Hello, everyone, I'm back! Also, I've taken some of this chapter from my other story, One Shot A Day, Chapter 29, To Hell and Back, although I've changed the order of the events. This is somewhat based off of Flowers in the Attic.
ALSO, IMPORTANT: I AM GETTING READY TO POST A NEW STORY. I HAVE THE SUMMARIES FOR A FEW OF MY IDEAS ON MY PROFILE. PLEASE READ THEM AND EITHER VOTE ON THE POLL OR REVIEW WHICH STORY YOU'D LIKE ME TO POST ON ANY OF MY !
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE, MOLESTATION (THE SECTION WILL BE BOLDED IF YOU'D LIKE TO SKIP IT), LANGUAGE
After the memory of Leo's mom dying, the seven were in tears. Hazel was sobbing into Frank's shoulder; Frank had tears in his eyes, and they were slowly making their way down his cheeks. Annabeth just stared at the screen, trying to comprehend it all while Percy held her close; both were so close to tears that if they started crying, they wouldn't be able to stop. Piper was crying softly, muttering Leo's name over and over again while Jason actually cried. None of them, not even Piper, had ever seen Jason cry.
"Shit," Percy mumbled.
Annabeth reached for the Pop Quiz, which Hera had left on the table and searched for the question.
8. How did Leo's mom die?
A. Fire
B. Machine shop accident
C. Car crash
D. Cancer
A black circle was drawn around B, where they'd decided on their answer. The wrong one. She picked up a red pen, as though she were going to grade it, and circled A.
One, correct. One, down. Eighteen, more to go.
The image changed to Leo sitting in a hospital bed. He wasn't burned (obviously), but there were a few bruises that hadn't been caused by the fire.
"Mamá... Mamá... dónde está mi mamá?" (Where is my mom?) He murmured before crying out. "Mamá!"
He punched himself hard in the ribs.
The seven gasped. Leo had caused himself those bruises.
"Please, Ms. Valdez!" A male voice called. "He's your nephew, and he needs you now more than ever."
"He killed my sister!"
"He's eight years old! What child is capable of that?"
"The devil child!"
Two people stormed into the room.
One was a man with black hair and brown eyes. He wore a gray suit, and from the scowl on his face, they could tell he was not happy with the woman standing beside him.
She was a short Latina with black hair and dark, cruel eyes. There was a mole on the side of her nose. She wore a black dress with a black veil clipped back, the outfit of someone in mourning.
"Rosa," Hazel muttered.
"What?" Frank asked her.
"Nemesis. She shows the person you want revenge on most; she turned into Leo's Aunt Rosa."
That can't be good, Annabeth thought.
The minute she saw Leo, she went off.
"Diablo!" She screeched, diving at Leo and back handing him so hard across the face, he fell off the bed. She took this as an opportunity to kick his trembling frame. "You killed my sister! I wish you were dead and not Esperanza, you bastard child."
"Oh, gods," Piper murmured, more tears springing to her eyes.
"Security!" The man was shouting.
Rosa punched Leo in the back, causing him to curl into the fetal position to avoid as much pain as possible.
"¡Tía Rosa, lo siento! ¡Por favor deje de! ¡Lo siento!"
Translations appeared across the bottom of the screen:
Aunt Rosa, I'm sorry! Please stop! I'm sorry!
"I am not your aunt, diablo. Demon child! And sorry will never make up for what you've done," Rosa snapped, her voice low and dangerously quiet.
Security guards rushed inside and yanked her away from the shaking child, who didn't bring his arms down from where they were protecting his face.
The man slowly walked over and sat a good distance away from Leo; he reached over and grabbed Leo's wrists, gently bringing them away from his face. On Leo's cheek, where Rosa's hand had met his skin, there was a red handprint that was slowly turning a mixture of black and purple.
"Hello, Leo. I'm Martin Blake, your social worker. And I promise that I'm going to find a good home for you."
Annabeth picked up the paper and ran her finger down the page in search of the question.
15. What was the name of Leo's social worker?
A. Martin Blake
B. James Monroe
C. Carlos Tarahoe
D. Jessica Londons
They'd guessed Jessica; Annabeth circled A in red ink.
Leo was sitting on the top bunk of a bed, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared at nothing. His mind was obviously elsewhere. There was a small suitcase beside him and a backpack. He was fiddling with some wires.
The door opened, and Martin walked inside.
