[color=thistle]Just a heads up that this post deals with domestic abuse, so its pretty graphic this time.[/color] [color=thistle]reader discretion is advised.[/color] .................................... The table was glistening white under the diamond and pearl chandelier that hung above it as Eris and their mother ate dinner. Mindy had arrived a tad bit later than expected, but apologized upon arrival. She wore a different dress, this one being plain white and trimmed with black lace. It came up to her knees, and she still had her hair in that simple afro puff. “So, Mindy. Eris says you’re a doctor? Have you saved any lives recently?” Charlice asked. Mindy nodded, while holding a buttered roll in her hand. “Just yesterday, I had to revive this little boy with asthma after he had an attack. His little heart just completely stopped after awhile, but I managed to bring him back somehow.” She said. She shook her head sadly, despite the good ending. “The kid’s gonna have a few problems later on though. It’s not everyday you have a near death experience at the age of 10.” [color=00FA9A]“Sounds scary.[/color] [color=00FA9A]I wouldn’t want to be him right about now.”[/color] Eris said. Almost dying at 10 because you suck at breathing sounds like bully fuel, to them. “Well that’s what intensive care and therapy is for. What would we be as a society without you doctors to take care of us all?” Charlice said, she raised her glass to Mindy. MIndy waved her hand nonchalantly. “Oh I’m sure the human race would still be here drinking wine and spirits like they are now.” She said. “This is a nice home Mrs.Goodoire. I hope to have a house twice as big as this when I move out of my parents.” Charlice smiled, proud. “Yes, it’s a culmination of twelve years of hard work. Keep on with this doctor mess, little lady. You will find yourself a home bigger than mine in no time.” She winked. Eris rolled their eyes. [color=00FA9A]“You always tell the guests about the house, mom.[/color] [color=00FA9A]Why don’t you tell her about your work.”[/color] Eris suggested. Charlice glanced at Eris warningly for a second, but then smiled sweetly. “My work. You’re right, Eris I never do discuss my work affairs with others.” She said in an even tone. “And you also know why.” Eris sighed. [color=00FA9A]“I guess I do.[/color] [color=00FA9A]Hey, I think I’m done with dinner now.”[/color] Eris pushed their plate away, even though it was half full, and Charlice pretended not to notice for the sake of Mindy. “You can eat later then.” Charlice said, taking a sip from her wine glass. [color=00FA9A]“I’d rather not eat at all.[/color] [color=00FA9A]I think I will just spend the rest of the night upstairs.[/color] [color=00FA9A]Mindy, you coming?”[/color] They asked. MIndy looked up excited. “Oh yeah, I’d like to see the rest of this beautiful mansion! I bet you’re room is like something out of a fairytale.” She said. Charlice scoffed softly in her drink, but kept her comments to herself. Eris smirked. [color=00FA9A]“You can see for yourself.”[/color] They said. Mindy followed them upstairs, and Charlice heard the soft click of the door closing. She sat alone at the dinner table, softly caressing the handle of her butter knife. ……….. Eris’ room was nothing like out of a fairytale, much to the amusement of Mindy Diasco. While Eris had the giant bedroom, with the comfy, big bed and dresser, the room was decked head to toe in posters of old musicians. Mindy took a particular shine to an old autographed picture of Elvis that was hanging up on the meridian walls over Eris’ beauty mirror. “So you’re an Elvis fan, huh?” Mindy asked. “My dad is crazy about 50’s rock, he won’t shut up about it at parties.” Eris laughed. [color=00FA9A]“Well, he was a very popular guy, or so I’m told.[/color] [color=00FA9A]I never actually met him.”[/color] Eris said. Mindy walked over to the giant bed, and ran her hand over the soft blanket and coverings. “Oh my god.” She breathed. “You sleep on this? Every night? It feels like Heaven, Eris.” [color=00FA9A]“They don’t have good beds where you’re from?”[/color] Eris asked with a smile. Mindy rolled over the bed, gleefully. “Not one’s made from literal clouds and angel wings!” She exclaimed. “My bed feels like a pile of dirt pretending to be fabric compared to this.” Suddenly, Mindy shot up, a serious look on her face. “Looking at all of these posters reminded me of Soundria. I’ve run into a bit of a bump in testing.” Eris sat down on the bed next to her, listening intensely. They nodded for her to continue. “There seems to be a strange symptom that comes along with the effects of the medicine. While I made it to soothe people internally, there is definitely some external side effects.” She said. “I don’t know how to exactly define it, or explain the phenomenon to you but-” She stopped talking as they both heard a loud, and arduous knocking noise coming from downstairs. Eris gulped, as they knew exactly what the noise was. It was repetitive, and the force of it’s impact against the walls shook the room slightly. [i]It’s fine.