ill post it here, but its quite long 😮
Megan slammed the door shut and screamed. Crying, she kneeled on the ground and covered her bruised face with her hands. As she lay there on the ground, gasping for breath, the memories of the past 5 torturous minutes came flooding back to her. The cold, hard fist that belonged to her father making contact with her face; the touch of his fingers around her delicate neck; his harsh words echoing inside her mind; and the fear of what he would do next. Immediately, Megan stopped crying and brushed the hair out of her face with her hands, and stood up. Silently proceeding to the mirror, she gasped and let out a few more tears. The gorgeous teenager that usually stood before her was gone, and the beaten and bruised one had returned.
Her usual bright green eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were dripping with a mixed liquid of tears and mascara. Licking her swollen lips, Megan could taste the sweetness of her own blood from where her father’s anger had made contact with her olive skin. Not bothering to brush her teeth, remove her makeup, or even get dressed, Megan slumped onto her bed and immediately fell asleep.
*****
Megan woke the next morning, with pains all over her body. Her head ached as she tried to lift it off the pillow, but failing. The heavy weight, bruises and tiredness left her lying there, tears developing in her beautiful eyes looking across the room and into the mirror, Megan pursed her lips together tightly to stop a scream escaping them. Her face was heavily bruised, along with her neck, arms and legs.
Awkwardly, Megan stood and stumbled over to her silver dresser where her makeup lay.
She stood in front of the mirror holding her foundation as the cold sting of tears ran down her swollen cheek. She wiped them away with the back of her left hand and started to apply her makeup. The bruises were still clearly visible through her usual amount of foundation, so she added another layer, this time much thicker. Finishing her makeup, Megan moved onto her hair and outfit. Usually she wore her hair in a neat ponytail, or a sexy bun, but today she wore it down, making sure that her bruises were completely covered.
Despite the 30 degree heat, Megan chose to wear some long jeans and a black skivvie, which covered every part of her body that had been touched by her father the previous night. Grabbing her bag and wallet, and ignoring her father’s violent screams, Megan quickly descended the stairs, taking two at a time. As she reached the front door, she heard her fathers booming footsteps approaching. Immediately she grabbed the door handle and swung the old wooden door open. A gush of hot air reached her face and she hated her father for making her wear these warm clothes.
‘Don’t you dare leave this house without saying goodbye to your mother and I young lady!’ growled her father. Megan turned to look at him. His fat balled head was screwed up in disgust as he waddled over towards her. As he approached her, his hand reached for her, but Megan sensed it and turned back to the front of her house and walked out the door.
‘Megan Jessica Richards, you come back here right now, or you’re grounded for a week!’
Megan slammed the door shut and just then a red BMW convertible pulled up in the driveway. Megan forced a smile as her best friend stepped out of the car.
‘What’s with the winter wear?’ asked Cindy. Megan shrugged and eyed her best friend. She was wearing a mini skirt, as usual, and a white singled with her hair in low piggy-tails hanging down over her shoulders.
‘Air-conditioning’ she simply said as she hopped into the car.
‘Well do you want to get changed?’ said Cindy as though it were the most simple thing in the world. Just then the front door banged open and out came Megan’s father.
‘Go, go!’ she screamed. Cindy looked confused, but hopped in and drove off to school.
‘You wanna tell me what’s going on?’ Asked Cindy with one hand on the steering wheel and the other playing with her hair.
‘Ill tell you later, just drive.’ Said Megan, knowing that Cindy would forget in less than five minutes, if the subject had changed. So Megan quickly brought up the new shampoo she had gotten.
*****
Megan cursed as she retrieved her hand out of her school bag, realizing that in her morning, she had left the spare back door key in her room. Grumpily, she threw the bag back over her back and stooped around to the front door. As soon as it was pushed open, the sound of her parent’s voices met Megan’s ears, and the smell of booze was brought to her attention. Her mum was drunk. Again. She rolled her eyes and slammed the door shut, realizing almost immediately that it was a stupid mistake.
