The Past

It was now 6 o’clock, destruction hour. In about a minute or so, he would walk through the door in his business suit and look at her straight in the eye with a malicious smile on his face. He would walk over to her, give her a kiss on the forehead and everything would be fine. It would seem like a father greeting his daughter when he came home from work, until he went into the bathroom. Then, everything would turn to hell.

~

“Jadrienne!” his furious yell echoed through the house. Wincing, his five year old daughter slowly crawled up the stairs to the bathroom. “Do you see this?” he shoved his face at her; “You see this hideous face? Age and stress have ruined it; have put marks all over it. And why would I have these marks? All because of you, you worthless cripple. All because of you,” he grabbed her by the hair and flung her hard against the bathtub. Her cry of pain made him smile. “Your harlot of a mother just couldn’t contain herself when she saw me. Damn her and her strict Catholic beliefs, her stupid religion tied us together, tied me down.” He picked up a hairbrush, turned it in his hands before flinging it at Jadrienne who flinched as the brush hit her cheek.

“Then she got pregnant with you. At first I was happy, you believe that? I was happy,” he spat out the word, “I actually wanted a child. I wanted a son, not some despicable female.” He glanced around the room, his face growing dark as nothing caught his attention, nothing ‘throw-able.’ He bent down and bunched her hair in his hands, “Come on, move you piece of trash. You spawn of a prostitute.” He kicked her in the ribs and forced her into the hallway, to his room, where his real fun would begin.

Jadrienne grabbed the carpeting on the floor, using it to drag herself towards her father’s bedroom, knowing what it would hold for her. She knew that once she entered that room, her screams would not stop, but she had no choice. Her mother had refused to enter the room, tired of the constant beatings she received, her reward, a bullet in the head and heart; without a second thought, without so much a blink. Then, his fury, his rage, had turned and aimed themselves at her.

“Move it you mongrel,” another kick forced her from the past. “Faster you b*****d,” his voice was laced with rage, but his face was calm, a smile forming when he saw beads of sweat dot her forehead. She grabbed the carpet and pulled herself, the friction between her body and the floor burned right through her clothes towards the cuts that hadn’t healed yet from the night before. Finally, his patience broke and he hauled her into the room. With flair, he chucked her across the room, laughing hysterically as her body hit the dresser and fell to the floor with a sickening thump. He hit the wall, tears coming out of his eyes from laughter when he caught her pale face with blood flowing out of her nose and mouth.

Jadrienne ignore his hyena like laughter. She just prayed to a God somewhere that soon she would lose consciousness. It hurt less when she couldn’t think about it. She prayed that he would just deliver a blow to her head to knock her out. That way she didn’t have to face him and his ‘horrible’ face, but somewhere deep inside her heart she knew, this was going to be a long night.

Her father grabbed her, “Ready for the sacrifice table?” he cackled. She made no sound, voicing anything; especially her pain would only bring him more pleasure. He picked her up and carried her over to a large stone table that sat in the middle of his large bedroom. His laughter became really hysterical as he strapped her to the table using leather straps that he installed himself. Originally, this was a Halloween décor, surprisingly; it was now a ‘sacrifice’ table. He picked up a long blade, running his fingers along the sharp edge. “Ready my dear?” he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. “Ready to feel this baby cut through your skin? Ready for your blood to flow?” he smiled at that thought.

Slowly, he lowered the knife, the tension in the room become unbearable. Cold metal touched burning skin and he made one smooth slice. Jadrienne bit the inside of her lip and tasted blood, screaming inside from the pain. He scowled when she made no sound and made another cut along her stomach. Jadrienne fought the urge to buckle and scream; she held everything in until she reached her goal and simply passed out. He stared at her, rage covering his features. “No, you’re supposed to be in pain!” he made several cuts, his movements jerky and uncontrolled. “No!” he bellowed, “I need to hear to scream, wake up and scream, let me feel your pain!” He slapped her, drawing blood from her mouth. “Wake up,” he shrieked.  There was no response. He howled in anger and flung the large knife out the window towards the street. A moment of silence before he realized what he had done. Horrified, her left Jadrienne lying on the table and ran down the stairs, his white shirt and hands were stained with blood, his eyes crazed.

He reached the door and flung it open to be greeted by two stern looking police. “Sir, please put your hands behind your back,” one of them stated calmly.

“I have done nothing wrong!” he cried indignantly. The police raised his eyebrows and pointed at their trouper car, a knife sticking out of the hood. “I was, butchering a pig!” he protested.

“Your neighbors claimed to have heard children screaming almost every night from your house. If you are truly innocent, there is no need for you to hide anything. We just want a quick inspection of the house alone. More officers are coming with a permit so we may search your house legally.”

“You have no right…”

“As I said, sir, we are obtaining a permit at this time. Now, it is your right to remain silent for anything that you say may be held accountable to you in the future. You have to the right to remain calm and the right to contact a lawyer for defense.” Another patrol car pulled into the driveway. A middle aged man got out, holding a slip of paper. “You get the permit?” the officer asked.

The man nodded, “I’ll head on in,” he stated.

“I’ll go with you,” the officer replied. “Roberts, hold him steady.” The two men disappeared into the house.