[/i] [i]He’s just burning off steam in his office.[/i] And then they heard Charlice scream from downstairs. Mindy jumped up off the bed, wary to go to the door and check downstairs. “What’s going on down ther-?” She began to ask. It was soon cut off by the thunderous noise of their father’s feet coming up the stairs. Eris grabbed Mindy by the arm, and dragged her to safety by the bed. The door burst open furiously, and Mr. Goodoire stood angrily in the doorway with Charlice by her hair behind him. Charlton’s warning about reverting back to old ways echoed in their head for a split second, before they fully assessed to scene before them. Richard held a bottle of what looked like old cider in one hand, and Charlice’s blonde curls in the other. Charlice was crying pitifully, and by the look of her face, Richard had already taken out most of his anger on her. She sported a busted lip, and a bruised eye. Blood and tears mixed together, and mascara ran down her cheeks. All in all, she looked absolutely awful just then. Mindy shook fearfully, not able to take her eyes off of Richard. Eris breathed in slowly, and Richard chuckled darkly. “What’s the matter, bitch? Mad because I crashed you’re little tinder date here?” He said. Eris ran a hand through their hair, pulling it from its bun. Their blonde hair fell past their shoulders in waves, and Eris looked at him with tired, strained eyes. In only a few seconds, he had pushed them to their limit. [color=00FA9A]“Where’s Charlton?”[/color] They asked, quietly. Richard took another swig from his bottle, and when he found it was empty, he threw it at the wall making Mindy jump. “He’s taking a nap.” Richard said simply. [i]Shit.[/i] [i]That can mean literally anything in the state he’s in.[/i] Charlice tried to pull herself away from him gently, but Richard yanked her back with his hand, and she fell on her knees, crossing the rooms threshold. He looked at Eris then, a look of malicious intent on his face. “You’re coming with me, tonight. I signed you up for a very long trip.” He said. [color=00FA9A]“What the hell are you talking about?”[/color] Eris asked, quietly. They never raised their voice in anger, they just kept a flat, tired monotone as they talked. “It’s a cathol-” He burped. “Catholic school. You’re going tonight, girl.” [color=00FA9A]“They.”[/color] Eris said. “Fuck off. We both know what’s in your pants.” He said, rudely. He glanced at Mindy, cowering behind Eris. “That whore can’t stay tonight. You’ve gotta pack your bags.” [color=00FA9A]“I’m not going anywhere.”[/color] They said, confidently. Mindy reached into her pocket where her phone was. “Siri, call 911.” She said quietly. Richard glared at her. “You bit-” But before he could get the words out, a bat came to the back of his head, and he fell unconscious on the floor. Charlton stood in the doorway, a bat in hand and a bloody wound in his side. [color=00FA9A]“Jesus.”[/color] Eris breathed, shocked at the blood seeping through his nice, butler coat. [color=00FA9A]“We need to get to a hospital.”[/color] Eris ran to Charlton, jumping over their father’s body. “I’ll stay here until the cops come, you just bring him to the hospital.” Mindy said. Eris didn’t waste anytime at all following her instructions, and ran outside of the mansion with their butler in hand. …….. The hospital was just as Eris had remembered it the time they had come here. They remembered how they had come to be in a hospital bed back then, and thinking of how he was then, they almost couldn’t believe they didn’t see this coming the minute he walked in the dining room drunk off his ass. The minute they both walked into the hospital, Charlton more or less being dragged along by Eris, a nurse rushed up to them, and he was taken from their arms. Eris sat in the waiting room for two hours, staring at the tiled floor the entire time. It wasn’t until they felt a hand on the shoulder that they looked up. “Hey, how’s he doing?” It was Mindy. [color=00FA9A]“He’s fine.[/color] [color=00FA9A]Just a little shaken is all.”[/color] They said. [color=00FA9A]“They told me he’s resting now.[/color] [color=00FA9A]We won’t be able to see him until tomorrow.”[/color] Mindy nodded. They both sat there quietly for a few seconds. This time Mindy broke the silence. “You know, you really ought to think about leaving them.” She said. “You’re father seems rather…” Eris looked at her. [color=00FA9A]“I can’t just leave my parents behind.[/color] [color=00FA9A]That’s not how the world works, Mindy.”