Broken (Broken #1) (51 page)

“
What
game?”

“
I need you
to do something for me.”

“
I don’t
think I want to.”

“
It’s
okay.”

“
No, that’s
gross.”

“
Do
it.”

Whack. Cry. Sob. Scuffle.

“
Good boy.
That’s it.”

Sniffle, sob.

I can’t get it out of my head.
My stomach heaves again but my mind won’t move to something
else.

“
Can I stop
now?”

“
No.”

“
What are you
doing?”

“
Take them
off.”

My body is in shock I just know
it. Oh. That poor boy. That poor, poor boy.

“
Stop! Stop!
It hurts! Please stop! DADDY! MUMMY!”

The screams, the cries, the
begging. Bile rises again.

He chokes, unable to breathe. A
hand is over his mouth as the old man groans, sighing every few
seconds. One hand holds the camera. I see… everything. I want to
look away but I need to see, so I can absorb his pain. Make it so
he never felt it.

“
That’s it,”
his hand works it. His disgusting length. “Catch boy.”

“
NO!”

“
CATCH!”

I race into the bedroom and
hastily take the DVD from the TV. It feels like fire in my hands. I
place it back into the DVD case and tuck it into my coat. I don’t
know what I’m going to do with it, but I do know that I can’t just
not do anything.

Oh my god. Tears spill, my
vision blurs. I can’t believe this.

Nathan.

Oh god. Nathan. I’m so sorry
this happened to you.

I shouldn’t do it… I shouldn’t
but I need to know if there’s more. Are all of these DVD’s
recordings of abuse?

I check the few I have, one by
one, only glimpsing at each one to confirm.

It takes me a few minutes but I
manage to get through the entire stack of them that were hidden
behind the skirting board. Only glancing at a few and sobbing when
I realise that the last one is of Nathan when he looks to be about
eleven.

Vomit comes up again, I barely
make it to the toilet this time. The sound of the awfulness coming
from TV only makes me feel worse.

My breathing is out of control,
my mind wants to shut down and block this out. The things I’ve just
witnessed are too painful to bear. How does Nathan live with this?
Why has he never said anything?

How can he stay here after
experiencing that?

I rinse my mouth out after
brushing my teeth and stare at my reflection in the mirror. Nathan.
Oh my god. Nathan.

Poor Nathan.

This explains everything. Oh
god.

Sob.

My face burns from my salty
tears, they won’t stop.

“
CATCH!”

This is why Nathan has an issue
with his hands… isn’t it? What am I going to do?

“
What the
fuck did you do?” I spin, my back hitting the sink as my eyes land
on a furious Nathan, his hands grip the doorframe as if anchoring
him. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

“
Nathan,” I
attempt but it’s cut off when he lunges for me, his hand fisting in
my hair. It’s not painful, not in the slightest, but it could be if
he just pulled a little bit harder. Fear mingles with the
overwhelming sorry and my already weak body begins to shake.
“I…”

The usual gold tone of his skin
is now red, a vein throbs angrily in his forehead. “I told you to
stay out of my room!”

“
I…”

I’m dragged into the hall and
slammed roughly against the wall, again, it doesn’t hurt but it
puts the fear of god into me. My bones rattle and my fear rises. “I
TOLD YOU!”

“
I know… I
didn’t mean…” I scream and cover my face when his fist comes up; it
doesn’t hit me, it hits the wall beside my head. My flight instinct
kicks in, I duck under his arm and try to escape.

I don’t make it three steps, an
arm wraps around my midsection slamming me back into his chest.
“Let go!” I beg, my tears now of fear. What’s he going to do?
“Please Nathan, let me explain.”

I thrash, trying to tug my arms
free but he has hold of my wrists, pinning them across each other
and to my breasts. “Where did you find them?”

“
In… in the
closet,” I stammer and let out a sob. “I came back for my necklace,
it got stuck. When I tried to get it out the skirting board came
off.” His heavy breathing hits my ear, he sounds like he’s about to
hyperventilate. “I thought it was a home video. I swear… But then…
I only checked the others.”

I whimper when he spins me in
his arms and slams me against the wall, it doesn’t hurt but it does
jolt me throughout my entire body. His hands grip my neck as he
moves his face to my ear. “If you ever tell anyone about this…”

“
I…”

He squeezes the back of my
neck, effectively shutting me up. “I will end you.” The way he says
this is so menacing, so cold I barely recognise the Nathan I
thought I knew.

My eyes widen with fear and my
body trembles even more than before. “Nathan.” I slide my hand up
his arm and touch his cheek, he looks away, shame clouding his
features. What does he have to be ashamed of? “I’m so sorry this
happened to you.”

His body tightens, his muscles
now cement beneath his skin, “Get out.” He pulls away from me and
glares with an anger so potent, I back up a space. My coat is flung
at me. “Don’t come back, Gwen.”

