come on."

"A-Alright..."

The door opened a little bit and Jun let out a relieved sigh. The first step was done. A step she had to reach again and again, because her....father...kept destroying everything she had reached. She crawled inside the cupboard, comforting her bruised and beaten brother. These were the only times he cried in front of her, the only times he allowed her to hug him.

He buried his head in her chest, sobbing madly. Jun rocked him back and forth, cursing destiny that it had given such a cruel father to them, cursing herself because she couldn't prevent it....cursing the world because they just kept living, ignoring all the terrible things which were happening directly in their neighbourhood.
It was dark in the cupboard, but for once Jun welcomed it. This way her brother couldn't see her tears.

Wings

Will never fly again

Were made to sail through the clouds

Were made to fly

Weren't meant to be broken

Staying on the ground

never flying again?


****************

In the next morning, Jun woke up in her own bed. In the first moment, she didn't remember anything. Then she groaned, as her brain revealed the pictures of the previous evening. She hadn't managed it to take Davis out of the wardrobe, he had been to scared. Knowing that too much pressure was never good, the girl had left him there after he had fallen asleep in her arms.

She stared at the ceiling, wondering when her life had started to become such a misery. When they had been kids, everything had been wonderful. Daisuke and her, they had laughed a lot, always playing on the streets with other children...Their life had changed slowly from happy to worse to the living hell. And when Jun saw the look of suppression and misery in her brother's eyes, the face of a child who had only seen the fearsome side of life for the last years, she felt hatred for the whole world.

The poor boy, sometimes she wished that she could look into his head. He had to be crazy of fear, but nevertheless he managed it to pull his usual act of a cheerful boy. Nobody had noticed anything.

Sometimes she wished that Daisuke wouldn't be so good in acting. Then maybe somebody would notice this and call for help. There were special organizations, founded to help abused children. But then she saw the look in her father's eyes when he stared at her, and everything froze. She was scared like hell...she had asked Davis about this once. She had told him that there were places where they could go. That they weren't the only ones, and that maybe someone could help them. But Jun hadn't been very convinced by her own words, and Daisuke's reply had been very clear.

No, Jun, please don't tell anyone! He will kill me, I know it, he will kill me...and it hurts so bad, it will hurt even worse than it does now, so please Jun, don't say a word....promise it...please!

He had nearly hyperventilated, so she had promised him. But how long would this torture last? She had to watch how her brother was slowly, but steadily destroyed - mentally and physically. Was there no way to prevent it?

She sighed and stood up. How often had she thought about this topic? There were rare hours in which her mind wasn't worrying about their current situation, but it seemed to be a trap with no way out. They were prisoners. Trapped...

Jun glanced out of her room and noticed to her relief that her father was already gone. Luckily he left the house before they left to school, so they could usually avoid meeting him in the morning.

She softly opened the door to Daisuke's room and whispered: "Morning."
He was still in the wardrobe. "Won't you come out?", Jun asked and sat down before the closed door.

"No.", came the muffled reply, and Jun sighed. "Haven't we had this conversation already?"

Thoughtfully she stared at the door, feeling helpless. "You know, there's school today. Won't you go?"

"I...I can't go today.", Daisuke's voice shook. "I'm too frightened....the others will notice."

"Alright.", Jun agreed. "But we have to be careful, so that father won't notice it. You know that he isn't very fond of you staying at home..."

"I know."

"Will you stay in there?"

"Yes."

"Isn't it boring?"

"I-I don't mind. I'm safe. I don't want to leave..."

"Okay.", Jun rubbed her eyes. "I won't go to school, too. I will bring you some food.", she told him and left the room. Over the months she had learned that she couldn't press her brother. He would panic and seeing Daisuke panic was a very scaring view. Plus, his state was even worse after that....

"Great.", she muttered and dug through the fridge. "That's the third time I'm missing this month....".

She would certainly get a detention, but that wasn't the problem. She had to find a good excuse why Daisuke was staying at home. And they were getting lamer and lamer each time she had to invent one...

