Chapter Two.
"You're my sweet baby, you know that right?" Mommy pressed her lips to my tender cheek and I whimpered. "I love you more than the stars in the sky." Her arms held me close to her and my face was pressed against her cheek. She smelt of pine needles and alcohol. I breathed in her scent deeply as I started crying. "Shh, don't cry. Mommy knows you didn't mean too." She kissed the tears off my cheeks and held me close to her again. Her arms started to morph into long black tentacles, and the suction cups held onto my skin like super glue. I screamed and tried to fight her away, but every time I started to get free, more and more tentacles appeared. My body started to feel cold and my brain turned to sludge. My head fell limp onto her chest as the blackness engulfed me. "You'll always be my baby, Breanna. Always."
"Mommy!" My eyes snapped open as I flew up in bed, heart pounding erratically in my chest. Tears streamed down my face and sobs launched themselves out of my throat. Warm arms wrapped around my body and I flinched away, wrapping my arms around myself tightly.
"Honey, it's me. I'm here." My chest tightened and my stomach started to get nauseous. As the arms tried to wrap around me again I bit down hard in the tender flesh of their wrist. It would hurt, I knew it would. It had hurt when Will had done it to me. I felt a trickle of relief as they howled in pain. But then fear shot up my spine as they yelled for a nurse. No, no, no. The nurses didn't like me. They said I was too difficult to deal with. I wiped the tears from my eyes with my shaky hands and looked up at the stubbled man. He was darker than I was, with a large mustache that looked like a caterpillar on his upper lip. He stared down at me with sadness and fear, and he held his bleeding arm protectively close to him. I shook my head at him as he motioned for the nurse to come in.
"Breanna," I breathed out a sigh. "Not again." Nurse Lindsay curled a blonde hair behind her ear and looked down at me disappointedly. I glared back, clenching my teeth together. Yeah, it was my fault for thinking I was being attacked and defending myself. No, fuck no. I had rights!
"I was just defending myself." I rubbed my face and winced as I put too much pressure. Nurse Lindsay rolled her eyes and then grabbed for my wrist. I snatched it away.
"Don't touch me." The stubbled man held his finger to his lip to hush me. "And you," I pointed at him and glared. He froze in place. "Don't fucking shush me when I have a right not to be touched. I was attacked by my ex-boyfriend last night and I would like it if people kept their distance." With my last words I folded my arms against my chest. Nurse Lindsay rolled her eyes at me and yanked my wrist out to look at it.
"Breanna." Her sweaty palm stuck to my skin until she let my arm go. I glared up at her again until she shrugged. "I needed to check your IV." She turned to the stubbled man and smiled sweetly, curling a hair around her finger over and over again. "I'm sorry sir, but she's still a little jumpy from her attack. Be cautious." The stubbled man nodded to her as she left the room and closed the door behind her. My heart rate started to pick up. Who was this guy? As if sensing my nerves, he gave me a small smile that turned into a grimace as he looked down at his arm. It had stopped bleeding, but it would be awhile until it healed.
"Do you remember me?" He asked in a gruff voice. I shook my head. Was it one of my mom's countless ex-boyfriends that had promised me they would make my mom better and be there for me? I studied him for a second. No, couldn't be. Mom wasn't into large men. And he still had life in his eyes. Mom usually killed her ex's emotionally and made them go insane. Slowly he walked towards me and sat on the side of the bed, turned towards me. I didn't say anything and looked down at my lap, lacing my fingers tightly. "It's me. Your dad."
"Dad?" A flood of emotions and memories slammed into my body without warning and I smiled widely as tears streamed down my face. I guess it alarmed him, because he wrapped his arms around me tightly. I flinched and whimpered as his arms hit bruises. He let go quickly and smiled apologetically.
"I'm so sorry this happened. I just, your mom kicked me out and I tried to take you with me but she said if I tried she'd find us and kill you." A sob broke his throat. "I just wanted you to be safe." He wiped his eyes quickly and stared at me with s serious expression. "Looks like I didn't do a good job."
"It's alright, dad. I'm a trooper." I wiped the tears from my eyes and gave him a large smile. He smiled back at me but looked uncertain. "I always knew you'd come back for me." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead. I didn't flinch. We stayed like that for a few moments we stayed like that until the nurse came in and gave me my meds. I passed out on the spot.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" We stood in front of the trailer that I shared with mom. It looked the same as it did last week. Barren and dusty. My eyes scanned over the ground. No new dirt tracks, so she hasn't been home since my attack. I shivered as the chilly summer breeze nipped at my neck.
