Page 5 of Beautiful Revenge

Twelve Years Old…

I can’t take much moreof this hell. Every day, I lose a piece of myself when they touch me against my will.

I’ve started fighting back, causing them scars and injuries, which pisses Dad off. Now they tie me up so I can’t hurt them.

I guess they don’t care that they’re hurting me.

According to the horrible things they say to me, I’m a woman, and this is my sole purpose in life.

Dad no longer speaks to me like I’m his little girl, like he loves me. Everything he throws at me is filled with a hatred I don’t understand. I’ve never done anything to warrant him being mad at me to this extent.

I’m starting to think it’s because I look like my mother because he says things when he’s been drinking. Things about how he’ll make sure I’m more useful than she was and better trained. I’m not sure I understand it all, but I know I’m done with this place.

There is no more light in my world. It just simply doesn’t exist. There are things that contain light that mean everything to me, but that’s not the same.

I love Dylan, Devon, and their parents. They’re my slivers of light, but they’re on the outside. They don’t even know the half of what’s happening to me.

I just want it all to stop.

DEVON

“Where the hell has she been?”Dylan curses. He’s worried about Briar.

I am too, but the princess is stronger than he gives her credit for.

“Hey, Devon,” some chick says, flirting with me. Well, she thinks it’s me, but she’s talking to Dylan.

“Yeah, not Devon,” he mutters, getting frustrated.

The chick blushes a bright red before looking at me. “Sorry. You guys just look so much alike.” She giggles, and the sound grates on my nerves.

What the hell is with that sound? No one should be that fucking happy. It’s not normal.

“Listen, you seem nice, but we aren’t interested, and we’re trying to have a private conversation,” I snap, and she opens and closes her mouth like a fucking fish before sneering.

“I’m trying to be nice to you. You know, I see you hanging around with that freak of a girl sometimes. You know she’s like, retarded, right?”

I take a step toward her, feeling the anger rise in me that only comes when it’s something negative against the princess, but Dylan stops me.

“You should leave now,” he directs at the stupid twit in front of us.

“Ugh, whatever!” she snarls, walking away.

“You really need to control that, Dev,” he tells me, and I roll my eyes.

“What I need is to find out where the hell the princess has been. Something doesn’t feel right, Dyl,” I say, something heavy landing in my stomach.

“Yeah, I know. I feel it too.” He swallows.

I can see the worry and upset on his face, and I know it mirrors my own. Expect mine is laced with this searing anger that won’t go away.

* * *

“I don’t like this,”Dylan whispers as we sneak onto the back lawn of Briar’s yard.

Apparently, he doesn’t want to invade her privacy or something, but come on. She’s twelve. Just how much privacy does a girl need, anyway?

“Are you worried about her or not?” I ask him, stopping to watch his face.

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