He held out his hand. "Come along, Leo. Ms. Wilkes is waiting."
Leo nodded and hopped off of the bunk before reaching up and grabbing the suitcase and backpack. He followed Martin from the room.
The image changed to that of a neat and orderly house. It was clean and something you'd see on a street full of upper middle class people. Painted blue with a nice silver car in the driveway. It looked like a dollhouse.
Martin knocked, and Barbie answered the door.
You think I'm kidding? Ms. Wilkes sure looked like Barbie. Her hair was blonde and pulled up in a nice, professional bun. She had blue eyes and wore a blue dress to match; it was long, almost down to her ankles. She'd obviously just come from somewhere fancy.
"Hello, Mr. Blake. Sorry I'm so dressed up; I just got back from a fancy lunch with my boss. Come on in."
Martin smiled at her and stepped inside the home; Leo was hiding behind his legs, which the seven saw as odd, seeing as Leo was usually so outgoing.
The interior of the house was just as beautiful and pristine as the exterior. In the sitting room, the floor was perfectly clean, not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. There was a television set and a table with a lamp. The sofa was white and looked as though it'd never been sat on.
"You must be Leo," Ms. Wilkes said, kneeling down and holding out a hand. "I'm Teresa."
Martin nudged Leo, and Leo reached out a hand to shake Teresa's. She gripped it in an almost bone crushing grip, judging from Leo's flinch, but maybe they'd imagined it.
She let him go and returned to a standing position.
Turning to Martin, she smiled and said, "Thank you for bringing him. Do you need to take a look around?"
"Oh, no, we've already looked through your house to ensure that it was a safe environment for Leo," Martin assurred her, looking to Leo at the last part, as if to say 'see? Safe.'
"Well, I suppose I'll see both of you again in two weeks," Martin told them. "If the home is indeed safe, I'll only come every month after that visit."
"Of course. Goodbye, Mr. Blake. See you then."
The adults waved goodbye to each other, but as soon as Martin's car turned the corner, Teresa grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him to the floor, towering over him and glowering down at him.
"Fuck," Hazel murmured. That would've been a cause for surprise, seeing as they'd never heard Hazel cuss, but they were too focused on the screen to notice anything else.
Teresa yanked on his arm until he was sitting up and they were nose to nose.
"From now on, I am Miss Teresa. You will speak only when spoken to and use ma'am or Miss Teresa when speaking to me. You will stay in your room unless I tell you otherwise, and I will not hear you. The room is to be kept tidy and my house keeper comes every Saturday. On that day, you will pack up any of your possessions and move to the attic.
"If you break a rule, you will have to suffer the consequences. This can range from no food to... more unpleasant punishments."
She reached over to the couch and picked up the belt draped over it.
"If I must use this punishment, you will not be able to lie on your back for a week. Understood?"
Leo, terrified, nodded.
"I said... understood?" She tapped the belt against his cheek, making it sting but not bleed. A threat.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, shakily.
"Good. Now, let's go to your room."
She led him up the stairs to a small room at the back of the hallway with a single bed in the corner, a dresser, and a small table. One doorway led to a bathroom while the other was closed; it probably led to the attic.
She shoved him in and shut the door behind her.
Leo was alone.
"Oh, gods," Percy murmured.
"That bitch!" Jason exploded. "Leo never did anything to her! Why would she even foster him if she was just going to hurt him?"
"For the money," Piper growled. "The monthly check from the fucking state."
Annabeth's hand was shaking as she dug the pen into the paper, almost ripping it.
4. What was the name of Leo's first foster mother?
A. Sarah
B. Teresa
C. Zoe
D. Christina
She circled B before bringing the pen to question 3 and making a tally mark.
The image changed to that of the attic. It was cluttered, stocked full of old, dusty toys and knickknacks and boxes and clothes. No one had been up here for a very long time.
Leo was leaning against the brick wall in the least cluttered space, which was a small alcove in the farthest part of the attic. He was making an X on the wall with a piece of chalk.
Upon counting the X's on the wall, Annabeth concluded that there were now thirteen.
"It's a calender," she told the others. "He's been there for thirteen days."
Leo stood and walked out of the attic and down to the bedroom.
*THE MOLESTATION SCENE STARTS HERE. IT NOT GRAPHIC, BUT IF YOU'D LIKE TO SKIP IT, SKIP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOLDED SECTION*
As soon as he closed the attic door, Teresa stepped in and dragged him to the bathroom, quickly turning on the water to fill the bathtub.
