'Go away, Em. I don't need you. You're of no use to me, anymore.' The words kept echoing in Emily's mind. Such words can be very traumatizing for a 15 year old girl. Especially, when they're coming from your father. The one man in a girl's life, who's supposed to be the one that'd never hurt her and would always be her first love and her hero. A hero! That's what Emily considered her father as. A hero. It was really difficult for her to believe that he was the same person who fought a case against her mother, for her custody. The same man who'd pick her up from school when they would have a fight in the morning, before going to school, only to tell her how sorry he was and how much he loved her.
Emily trusted him so much. And why wouldn't she? He is her father, after all. They had been through so much. They had been through the worst phases of life, together. There were days when there was nothing to eat. Days when the only money left was the few coins, which were always there in that drawer, which was rarely opened. But they survived through all the darkest hours and now, they had the luxury to buy whatever they wanted. It was time for them to live the brighter phase of life together, but her father had decided to go the other way. He decided to live this better phase all by himself. He was being selfish. Emily knew she had been used by her father to gain sympathy from the society. The divorce had made him a different man.
Some days, her father would sit beside her, on her bed and tell her stories and make her feel lucky to have at least got a father who loved her so much, if not a mother. Whereas some days, she would have to lock her bedroom door from inside and keep a knife under her pillow before sleeping, because she would be just so scared of her father. Ironically, she was scared of that person who's supposed to be her protector. Even his presence alone scared Emily, some times. She feared him. Fear is not good for health. When fear crosses the line where it can't be felt anymore, that's when one should start worrying. And that's what exactly happened with Emily. She couldn't feel anything anymore.
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"Are you still mad at me, Em?" asked Andrea.
"Yes, you said you'd come to meddle in if you see Paul troubling me again, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did. But I'm sorry, I couldn't gather the courage to do so. He is so scary. And he's our senior."
"Whatever, Andy. I never should've believed you."
"Hey, don't say that. Look, I promise I'll rescue you from not only Paul, but all the other jerk-erflies who roam around you, next time onward. And why only jerks? I will always be there whenever you'll need me. I swear."
"Yea. Okay! I gotta go now. I guess dad's here. I'll call you later. Bye."
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"Hey dad. How was your day?"
"You disappoint me so much, Emily."
"What are you talking about? What happened?"
"You don't deserve a father like me, Em. I want you to leave now."
"I don't want to leave. This is MY house, too."
"No, it isn't. Get out."
"Fine. If that's what you want."
She gathered her belongings and took one last look at her home. Or at least she thought it was her home. Emily wasn't surprised when her father asked her to leave. He had said that a lot of times, before. And she had decided that if he ever said that to her again, she'd leave for real.
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"Hey, Andrea."
"Hi. What happened?"
"What's up?"
"Er. I was just going to bed. What happened?"
"Oh. Um. My dad asked me to leave the house. And I don't know where to go at this time."
"Emily, my god! I wish I could help, but you know I can't. You know how my mum feels about you."
"Dude, its not my fault that my mother left me. Okay? Why don't you shove this thing in your mum's brain and ask her to calm her ass down?"
"Emily, you can't talk about my mum like that. Before I say anything bad to you, I'll just put the phone down."
Emily had never talked to anyone like that. She couldn't believe that it was her mouth all this came out from. She was helpless now. It was 10:30 at night and she had nowhere to go. And right then, the thing she was afraid of, happened.
When she gained her consciousness, she was in, what looked like an old basement, trying to catch her breathe. Her body was aching and she felt pain in her genitalia. She was old enough to realize that she had been raped and she started to sob. The tears wouldn't stop and she sat there crying, for what seemed like forever. The pain was excruciating and yet, she gathered whatever strength she had and searched for an exit. She was hungry, by now.
When she got out, it was a deserted street and it was still dark. She didn't have her belongings or anything. After walking a few meters, she felt tired, so she stopped and stood under a streetlight. She felt safe under it. For once she felt like she was in light. She didn't realize when she had fallen asleep.
The sound of whispers of people woke her up and she found herself surrounded by strangers. So many of them. She didn't say a word and the strangers just kept staring at her. No one offered to help or comfort her and she was in too much pain to ask for any. So she merely closed her eyes and sat there paralyzed.
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Emily woke up sweating. Her hair was wet with her sweat and she was panting. She picked up her bottle and drank some water. She rubbed off the sweat from her forehead and took several breathes. She looked around the room and found herself at home. And she smiled. She smiled because it was just a dream and it wasn't gonna happen in reality. Again!
So, she lied down again and closed her eyes and thought about how she had come here after what she had gone through. What happened after what she dreamt about, played in her mind and she fell back, asleep.
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"Hello?"
Emily felt a pat on her shoulder and she opened her eyes. It was an old woman.
"Are you okay? Where have you come from?"
Emily didn't say anything. She didn't nod or move. And just when she was about to say something, she burst into tears and the woman hugged her. The woman noticed that Emily was wounded, so she offered to help her. And Emily didn't refuse, either.