Page 19 of Chase

“No, no, no,” I beg, my eyes widening in horror, “you can’tdo that to him! We’ve done nothing wrong. Get me medically examined if you like, I’m still a -”

“Just shut up, Isobel,” Mother adds, “I don’t want to hear it. Let Theo fuck off back to America, but you, young lady, you will not be having any contact with that boy ever again!”

She then begins to break down into one of her theatrical whimpers, all the while Tilly smirks at me; I’ve never hated them more.

“Ethan, you are now in charge of your sister. I can’t deal with her anymore,” my father says, as though he ever had anything to do with me. “She is not to see or speak to that boy again.”

“Dad, please!” I beg for him to listen to me for once in his life, but, as always, he turns his back on me and cradles my mother out of the room, all the while she sobs into a tissue.

“Oh, dear little sister, that didn’t go too well, did it?” Tilly says, then makes a scene of crying with her fists rubbing at her eyes, all before laughing sadistically.

“Jealous, are we?” I ask with contempt in my voice. But before I can say or do anything else, Ethan pulls me out of my bed by my hair. On her way out, Tilly wriggles her fingers in a cutesy goodbye motion.

“Get some fucking clothes on you brat,” he growls, pushing me toward the bathroom. “And wash that fucker’s cum off of you; you stink of sex.”

He slams the bathroom door on me, and I collapse onto the cold, hard floor. I have never felt so dirty from doing something so innocent before.

_____

Izzy

The next morning, I hear knocking on the front door, so I leap to my feet out of bed. The house is quiet and I’m hoping everyone is gone for the day, but as soon as I reach the top of the stairs, I hear Ethan open the door with a growl.

“Just let them say goodbye; please, Ethan.” The voice belongs to Frankie and she sounds beyond pissed off after being met with Ethan’s rudeness at the front door. I proceed to leap down the stairs two at a time, then crouch down so Ethan can’t see me.

“No can do, I’m afraid. I’m under strict instructions to not let Isobel see or talk to him,” he says is a bored tone of voice as he stands up tall, blocking the entire doorway.

“Izzy!” Theo shouts from behind Frankie. “Izzy! I love you!”

“Shut the fuck up and get out,” Ethan warns him through his clenched teeth, “or I’ll give you another black eye, so you have a matching pair.”

“Izzy, I’ll come back for you!” Theo continues to shout. “I promise, I’ll come back!”

“I’m calling the police,” Ethan says calmly, in contrast to me, who is now crying in a mess of tears and snot.

“Theo, I think it’s best we go,” Frankie says softly to him, “we’re not going to get anywhere here, and I think it’s a good idea if we just leave early like Dad suggested.”

“But I can’t just leave her, Mom,” he says desperately, “not with him, he’ll hurt her.”

“There’s nothing we can do,” she says sadly. “Tell Izzy we all love her and that she is special to us, even if she’s not to any ofyou,” she says coldly to Ethan, but he merely slams the door in her face.

Ethan walks away with a grin stretching from ear to ear as he walks into the kitchen. With his back turned, I take the opportunity to sneak to the door and open it carefully so as not to alert him to my escape. I run into the road, only to see the back of their car driving away. My heart breaks and my body numbs, so much so that I don’t feel the hand gripping around my hair to pull me back inside, nor the slap across my face when I’m thrown back in my room.

He’s gone.

Chapter 7

Twelve years later, present day

Theo

“Grandma!” I beam at the familiar old lady sitting at the small wooden table close to the bar. A prime location for any wedding function, especially one as tedious as this. “Looking well, I see.”

She smiles as I lean down to kiss her cheek.

“Sit down, Theo,” she says as though I have little choice in the matter. “Have you thought about our little talk?”

“It’s been over a year since I’ve seen you and there’s no ‘hello’, no ‘how are you?’ Straight to the point, huh?”

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