‘Here she is now!’ yelled her father’s voice, as a set of footsteps approached her. Quickly, Megan ran for the stairs, but as soon as she set foot on them, her arm was throbbing once again. She gasped and turned to see her father’s angry face, just before a fist made contact with her cheekbone. Megan was knocked to the ground instantly, and the familiar pains returned to her, both emotional and physical.
‘When I tell you to come here, you come here!’ he growled into her ear.
Not quite sure of what she was doing, Megan cowered and curled up into a tight ball. Usually when her dad was bashing her, Megan would attempt to fight back - try and resist his cold fists making contact with her delicate skin – but this time it was too much for her. She didn’t have the energy to fight – the energy to repel. All she wanted was to sit in her room, lights off, music on, crying to herself.
WHAM
Another hit. For a moment, Megan had forgotten where she was. In the distance she could hear the phone ringing, and her father talking. To her, she did not know, as she was fading in and out of consciousness.
The next thing she knew, Megan could hear music. It was her favourite song, changes by 2pac. But there were no words. Suddenly the song ended, and Megan slowly opened her eyes. It was dark, and it was obvious that her family wasn’t home. As she waited for her eyes to adjust to their surroundings, Megan heard the song start up again, and she realized it was her phone. She tried to sit up, but it was then that she realised the pints. Her whole head was aching, along with her back. She moaned as she reached underneath her, and felt her schoolbag, still over her shoulders. Somehow, Megan did now know, she managed to remove the bag from her back, and grab the phone just as the music stopped. ‘23 missed calls’ read the screen. She scanned through the list, and eighteen different people had tried calling her since she’d been knocked unconscious, ‘how long had that been’ she thought to herself. And as she exited it, she had ‘7 new messages,’ three of whom were from Cindy, the other four off her boyfriend, Blake. The four off him were the usual
‘Hey baby, I didn’t get 2 c u 2day, where were u?’
‘Hey sexy I miss you!’
But the three off Cindy were strange.
‘Megan, y rnt u answering ur fone? r u ok?’
‘meg I know sumtin is goin on! Tell me! I thout we were best friends?’
‘I'm comin ova. Ill b there in bout 30.’
The time sent of the last one read 18:26. Megan fumbled on the keys for a while until she came to the main screen. 7:05 read the time. For the second time that day, Megan cursed as she quickly wrote a message to her friend
‘its ok, I was t8king a nap & switched my fone off. Dont com ova, got heapsa h/w.’
A few seconds after she sent the message, Megan heard a faint beeping noise, which was no mistake of receiving a message. She turned her head and saw her friend reach for her phone.
Cursing again, Megan awkwardly tried to stand up, but fell over again. She was weak at the knees and couldn’t stand. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her friend pocketing the phone, and cursed the full length glass windows that lay beside the front door. Not able to think of anything else to do, Megan crawled to the door and curled up with her back to it, hoping her friend couldn’t see her. Then the doorbell went. Tears dripped from Megan's eyes, as she whispered to herself
‘No. No. Go away. Leave me alone.’ Then she heard tapping on the glass. ‘Go away.’ Whispered Megan ‘just go.’
The doorbell rung, the door got banged on, and the glass got tapped on several times before Cindy turned and left. ‘Thank you. Thank you’ she whispered.
‘And where were you yesterday?’ asked Cindy as Megan hopped in the convertible the next morning.
‘Oh, um, change of plans. My family and I went out for dinner.’ Said Megan. She hated lying to her friends, but she couldn’t tell them the truth. She was too scared of what her dad would do to her if he found out she told anyone. Besides, it was partly true. Her family had gone out for tea that night – they just didn’t take her. After Cindy had left, Megan had crawled up the stairs with her back on her back and passed out again on the floor of her room. She was woken by her alarm at 6:00am and went downstairs before the rest of the family was awake, and went to the fridge in search of breakfast. In there she had found little plastic boxes full of Chinese which hadn’t been there the previous morning. Knowing her family would want them saved for tea that night; Megan grabbed an apple and returned to her room where she covered up her new bruises, reminding herself to get some new foundation.
