Freedom [Complete, 18+]

CHAPTER 24: LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT THE MOST

"What? What did I ever do?"

"Your heart."

"That doesn't even make sense, what about my heart?"

"Even after all this time you still have a heart; bruised yes and not entirely whole but not cold and that is something extraordinary. You are so strong."

"Strong? I am not strong. You saw just how not strong I was, or do you need reminding," I said yanking up my sleeves. He glanced down briefly and his eyebrows furrowed but still he continued.

"Yes, I understand that but don't you see your still with us; your cutting was just a way, an unhealthy one at that, but a way nonetheless at keeping sane."

"I don't feel sane," I mumbled offhand.

"Yes, well anyone who thinks explicitly that they're sane are in fact the exact opposite."

"That still doesn't give me a reason to trust you."

"Ri I don't know what will persuade you, all I've done is try and protect you. I know it's hard but I hope you can come to trust me. I can't promise to keep you safe but I can promise to try my hardest and that I have no connection to the people who took you."

"How can you know that, they have people everywhere?"

Walking towards the window, I wiped a swath through the grime to see the sun shining on the lake and wondered how something could still be so beautiful in a world like this. Wiping my hand against my trousers to get rid of the dust and dirt that had accumulated over what I suspected were many years.

 "What is this place? How come no-one's been here in years?" I questioned curious.

"After a particularly bad beating he used to drag us all here to say 'sorry' but all he was really doing was saving his own ass as the time allowed the bruises to subside so no-one would uncover his true nature. At first it was enough to convince my mum that he still loved her as he tended to her and treated her like a human being and so she stayed, saying that it would get better. She tried to hide her pain from us but I knew how much pain she was struggling with. Fed up with seeing her hurt and over-confident thinking I could prevent the beating but it just ended up with us both injured on our little family trips. Despite being injured I always tried to keep up with my sister and him, not wanting to leave her alone with him, but I wasn't successful all the time. I should've seen the signs when they came back that something wasn't right but she wasn't injured and I didn't think that even he would go that far. I was even jealous of her back then as he would always pay her attention and hold her tight on his lap. Oh how naive and stupid I was."

Opening the back door he exited the house me following shortly after. He quickly made his way down the ragged path, his feet knowing the way until he stopped at the edge of a small rundown wooden pier with a covered boat upturned next to him. I saw from a distance how he knelt down and lifted up the no longer waterproof covering before dropping it back down. Reaching the edge of the water, having slowed down after losing my footing and cutting my hand on a rock on the way down, I tentatively stepped onto the pier alarmed when it creaked loudly. Stepping again, carefully avoiding a hole, I made my way down towards the end. 

"She loved this boat; she'd always beg me to take her out in it. I can't even remember how many picnics and afternoons we'd spend in it. She never liked the colour though so in a bid to cheer her up one day when she was ill I painted it baby pink and put her name on the side. I'd saved up from helping wash my neighbour's car to buy paint," he laughed as tears fell down his face. "It didn't last long I didn't know anything about paint and I couldn't afford anything really suitable anyway but the inside, rim and name lasted."