Chapter Four, Victoria

Victoria watched Salem put his hands in his pockets as he pushed his back against the store’s front door to close it. He sighed and shook his head then slowly walked back to the car and opened the door. The lights flashed on and Victoria sat up in her seat, she turned her head to the face Salem and watched him slide into the front seat. Salem gripped the steering wheel tightly and then smashed his head into the wheel.

“Salem!” Victoria leaned toward him and lifted his head up to look at his forehead.

“I fucked up Vi, I told her. I told her what mom and dad do!” Salem started crying and he grabbed onto Victoria's wrists as she held his head up with her hands. “I fucked up...I fucked up.” He sobbed softly.

“Hey Salem.” She calmly shushed him and pressed the palm of her hand to his cheek. “It’s
okay. They won’t find out Salem, it’ll be okay.”

“No it won’t! Vi, she’s going to call the cops!”

“No, she won’t. Trust me Salem, I know her and I promise she won’t call the cops.” She pulled his face closer and rested his head on her shoulder while he sobbed softly and wrapped his arms around her.

“I don’t want to get hit anymore….”

“I know Salem….I know.” She soothed him softly and turned the radio on, turning it to a station playing soft music to help calm him down. “Hey, let’s get home before we’re late.”

Salem nodded and sat up again, wiping a tear off of his cheek. He turned the car on drove out of the parking spot and back to their house.

By the time they pulled up to the average sized suburban house Salem had calmed down and they both put on smiling faces. Salem turned the car off and the two of them got out. Salem walked over to Victoria and put an arm around her. The house was a starch white color that looked as if it was just freshly painted. Big windows on either side of the house were covered up by cream colored blinds provided the privacy they needed with the elegancy of the rich.

“They won’t find out Salem.” She reassured him and walked towards the front door. Salem pulled out his keys and opened the front door and the two of them slipped in.

The two teenagers noticed that the large lounge was dark and quiet. Something not very common in their house. Victoria flipped the lightswitch on and lit up the space from the dangling modern looking chandelier in the middle of the room. A black five person couch rested against the powder white walls. In the middle of the spacious area was a black and glass coffee table neatly covered with magazines and a tissue boxes, as well as a centerpiece with fake flowers in it. A large flat screen tv was hung up on the wall with a dark colored wooden shelving system underneath it displaying movies, video games, game consoles, and the speakers was turned off and not playing the news as it usually was after their siblings went to sleep. Salem checked his phone and to make sure they weren’t late and they were actually half an hour early. Victoria kicked off her shoes to avoid stepping onto the perfectly cleaned white carpet and messing it up, the fit her mother would throw if even a speck of dirt ended up on her floor was more annoying than their youngest child, walked into the kitchen, which looked as if it had been taken right out of a magazine and placed into their home, to hopefully find her dad sitting in the end chair at the long oak table smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer just like every night around ten o’clock.

“Dad in there?” Victorita jumped and then shot a glare at Salem.

“Don’t do that! You scared me. And no he’s not.”

Just then a little boy sleepily wandered into the kitchen while rubbing his eyes and holding a teddy bear.

“They went to the bar.” He walked over to Victoria and held his hands out to her making a grabbing motion.

Victoria picked him up and looked at him questioningly. “This late? Without us home?”

“Momma got into a fight with daddy and then got into the car and drove away, I figured that she went to the bar because that’s where she goes when she’s sad.” He rested his head on Victoria's shoulder and wrapped his arms around her neck.

“But what about dad?”

“He got in the other car and followed momma.”

“James, when did they leave?” Salem stepped closer to them.

“Around seven...Vi, I’m hungry. Momma didn’t make dinner.

Victoria groaned and set him down at the table. “Salem, can you go wake the other three up so I can make them dinner.”

“Don’t make something too heavy, it’s really late.” Salem nodded and then left the kitchen soon after.

Victoria opened the cupboard and pulled out a few boxes of cereal and then walked over to the fridge and got out a new jug of milk. She then walked over to the cabinet and pulled out four bowls. She poured the different cereals into each bowl followed by milk and then got out four spoons. As she placed one bowl in front of James and then three other bowls in front of the other chairs three other kids wobbled sleepily into the kitchen. Victoria greeted them with a smile and rubbed their heads as they walked past her.

“I’m gonna go change, Salem stay here and watch them.” Victoria turned and left the kitchen, clicking her heels on the hardwood floors.

Victoria walked into the living room and then through a narrow hallway with framed pictures on the wall. As Victoria passed them she ran her finger along the powder white walls. She skimmed past a family group picture and then stopped. She turned and faced the picture and frowned. “Lies.” She muttered to herself as she tipped her finger under the frame and watched it fall onto the floor. She went to go step on it and then stopped herself and picked it back up and placed it back on the wall. “This hallway is nothing but lies.” She averted her eyes from the wall and continued down the hallway to her room, passing all the many photos of her younger siblings but none of her or Salem.

