The Good Girls Secret

Chapter 10- Getting Ready For The Big Day.

"Ryan."

"No, don't hit me!" I whimper into the darkness.

"Ryan!" Someone is shaking me now.

"Please dad, just stop!" I howl until someone is shouting in my ear.

"Hey, wake up! Ryan!"

Immediately, I shoot upright in bed with sweat running down my forehead. My body is shaking from the dream, or should I say nightmare, about my dad. I glance over at the clock to find it's only 4:30 a.m which leaves an hour and a half before we have to wake up.

"Are you alright?" Braiden's voice snaps me back into reality, I forgot he was even here.

I open my mouth to reply but the only thing that escapes it is a small whimper. All that's going through my head is the way my father beat me. Each day something new and worse than the last.

His arm comes around and he envelops me in a hug. All the tears I was holding back start to fall from eyes. Sobs shake my body causing Braiden to hold me tighter, like a cage protecting me from all the memories.

"Shh, don't worry, Ryan. I've got you, you're safe now." Braiden mumbles into my ear.

I bury my head in his neck and clutch onto his shirt like it's the only thing keeping me from completely losing it. He pulls me onto his lap, cradling me as though I were a baby. It sounds so stupid, but right now it's exactly what I need.

"D-do you want to talk about your dream?" He asks tentatively, pushing the hair out of my face.

"Um, I don't know if you want to hear it." I respond meeting his eyes only to see them filled with compassion.

"If you're okay with telling me them I would love for you to share." He draws small circles on my back which helps me calm down.

"Are you sure? It's pretty ugly, Braiden." I inform him, but he nods his head for me to continue. "Alright, well the dreams are usually different every time, but there less like dreams and more like memories that play back in my head." I begin, knowing that there's no turning back now.

Do I really trust Braiden enough to tell him all of this? I think to myself before making my decision. Yes, the answer is yes.

"What was this one about?" Braiden nervously asks me.

"Ah, this one wasn't as bad as some of the other punishments, but he did it the most often." I take a deep breath then continue. "Basically, what he would do is tie my hands down to chairs and every time I would make a sound take his boot and step on one of my fingers."

Braiden's hands form into tight fists and rage courses through his eyes.

"T-there was this one time when he was extremely angry with me so h-he thought that I should suffer even more than usual. Instead of just bruising my fingers he actually stomped so hard on them that my pinky broke." I hold up my hand to show him how crooked it is.

It's on my right hand and sort of juts to the left.

"He never let me leave so it had to heal on its own, which is why it's so crooked." I explain and by the end of the story tears are streaming down my face again.

I'm to ashamed to even look at Braiden so I just stare at my hands which are sitting in my lap.

"Hey," he says in a soft voice tilting my chin up to him, "listen Ryan, I swear that if your dad, or anyone else for that matter, tries to hurt you again, won't get a chance to get close enough to do it."