[/color] They said. Mindy sat up straighter. “Well…” She began. “You gotta think of something. I mean, he said he was sending you off to Catholic school. Tonight. That doesn’t sound very good at all.” She shook her head. “And you’ve been really nice to me all week! You don’t deserve any of that man’s punishment.” Eris blinked at her sudden confidence. [color=00FA9A]“Catholic schools are tricky, Mindy.[/color] [color=00FA9A]Once you put your name in the Tithe basket, there’s no getting it back out again.”[/color] They said. “Eris, listen. Going to that Catholic school after he assaulted your friends and family is just the kind of thing he would want.” She said. “I know how men like him work. They don’t care about family at all. They care about impressions.” Mindy stood up. “Tomorrow we will think of a way to get you out of this mess. Me and that butler guy who seems to be really nice.” Eris thought it over for awhile, and shrugged. [i]If it will put her at ease, then fine.[/i] [i]We can pretend there’s a solution here.[/i] And so tomorrow came. Eris hid at Mindy’s house, away from the Catholic collection bus that came to their house a few minutes after the police arrived. When the visiting nun who was supposed to collect Eris came for them, they were quickly turned away by the police, and had no idea of where they could have gone. The nuns got word that they were probably hiding at Mindy’s house, but Mindy’s mother was very understanding of the situation, and told them off from her house as well. That day, in the hospital room, Mindy, Eris, and Charlton discussed plans for Eris’ escape. “I overheard him talking on the phone before he went ballistic. You have a bit of time before he can properly send you off.” Charlton said. [color=00FA9A]“We have time?”[/color] Eris asked. “He wanted to throw a party announcing your leave. You weren’t going to be there, of course, but I believe he was going to set some sort of video system up so that you yourself could say goodbye to folks from the School.” He said. He sat up in the hospital bed, sipping on a cup of tea completely relaxed. “He went crazy over something the other end had said. I’m guessing they didn’t want to set up your camera or something. It was pretty hard to hear what with him cursing them through the phone.” “Then the party is the perfect place to escape a second time.” Mindy said. “We can’t hide you forever at my place, the nuns are bound to get to you at some point. If we hold a party before you leave, then we can escape again before they get to you.” She clapped her hands, smiling excitedly. “And I know one place they’d never look for us!” Eris laughed. [color=00FA9A]“Well this all sounds good, but like you said.[/color] [color=00FA9A]We can’t hide forever.”[/color] They said. “You’re right, sir. We can’t. But we can hide just long enough for us to get rid of the School. Maybe while we’re hiding we can negotiate with them, and explain ourselves. I doubt women of God would send a child back to a horrid man like Richard.” Charlton explained. [color=00FA9A] “How could we possibly convince them though?[/color] [color=00FA9A]They’d probably just brush us off, and call me a ‘troubled’ soul or some shit.”[/color] They said. They rocked back in the chair, leaning against the bed frame. [color=00FA9A]“There’s no way they’d believe a butler, a doctor, and a...whatever over Richard Goodoire, Entrepreneur of the century.[/color] [color=00FA9A]And Charlice would defend that bastard till the end of time.[/color] [color=00FA9A]She’s cowardly like that.”[/color] Mindy looked a little defeated at Eris’ words, but Charlton continued on. “I wasn’t really thinking of us as the one’s doing the convincing, actually. Perhaps a fourth party could suffice.” He said quietly. Eris looked at him, and he nodded as if confirming something. Mindy looked lost looking at them. “What are you both going on about?” She asked. [color=00FA9A]“Vivian.”[/color] Eris said. [color=00FA9A]“She could definitely convince them.[/color] [color=00FA9A]We just have to make it seem like its not coming directly from us.[/color] [color=00FA9A]Otherwise it won’t work.”[/color] “And, Miss Vivian is an avid supporter of the Church. She carries a rosary with her in her maid dress everywhere she goes.” Charlton said. “Who is Vivian?” Mindy asked. [color=00FA9A]“She’s the maid.[/color] [color=00FA9A]A few days ago, Richie yelled at her for missing one of the polished cups.”[/color] Eris explained. [color=00FA9A]“If we can get Vivian in on this, than maybe…”[/color] “This might work then!” Mindy said. [color=00FA9A]“Don’t get your hopes up.[/color] [color=00FA9A]We still have this party to plan, and Charlice to deal with it.”[/color] They said. [color=00FA9A]“We have got to get to Vivian fast, before she decides to scram off to some other rich persons house.[/color] [color=00FA9A]I wouldn’t blame her, though.”[/color]