Paying the Price

Chapter 24: Jenifer

No last chapter recap but rather a TW that this chapter has some very graphic and brutal scenes of child abuse to a 6-year-old. If you don't feel comfortable reading, feel free to send me a message and I can tell you what you need to know. This will be a bit tough to read but it's vital to our new set of characters' stories. Love you guys <3

—---------------

Cold, sad, and lonely were the only words to describe how I was feeling.

Both of my brothers were gone and mommy and daddy were not very happy.

Owen had been gone for two weeks and Odin for about six.

I missed them both terribly and just thinking about them made me want to cry.

But I can't cry, mommy and daddy don't like hearing me cry and they are very upset right now.

Odin had pinky promised that he would be back for us but then he never came back.

Owen didn't even tell me he was leaving.

We went to bed and when I woke up he was gone.

I thought that mommy and daddy had gotten him so I peeked my head upstairs to see if I could find him.

Owen and I lived in our basement. Mommy and daddy didn't like us being seen or heard and said that naughty children like us deserved to live in the basement.

They really did not like me and Owen. They were very mean to us and always told us how much they hated us.

Our basement had one window in it. It was really high up, almost to the ceiling, and it was a very dirty window that barely provided any light but it worked enough for me to be able to look and see whether it was night or day.

I don't really know how my brothers escaped. Odin didn't live in the basement like Owen and I did. Mommy and Daddy liked him more than us.

Odin was big and strong and mommy and daddy liked him because of that. He worked a lot and he brought home money for our parents.

Sometimes he would bring home treats for me and Owen.

He always promised that one day he would get us out of here. He said that we just needed to wait a little while longer.

I remember the day that he left. Owen and I were so happy. We had dumb hope that he would come back and save us.

We waited days and then weeks and now months for him to return as he promised but he never did.

I also remember the day that Owen left. He didn't even tell me he was leaving and I frantically ran up the stairs to try and find him.

I opened up the basement door and entered the main floor of the house.

I hadn't been up here in probably weeks but I was determined to find him.

I quietly tiptoed around the house trying to listen and find him but I was out of luck.

Normally I would have heard mommy or daddy screaming if they had taken Owen but the house was quiet.

Looking back at it now, that should have been my first sign of danger and I should have put the pieces together that he was gone.

Unfortunately, I did not, and when daddy saw me upstairs he got really, really, angry.

He grabbed me by the neck, screaming in my face "What the hell are you doing up here bitch?"

I didn't respond to him. They didn't like it when I talked and I learned it was easier to keep quiet.

He slammed me against the wall.