Finding Hope[l.c.]

TWO

"Daddy! Daddy please don't! I-I didn't mean to!" Lily sobbed as her father threw her onto the ground and took off his belt.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to throw away my beer bottles, huh? How many times? Cuz apparently you're too stupid to register that the first hundred times I said it!" He exclaims as he yanks Lily's shirt up.

He held his belt in the air, ignoring his daughter's wails, and hit her already bruised back.

Lily screamed. "Daddy please!"

But he didn't listen. He knelt down beside her, and hit her as hard as he could over and over again.

Lily screamed as loud as she could before she passed out.

"Lily! Lily wake up! Just a bad dream, it's just a bad dream!" Rosalie said, frantically trying to wake the screaming girl.

Lily eyes darted open, and she jolted up in bed, tears streaming down her face and a cold sweat soaking her shirt.

She looked around.

Rosalie was hovering over her, and Emmett was standing by the door with a concerned look on his face.

Lily sniffed.

"Sorry I woke you up. I'm fine. Go back to bed." Lily said, rolling over to her side and laying back down. Rosalie shook her head. "Lily, I'm not just going to-"

"I said I'm fine! Just leave me alone!" Lily yelled, burying her face in her pillows. Lily couldn't be weak. When you're weak, people will hurt you, because they know that they can.

They know you're vulnerable.

Don't be a weakling Lily. Don't be a weakling...

Rosalie backed away with her hands held up in surrender, and motioned for Emmett to go. He nodded, and walked out, leaving his wife alone with the upset teen.

Rosalie sighed, and sat on the side of the bed, looking at the back of Lily's thick mop of wavy like curls.

"You can talk to me ya know. Whenever you need to. I'll always be here to talk." Rosalie said softly before getting up, and quietly making her way out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Lily sighed in relief. She was finally alone.

Lily hated to show her weaknesses. She was tought at a very young age that she had to stay strong. In the DeMarco household, there was no babying, no handholding, and no dealing with emotions.

There was no joy, no laughter, no break from the living hell that Lily's parents had built and kept her prisoner in. She knew what happened when you showed your weaknesses.

She had 'CRYBABY' carved into her skin with a pairing knife to prove it.

Lily sighed, barely containing her tears. All she wanted to do was runaway. Runaway from it all.

The nightmares, the lack of love, everything. She just wanted to grab her garbage bag, take some money, and buy a oneway ticket to California. That way, when her birthday rolls around, she can sign up to be an emancipated minor, and can finally start her life.

I can steal some cash from Mr. and Mrs. MoneyBags, pack my stuff, cut through the woods, and make it to a bus station before they find out.

Question is, how am I gonna get there without being caught?

Lily sighed. She would sleep on it, and then try and devise a plan to get the Hell out of there in case things got bad.