I Want To Be Free

7. The Beating

CHAPTER | SEVEN

"Answer the question!" He growled, his shoulders visibly tensing.

I jumped a little and averted my gaze to the floor, unable to hold his stare.

"I just went for a walk in the park." I said as strongly as I could muster.

"Don't lie to me, Kelly." He warned through clenched teeth, his hands clenching and unclenching.

I shook my head a little too quickly. "I'm not lying, father."

He took long strides towards me, grabbing my chin roughly and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from whimpering in pain. I forced myself to look up at his angry face and winced as his hold on my chin tightened.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his breath reeking of alcohol.

I nodded and my hands went over my father's hand. I tried to pry his fingers off my chin, but instead he pushed me away, my back hitting the edge of the foyer table painfully. I bit back a groan of pain, allowing myself to flinch only.

My father scoffed and went to the kitchen. "I'm hungry."

I held my tongue from making a snarky comment and followed my father, rubbing my back to soothe the pain.

"What would you like to eat?"

"What does Austin have?" He asked, leaning on the sink.

I shrugged and checked the fridge, naming the leftovers Austin kept. My father decided on the pizza and when I grabbed a plate from the cabinet above the sink, a pile of glass cups tumbled over and instance made me push my father away.

The glass shattered on the edge of the sink and bits fell on the floor as two more glass cups fell. I lowered my arms and breathed a sigh of relief. The relief didn't last long when a strong grip on my hair yanked me back, almost tripping over my feet.

"What were you trying to do?! Kill me?!" My father roared in my face, spit flying past his lips.

I rapidly shook my head, but I knew I was too late for excuses. The storm brewing in my father's eyes told me so.

His hand released my hair and he angrily knocked all the china on the floor. I gripped the counter from behind me, averting my eyes and jumping slightly when the glass met its faith with the wooden floor. He grabbed Danny's favorite cereal bowl and something made me step in.

I snatched the bowl from my father's grip and held on to his wrist. "Stop, father! You're breaking everything!"

He turned around, his hand colliding with my cheek. My head snapped to the side and I almost stepped on the glass if I hadn't grabbed the edge of the sink to break my fall.

"When will you ever learn not to interfere?!" He shouted, gripping my elbow.

I winced as his finger nails dug into my skin, drawing blood. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset—"

His fist connected with my stomach and I gasped, bending over in pain. An evil smirk spread across his face, obviously enjoying my pain. I grunted again as another punch hit me in the same exact spot. He let go of me, letting me drop on the floor. I curled into a ball, holding my stomach.

"I didn't mean to..." I tried again, getting on my knees only to be kicked under my chin. I fell back on the floor, groaning.

He didn't say anything and grabbed me by the hair. I yelped in pain, my hands wrapping around his. He roughly pushed me towards the glass and I hissed through gritted teeth. Tears threatened to spill over as every little sharp piece of glass tore my back. I muffled a moan and arched my back.

My father pressed his foot on my stomach, making me cry out. I grabbed his ankle, my fingers desperately trying to move it away. My blood was running cold in my veins, and my heart was into overdrive. I was panting heavily as tears ran down my cheeks freely.

"Pl-please do-don't do this!" I whimpered, stuttering with my words.

"Why should I stop? You're the reason that everything has been hell for me!" He screamed, his face going red with all the anger he felt.

My knuckles turned white as he pressed his foot harder into my stomach. The glass dug deeper and I felt the air escape my lungs.

"Stop!" I wailed, not being able to handle it anymore.

He finally lifted his foot and I sucked in a deep breath. He raised his foot again. I moved to the side, his foot missing me by just a second. He cursed loudly as the glass dug on his skin. I weakly crawled away from the glass as he glared daggers at me.

"I'm going to fucking end you!" He seethed, about to take step towards me when someone hit the back of his head with bat. He fell flat on his face, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he lost conscious.

I looked up at Max as he dropped the bat and rushed towards me.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" He said horrified, kneeling on the floor beside me.

He moved my hair away from my face, spotting a bit of blood dripping down from the corner of my lips that probably came from the bitch slap my father delivered.

He touched my back to help me into a sitting position, but I yelped in pain. He pulled his hand away, his eyes widening at the sight of blood.

"Kelly, what happened?" He asked softly.

I looked up at him and smiled a weak smile. "Still afraid of blood I see." I said in a lame way to lighten things up.

"I'm not! I just don't like it and it makes me uneasy."

"Yeah, sure."

"What did he do to you?" He asked again, returning to the task at hand.

I closed my eyes, wincing when he tried to sit me up. He lifted my shirt slowly, revealing all the damage. There was no need for words. He knew what happened now.

"I'll go get Austin. Stay here and we'll take you to the hospital. Try not to move as much." He instructed, getting up to go find Austin.

My eyes followed him until he disappeared from the kitchen door. I reached to tenderly touch my back and groaned when that caused a fresh wave of agony to spread through my body. I fell to my side, breathing hard. I caught the sight of my father's hand peeking from the other side of the counter.

"I'm going to fucking end you!"

He always said that when I fought back, but for some reason, these words felt different this time. My eyes fluttered shut and for once I welcomed the darkness that took me far away from the discomfort.