The Girl Who Found The Darkness

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

        The next day, David is mad he didn’t get to kiss me after the New Years countdown. But he gets over it when I say I regret running way from him, which is a complete lie. But David seems to buy it, so ha.

            Everyday since then has followed the same pattern. I spend the morning with Chloe, the afternoon with David, and after dinner, I sneak into the courtyard to meet with Ben.

            Recently, David hasn’t been so violent. He very rarely beats me, but even when he does, it’s not nearly as serious. This means, of course, I self harm more. Before, all I had to do to hide my scars was wear a bunch of rubber bands on my wrist and not wear shorts above my knee. They were easy to hide, since the scars David gave me covered them up. But now, David’s scars are starting to fade away and I’m forced to wear jackets and Capri’s or pants all of the time.

            And, of course, I find out why David isn’t being as violent on none other day than Valentine’s Day.

            The day is pretty uneventful until after lunch. David and I travel down the familiar hallway, but instead of going to the game room like we usually do, David instead walk a little bit farther and we go to the movie room.

            “For you, Love.” David says, handing me a bouquet of red roses.

            “Thank you so much, David.” I say politely.

            “So, what movie do you want to watch?” David asks. I shrug. We end up watching The Avengers, because that’s totally romantic! Note the sarcasm.

            David pops in the DVD to the disc player as I sit down in the front row. David sits down next to me and puts his arm on my shoulder. I lean against David’s chest reluctantly as the movie begins. After a while, I decide its time to ask David something that’s been on my mind for a while.

            “David, why did you stop all of a sudden? I ask abruptly.

            “Stop what?”

            “Stop…. Well…. Um… Stop hurting me.” I say nervously. David sighs.

            “After I had that conversation with you on New Years, I realized something. You were right. You can’t love someone that tortures you. Instead of pulling you closer to me, I was pushing you away. I realized that it was stupid of me to expect you to love me when I acted like I hated you. So, I made a New Years resolution to stop hurting you as much so you could get to know the real me.”

            I stare at David, shocked. He really cares about me that much? He cares about me so much that he’ll fight his abusive nature? Wow.

            Most girls would be touched. I’m not. David may stop torturing me, but it doesn’t change the fact that he did torture me. David can’t go back in time and prevent all of my scars from ever happening. No one can. It just doesn’t work like that. And plus, I thought I deserved it. I deserve to be tortured and beaten. Instead of helping David’s case, he’s actually hurting it by stopping. The irony of the situation was so great I almost laugh.

            “Wow.” Is all I can say. I rest my head on David’s chest again and start watching the movie again. After the movie is over, we watch Doctor Who until it’s time for dinner.

            After dinner, I walk to the courtyard quickly. Once I’m in the courtyard, I walk to the edge of the garden near the pool, where Ben and I usually meet. Ben is already there, as usual.