"Yeah. I'm sure." I started walked forward and as I saw he was following I held my hand up to stop him. "I need to do this alone. It might take a few trips." He looked at me for second before nodding.
"I trust you." My face flushed. No one had ever really trusted me before. Mom certainly didn't. Well, except with her booze money. Brushing off my cluster of feelings, I gave him one last reassuring smile and turned back to face in front of me. I breathed in and out two times to reassure myself that everything would be okay. You can do this, Bre. You are a strong person and have lived through hell and back. Come on, Bre. You can do it. I believe in you.
"What is hell's name are you doing on my property, you rat bastard!" The red truck slammed on the brakes next to me and my mom got out, a stone cold expression etched into her wrinkled features. The color of my face drained and I suddenly felt a sickly dread. I could see that paradise, just at my fingertips, would be once again snatched away from me. I stared down at my hands as I waited for her correcting hand. I could already imagine it, as I had felt it numerous times before. It felt warm and sharp, like a desert storm. I had her hand print memorized to the last crease.
"Hellen-"
"Don't call me by my first name. What gives you the right? After you left us for that trashy whore?!" Her breath smelt like peppermints and orange. She'd been to Morty's Boat House and her hang over special, the mints from the tables and a large glass of orange soda. Her gray eyes looked down at me, a sharp glare set in line. She was like a bird of prey, waiting for the right second to sneak up behind me and stick her talons into my throat. "And what do you have to say, missy? You promised you wouldn't talk to him."
"You said I couldn't stay with him, not talk to him." My eyes were down casted at the dusty ground, and my new colored boots kicking it up every time I moved it. Without warning her clammy hand yanked my chin up to meet her gaze. Her left eye twitched slightly and her thin lips were pressed together tightly, making them almost disappear inside the cave. This wasn't a good sign.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" I yanked my face and glared back at her. I wasn't some dog. Fuck that. I wasn't going to lie down and beg for her. I was better than that. "Fucking brat. You never could respect me like you should. Not like your brother."
"Don't talk about Tony!" I screeched without warning, face heating up and breath turning harsh. For a second she looked awe struck but quickly shook it away, holding her hand back ready to put me back in line.
My eyes closed as I waited for the searing pain and fire to seep through my skin. But it didn't come.
"Don't you dare put your hands on her! For Christ's sake, Hellen. Get a grip on yourself." Dad's hand gripped moms wrist tightly, a crippled expression on his face. My heart started pounding. No, no. He didn't just do that. I felt my stomach start to tighten as flashes of what happened last time someone stopped her. Raymond, bless his soul that he tried to tame the wild beast. He was lying in a creek somewhere by now, waiting for his rotting corpse to be found. I looked down at my hand and ran a finger over the large scar that lay there, remembering how the blood gushed from the newly fresh wound.
"Get you dirty hands off me!" She struggled against his hold but he didn't let go. I started for the house without thinking, leaving them there to work out my problems. "Breanna, you get your stupid ass back here before I come in and get you!" I waved my hand thoughtlessly and yanked open the door, the handle shocking my palm.
Dust and grime wafted up my nose.
It wasn't a secret that my mom wasn't the cleanest person. I tried my best to keep it a safe living space, but that didn't stop the mold from growing or the rats from chewing in. I covered my mouth as I smelt urine and breathed through my hand. I forgot how disgusting it is.
"Breanna, you stupid bitch! Get the fuck out and face me!" I ignored the naggy voice of my mother and stepped inside, pulling the door closed and locking it. Empty beer cans and wine bottle littered the floor, and cigarette packs were stacked on the counter next to the open microwave. A bowl of rotten food sat in it. I wrinkled my nose and flicked on the light, screeching as a few rats skittered out of the hole of the door. Disgusting. I was so glad to be leaving. Quickly I made my way over to my door and opened it, breathing in the clean air. This was one room I knew I'd be safe in. Sunlight fell over my purple bedspread and to the floor right after it, illuminating the large blood stain. Shit, I forgot to clean my mess up. "Breanna Margret Ulery!"
My body froze. That wasn't the voice of my mom. My breath stopped in my throat. No, it couldn't be. I heard dad's agonized scream of pain. Shit, no. My hands started shaking. No, please god no. The door flew open as I stood there with wide eyes. I didn't see anything else after the baseball bat hit the side of my head.