My Absence (Revised)

6 - Aiden

*TRIGGER WARNING - VIOLENCE, ABUSE, AND MENTION OF SUICIDE*

A familiar man rushed into the room. I didn't know who he was immediately, but I knew I'd seen him. 

He rushed over to Nala, and the look of pure terror was obvious. She was shaking, from both pain and horror. Her face was incredibly pale; as white as a ghost. 

"Oh my sweet darling, how did this happen to you?" The man said. As soon as I heard his voice, I knew who he was. It was Alpha Reynolds, alpha of a neighboring pack. 

Alpha Reynolds tried to touch Nala gently, but she flinched and her body went rigid. 

I cleared my throat, and Reynolds turned around. 

"Greetings, Alpha King. I didn't see you there. I apologize." He bowed. 

"As you were. May I ask who you are to Nala?"

"I'm her father, your Majesty."

"I see. Why weren't you here earlier when we first tried contacting her parents?"

"I was on a business trip, sir. I rushed here as soon as I could." I was skeptical of him. Why would a daughter shy away from a father? 

I decided I should give them some space, so I left the room. 

Though I left the room, I made sure to stay close by and out of sight so I could hear if anything suspicious went on. 

---

I saw my father enter the room from the corner of my eye, and my stomach dropped to the floor. My heart began racing, and I started to feel dizzy. 

I was going to faint. I couldn't get away from him. I couldn't move. Now that no one was in the room, there was no one to stop him from abusing me, whether physically or verbally. I was utterly terrified. 

"So you think you'll get away with this little stunt you just pulled? Once you get out of here, you're going to wish you died." My blood turned to lead, and I almost vomited. I didn't want to go home; I didn't want to go back to the hell that was surely awaiting me. 

"Please, I didn't mean-" I tried to reason, to hopefully lessen the punishment that was awaiting me, but he cut me off.

"Dylan told me exactly what went on. You won't get away with it, you slut." I didn't know what Dylan told my father, but it was sure to be a lie. I hadn't done anything. 

"I'm going to talk to the doctors to see how early I can take you home. Don't try to run away, it won't get you anywhere." He turned and walked out of the room. 

I knew what awaited me once I got home. I knew, and I couldn't do anything about it. Whips, chains, Monkshood nectar, spiked clubs, anything the pack could get their hands on. Cleaning till my hands were raw and being raped till I passed out. 

There were so many times that I wished their beatings would kill me. That may be one of the times I passed out from pain, I'd never wake up. But even though I wished and prayed to the Moon goddess, my wish was never answered. 

A few minutes later, my father came in with a nurse. 

"Mr. Reynolds, before we discharge your daughter, we'd like to voice some concerns about what we found on some of Nala's scans. We found multiple broken bones that weren't set correctly, and we don't have any of those instances recorded in her chart. We also found various bruises all over her body that were inflicted before the accident. Do you know why her body is in disarray?" I was stunned. She indirectly called my father out. I was stunned, and all the more terrified. 

"Nala has always been a frail and clumsy child, always falling down stairs and tripping over her own feet. She gets injured so frequently that we don't know if she's broken anything or not. Poor things is never without bruises. We always joke that we need to wrap her in bubble wrap and put a helmet on her!" He tried joking, but I don't know if the facade of the perfect parents he put up stuck.