Chapter 1

"Uncle Tommy come on..." the girls shouted, almost in unison with one another. "...keep going. What happens to Him?" They laid all next to each other in a little line, all with their heads in their hands. Going Blondie, Redhead, Black. All within inches of each other.

"Girls, girls, relax. Don't be so loud. You'll wake your father. We don't want that happening now do we? You know how angry he gets." I replied, trying to reason with them. If he came in here it would get ugly, and they didn't need to see that tonight.

Bubbles looked up at me, trying to give me the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Her long blonde hair hung over her face in front, her eyes still visible even under her hair. "But uncle tommy...we need to know what happens. You down't want me too cwiy do you?" she said, trying to act cute.

"Well missy, if i don't want you to cry, i can always just..." I jumped and started tickling her, making her laugh hysterically. Her high pitched laughs bringing a smile to my face. Both her sisters looked over and started tickling her too. Pretty soon she started crying, happy tears for once.

"HEY!" We heard from down the hall. A loud shout cutting through the happiness in the air. We all immediately quieted down, an eerie silence becoming quite apparent. "I'M TRYING TO FUCKING SLEEP. DON'T MAKE ME COME IN THERE!" he continued.

The girls immediately all cringed. Bubbles jumped up and ran to her bed across the room. She pulled the blankets over her head and started crying, sobbing to herself. Buttercup did the same, her bed sat in the middle of the row of beds however. She simply had to jump from one bed to the other. She crawled under her blankets, but didn't sob or cry. She was too proud for that. Blossom still laid there, unmoved by the threats. At least in body, if you knew her as well as i did, you could see that she was upset. But she was the leader of her sisters, and couldn't let them see her upset.

"It's alright brother!" I shouted back. "Just having a little fun! Go back to sleep!" He didn't reply. He was more than likely already sleeping again, probably didn't even bother to open his eyes to yell to us.

"It's alright girls." I said, trying to comfort them. "He's sleeping again. You're alright. You know I won't let him hurt you."

"Yeah..." Buttercup said, poking her head out from under the blankets. "...but you're not always here. He...hurts us." she said, almost unable to get the words out.

"I know." I whispered, I may not want to know. But I did. I'd always known.

"So stay with us!" she said. You could hear the tears about to burst. She was supposed to be the tough one, Buttercup. But was just as scarred and hurt as her sisters. She may not be the leader, but she was always the rebel. The one to fight back against her father, to yell and jump in front of Bubbles if she needed it. "Help us! Protect us! Don't leave!" A tear fell from her eye.

"You know i can't do that..." I said, still quiet. "...but I'm doing everything I can to get you out of here."

"BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!" Blossom shouted. She was the passionate one.

A door slammed down the hall. Footsteps came stomping down the hallway. The girls all jumped under their covers now, each girl in her individual bed. I could hear their sobs. The door opened with a slam, hitting the wall on the other side of its hinges.

"What...did i...say?" my brother said from the doorway. The beer could be smelled on his breath from across the room. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was in a snarl.

"Dude just go back to bed." I tried to reason with him. "It's my fault we woke you up. Just go back to bed."

"So first you wake me up, and now you're going to tell me what to do you?" he said, his anger quite visible.

"No thats..."

"NO! You need to leave."

"Dude come on just..."

"NO! LEAVE!"

I stood up, knowing that this was a battle i wouldn't win. If i argued with him, it would only get worse. His anger would only grow and that would make it harder for the girls. I couldn't do that to them. I walked past him and went to the door down the hall. I turned the door knob and opened it. But i heard the girl's door close behind me. I heard their screams, their pain.

I forced back the tears welling up in my eyes, and closed the door behind me.