Written by Fantasy Girl

“I can’t deal with this anymore. You’ve sat by and watched this happen for years and you’ve never done a thing about it! How can you live with yourself?” 
“I tell him not to, I swear! I can’t stop him though!”
“It’s not good enough anymore! I hate it here! I hate you for letting him do it! I hate him for everything he’s done! I hate my life!”

She woke with tears in her eyes, quickly wiping them away. “Ouch,” she mumbled, feeling the tightness in her joints as she walked to the mirror to inspect herself. The bruises that mottled her skin had almost disappeared, but the ache was still there.

Just a few pale yellow patches left.

She shook her head in disgust. She pulled on some leggings, a vest and a light cardigan to cover them up, ran a comb through her hair and quietly left her room.

She could hear her mother and father talking in the kitchen as she stood at the top of the staircase.

“She’s late for school again!” he growled.

“Samuel, she has a late start today – she doesn’t start till mid-day!”

“I don’t care, Karen. I want the bitch out of my house!”

“Her name is Sophie!”

“Don’t start this with me again, Karen. I’ll call her what I like! And if you ever correct me again, I swear to God…”

Sophie turned around, letting her father’s voice fade. She didn’t want to hear the threat, not this time. Not again. She walked back to her bedroom with one thought running through her mind as she opened her door: I don’t want to be here anymore. She made a point of closing the door loud enough for her parents to hear, then ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Morning, Mum,” she said with a smile. She paused. “Dad,” she continued,with a slight nod of her head.

The room was deafeningly silent, the tension making it hard for her to breathe.

“So…” her mother said hesitantly, trying to break the silence. “What have you got at college today?”

She put some bread in the toaster. “Double CS and then Anthropology.”

“CS?” her mum questioned.

“Cultural Studies,” she said shortly as her toast popped.

“Of course, I remember now!”

She walked out of the room and back upstairs. Her travel bag was packed at the end of her bed, just as her college bag was. Just as she faced every morning, the decision loomed: run, or go to college.

There was a knock at the door before she had the chance to make the decision. She turned around to see her dad standing there.

“You heard what I said this morning.” He stepped closer to her, looming over her. She stepped back, falling awkwardly onto her bed, a spot on her calf smarting as it hit the bed-stand. He continued, “you shouldn’t sneak around like that; you never know what you might hear…” He paused, stepping forward again. “Or what the consequences might be.”

He pushed her back, shoved a handkerchief into her mouth and pinned her down with one arm. His other went behind his back.

A flash of silver caught her eye.

Commune marks Fantasy Girl’s fourth piece of work published here on Inkblots. This particular piece was written on behalf of Fantasy Girl dabbling in a different genre to her usual work – she’s still working the kinks out as it’s a fragile subject, but we’re hoping to see more of it. Like her writing? Make sure you check out notable pieces such as ‘Black Mirror‘ and ‘Maybe She Needs A Bigger Table‘.