‘Megan?’ Came a sudden stern voice.
‘Huh?’ As she looked around, Megan realised she was at school. She’d been daydreaming all the way from her house. ‘Oh, sorry.’ She muttered, embarrassed. Stepping out of the car, and walking to form, Megan could see Cindy looking at her concerned, so she smiled a tiny smile, and Cindy looked away.
*****
‘Come on then!’ said Megan's boyfriend standing up and slapping her slightly on her thighs.
‘Ow!’ yelped Megan, screwing up her eyes to fight the tears. Blake made a noise that was mixed between a laugh and an apology as he looked at the pain on his girlfriends face.
‘Are you ok Megan?’ he asked sitting back down again ‘I'm sorry, I-’
‘No’ interrupted Megan ‘it’s cool.’ She opened her eyes and smiled ‘I'm just kidding.’ Blake half smiled, not very convinced, and helped her up.
‘You sure?’ he said as she cringed once more.
‘As sure as ever!’ she said.
They walked in silence to their next class for a while, until Blake grabbed her arm and growled
‘Watch out!’ into her hear. Megan gave another yelp, this time much louder, and several people turned to look.
‘What’s up Meg?’ Came a familiar voice. It turned out she’d nearly walked into Cindy, which was why Blake had pulled her away.
‘That’s the second time I’ve hurt you today Megan – are you ok? Am I touching you too hard or something?’ he said, looking into her eyes. Megan looked at Cindy, who was looking at Megan with a strange look on her face. She was staring just below Megan's chin, but her face was scrunched up as though she was trying to remember something. Her lips were moving slowly, but no words were coming out. Above all, the strangest thing was that she seemed to be looking straight through Megan, and at the all behind her.
All of a sudden, her expression changed. Her mouth dropped open and she looked up into Megan's eyes, shaking her head slightly from left to right. Suddenly Megan felt a warm wrist around her upper arm. She tried to snatch it away, but her friend wouldn’t let her go. She was getting pulled to an empty classroom, and behind her she could hear Blake following them. When all three of them were in the classroom, Cindy shut the door and spoke.
‘Megan, why is it that it’s over 35 degrees outside, yet your wearing jeans and a jumper, when normally you’d be wearing a skirt and singlet?’
For a moment no one spoke, and before she knew it, Megan had Cindy’s hands all over her, trying to take off her jumper. At first Megan just stood there, not knowing what was going on – but eventually her mind clicked, and she pulled away, gently slapping her best friend’s hand. Cindy stared at her, and before anyone could do anything, Megan bolted.
*****
The knock on the door made Megan jump. Apart from her music, the only form of life she’d seen or heard within the past nine hours was her own. It was 12:30 in the morning, and Megan had gotten no sleep since the previous night. She was lying in bed with her music on very softly, so as not to wake the rest of her family. Quietly she turned off the music and went to the door, opening it the slightest bit. To her surprise, Megan saw her mother staring at her. Her mother had only ever entered her room when she was a little girl to read Megan bedtime stories. Since then they’d hardly ever talked, and on the rare occasion when they had, it was always arguing about something. Realizing she was only wearing undies and a singlet, with her hair tied back in a loose bun, and no make up, Megan quickly shut the door.
‘It’s ok Megan. I know. I want you to come out.’ Hearing her mother’s voice again, when she was not yelling, was amazing. Her voice was so calm, and it somehow sounded so peaceful in the middle of the night. Slowly and quietly, Megan reopened the door, and, for the first time in years, she saw her mum smile. Megan let out a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding, and, ignoring the pains in her body, ran into her mothers arm.
‘Oh mum.’ She whispered, letting out a few tears ‘It’s been horrible.’
‘It’s ok sweetie. It’s going to be ok. Your brother’s sleeping over at Kyle’s, so all three of us are going to have a talk about what’s going on.’ Megan took her mothers hand in hers, and let herself be taken downstairs.
