We sat there on my bed for a while, just holding each other as we cried. We were probably being too loud, but I couldn't care less. I wanted dad to come in. I wanted him to see us heartbroken. A small part of me wanted him to apologize and hug us and say he was so, so very sorry, and that he’d be nice to us from now on. He’d say he loved us, and he’d care about us and he wouldn’t hurt us anymore.

But the rest of me knew that that would never happen. No matter how much I dreamed of it, or no matter how many times I wished for it, it would never end.

But that’s about to change. I swear on what’s left of my life, it will change.

The door creaked open.

My eyes shot to the door, and there was dad. He had his shirt off, and his pants were on as if he had put them on in a hurry.

“Hey, girl,” he growled. His grey eyes were misty, as they always were when he was drinking. “We’re not done yet. Get back in bed, will ya?”

My eyes narrowed. I laid Charlie behind me quietly. The room was still dark, and I could barely see if she was awake or not. But I wasn’t going to take any chances.

I crouched down on the bed as dad drew nearer. I could hear his raspy, heavy breathing as his hands touched the bed.

“Hello, boy.” he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Why not just hand over the girl, huh? And I’ll leave you alone. Me and her will go somewhere private, where you can’t hear us.”

I almost recoiled in disgust as I smelled the beer on his breath. “Get the hell away from us, you fat bastard.” I snarled, the hatred evident in my voice.

“Stay away from us,” Charlie whispered behind me. “We’ll call the police.”

“Aw,” dad said, putting his hand to his chest in mock pain. “But you don’t want your old man to go to prison now, don’t you? Who would take care of you, huh?”

Anger was flooding through my body. This man didn’t deserve to be in our house.

“You don’t know what we want, Henry,” I growled quietly.

That seemed to jolt him out of his drunken state. “DON”T CALL ME THAT, YOU STUTTERING RETARD!” then he swung his fist in the direction where he thought my face was.

But I was prepared for that. I sunk down onto the bed, and his fist whistled over my head. His momentum pushed him forward, and he struggled for balance.

I took the opportunity, and pushed him down onto the floor. “Don’t come near us!” I roared, glancing back to make sure that Charlie was still behind me. “Get away from us!”

Dad sat up and rubbed his back. You could see the rage evident in his empty grey eyes. “What’d you do that for?”

I almost laughed. “Hmm, let me think! I wonder why I pushed the guy whose hit us, cut us, yanked out our hair, and for god’s sake, did that to my sister!”

Then I got right up in his face. “MY SISTER! YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!” but then I stopped myself. “No,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone. “You don’t deserve to call her that. You don’t deserve to even be in this house,”

I looked back at Charlie, and she was staring back at me with wide eyes, but she did not protest. I turned back to Henry.

“We’re leaving and never coming back, do you understand? Or do I have to speak toddler so your brain can understand me?”

Henry’s eyes flared. “Oh, I understand perfectly.” Then he was up from the floor before I could blink, his hands encircling my throat. I gasped, scratching at his hands.

“Now, understand me now, boy.” he snarled, applying pressure gradually to my throat. “As long as you sleep here under my roof, you will listen to me, and obey me, understand?”

I couldn’t exactly nod my head in agreement, but I wouldn’t have if I could. “We’re… not… living… here… anymore.” I managed to choke out.

“Stop! Please stop!” Charlie cried, beating at my dad’s back. “Stop it, please! You’re gonna kill him!”

Henry glanced back at her, his eyes searching her body much longer than necessary. “Good.”

Then he squeezed, and black started to overcome my vision. My hands beat weakly at his, but I knew I couldn’t fight him. Even drunk, Henry was always stronger than me.

I heard the rush of footsteps, and my mind comprehended Charlie running from the room. She’s run away, I thought faintly. At least she’s safe.

“You know,” Henry said thoughtfully. “I really regret doing this, but I have to. I mean, it’ll only hurt for a little bit, so stop being such a wuss.”

“You’re… a… monster…” I managed to get out through gritted teeth. My throat burned and my lungs screamed for air. My ears felt like they were on fire.

“My dear, dear boy, I’m no monster. I’m doing you a favor by ending your miserable life.” As soon as I thought the darkness would overtake me, there was a loud clunk! And Henry’s grip fell away.

I gasped and my lungs desperately gulped in air. I looked up at Charlie, who held a rolling pin in a firm two-handed hold. She looked down at Henry’s crumpled form with such a dangerous expression, I thought she’d use it on me next.

But then she dropped the rolling pin and stared at her hands in horror. She fell to the floor, hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “It’s just, I thought he was gonna kill you, and I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry."

I crawled over to her, despite how much pain my chest was in. “Shh, it’s alright, Charlie. You did what you had to do. And if you didn’t, I would probably be unconscious or dead by now. You saved me.”

I smiled at her, but it had no effect. “C’mon, Charlie,” I said, slightly bitter. “Why are you sorry for smacking him on the head? He’s done so much worse to you. Don’t feel bad, you understand?”

“Is he dead?” she whispered. “Did I kill him?”

I gasped. This is what Charlie is afraid of? Rage started to boil up inside me. “Why do you care if you kill him?” I said, hearing my voice rise. “Why do you care? We’d be better off with him dead!”

“Because I don’t want to be a murderer!” Charlie screamed, then folded in on herself.

I felt my face heating up with shame. Here I was, yelling at my sister that had just been raped by her own father, just because she felt bad about hurting him.

I took a deep breath, and put my arms around her. “I’m sorry, Charlie,” I muttered. I didn’t know if she heard me because she was sobbing so loudly, but I didn’t know what else to say. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was wrong, and stupid. I’m sorry.”

She clutched at me as if I was the only thing keeping her anchored to this world. Then I realized that I probably was. Charlie had always comforted me when I was in my darkest moments, and she had never leaned on me for support when she should have.

I felt so selfish.

Charlie was always there for me. She always had her shoulder ready for me to cry on. She always, always kept me sane. She kept me from dropping the rope that tethered me to life.

And here I was, not even comforting her in the most darkest moments of both our lives.

“I’m scared, Reeve,” Charlie whimpered into my chest. “What do I do?”

“Shh, it’s okay. We’ll think of something. We’ll tell someone, and we’ll turn out o-o-okay.” I held her tight, glancing at the clock on my nightstand.

5:30 it read.

A thought hit me. “Charlie,” I said, lifting her head so she could look into my eyes. “We’re leaving. Today. We’re going to the school, and we’re gonna tell a t-t-t-teacher. They’ll take us to the p-p-p-police station, and we’ll get a better home. We’re leaving this  hellhole and never coming back, you hear me?”

She looked up at me and nodded, wiping away tears. “Okay. Okay.”

We left at six, with backpacks slung over our shoulders. We didn’t know what we’d be doing while we were gone, so we packed food and blankets. Charlie clutched a stuffed bunny in her arms, and I held a picture of mom in mine.

“H-hey Charlie?” I asked, staring off into the mist surrounding the neighborhood. “W-what if t-they don’t b-believe us?”

She looked at me. “Reeve. They’ll believe us, whether they like it or not.”

“B-but what if the d-don’t?” I fidgeted with my hands, scratching at the scars decorating them. It had become a new habit of mine.

Then Charlie surprised me by what she did next.

She reached into her jacket pocket, and brought out… a hundred dollar bill.

“Then I’ll make them believe. Come on, let’s get going before Henry wakes up.”

We hurried down the street, going a lot slower than I’d prefer because of the weight we had to heave on our shoulders.

I kept glancing behind me in spite of myself, worrying that Henry might appear out of the fog in his black truck at any moment.

But he didn’t.

And that didn’t exactly settle my nerves or anything.