Chapter 5 - The Most Important Thing
(Patty's POV)
"Dan please." Mum was saying, a note of desperation in her voice. "Dan -"
He was currently advancing slowly on my mum, his eyes strangely dark, his whole face full of anger.
"Dan - not in front of -" I was only a baby, about a year old, and screaming at the top of my lungs. I can't describe how weird it is to look at your self like this. "Not in front of her -"
Like he cares. He hit mum, hard across the face. You know why? She'd asked him - very nicely - to pick his empty bottles up. And he'd lost it. And she ... she just stood there and let him.
I don't get it. She isn't the strong person I know. She's so ... scared of him. I've seen her fight countless demons, without even flinching. But here she is, cowering in the corner.
I never knew it was this bad, either. I mean, I knew about her being shot - I can vaguely remember it - and I knew he used to knock her around a bit, but I never imagined ...
He hit her again, her head flew back and hit the wall. She let out a gasp of pain, then slid down the wall, either knocked out or just too tired to fight. Dan turned away with a sneer, staggered back to the sofa. The baby me was still screaming and then ...
He threw a bottle at me! It smashed against the wall, about a foot about my head, and baby me screamed louder at the same time as I yelled "No!" Over in the corner, mum shakily raised her head.
"Shut her up will you." Dan snapped at her. Mum ran flat out to me (didn't take long, this place is tiny) and scooped me up. That's when she saw the bottle.
"What did you do!" She screamed. Dan looked over at her slowly.
"Nothing," he said, "that she didn't need."
"What? What have you done to her!" He didn't answer, thankfully didn't get back up and hit her. He just looked over at the small T.V blaring in the corner. Mum hugged me close to her. "You can't hurt her, she's just a baby!" She cried. He was asleep now, though. A drunken stupor.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered. At first, I thought she was talking to him, but then I realised she's talking to me. (Baby me.) "I'm trying so hard to protect you, but I don't know if it's good enough." She was crying, now. She hadn't shed a single tear while he'd laid into her, but now she was crying.
"You are the most important thing to me." She whispered. "And I would give my life to protect you."
And then, I was crying too.
----
"I did. Why are you even home?" Mum asked, then all the colour drained from her face. He'd just accused her of not telling him where she was going. a) she did b) why should she have to tell him anyway?
"You didn't tell me." He said slowly, stepping towards her. "And it's none of your business why I'm home."
"I'm sorry." She said quickly. She sounded so desperate, so scared. But he ... it was almost like he was enjoying it. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.
"How dare you talk to me like that."
"I'm -"
"Liar!" He yelled, then threw her across the room. She hit her head on the wall (again!), but stayed conscious.
"Dan, please -" She pleaded, looking back over at me. I wasn't crying this time. This is around a year later, and I suppose baby-me is used to it. That's a tragedy all in itself.
I watched, horrified, as he kicked her roughly in the stomach, and she gasped in pain.
Baby me starts screaming now, and with on last kick, Dan stepped aside.
I've already noticed the pattern here, that they slipped into a while ago. He beats her up, she grabs me and runs. He gets drunk, passes out in their bedroom, she comes home, puts me to bed and sleeps on the sofa. Getting up early so he doesn't notice.
Usually I stay in the flat, and time kind of goes faster, then skips to the next memory. This time, however, everything dissolves and I see, super speedy, mum walk into (literally) Dad, and he take her back to his place.
She told him everything what had happened, and he comforted her. I think he was already in love with her then, which is quite sweet.
"You don't have to go back there." He told softly. "You have the strength Piper." I was hoping (even though I knew it wouldn't happen) that she'd agree, and leave him. But she didn't. She left.
Then we were back in the flat. I knew this was the same day, and I knew what would happen now. I'm still not sure why I'm seeing all of this, but I have to admit it's helping me feel closer to mum ...
We both thought Dan was asleep, and then ...
"Who was he?"
I was expecting to see the rest of the memory, but instead everything started dissolving.
And then I was back in the exact same place and Dan was stood in front of mum with a knife.
"Dan – please -" Mum said to him.
He pressed the blade against her arm, then ordered her into "my" room. She just started at him, looking almost like she might argue, I even hoped she'd hit him (it's like watching a film, and you know the ending but you still shout out a warning to the characters.)
He pressed the knife down, and it cut into her. She started bleeding, looked at baby-me and nodded. Even though I didn't see it, I knew she'd grabbed the phone.
Why am I seeing all this? This isn't showing me weather or not she loves me, just how evil Dan was. If anything it's making me feel worse ...
"Today is the day you die." He said suddenly. "First you, then her." He nodded towards me, sat in the crib.
What? I didn't know that. I knew he'd threatened mum with a knife ... but I never knew he'd said that.
"No. Not my baby." Mum whispered, and then ... She pushed him out of the room! I didn't know she'd done that either. And that's when I realised. Through all of this, mum was trying to protect me. All the stuff I've seen, her main concern was me.
Oh, we're dissolving again.
I saw mum getting shot, and dad telling her he loved her. And some stuff after she got out of the hospital. Then their wedding. I could only vaguely remember it, so it was nice to see it all over again. And I'm starting to maybe think -
Oh, we're disollving again.
I half-expected to go home, but no. Another memory awaits ...
By the way, I have another story up, Never Alone, a Piper/Leo teenfic, if anyone wants to check it out ...