“
Nathan…” I
try, my brow furrowed with sympathy and concern. “I…”

“
I said get
out!” He bellows and grips my arm. I’m pulled down the stairs,
stumbling slightly as my sluggish legs try to keep up with his
quick and powerful strides.

“
Please,
don’t…”

“
No,” he
shakes his head and clamps a hand over my mouth. “I never want to
see you again, I never want to hear from you again.” I’m led down
the last set of stairs, tears burn my cheeks.

“
Nathan,
please.”

“
Shut up!” He
snarls, dragging me towards the door. “I mean it Guinevere.” The
door opens and I’m shoved outside into the cold. Cold, emotionless
brown eyes attack my greys. “You’re dead to me.” The door slams
shut, leaving me petrified on the spot.

“
Oh my god,”
I murmur, my teeth chattering. Tears that were falling before now
rush from my eyes in two endless streams. I hold my coat tight to
me and race towards Jeanine’s car. We have to leave and we have to
leave now. Whatever demons Nathan’s holding aren’t something I want
to address. He clearly doesn’t want to share them and I don’t blame
him. I can only imagine what it’s like having a secret that
powerful.

I’ll give him his wish.

I try not to break down when I
get to Jeanine’s.

I do. I break down so badly I
can’t even sob as I cry.

Jeanine instantly kneels beside
me and pulls me into her arms. She tries to reassure me that
everything will be okay. It’s not like I don’t know that it’ll be
okay. Of course it will be okay, if there’s one thing I’ve learned
over these past few months since losing Caleb, it’s that life goes
on. I’ll be okay but I’ll never be the same.

Not after what I’ve just
seen.

Nathan… my poor Nathan. How do
I deal with this? I want to take away his pain but I don’t think he
wants it taking away.

Another Weston male came into
my life, made me feel alive and then left without looking back. For
Caleb this was nature taking him from his body, for Nathan this was
his nature taking him from me. Different types of nature that was
forced on both of them. Caleb’s was a natural nature, Nathan’s was
a nature so unnatural, it scares me to even think of it.

I’m going to vomit again.

Nathan would never be this way
if not for his grandfather. If the man were still alive, I’d
probably kill him myself. Prison sentence be damned.

Was Caleb abused too? No…
something tells me that this never happened to Caleb.

But why?

Will I ever know the answers?
Do I even want to know?

No. I don’t think I do. I want
to take my son and get far away from here.

So that’s what I’ll do. It’s
what I have to do.

It just hurts so bad, knowing
that he’s hurting…

To Be
Continued…

Here’s a sneak peek
into the future…

I hold the brown bottle in my
hand and bring it to my mouth. My chest and throat burn after I
swig the spirit. I welcome the burn, I deserve it. I deserve the
pain and the torture. I’m no better than he was.

Her hands bang against the
glass, she can see me. She’s looking right at me. Screams of fright
and anguish can be heard over the crackling and roaring flames that
have engulfed the house. They lick at the sky, creating a huge
cloud of thick, grey smoke that lingers over the trees.

She doesn’t deserve to die this
way, I didn’t even know she was here, but she knows too much. This
is a means to an end. She’s seen it, she’s heard it and she knows
it so she must die with it.

I only pray that her end is
swift. For the pain in her eyes troubles me, it must be scorching
hot in there now. The room she’s standing in has begun to glow
orange. The flames have finally reached her. She’s too high up to
jump out of the window and there’s clearly no other way out.

I take another swig and lean
back against the tree behind me. Watching her long black hair fall
from its hair tie as she frantically beats at the window.

My own sorrow for my sins
overwhelms me and I cry silently as she falls from view, the smoke
too thick for her lungs. At least darkness will claim her before
she burns alive.

“
I’m so
sorry, Guinevere,” I mutter and stand. “I’m so sorry.” Sirens can
be heard in the distance, so I take my bottle and vanish into the
night.

A
BOUT THE AUTHOR

I'm 23
and I’ve been writing since I could hold a pen in my hand! I
love to write, it’s my passion, and I never stop.  In fact I
love to write so much I have started over one hundred and fifty
different books before 
finally
completing my first ever novel
 '
A Little Bit of Crazy' which
I published in May 2013 on Amazon for Kindle. I was grateful when I
received feedback as it helps me be a better writer.

When I'm not
writing, I love spending time with my family and when I get some
spare time (not easy with young children!) 
it’s either reading or listening to music. You won’t
find me without a book or my Kindle in my hand. I
read 
whilst
I’m cooking, cleaning, talking, walking
… you could say reading is my other passion!

Thank you for
taking the time to read my book. I appreciate any kind of feedback
be it good or bad. This has been a huge learning curve for me and
I'm happy to receive any advice/criticism...praise? That you wish
to provide.
Don’t be shy.

Thank you,

Love Alex

Contact
Details

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@A_E_Murphy