      Victoria pushed open the dark wooded door and entered her perfect to the dot bedroom. Her walls were a dark red color with white carpet. She had a queen sized bed with a purple comforter neatly made on top of it, puffed up like it was too stuffed. She sat down on the neatly made bed, not even noticing the bag placed on it, and took her shoes off, placing them on the floor next to her bed. Victoria went to go take her dress off, struggling to reach for the zipper behind her dress before getting frustrated and calling for Salem. Salem came into her room and asked if everything was okay.

“I need help with my dress.” She said while still fiddling with the small metal zipper.

“Alright.” He walked over to her and stood behind her while Victoria held the top of her dress to her chest.

Salem tugged on the zipper, grunting a bit as he tried to yank it down without ripping the dress.

“Salem, be careful. Mom will kill me if I ruin this dress.”

“Not before we get to her.” He winked at her in the mirror and then managed to pull the zipper down.

“Heh, yeah you’re right.” She smiled and leaned against him.

Salem smiled as well and then patted her shoulder as he left her room and went back out to the kitchen. Victoria let her dress fall from her body and onto the floor. She walked over to her a white dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a baggy hoodie. She took her hair out of her ponytail and then she walked into the bathroom attached to her room. She wet a very stained makeup towel and rubbed it on her face as she wiped off her lipstick and foundation, staining the white towel even more. As her makeup slowly came off bruise like blotches started showing up in the mirror. Victoria averted her eyes from the mirror and ran her fingers through her hair to get out what was left of the curls she had put in earlier. She gathered her hair together and then grabbed a brush laying on the sink and ran it through the soft black hair. She pulled it up into a bun and then continued to clean off the makeup on her neck, a small moon shaped birthmark slowly coming into view.

After cleaning everything off she turned off the light in the bathroom and walked out, closing the door behind her. She walked over to her desk as she was taking out her earrings and placed them in a small box that had a variety of other earrings in it. Victoria sighed and walked over to her bed, plopping down on it softly, and noticed that something felt wrong. She sat up and noticed her bag in the middle of her blankets. She smiled and pulled it closer to her and unzipped it. Everything was in there, dang, Omile is a more powerful witch than Victoria thought she was. Victoria pulled out her phone and opened the screen to call Omile and thank her but her hand froze when she got to the dialing screen. What if Omile doesn’t want to talk to her? She seemed pretty upset at the dance. But she might answer. Omile isn’t one to hold grudges on people. A couple minutes later Victoria found herself going into her contacts and pressing the call button on Omiles name. She sat quietly and listened to the ringing on the other end.

“Hello?” Omile asked, sounded a bit out of it and upset.

“Thank you for getting my purse home. I hope our little fight didn’t ruin any chance of friendship.” Victoria grimaced and yelled at herself for asking such a stupid guilt tripping question.

“You’re welcome….and of course I’m still your friend. Don’t worry. I just…” Omile sighed.

“I just don’t know what to think right now.”

“It’s okay, I understand. It was asking a lot of you,” Victoria paused. “and I hate to say this but can I ask you another question?”

“No, no more questions Victoria, I can’t handle anymore of your questions.” Omile sounded exhausted and even more upset.

“Omile, this is important.” Victoria pleaded.

“I’m sorry but I got to go. See you tomorrow. Love you, bye.” Victoria heard the phone call end before she could say anything more and she pulled the phone away from her face, looking at the screen that read ‘call ended’.

Victoria sighed and put her phone back in her purse and then placed it on the bed side table. She stood up and put her hands in the hoodies front pocket and walked out of her room. She smiled at the photos of her siblings and then plopped down on the white couch in the living room. Salem walked out of the kitchen and put his phone in his pocket and then sat down next to Victoria.

“Hopefully they finish before mom and dad get home.” He reached over for the remote and noticed Victoria’s face.

“Why did you take your makeup off? If they see your face they’re gonna ask questions and then mom’s gonna find out and get mad.” He examined her face.

“Maybe they should see their future. We all know that one of these day’s Lexi is going to start getting treated like us….I mean, they’re already starting to detach themselves from her. Might as well show her what will happen.”

“We don’t have to do that, are you changing your mind on your idea?”

“Is it really going to be a better life for them without their mom and dad? I mean...in their eyes mom and dad are the best people in the world.”

“How early did they start the beatings with you and making you take care of them?”

“Ten. My birthday present that year was a beating to teach me what happens if I don’t do what they say. Literally, I woke up and my mom told me that it was going to be my worst birthday but that whatever happens it’s with good intentions.” Victoria put her hood up when she saw Maria walk out into the living room. “I was seven when they started prepping me for a life of hatred just like they are with Lexi.” Victoria stood up and walked over to her youngest sibling and picked her up then took her into her bedroom.

She came back out a couple minutes later with her hood down again. “If we really are going to go through with it, I wanna tell everyone the real reason….not the car accident one.”

“Victoria we can’t. Salem stood up, his voice raising in concern.

“Then we shouldn’t do it.”

“Victoria, you’re the one who wanted to do this, why are you changing your mind? Do you honestly think our siblings deserve to grow up to hate their parents? Get them now, while they still love them. If you care so much about your siblings happiness then this is the best way to go about it.”

