A Loaded Gun

Chapter 12

Brooke POV

TW: Self-harm (brief mention)

That was yet another fun nightmare. This time I could see my mom in the background while Benny was beating me. I begged her to help me, but she just stared. Eventually she disappeared, and I lost hope again. 

I opened my eyes to find myself on the bed, covered with a blanket. I distinctly remember falling asleep on the floor. Who touched me? Did they see anything? Did my shirt ride up? Crap what if they found out? Benny will kill me. 

My thoughts kept spiraling and spiraling until finally I was gasping for breath, scratching my arm to find some sort of relief.

The familiar stinging replaced the panic and I was able to regain my breath. The good news:I got out of a panic attack. The bad news, I have 3 new patches of raw skin and I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. 

I can't change halfway through the day, they'll get suspicious. Luckily on the first day it's hard to tell that I scratched. The second day is when the dark scab forms over it and it's easy to see. I'll just hope they don't notice, and if they do, let's just say I got a rug burn.

I slowly opened my door and peeked into the hallway, hoping and praying no one would yell at me. I wandered around for 5 minutes before finding the stairs. I mean, who needs a house this big? 

I winced as I walked down the stairs; it was murder on my ribs. I don't have my first aid kit here, and they need to be retaped. I held back my grimace of pain on the last step and approached the voices emanating from the kitchen.

"Seriously Marcus, this isn't a good idea. We shouldn't ask–"

All the noise stopped as I stepped on a creaky board. I shyly approached the table and whispered a hello.

"Ah, Brooke. I'm glad you're here, I have some questions for you." My eyes widened. They found out, they found out, they found–

"Do you need any school supplies for tomorrow? I forgot to order some for you, so I wanted to check if you needed anything." Oh. They didn't find out. Thank God for that.

"Um, you don't have to spend any more money. I'll figure it out, but thank you."

"Don't be ridiculous Brooke! We have plenty of money. We'll go to Staples after lunch. Speaking of lunch, come eat. You barely had any breakfast."

My jaw dropped when I saw three ham and cheese sandwiches sitting on a plate in front of me. That was way too much food for lunch.  I usually didn't get any lunch, so this would be difficult. 

I couldn't let them get suspicious though, so I forced the first two sandwiches down my throat. I couldn't bring myself to finish the third, so I tried to make a sneaky escape back to my room during their discussion about work.

"Brooke, where are you going?" No such luck. "Finish your food please."

"I ate as much as I could. Please don't force me to eat."

"Brooke, you don't eat enough food to keep a hummingbird alive, much less a growing teenage girl. Sit down and eat that sandwich." 

I jumped at Marcus' stern tone of voice and instinctively replied "Yes, sir," before slapping a hand over my mouth and staring fearfully at him. What would he do to me since I disobeyed him?

He just sighed and said, "Brooke, you don't have to call me sir. Just eat the damn sandwich."

I nodded, afraid to open my mouth, and choked down the last sandwich. I was starting to feel queasy though, so I quickly asked to be excused and bolted to my room, barely making it to the toilet before throwing up everything in my stomach. I knew it would be too much food.

To cover up the fact I just threw up, I swished mouthwash around and sprayed the bathroom with air freshener to cover the smell. Hopefully no one heard anything. 

Now I have to figure out what to do with my ribs. The throwing up just aggravated them, and now they are on fire. I don't have any painkillers, not even ibuprofen. 

Maybe I could tell them I was on my period. I haven't had it in a while because with the lack of food it's incredibly erratic. Once every two to three months, usually.

A knock on the door made me scramble out of the bathroom and open the door hesitantly. Marcus was standing with his arms folded across his chest. "Everything ok in here? You ran out kind of fast."

"Y-yeah I'm fine. I just...I um..."

"Well? What is it?"

"I'm having really bad cramps can I have some ibuprofen?" I blurted out as fast as I could, cheeks burning.

"You're still on your period?" What does he mean still? Then I remembered the conversation we had the second day, when I passed my hurt ribs off for cramps. 

I wiped the puzzled expression off my face and nodded sheepishly.

"Alright, but only two pills. We don't need you taking too much."

Two was barely enough for regular cramps, much less bruised ribs! I couldn't protest though, because he'd get suspicious. So I simply nodded and thanked him.

"Wait here. I'll go get some."  

"Wait! Can I come with you?"  His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"I want to see where it is just in case I need some and you guys aren't around." I pleaded with him, knowing I would need lots of painkillers for my ribs. "I promise I won't take more than two at a time."

He sighed and gestured for me to follow him. I may not be good at directions, but I need to make sure I memorize this route so I can get to the medication when I need it.

He led me to a closet and took a key from on top of a cabinet. There's no way I could reach that, I'm only 5'3"! I looked around and thankfully saw a small stool I could use. 

He unlocked the cabinet and shook out two small red pills. I dry swallowed both and he raised his eyebrow. "You have a lot of experience with this?"

"No, I'm just too lazy to find a glass of water. This is easier." I didn't have to lie about that; I'm so lazy

A/N That's the only reason I dry swallow. Either that or I just don't take it because I don't feel like finding water to drink

"Thanks Marcus. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem. Again, no more than two every 6 hours." His stern voice made me nod my head quickly. "One more question," Oh God. "What are those marks on your arm?" Yeah I'm screwed.

A/N I don't think I put ages on here.

Currently their ages are:

Marcus 24

Lucas 22

Daniel 20

Michael 18

Brooke 16

14 years ago:

Marcus 10

Lucas 8

Daniel 6

Michael 4

Brooke 2

A/N I'm so done with school.  Anyone else?