She made some sandwiches and went back to the room. "You know, you could at least open the door a bit.", she told her brother. "Then I can give you the sandwiches, and see your face. Father is not here, and you hear it when someone unlocks the front door.", Jun waited for some seconds and added: "Please, Davis. Do it for me."

Slowly, inches by inches, the wardrobe door opened and Daisuke peered out. Jun flinched inwardly when she saw the bruised and tired face of her brother. Now in the daylight she could see the full results of her father's beatings. Daisuke's lip and nose were bloody, his right eye was black and the whole left arm bruised. But the worst was the hunted look in his eyes. Lost. Frightened. Pleading for help. It made him so much younger than he actually was. He looked like eight or nine years old.

His skinny frame didn't make this any better. Over the last weeks, he hadn't eaten much. The fact that he practically made a diet once a week, every time when got beaten, and that he usually wasn't a good eater when he was frightened didn't make this nay better. He looked worn out, and if he wouldn't wear long t-shirts all the time, you would see the bones under the skin.

Jun herself wasn't any better. The trouble and worry was nagging at her, and she had lost quite some pounds.
Long ago both Motomiya siblings had lost their spirits; they were just playing masquerade and it was just a question of time until something would discover the truth.

But, as Jun asked herself over and over again, what if it was too late? What if nobody could bring back her brother from his withdrawn state? What if they discovered it...after their father had killed them both???

- Present -

The hospital room was silent. Just the ticking of a clock could be heard.

Tick-Tack.
Tick-Tack.
Tick-Tack.

A painful sound, reminding of the passing time. Time...what was time? It could have several meaning. It could be from great importance....for the boy in the hospital bed, however, time was nothing but an empty word. In fact everything was empty for the boy. Nobody could say what he felt because he didn't talk. Withdrawn. Apathetic. His body was small and thin, making him much younger than he actually was. Who could read his thoughts? They had tried. But can you read someone's thoughts? Can you understand the pain?

Tick-tack.

Most people would have thought that the sound was annoying. But the boy didn't care. He didn't care at all. He should talk, he had to talk, but....he didn't talk. Why? Nobody could say it. Fear is a mighty power, and no scientist has managed it to reveal all mysteries about this destroying power.

Many, many cases of child abuse have been reported in the last ten, twenty, fifty years. Each of them similar, but with a sadness over them which made it hard to understand. Normal human-beings just couldn't do that - understand. How can a mother hurt her child? How can a father abuse his daughter?

The minds of children are made of glass. They are beautiful, shiny, but one pointy dart, one stone thrown in direction of their hearts....and every dream, every hope shatters into little pieces. Pieces nobody can gather together and...make a new mind out of it.

Tick-Tack.

The time passed. But the boy didn't exist in time anymore. He was....dead. His soul had died. Or vanished. Left was the body, the empty reminder of an unbelievable cruelty. His wings, the wings of his soul, were broken. There were meant to fly, to fly him through the world....but now? Nothing was left....

Tick-Tack.

But the clock continued ticking. Time continues. Always. It's a steady flow, and although things were happening....causing individuals to leave time, it never stops. The human beings continue living, they laugh and cry. The weather changes. It rains and the sun shines. The sun doesn't care about the fact that hundreds of children are crying. That thousands of people are dying because of hunger, fear or war. Neither does the rain care about the fact that right now someone is marrying.
Time never stops.

Tick-Tack.

What happened to him?
....things you can't imagine...
What is he going through?
....Nobody can know...
Why isn't he coming back?
....because he isn't there anymore...
Will he come back?
.......

Tick-Tack.

And every dream of Daisuke Motomiya had died. Had died and left him, alone, vulnerable, with broken wings...

How can you live with them

if there's nothing

to live for???


To be continued...

If anyone has some ideas, please feel free to tell them. For example I am totally lost when it comes to the fact where they shall live...And a huge THANK YOU for all the reviews.*smiles brightly*