“That may be true! But I can’t live with myself knowing I did it and then lied about it. Salem,
I’m not a bad person, I don’t want to be a bad person.”

“Hey Tori, Salem….James and Max are done eating.” Victoria turned to face Lexi. “Oh my gosh Tori! What happened to your face?!”

Salem put Victoria’s hood up and then ushered Lexi back into the kitchen. Victoria followed them in, keeping her head low and pulling Lexi closer to her. “I’ll tell you when we get James and Max in bed.” She whispered in her ear and then told her to go get ready for bed. Salem took Max out of his highchair and held him up on his hip and then took James' hand and walked to the boy’s room while Victoria cleaned up the bowls and any mess they had made. As Victoria closed the dishwasher Salem came back to the kitchen doorway and leaned against the frame. “Dad just texted me saying that they aren’t going to be back until tomorrow.” Victoria groaned and walked out of the kitchen.

“I’m telling Lexi.” Salem’s eyes went wide and he grabbed onto Victoria’s arm. “She deserves to know what’s happening to her and what will happen. Depending on how she reacts I might be able to decide if I really want to go through with our plan.”

“Your plan.”

“Our plan.”

Salem’s eyes softened and he loosened his grip on Victoria’s arm. “Bring her out here, I’ll help you explain.” Victoria nodded and then walked to Lexi’s room. When she got there she pushed open the door and found Lexi sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. “C’mon.” Victoria motioned with her arm to come out of the room.

“We aren’t talking in here?” Lexi asked, standing up.

“Salem want’s to talk too.” Victoria put an arm around Lexi and walked out to the living room.

“What do you mean?” Lexi looked up at her.

“You’ll soon find out.” Victoria led her to the couch and the two of them sat down and waited for Salem to come back from wherever he was.

Lexi was sitting on the couch looking as innocent and unaware of what was going on as ever, Victoria turned to face her and a sudden drop of pity fell into her heart. They both turned towards the kitchen door when they heard footsteps and watched Salem walk out with his hand covering one of his eyes. He sat down next to Lexi, who was in the middle, and moved his hand away from his face. Lexi’s eyes widened and she leaned in closer to Salem.

“What happened? Why do you have a black eye?” Lexi asked as she raised her hand to touch it.

“Yeah, when did this happen?” Victoria asked pulling Lexi’s hand away from Salem’s
face.

Salem looked at her and nodded. Victoria let out a silent ‘Oh’ and then looked down at Lexi. “So, I’ve noticed that mom and dad have been treating you differently.”

Lexi frowned and nodded. “Yeah, they keep telling me how disappointed they are in me for making small mistakes and I don’t understand why.” Lexi looked up at Victoria.
“What does this have to do with your bruises though?” She looked between the two of them and then averted her attention towards Salem again.

“Well….a lot actually. You see, when I was your age mom and dad started doing that to me as well, and then as I got older they got madder a lot easier. It felt like anything I did, no matter what, upset them. And then when I turned ten, you know, when I started taking care of you.” Lexi nodded. “Well, when I turned ten they started beating me and disconnecting me from the family.”

“Isn’t that when mommy and daddy got into money issues and started relying on you for a lot of things though?”

“Yes, it is, that’s why I started practically raising you. Because they were always out.”

“Where were they?” Lexi asked, sounding confused.

“The bar. And then when they would get home really drunk, they would tell me how horrible I was for not doing something right while they were gone and would beat me.” Victoria paused. “Remember when you would tell mom or dad something. Like when I forgot to make dinner for you one night and they took me into another room?”

Lexi nodded and mumbled yeah.

“That’s when I started getting beaten on a regular basis. All of these marks on my face are from mom and dad, and I have them in other places on my body too. No one knows except for you and Salem though.”

“How?”

“I cover them up with makeup, mom and dad tell me to.”

“Why?”

“Because they don’t want to look like bad parents.”

Lexi turned and faced Salem. “Did you get that black eye because I told daddy you forgot to give James a bath?”

Salem nodded and Lexi covered her mouth. “I’m sorry….I didn’t know. They just told me to tell them if you two didn’t do what you were asked to do….I didn’t….” Tears started welling up in
her eyes. “I didn’t know they were going to hurt you.”

“It’s okay sweetie, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Salem put a comforting hand on Lexi’s shoulder. “Victoria wanted to tell you something.”

Lexi looked over at Victoria.
“I-I’m worried they’re going to start doing this to you too.”

“Wh-what? There’s no way. Mommy and daddy always tell me I’m their favorite, they just want me to make less mistakes.”

VIctoria shook her head. “No, Lexi, that’s not what’s going to happen. Eventually they’re going to start treating you just like how they treat Salem and I.”

“No they won’t! Mommy and daddy love me!” Lexi abruptly jumped up from the couch and ran to her room crying.

The two of them watched Lexi run to her room and then Salem looked over at Victoria. “I don’t want to do it anymore.” She whispered and then stood up and walked to her room.