The Cure

Chapter 4: The Greek God

I could hear my dad and my brother shouting at each other, so I quietly walked downstairs, not wanting anyone to hear me. I stopped walking when I reached the living room door, and looked through the slight gap.
My mom stood there, looking lost and confused behind my brother, who was standing directly across from my dad.
"I'm sick of you treating us like idiots, do you think I don't know what you're doing?" Ollie asked, stepping that little bit closer to him, his voice filled with hate.
"I don't know what you're talking about," dad said, shaking his head. Ollie made a noise that sounded like he was laughing, but nothing was funny.
"Yes you do," Ollie replied making my dad angry.
"Tell me the truth Andrew," my mom said, speaking for the first time. Ollie stepped out of the way slightly, letting them talk to each other.
"Anne, I have told you the truth," he explained, trying to get closer to her, but Ollie got in the way.
"No you haven't, just tell her, it's the least you could do." My dad looked torn and that's when my mom broke. The tears formed in her eyes as she looked at him.
"Who is she?" She asked but my dad didn't answer, he just looked down, playing with his fingers.
"I asked who is she?" He looked up at her and quietly, he whispered,"Sally from work." My mom didnt reply, she just broke down, crying into her hands.
"I promise that it meant nothing, it was nothing, I love you Anne, I always have and I always will," he tried to help, but it made things worse.
"If you love me why are you having an affair with her? That shows how little I mean to you! How could you throw twenty years of marriage away like that?" She shouted, scaring me.
"We don't have to throw it away! We can make it through this Anne, I know we can, I promise I will never do it again." My mom stopped crying then, she stood up and walked closer to him. Ollie stood right behind her, ready to protect her.
"I don't care if you never do it again, you've already done it. How could you do this to your family? Get out Andrew, I can''t even look at you," she said, walking behind Ollie.
"This is my house, I'm not going anywhere. This is my family as well," he said, and Ollie turned his attention away from mom and back onto dad.
"Not anymore, get out," he said and my dad looked horrified. Then, I made the noise I wish I had never made. I had started to cry and they heard me. All eyes turned to me.
"Princess, my princess," my dad said, walking over to me. The closer he got to me, the further away I moved. I flinched away from him. "It's me princess," he said but I didn't reply, I just walked away from him and stood with my mom and Ollie. He started to get angry, then, he stormed over and punched Ollie in the face. I screamed, and then he grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me away with him, dragging me with him as he left the house.
"Let her go!" Ollie shouted and ran after us, as I was swung around. My breathing got faster until I couldn't breathe anymore.
"You can't keep me away from my family!" My dad shouted and that was the last thing I heard before the blackness surrounded me, drowning me.

I sit up in bed, my face wet from the tears I have been crying. I pull the covers away as I try to control my breathing again. I didn't deal with that night very well. I started to get panic attacks after, I used to be scared that my dad was going to come after me and take me away from my mom and brother. They took me to therapy where I would talk about it, but it led to bad dreams most nights. Things used to trigger them, like phrases my dad said and the way he looked. I haven't had a nightmare like that in almost a year. I hope they don't start again, I won't be able to cope if they start again.
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I stare at myself in the mirror, not knowing what I should do. The red dress is hung up on the door, my limited amount of make-up is on the desk but I don't do anything with it. I don't know what to do with it. Kelly is picking us up at seven, so now, at six, I am panicking. I don't even want to go to the party, not after last night.
"Can I borrow some perfume?" Steph asks while she knocks the door. I tell her she can, so she opens the door and walks in. She looks stunning in a black dress, with cuts at the hips, showing off her hip piercings. Her hair is perfectly straight and hanging simply on either side of her face. She hasn't even done her make-up yet and she still looks beautiful. "Why aren't you getting dressed?" She asks but I only look down into my lap, ashamed of my reasons.
"Do you want some help?" I look up at her and smile, she understands.
"Thanks," I whisper as she takes the hairdryer and starts to blow dry my hair.
"It's what friends are for," she replies and continues drying my hair.