Tessa's Home

Fourteen

Mikhail

As soon as all my boys are in the lounge and have found their seats, I turn the tv on.

I'm going to show them all the scars and bruises on Tessa's body. It's a pretty shitty thing to do, because she's half naked in these photos and we're all invading her privacy.

But she said I could show them. And I need them to know where her wounds are, so they can be careful not to hurt her further.

"Tessa gave me permission to show you all her wounds and I'm showing you so that you know where to be gentle until she heals properly. It's pretty...brutal, so be prepared. And be quiet, too, because Tessa's sleeping upstairs and she doesn't need to be here when I'm showing you guys. Okay?" They all nod and I pull up the photos of her body. My heart tinges when I see the first photo, showing the front of her body. Showing the large bruises on her stomach, the hand prints on her arms, the scars littered everywhere.

"Holy fuck," Carl whisper, his hand over his mouth. I don't bother worrying about the language he's using. There's no point.

Milo and Mavok can't take their eyes off the screen as I click onto the next photo. Tyler's crying and Hugh's next to him, holding back his own sobs.

Payton looks just about ready to punch a wall, so I remind them all, "if you need to punch something, wait until after I'm finished here and then go to the gym in the garage. Don't punch each other or the walls, you hear?"

The next photo shows Tessa's back, where her biggest and worst scars are. She's got too many round circles on her shoulders, letting everyone who's ever seen a cigarette know she was practically used as an ashtray.

There are also long, thick scars running down the length of her back. They would've only been cause by one thing.

"What...what could've caused scars like that?" Milo whispers with a shaky voice.

"A whip," I say, clenching my jaw so hard it's painful. Milo let's out a small sob and Mavok side hugs him, staring at the photo.

The next few photos are close-ups of her bruises and small scars.

Eventually, after we've all calmed down a bit, I bring out the file the doctor gave me earlier today.

"What's that?" Payton asks through gritted teeth.

"Tessa's file. I haven't read it, so I'm not exactly sure what's in here, but it should carry some very personnal things. And I'm guessing they aren't going to be pretty details. If you think you can't handle any more, leave now. You can always have a look later." Nobody moves, so I open the file.

Slowly, I skim over the information.

"What does it say?" Mavok asks slowly, like he's scared of my answer.

"It's basically a recording of everything Tessa told the doctor." I take a shaky breath. "She...oh god." I put a hand over my mouth, feeling sick, before remembering I'm leaving my other children in painful suspense. "She told the doctor that she's been...been raped multiple times before, by a total of three people. And she's even been pregnant for three months before getting an abortion...at fourteen! Oh god, no."

Tyler whines loudly and puts his head in his hands, and Hugh hugs him with tears streaming down his face. Payton's gripping his hair so hard he might pull it out, and the twins are staring at their hands in shock. Carl is mumbling swear words to himself over and over, and I almost stop reading these things to them. I almost leave it for another time.

But I can't do that. I need them to know everything right now. To know what their sister went through over the last four years.

As painful as it is, we need to know.