She started to pull his clothes off.
The demigods looked ready to be sick as they realized what she was doing.
"What-What the hell?" Leo stammered, shoving her away.
She sighed in exasperation. "I need to bathe you for tomorrow."
"I'm- I'm eight years old. I can take a bath by myself; I-I don't need help," he said.
She ignored him, continuing to strip him while he fought her, twisting and withering in her arms. Teresa punched him on his hip, where any bruise would surely be covered by his boxers.
"Stop fighting me, or I'll drown you in the tub," she growled.
Leo stopped. He knew she would do it.
She reached to take off his boxers, and the screen mercifully went black, but they could still hear Leo as he cried.
The image changed to that of the living room. It was dark outside, and Leo was creeping across the carpet on the tips of his toes. His backpack was thrown over his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?" A stern voice snapped.
Leo turned slowly to face Teresa, who was standing before him with her hands on her hips and she wasn't happy.
"Miss Teresa, I-I-"
Teresa grabbed Leo by the hair and tossed him on the floor so hard, Leo's elbows banged harshly against the table, causing him to hiss in pain.
"Aw, is the little baby hurt?" She said in a baby voice. "Pathetic. By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish I'd killed you."
Teresa ripped off Leo's backpack, followed by his jacket, before she tore his shirt off instead of just pulling it over his head, in order to cause more pain.
She picked up the belt off of the couch and raised it over her head.
"Brat," she sneered before bringing it down.
Leo cried out.
"I took you in." SMACK! "I gave you a home!" SMACK! "I feed you!" SMACK! "And this is how you repay me? By running away?" SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Leo was biting his lip so hard, blood was pouring down his chin, mingling with his tears.
But then, Teresa stopped, and for a few seconds, they thought she was done.
SMACK!
Leo screamed in agony. Blood dripped from the metal belt buckle.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
The image changed to that of a different living room, much more lived in and homey. Instead of the pristine white of Teresa's home, this was a beige color, and cartoons played on the television. A few children's toys had been left out.
*Not Leo's Memory* had been spelled across the screen.
A woman- in her late forties or early fifties- was staring out the window at Teresa's home.
"AHHH!"
"That poor boy," she whispered.
"It's best to stay out of it," a man said as he walked in. Pry her husband. "Now, come to bed. She'll stop soon."
The woman nodded before turning out the lights and following her husband.
The screaming continued.
"That bitch," Percy murmured.
"Which one?" Piper growled.
"Both of them. But that woman... Leo could've died in that house, and she wouldn't have stopped it," Percy said.
The image flashed to the calender in the attic. Annabeth counted the X's. 61.
"He's been there for two months."
The image flashed to Leo's room. Teresa was staring at Leo, where he was sitting on the bed and staring out the window. The sun was setting.
Martin has not arrived for his monthly visit, the screen read before the letters disappeared.
"I guess no one cares about you, you little runt. What a surprise," Teresa said, sarcastically.
Then, the screen went black and letters spread across the screen, like credits.
Another month went by, and Leo went a week and four days without food for back talking Teresa when she tried to bathe him again.
A fourth month passed, and Teresa started really beating him, sometimes for no reason at all.
The fifth month rolled around, and Leo had not left his room since Martin's first and only visit.
Half way through the sixth month, Martin Blake finally showed up.
"Hello, Ms. Wilkes," he said as she allowed him inside.
"Hello, Mr. Blake. Leo's in his room," she said. "I'm afraid I have to make a phone call."
She seemed nervous as she scurried off. Wonder why?
Martin walked down the hallway and arrived at Leo's room. Trying the doorknob, he found it locked.
With a quizzical look, he took the key off of the doorframe and unlocked the door.
He found Leo curled up on the bed, shivering and bundled up in sheets stained with blood.
"Leo!" He exclaimed.
"No... no more," he stammered, sounding more broken than any child, any person, should sound.
"Shh, Leo, it's okay."
And thus, Leo's time with Teresa ended, the screen read. But he was never the same.
The seven were quiet for a very long time. There was really nothing to say.
After allowing that to sink in, the screen turned on again to continue the memory viewing.
Little did the seven know, Teresa was only the tip of the iceberg.
Things were about to get a whole lot worse.
What'd you think? Please review, and check out that poll I told you about. Thanks!