The Cost Of Freedom

Cost of Freedom

“Help me, please help me,” she whispered to herself as she sat on the floor
of her bedroom, slowly rocking back and forth.

She could hear the yelling down the hall. He was drunk again and she knew
that this time, yes, this time something would happen. In the past she and
her mother usually got out of the house when he was drinking, or he’d come
home in a drunken stupor and passed out on the living room floor.

She jumped as she heard something smash down the hall.

“Oh please, please…what did I do that was so wrong? Why won’t someone help
me? We don’t deserve this.”

Tears slid down her face as she sat there on her bedroom floor, holding her
knees to her chest and slowly rocking back and forth.

She heard her mother cry out as something else smashed.

“Stop, just stop,” she whispered.

There was another yell from her mother and then there was silence.

“Mummy?”

She knew no one would answer. She knew that she would probably never hear
her mother’s voice again.

The house was silent now, though her tears still flowed freely. She was
waiting now. Either for her father to leave, pass out, or come for her.

Her silent fears were confirmed as she heard heavy footsteps walking down
the hall, towards her room.

“No, please no.”

She quickly crawled over to the other side of her bedroom and curled into a
ball behind her bed, trying to make herself seem smaller, whilst also
praying he was just heading for the bathroom…anywhere but her room.

She curled herself into a tighter ball as she heard the door handle begin to
turn.

“Sweetie, you in here?” she heard her father drunkenly slur as he opened the
door, letting a slit of light into the previously dark room.

She tucked her head down and hoped with all that she was worth he wouldn’t
see her.

He stumbled further into the room almost falling over the bed and then he
spotted her. “There you are. Now come on over here to your dear old dad,”
the last words were spat from his mouth, the hate and loathing evident in
his voice.

She didn’t move.

“Get over here now!” he yelled at her shuddering form.

When she remained as she was he walked around the bed and grasped her by the
hair, she cried out as he did so and he sneered at her weakness.

“Get up.”

She looked at him with fearful, teary eyes. “What did you do to her?”

He pulled her hair harder. “Don’t you worry about that now, you should worry
about what I’m gonna do to you.”

“Wh-what are you going to-”

“Shut up!”

He tugged on her mousy brown locks again and she stood. Once she was up he
led her out of the room. As they entered the hall she began to struggle
against his grasp.

“Where are we going? Where’s mum? What the hell did you do to-”

She was cut off as he back handed her across the face. He dragged her down
the hall to the master bedroom.

“Get in there.”

“I don’t want to.”

She was rewarded with another slap. Then he pushed her into the room.

When she entered the room she screamed. Her mother’s body lay lifeless and
pale on the floor; a dark red, almost black pool of blood stained the carpet
around her body. There was broken glass on the floor and as she stepped
closer to the body of her mother she cut her foot on a shard, her blood
soaking the carpet along with her mothers.

“You killed her!” she screamed, throwing herself towards him and attempting
to hurt him in any way possible.

He blocked her efforts and wrapped one large hand around her neck. She
gagged as he did so and began choking as he cut off her air supply.

“I never wanted a kid you know,” he snarled. “Or a wife. But things don’t
always turn out how you want them to. I only married her ‘cause she was
pregnant with you. I thought, at least I’ll have a son, but no. You were a
sniveling little girl. Well now I’ll never have to worry about you or her
again.”

The room was spinning around her now and she was seeing coloured spots in
front of her eyes. As she began to feel more and more detached from her body
his voice was growing fainter, and she thought she heard her mother’s voice
calling to her.

Her last thought was that now she and her mother were both free. Free of him
forever.