Now cuffed, his rage had begun to die and slowly he realized with horror, that they were going to find Jadrienne, tied to the table.

~

There is no sign of violence on the first floor,” Officer Wynton looked around the kitchen. “Though I must say, he has an interesting collection of kitchen knives.”

“Let’s head on upstairs,” his partner replied. “I’m not getting a good feeling.” They walked up the stairs and stared at the bathroom, with its bloodstained tub. “Something definitely happened here.” He switched the light on and the two men studied the blood trail that led to a large bedroom.

“Ready?” Wynton asked. Officer Erik just nodded his face grim. They slowly walked over to the door and pushed it open. “What the hell?” Wynton gasped as he stared at the pale girl lying, strapped to the table.

“That b*****d, I’m going to kill him,” Erik snarled. He threw his gun back into the holster and ran forward towards the child. “She’s unconscious, but alive.”

“Who is she?” Wynton asked, still shocked by the sight.

“By the looks of is, she’s his child.” Erik gently unbuckled the child and lifted her into his arms. His face strained when his hands touched blood. “Let’s go.”

Wynton led Erik down the stairs, with each step his face growing hard. When they finally reached the bottom and were out the door, both men’s faces were set in stone. The younger officer who was guarding the father gasped in horror when they walked outside. “Holy cr-“

“Call the hospital,” Wynton snapped. Erik just strolled towards his car, not faltering one step.

“Open the damn door Wyn,” he growled, “No need to call, I’m driving her there.”

“You can’t, she’s my daughter. Mine!” the father leapt from the chair. Roberts grabbed him and shoved him back.

“You lost all your rights the minute you touched her harshly,” Erik snarled. “Wyn,” Wynton hurried over and opened the door. “You stay with the physco; I’ll meet you back at the station.” His partner nodded, anger etched in his face. Erik got into the car and drove away, sirens ringing through the neighborhood.

~

“Honey, I’m at the hospital right now. You think you can come on over?” Erik asked over the phone.

“What happened now?” came his reply.

“I found a child, strapped to some Halloween décor, cuts all over a body from some fancy kitchen knife,” he replied honestly.

“Oh my god, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He heard the dial tone and smiled.

“Um, officer? The child has woken up and she’s terrified.”

“Thank you, I’ll be there shortly.”

“Yes sir,” the nurse ducked back into the room.

A few minutes later, Isabel Erik rushed into the room, her blond her flying behind her. “Where is the child?”

“Izzy, calm down. She’s in the room and utterly terrified.” He motioned for her to follow. Isabel followed her husband to the doorway, covering her mouth when she saw the pale figure lying on the bed. “Oh, poor baby.” Taking a deep breath, she walked over. “Hey, my name’s Isabel Erik. What’s your name?”

“Who are you? Where am I? Where is he? Am I in heaven, it’s all white here.”

“No honey, you’re in a hospital, police arrived. Your horrid father is going to prison. He won’t bother you again.”

“Honey, nobody’s ever called me honey,” the girl smiled slowly. “I’m Jadrienne.”

“Jadrienne, that’s lovely name. Do you go by Jade?”

“No, I got by crippled mongrel,” she replied. At Isabel’s horrified look she smiled again, “I like the name Jade.”

“Do you want me to call you that?” Isabel asked.

“I would like that,” Jade replied.

“Jade, I want you to meet Officer Erik. He helped arrest your horrible daddy.” Isabel beckoned and her husband approached slowly.

“Thank you sir,” Jade said sleepily.

“You’re welcome princess,” Erik replied, his heart aching.

“Princess,” Jade smiled.

5 months later

“Jade, you have visitors,” the teacher called.

Jade looked up as her social worker Ms. Blizz walked in with Isabel and Erik. “Izzy!” Jade leapt up and ran towards her friend.

Laughing, Isabel grabbed Jade and swung her around. “Hey honey,” she kissed her softly.

“Hi Erik,” Jade smiled at the tall officer.

“Hey Princess, how’s it going,” he grinned.

“Jade,” Ms. Blizz said.

“Yeah?”

“Today is very special,” she started out. Jade stared at her, “Mr. and Mrs. Erik have asked to adopt you. To become your parents, do you accept them?”

Jade’s jaw dropped, “You want me?” she asked them in a small voice.

“Honey, we love you. You see, we can’t have kids. I had cancer when I was younger and it has damaged my ability to produce children. When I met you, I just felt as if, my heart was complete. It would make me so happy if I could call you my daughter.”

“Erik?”

He laughed, “Princess, you’re the one. Izzy can’t stop talking about you and frankly, I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to come home every day from work and have two beautiful girls run straight into my arms. I want to make your life better; I want it to be filled with laughter and love. That’s the most I can ask for and I promise I will give all I’ve got.”

Jade’s eyes were wide and glimmering with tears. “Y---YES!” Isabel shrieked and grabbed her.  Jade took a deep breath, “Hi Mommy. Hi Daddy.”

Both Isabel and Erik’s eyes filled with tears as they grabbed their new daughter and poured out their love to her.

Reviews

[Broken Child]

I cried reading this. It is such an emotional, heart-breaking piece of writing that really clutches your heart. Amazing work.

[FallenSymphony]

Thank you so much!! ♥