Page 50 of Then Came You

She kicks my sides, stomps on my arm, and pulls my hair, tearing the roots from my scalp. I want to cry, but my tear ducts are blocked from swelling. My head feels foggy, and like I’m being dragged down to the depths of hell. The sound of distant sirens, and a child’s scream are muted against the hum in my ears.

What did I do in life to deserve this?

Why didn’t anyone help us? Save us?

I’ve never felt so much pain before - not even when I went three days without food, being locked outside in three-degree blistering weather with only my underwear. I was ten. Tori was eight.

Pain lances my middle as I lay inside this home. My home. It should be a place where I belong or feel safe, but I’ve never, but I’ve never felt either of those things.

“Fuck her until she bleeds,” Shane grunts. With one burst of energy, I kick the bastard in the face so hard I hear some sort of crack.

The unknown man body-slams me, pinning me down. His body is so heavy, it’s cutting off oxygen. I can’t move. I can’t scream. I can’t fight this. Fight them anymore.

I give up.

The only fleeting peaceful thought I have is that I’ll soon be with Dad again, with Tori not far behind.

We will be happy. We will be whole. We will be safe. We will be wanted, and we will be a family again.

Chapter 22

Blade

I’m bereft.

Numb.

Blindingly shattered.

"What if I had just arrived five minutes earlier?" That will be the single question that plagues me until kingdom come.

I thought Mum dying was the worst day I could ever have lived through, until seeing Row, my Tink, beaten to a bloody pulp at the hands of her Mum, her boyfriend, and an ex-felon.

As I pulled onto her pothole-filled street, wide enough to earn itself the name of being a crater, I saw neighbours milling around Row’s weed-infested lawn. Most of them were as high as a kite, but there was one little girl around Haven’s age who was screeching for help and pointing at the house. Hysteria and dread sludged in my belly, with my first thought being that Tori had died, until I realised she was still in the hospital. The little girl was shouting about saving the girl with the pink hair. Trembling in fear, she looked around for anyone to step in, but none of them did. I punched triple zero into my car, shouting the address for Row’s home. Lying, I told them someone was being murdered. Anything to get the police there.

I was just a nerd turned 'hot' scientist. The truth was, I don’t think I’ve ever thrown a punch in my life. Watched WWE, sure. Addicted to the UFC, hell yeah, but that didn’t mean I wanted to go all Rocky myself.

Whatever was outside my car was something I was sure I’d never come across before, let alone handle.

I tore myself out of the car, flew through the open door, and lunged at the situation. Somewhere along the way, I managed to grip a frying pan, bashing one naked guy's head, causing him to pass out on the floor, and let loose on the one trying to tear Row’s pants off. He went down like a lump too. My hits weren’t hard but in their drugged-up state, it didn’t take much. A piercing screech cackled in the corner. It was a frail-looking crack whore, if I had to take a guess, but it was impossible to mistake her for anyone other than Row’s Mum. I grimaced as I looked into her sunken eyes, stringy yellow hair, taut cracked lips, saggy breasts that had bite marks and hickeys all over them, and her loose flabby body. She stumbled on her feet and fell to the floor, laughing like it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her.

I snapped my eyes to a broken and bloodied Row, beaten to a pulp. Tears pricked in my eyes, threatening to blind me at the sight of her assaulted flesh. Bruises ballooned on both her eyelids and cheeks. She had a split lip. There were handprint marks on her wrists, legs, and neck, and footprint marks on her arms. Her shirt was lifted an inch, but instead of creamy skin staring back at me, there were drizzles of blood coming from cuts and more bruises swelling on her porcelain body.

“Row. Row. Baby, can you hear me?” I lurched forward, removing my jacket and placed it under her head. I felt a pulse, but it was faint. As I bent to move her fractured bones, police came swarming in. I wasn't petrified for myself. I was petrified that my Row was gone forever.

“Hands in the air. Now!”

I vowed to never watch another movie about crime again after living through a horrific ten minutes of explaining what I walked into, cuffed with my hands behind my back, and interrogated endlessly. After the scrupulous interrogation, I sped to Mount Druitt Hospital where the ambulance transported Row.

The police took down my full statement later that evening.

That was two days ago.

Xander is here.

Tori is here.

Trish is here.

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