‘I love you, mum.’ Whispered Megan when they reached the bottom step. They stopped for a while, before a response was made.
‘I love you too sweetie.’ Said Megan's mother as they continued to the living room.
****
Megan sat down stiffly, not wanting to do this at all. She appreciated her mother making the effort, but was sure it wasn’t going to work. And she was right. Partly. Her mother broke the silence with a soft, tiny cough, which almost made Megan laugh. But the tension in the room held her back. Suddenly Megan heard beeping, and, looking to her right, she saw her mother with the phone to her ear. The room was so silent that Megan and her father could hear the voice hat picked up on the other line. It was a female’s, and she sounded very calm and nice.
‘Hello, police, fire or ambulance?’ at this, Megan's father leapt out of the arm chair he was sitting on, and snatched the phone off his wife. Throwing it across the room, and putting his face to hers, he mumbled in a threatening voice,
‘Don’t you dare, missy.’
Megan looked on, not knowing what to do, as her mother shakily responded,
‘It’s for the best dear.’
There was a noise that was only too familiar to Megan, and her mothers face was turned away from her. That was when Megan knew she had to do something. The phone was under the coffee table, but between that and her was her father. He was not standing up straight, and breathing heavily as he looked down on Mrs. Richards. Suddenly, Megan sneezed, and she and her mother, who had been silently weeping, froze. But her dad didn’t do anything. He just kept watching his wife, and that gave Megan the idea. As quickly as possible, she jumped off the couch, ran around her father who had now turned to see what she was doing, grabbed the phone and made for the stairs.
‘Come back here!’ he growled, chasing after her.
When Megan finally reached the top of the stairs, she turned her head to see her father not too far behind her, and her mother following him. She turned into the nearest room, which happened to be the bathroom. Slamming the door shut, and locking it, Megan quickly dialed 000. Outside the room, Megan heard a yell, followed by a scream and some thumping. Then banging on the door.
‘Hello? Hello, are you ok? Ill put you onto the police.’ Came a voice on the phone.
*****
Megan woke with a major headache, and the smell of disinfectants filled the air. There was a paint beeping noise, and Megan slowly opened her eyes. ‘I'm in heaven’ she thought, for everything surrounding her was white. The walls, the roof, the floor, and the beds. There were six beds in the whole room, three on each side, all in a neat line. Between every bed was a white curtain, and occupying the one directly opposite from Megan was her mother. It was hard to recognize her – in fact, Megan couldn’t see her face. She just knew it was her mum. Looking a little to the left of where her mother lay was a machine that Megan recognized from all the soapies she’d watched. It was taking her mothers heartbeat, and that was where the beeping was coming from. That was when Megan knew she was not in heaven, but in hospital. Looking out of the corner of her eye, Megan saw a man wearing all black approaching her.
‘Miss Richards?’ He said as he sat down on a red chair beside Megan’s bed. His words seemed slow and jumbled, and Megan had a hard time stringing the words together so that they made sense. Without waiting for a reply, the man continued. ‘I'm detective James Dillroy. I’d like to ask you a few questions.’
At this point, the continuous beeping of her mother’s machine ceased, and Megan felt that her heart too had stopped. Desperately, she looked around for help, but there was nothing. She felt like screaming. She wanted to jump out of bed and save her mother, but the pains over her body wouldn’t let her move. Instead she just cried. She turned her back to the detective and cried, as a nurse slowly walked into the room.
*****
The next few weeks Megan was very emotional. Despite what the psychiatrist was telling her, Megan couldn’t help thinking that it was because of her that her mother was dead. Detective Dillroy came to see her a few times that month to collect information about the event. On the third week of her stay, detective Dillroy announced that her dad had been caught and was being sentenced to jail for 13 years for child abuse, and murder. Megan was also told that she could go home in a week. She was to live with her godparents, who were her aunty and uncle. When her father was released from jail, she had the option to return living with him, or stay with her aunt and uncle. Megan was quite happy with these arrangements, but she knew that the memory of her past will never leave her.