𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

19

Thomas carefully stepped away from her as she covered her ears. "I killed him" she repeated.

John burst through the door, Polly behind him. "Where is she"

He looked down at the girl who sat a mess. "Oh Lottie what have you done" he whispered.

"I'm sorry" she whispered, staring at her feet, "it's not my fault" she continued. John kneeled beside her. "Lottie what happened"

"I killed him" she repeated the words again. "Who, Lottie, who did you kill"

Polly and Tommy watched with their hands over their mouths.

"A man, he grabbed me when i was by the cut" she whispered, blinking. "Starting trying to do stuff John" she sobbed. "He hurt me"

"And i fucking killed him" she hissed, scratching at the blood on her hands. "Get it off" she shouted. "It won't go"

The girl was fragile, weak and none of them knew what to do.

John pulled her in, despite the fight she put up, he held her tight, rocking her slightly. His hand rested on the back of her head as he placed a kiss on her head.

"Your okay Lottie, we will sort it" he pulled away from the girl who had slightly calmed down.

"Where is he" Thomas asked. She shook her head, "I don't know, it all happened so quick and-"

"Stop" Tommy raised his hand. "It's fine"

None of them had ever seen her in such a state, it sent them sick.

John stepped away, looking at Polly as Tommy left the house. "Come on love, can you stand up?" Polly asked, holding her hands in front of the girl.

Lottie shakily stood, gripping onto Polly's hands.

"I'm sorry Pol, i didn't mean for it to happen" she shook her head as Polly helped her up the stairs.

John sat on the couch with wide eyes, trying to contemplate what had happened to his younger sister.

"Come on, you wait here and i'll run you a bath" Polly whispered, leaving the girl on her bed.

Lottie hugged her knees to her chest, the moment reliving in her head, over and over again.

John left the house fuming.

He was going to find the body, he was going to make it unrecognisable.

He walked through each alleyway that lead to the cut, finding Tommy and Arthur along with Uncle Charlie and Johnny Doggs.

"Did you find it" he asked, pacing the road. "No," Arthur shook his head. "Then what the fuck are you waiting for" he shouted,

He disappeared down the alleyway, his brothers following.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the large man laying dead, a pool of blood around him. Anger filled john as he grabbed the cap from the floor that belonged to Lottie and began slicing the man's face.

"John" Tommy shouted. He ignored his brothers calls. "John" He repeated, grabbing the boy. "Stop, that's enough"

"He did this," John pointed, his eyes glossy. "This bastard tried to kill our little sister" his voice cracked slightly. "She's okay John" Tommy whispered.

"What if she didn't shoot him Tom, eh? Ever think about that"

"John come on, Lottie will need you back at the house, more than she will need us" Arthur whispered, his face pale. "How could we let this happen" John asked.

"We had no control John" Arthur said.

"Go home John"

John shoved Tommy away, walking back the way he came.

"Johnny, Arthur, get rid of the body, burn it or throw it in the cut i don't care, Charlie go get Curly and clean this shit up" he pointed at the blood stained floor.

-

John slowly entered the bathroom where Polly sat, bathing the girl. Lottie looked up at him with tired eyes.

She still had her underwear and under shirt on.

He kneeled down beside the metal tub. "How you feeling Lott?" he whispered, his fingers grazing the metal.

She shook her head, saying nothing.

The water was a dark colour, filled with dirt and blood. John looked up at his Auntie who nodded and left them alone.

Lottie leaned back, her head balancing on the edge, staring at the wall in front of her.

"This is my fault" she croaked, "i shouldn't have left the house"

"No" John shook his head, his knuckles going white from the grip he had on the tub. "You could have never known that was going to happen"

"But i promise you Lottie, i'm not going to let another man touch you ever again" he said angrily, his voice shaking.

Lottie quickly dunked her head under the water. She resurfaced, wiping her eyes.

"I can't get it out my head" she licked her lips. "My skin crawls every time i think about it"

John bit his lip, anger and many other emotions flooding through him. He ran a hand through his hair. "He tried to kill me" she whispered. Her hand grazed the bruised skin on her neck.

-

Polly helped the girl out of the water, handing her a towel. "Where did John go"

"He's in your room, love"

Lottie pulled the wet clothes from her body, cringing at the stains of blood on them. "Where did Tom go"

"He went to deal with it" Polly assured her. Lottie stepped into her night dress and polly stood behind her, carefully brushing her hair.

"You need to rest" Pol whispered to her and Lottie nodded, walking barefoot into her bedroom where John sat in the chair.

He stood up, heading for the door. She shook her head quickly, grabbing his sleeve. "Can you stay, please" she begged. He let out a breath before nodding slowly. "Yeah"

Lottie pulled her covers over her, squeezing her eyes closed every time it replayed in her head.

All she could think was why did it happen? was it her fault? who was he? why did he do it? No matter how many times the family assured her it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help but think it was.

Whilst she was sleeping, Tom stood at the door. "How is she" he asked. John shrugged.

"Scared" he nodded.

"We got rid of the body" Tommy said. "Do we know who it was?" John asked, running his finger over his lip "Considering you sliced his face up, we aren't certain but we think it was one of Sabini's men" he nodded slowly.

"Fucking bastards" he hissed. "What are you going to do about it Tom" John asked. Thomas stayed silent.

"She's fucked up our sister, what are you going to do" he asked again.