In Our Blood

Chapter Twelve

It felt like an endless cycle.

Shower than bed, wake than breakfast than another shower. Shower than bed, wake then breakfast than another shower.

Charlie had counted four days since she was trapped in this hell of a hospital, a hospital that her father refused to talk about further than what he explained on the day he trapped her: it's my hospital. Whatever that meant.

Charlie sat in the dining room; she was alone.

No cutlery sat on the table, no candles and the curtain was open.

She rose to her feet, she stepped over to the window. She noticed no bars on it, she noticed how large the windowpane was. She let her eyes wonder vertically and horizontally of the length of the window.

The window was quite large, almost the length of a wall.

She made out what was outside the window, a carpark that was long overdue for a rework; potholes, faded or barely noticeable lines on the ground, there was an arrow with the word Exit barely visibly underneath. The signs of the carpark looked like they had been ripped from the poles while the poles had rust forming up it.

Charlie balled up her fist as she raised her hand.

"I wouldn't do that."

Charlie turned to face him, seeing him standing by the doorway.

"Glass might cut an artery."

"Good."

"Charlotte."

Charlie gritted her teeth "You can't hold me here."

"Once you start to realise what I want from you than your good to go."

"Oh, I know what you want. You want me back by your side playing the perfect little solider. Bite me!" She didn't move from the window; she didn't uncurl her fist. "Now, let me go."

"My little hatchling, it's not as simple as that. Since it's just you and I..."

"No. No more talking. No more bribery. You got back inside my head." Charlie's breathing struggled to stay calm as her father stepped towards her.

He remained silent as he took steps closer to his daughter.

Charlie kept her hand in a fist, her breathing heavy.

He stopped in front of her "Windows are another weakness."

Charlie didn't think as she swung her fist to his face, he grabbed her wrist and twisted her

arm to her back.

Using pressure from her arm, he pressed his daughter up against the glass.

Charlie's face squashed against the window as she brought her other hand up, she attempted to reach her fingers to his face.

He grabbed her wrist and pressed her hand against the window. He pushed her to the side and down onto the ground.

Charlie barely had a chance to get to her knees when he pulled her up by the neckline of her shirt. She focused her attention on his eyes, seeing anger burning.

She wrapped both her hands around his wrists, he used his freehand to hold her by the neck as he lifted her up the wall.

Charlie barely felt the tips of her toes touch the ground "K..I..L..L..M..E..." She tried to breath.

He didn't speak as he tried to choke his daughter.

Charlie moved one of her hands away from his wrist, she put it to his neck and tried squeezing as much as she could, she wasn't as strong as him as she felt his grip tighten.

"K..I..L..L..." Charlie struggled to speak.

He kept his focus on his daughter's eyes.

Charlie couldn't feel the ground under her toes, she raised her right leg and lunged her foot into his stomach.

He stumbled back slightly, loosening his grip on her neck but keeping grip on her shirt. She stumbled with him.

Using her hand that was still on his wrist, she dug her nails into the veins of his wrist.

"Charlotte!" He backhanded her across the face with his free hand.

"Your weakness is me!" She screamed at him as she pushed her left foot into his stomach "It will always be me!"

He kept hold of her shirt as he stumbled backwards, she felt the pressure of her shirt on the back of her neck. He pushed his daughter down to her knees, she looked up to him as he bent down to her face "You're not my weakness." His breathing hit her face. "Your weakness is me. You spent time running from me! You spent your time thinking you were free! You found freedom! You created lies about me! You created lies..."

"I created lies to protect myself! I created lies to stop the nightmares! I created lies to tell myself every night so I could sleep!"

He kept his grip on the neckline of her shirt.

Charlie couldn't think of what to do next, she was down on her knees. She felt the pressure of her shirt on the back of her neck, she watched as he kept focus on her face.

They turned their attention to the food cart being pushed in by a man, he didn't act surprised when he saw the two of them as he stopped the food cart by the table.

Charlie bite her father's hand, he backhanded her across the face again.

She jumped up to her feet.

"Charlotte, think about it. Very carefully."

Charlie ran to the food cart; she grabbed a knife from the food cart.

Her father watched, he watched as his daughter didn't have time to act when the man pulled her into a headlock. Her father watched as Charlie stabbed him in the thigh with the butterknife.

Her father watched as the young man loosened his grip on Charlie.

Charlie grabbed the fork from the food cart, she jammed it into the front of man's throat, watching as he fall to the ground. She glared over at her father.

"That's ten since you've been here."

"Fuck you." She stormed out of the dining room.