Sorry for the wait! Finals week hit, but its over now :) I should be able to update more frequently now! I hope you guys are still hanging around :D all reviews thus far have been appreciated like crazy. I usually decide on which stories to continue based on if it gets good feedback or not so your reviews only push me to keep going :) thanks again, and I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Chapter 12:

(Warning: Abuse by Parent)

Mari snuck through the window of her old bedroom, immediately going to her drawers to dig out some of her old clothes. She stuffed anything of value or anything that mattered to her into the duffel bag she brought with her. It was nice to see her things again, and to be able to take them with her. Her bad memories with her father didn't diminish how much she enjoyed those moments alone in her room, with her posters and her old radio.

She found the framed picture of her and her mother on the floor, the glass shattered. With a deep breath, she picked it up and shook the shards of glass onto the floor, making it easier to see the picture clearly. Mari remembered how good of a day it was when they had that picture taken. It was her twelfth birthday. Her mom took her to a waterpark in Baton Rouge, Blue Bayou. They had so much fun and posed with lame cutouts.

Mari shoved the picture in her bag, then zipped it up. She shoved the window open a little further, then climbed out. As she turned to close it, someone grabbed her by her arm and yanked her backwards, causing the duffel bag to slide from her arm.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Her father's voice tore through the backyard, breaking the peaceful silence that had existed before his arrival. Mari whirled around in fright, pulling her arm free and taking a step back. Her eyes widened,

"I got a job."

"So you dont come home?" He scoffed at her. She could smell the booze even with the distance between them. "What, you think your dad aint no good so you gotta go get a job on your own? But you dont even come back to help your family?"

"I am helping my family?"

"Are you whoring yourself, Marigold?" Her father hissed. "Spending all your nights on your back aint doing this family no good!" He snapped. She shook her head,

"No, I'm not doing anything like that."

"You still with that family? Those rich son of a bitch vampires? You still a blood whore?" He spat at her. He reached for her again, but she took a frantic step backwards. "Come here you little bitch," he hissed, lunging for her. He snatched her collar, revealing light pink fang marks where she had been bitten before. His fist tightened with her collar still in his grasp. Her father yanked her closer to him. "I never imagined my daughter would be a blood whore. Aren't you ashamed?!"

"I-I cleared your debt," she stuttered, trying to pry his hand away from her colalr to free herself. "You don't owe anything anymore because of me." He had never been this angry with her before, but she expected this reaction. He hated not having control, and he hated that Mari might have told the Mikaelsons all about the kind of man he was. Her father always took out his embarrassment and shame on Mari.

He threw a punch low, hitting her in the ribs. She let out a sharp cry of pain, her body instinctively trying to jerk back and away from him. Her hands both worked desperately to pull his hand from her shirt collar, but the fabric was warping and stretching, making it easier to hold onto.

"You did this for yourself. You just wanted to be taken care of, huh? Didn't want to get a real job like everyone else because you're lazy and worthless. Easier to give blood to some monsters than to work eight hours a day."

"Let go of me," she pleaded, frantically swatting at his balled fist around the neck of her shirt. "Dad, let go!" He finally did, but only to raise his hand and strike her, his wedding ring leaving a small cut on her cheek just under her eyes.

"Run back to them, then!" He yelled at her. "Run back and keep being the dirty blood whore you are. You aint a part of this family no more. Dont come home. If I see you around here again, I'll kill you, Marigold. We've always been better off without you." She snatched up her duffel bag and ran for the fence. She tossed it over then climbed herself, trying to shut out the curses and names her father was shouting at her as she went.

Her chest was heaving by the time she reached the compound, though every heavy breath sent a sharp pain through her ribcage. She thanked whatever diety that watched over her that the courtyard of the compound was empty. She ran up to her room as quickly as she could.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she dropped the bag and slid to the floor. Her face and ribs throbbed in pain, but she stayed quiet. Vampires could hear every little thing. If they were nearby and she let herself sob like she wanted to, they would hear.

Picking herself up and choking back any tears or cries that wanted to escape, Mari headed into the bathroom to clean the cut on her cheek. They told her not to leave. They told her not to go home. She didn't want to prove that they were right. That she couldn't go anywhere anymore. Mari fele trapped and lost all at once.

With only a slight wince as she dabbed at the cut on her cheek, Mari was satisfied by how well it cleaned up. She could find a simpler explanation for how she got the little wound, a white lie to hide the fact that she went to her house after being warned against it.

Just as she finished minimizing the cut, her door flung open, startling her and making her drop the cottonswap she was using into the sink. She stepped out into her room, eyebrows furrowed, coming face to face with Klaus.

"Mari, where did you run off to?" He asked, worry in his tone. "We were concerned that you may be in trouble. You should really stay here, don't you think? We never know when Marcel or his idiot minions may try to take you hostage."

