Chapter 11

Twenty years back

Victor's POV:

I sat crying in the corner of my small bedroom, broken and hurt. I didn't know what to do, whom to tell, or how to stop him. I kept thinking of how he did those nasty things to me with one hand pressing hard on my mouth to stop me from screaming and waking up mom.

What happened last night was the worst of all that had been happening nowadays.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I was on my bed reading a bedtime story when I heard the knocks. I already knew who it would be as I refused to move in dread. The knocks continued as I sat there staring at the door before the doorknob started jiggling impatiently.

"Victor? I know that you are not asleep yet. Now open the door", he said in a low voice, careful not to wake up mom but I only prayed that she would wake up and come to save me from the rubbish that is going to happen.

Sweat broke out on my forehead as I dropped the book beside me but still not moving.

"Open the damn door, or else I will have to break into your room", he said. "Dammit! Open up you little scoundrel", he hissed.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that like always I didn't have any other option but to open the door. I stepped out of my bed reluctantly and crept to the door. My legs shook in anxiety with every step I took forward. My hands trembled as they hesitantly found its way to the latch and unlocked it.

He instantly pushed the door open and barged inside before closing it carefully and locking it behind him. "What took you so long to open the door?", he asked as rage burned in his eyes. Before I could say anything he got hold of my head and slammed it against the wall. I wailed in pain before he leaped over me and shut my mouth to refrain me from shouting.

"If you make any noise I will kill you!", he snarled as my body raked in silent sobs. "Don't even dare to try. If your mother comes to know about this I will kill her too along with you. Now if you cooperate with me this will be over in few minutes and if you make me force you, who knows it may long for the whole night", he said getting back and pulling me up to sit.

"Remove your clothes", he said as my fingers fumbled with the hem of my shirt before pulling it over my head. "Everything!", he said in a seducing tone "Every single piece of  cloth on your body"

He watched me intensely as I removed everything with a disgusting smile on his face and the eyes filled with lust and greed. He grabbed me and tossed me over the bed like a rag doll and laid over me pinning my hands over my head. He started trailing kisses all over my body making me flinch and cry silently. His wet tongue slithered up my body before he locked his lips with mine and forced me to kiss him back.

"You got to learn so many things from Lily aunty", he said as the mention of her name itself disgusted me. "She is an expert. I will one day bring her over when your stupid mom is not around. Your mom knows nothing. She is a waste piece of junk", he said frowning.

He then sat up on my abdomen and pulled off his shorts and smirked at me "All excited? Now keep it silent and just enjoy", he said before he continued doing things that made me want to scream at the top of my lungs.

"Victor?", my mom's voice called from downstairs jerking me back to reality from the thoughts of the previous night. "Come down for breakfast", I heard her say. I sniffled and wiped away my tears by the sleeves of my T-shirt and stood up. I walked out of my room and down the stairs to the dining hall, wondering whether I should tell her what happened last night.

My mom was busy taking away the plate from which my dad had eaten and another plate was kept for me with two slices of cheese sandwich and a glass of orange juice beside it.

As mom was walking to and from the kitchen I took my seat silently on the chair in front of my plate and placed a cloth neatly on my lap. Mom smiled and gave a small pat on my back before continuing her chores. Dad would have left for work half an hour back. It was Sunday today and it was a holiday for me.

I sat staring at the food as my eyes still stung with tears. I didn't feel like eating and would surely puke if I do. Noticing me sitting like a damn statue my mom paused and placed a hand on my shoulder making me jump.

"What is it, honey? Start eating", she said waiting for me to respond.

I looked up at her through my watery eyes as her kind honey-colored eyes softened and she slowly lowered to sit on the chair beside me. "What is it, baby? Why are you crying?", her words dripped with concern as her hand brushed my hair gently.

"M-m-om, I will te-ll you... I wa-n-t.. I am af-ra-iid", my words broke into syllables as I broke down crying and collapsed into her arms. Her hands immediately wrapped around me and rubbed my back up and down. I could hear her heartbeat raising as she became tensed by my feeble behavior. She pulled away and cupped my small face in her warm and welcoming hands.

"Baby stop crying and tell mom what's wrong. Don't be scared of anything. Mom will always protect you, now tell me. Tell me what's wrong. I will help you", she said looking deeply into my eyes that gave me strength and hope like it always did.

I stifled back the sobs as she wiped my teary eyes and held my face straight to hers and gestured me to talk.

"Mom... During nights dad is coming to my room after you sleep. Even if I refuse to open the door he is forcing me to. Then he is doing things to me that he did to Lily Aunty when you caught them a few days back and he is beating me up if I am not cooperating", I said as I pushed away the thick hair that fell on my forehead and showed her the bruise that I had got from the blow last night which was now turning into a darker shade of purple.

The color from her face drained as she examined it. "Why didn't you call out for me?", she asked as tears started pooling in her eyes.

"He warned me that he will kill you if I ever tell you all this", my small voice wavered in fright. "He is shutting my mouth with one hand if I try to scream. I don't want him to do that to me again mom. Please don't ask him about this, we will run away somewhere before he returns home", I said.

Her eyes turned bright red with fury as beads of tears rolled down her cheeks quickly one after the other.

"He won't come to your room again and disturb you, honey. Did you get me? Not until mom is with you. I will take care of him. Okay?", she asked me.

"Mom?", my voice croaked, "Don't ask him. I am scared", I said as she shook her head with a wide smile and kissed my forehead. "Mom can handle it", she said before asking me to go back to my bedroom and lock the door. She asked me to promise her not to leave the room no matter what I heard. She told me I should open the door only when she asks me to.

I did as she told. I locked my room and sat on the floor pressing my ear to the door. I heard her talk to someone over the phone, a few minutes after which I heard a loud slam of the door followed by a loud conversation that suddenly started out of the blue.

Dad is home. Their voices started rising slowly as I heard my mom scream at him amidst crying. Noises of things being thrown around and glasses breaking boomed from down. I heard him yell at her words that I didn't understand which he had even used on me during those nights when I refused to cooperate.

I debated whether to call someone from the phone on my nightstand. But decided not to since mom didn't ask me to do that. The fight kept on continuing as I sat there with ears over the door for what felt like hours.

My mind slowly started wandering off to the lady whom mom and I hated the most, Lily aunty. It all started with her. I was pondering over what people spoke about dad and how that affected us until suddenly a loud shrill of my mom's voice followed by a big thud filled the air.

I instantly jumped back from the door as my heart pounded rapidly in and out of my chest. I slowly moved back to the door and again placed my ear against it. A long disturbing silence prevailed, not even the footsteps were audible. Everything was still. I waited for my mom to come upstairs and ask me to open the door. Only that it never happened.

HAPPY READING!