"I just went down the street, Klaus, Im fine," she lied, keeping her arms by her sides. If she lifted them she wouldn't be able to hide the pain in her side. "Im sorry I made you worry."

"Your heart is pounding, Mari. Why are you lying to me?" He demanded to know, stepping closer to her. She didn't have a good lie on deck, though she should have. Her head was a flurry of thoughts and fears and memories, and she couldn't think straight.

"You make me nervous," she finally blurted out, her fingers starting to curl and uncurl into her palm anxiously. "You always have."

"Why?" He asked, seeming to buy her response surprisingly. He stepped closer, and Mari stepped back on instinct.

"Y-You know why," she stammered. "You know how I f-feel." She forced herself closer to him. "It's better we keep our distance... for a little while." His eyebrows furrowed.

"Is that really what you want?"

"I think it's best."

"Alright," he sighed, dropping his gaze to the floor. "I will behave myself, Mari. For your sake." Her lies worked enough to get him to leave, and she felt relieved.

For awhile, she was able to relax. However, the longer she sat, the more painful the bruise on her side became. Finally, it got so bad that she had no choice but to go downstairs into the kitchen area to get some ice to put on it so it would hopefully numb.

She barely made it out of her bedroom door before she heard Kol's open down the hallway. Mari froze, turning towards him. He was already walking towards her, and she knew she'd have to conjure up more lies.

"Where are you headed?" He asked with one eyebrow raised and a sly grin. "Didn't you run off earlier today? What's so important that you need to sneak away?"

"No, Im just... getting something to drink." It was a lame excuse, but it was the first thing she thought of. "I was hoping to find some sweet tea or something." Kol rolled his eyes, and she knew that he didn't believe her.

"Come along, darling. I'm starved." Kol snaked his arms around her waist and drew her close to him. He was startled when she suddenlu cried out in pain, hands gripping his biceps tightly and head falling against his chest. His arms loosened, then fell away from her. "Mari?"

She stepped away from him, hand lifting to hold her side. There was shame and fear in her eyes that hurt Kol a little more than he cared to admit. He reached forward, snatching her hand away from her side. He lifted it, and she winced and let out a low hiss of discomfort.

"What happened?" He questioned her, taking her face in his other hand and turning it to get a better view of the cut on her cheek. It was a miniscule thing at first, but now it was one of two injuries she suddenly acquired. "Mari, what happened?"

"Please be quiet," she begged, freeing her hand from him and lowering it to reduce the pain in her ribs. "Please, Kol." He looked around, then grabbed her wrist on the uninjured side and pulled her into her temporary room. He pushed the door closed.

"Tell me," he commanded her sternly.

"It's fine. Really. I just... I went back for some of my things."

"Back? You mean back home?" He scoffed at her. "Mari, I believed you were more intelligent than that. I thought threatening to go home was just a desperate tactic to get me and my brother to behave. I didn't thing you'd be foolish enough to do it."

"He wasn't supposed to be home," she explained. "Im sorry."

"Let me see it."

"Kol..."

"Damn you," he hissed, stepped forward and pulling up her shirt by force. He lifted it just enough to see the large black and purple bruise across her ribcage on her right side. It was the size of a grown man's fist. "Oh, love..." He touched it lightly with his fingertips, and she whimpered. "Promise me. Right this moment. Promise me you'll never go back."

"My family, Kol..."

"If you ever go back, I will kill your father," he told her bluntly. "I'll break every rib individually, then rip his head from his body slowly, so he feels every bit of flesh tearing at his throat. You will not return. You cannot." This side of Kol frightened Mari. The dark, bloodthirsty killer that lurked deep within Kol was peeking through. His eyes darkened.

"Don't tell anyone," she pleaded. "Kol, please don't tell them."

"Let me heal it," he said, "and I won't breathe a word of this." His fangs slid from his gums and he used them to pierce the skin of his wrist. "Drink." Mari's stomach churned.

"I've dealt with worse. It'll heal on its own."

"This isn't an option," he growled lowly. He used his free hand to grab her by the back of her head, then he shoved his wrist to her mouth hard enough to force her to drink. Once he started to see the bruise beginning to fade, he released her. "You owe me for this."

"I know..."

"Do not refuse when I come to collect," he told her angrily, leaving the room. He slammed the door behind him, and she wondered if it was her defiance that made him so upset, or if he hated knowing that someone hurt her. , she wanted to believe in the latter. Part of her wanted to believe that he was so furious because she was hurt, not because she went home.

Either way, Mari had to admit that the pain was gone completely within minutes. It was a relief, and she was grateful. She curled up in her bed, hugging her body tightly and thinking about all of the things Kol could ask from her, from the best imaginable, to the worst possible scenario.