Skaii slid through the darkness of the living room, her chest was tight and her heart hammered. It was almost nine when she got back from her night out with Ian. They spent the evening catching up on the high school life she wished she shared with him at home. Ever since her mother took her from home to live with Deane Shaw and his son, she cut off any known contact that Ian had with her. Luckily, he slipped his number to her that day without the woman knowing. Every month Skaii would meet her brother at a café close to the edge of the town. It was small and quaint. She always felt safe meeting him there, no one from her prissy high school would ever visit a place like this and it was just the way she liked it.

Just as she was halfway across the large room, she heard Deane Shaw's voice echo. "Where have you been?" The lights in the living room switched on as soon as she felt the benign presence of her stepfather. She froze in her tracks, her already stabbing heart quickened. She gulped achingly but decided not to linger in his presence for too long and answer his question.

"I was straightening an added routine for the game tomorrow, it ended around seven." She quickly added, closing any room for doubts. Thankfully, Deane remained quiet. Fours years ago she was brought to this house and for four years Skaii kept her distance from him. 

She frowned slightly. 

As the CEO of a high-end publishing chain and the managing partner of a successful law firm, his routine on a Friday night was scotch with the ditch or a trip out of the country to a secluded destination with her mother. Why was he here, sitting in the dark? He must have had better ways to spend his time. Skaii did not allow herself to ponder for long, she quickly continued heading for the stairs.

"You're in a rush. But I think staying down here will be best, your mother is at work." Deane's voice was low but steady. Skaii glowered at his words, then turned to him. He was propped up on the white leather imperial couch in the middle of the room, with his legs folded and his gold tablet in his hand. Deane was donned in a grey and white checkered jacket with a milk-white cotton turtle neck on the inside. A long grey pants and grey leather brogues shoes. He oozed affluence.

"Matthew is waiting on your bed." He added.

"What!" Skaii shrieked, the thought of Matthew being anywhere close to where she slept was unsettling. Mathew was her stepbrother. And an annoying and manipulative bastard that got everything he wanted. Cars, cash, jewelry were his spoils, courtesy of his father. They were his main tool to capture the hearts of his many shallow bimbos. Now, he blatantly wanted to include Skaii.

"Sniffing your lacy little drawers." Someone chipped in from above. Skaii glanced up, her breath hitched. Matthew was standing at the top of the stairs. His head was tilted back and he was dangling a piece of red cloth in his face. Skaii's eyes narrowed, even though he was far away the golden lace of the red material was apparent. He was waving one of her underwear. He grinned when his eyes met Skaii's.

"You're a sick bastard!" Skaii screamed, she turned to Deane who was focused on the screen of the tablet in front of him. His face impassive. "Both of you!" Tears welled up in her eyes, and she fought hard to hold them in. But released a shaky sigh before they came streaming down her cheeks."

Now there's the Skaii Holder I know I love!" Matthew burst out into a fit of laughter, holding his stomach dramatically. She shrunk back, watching his mockery in horror. He then paused suddenly, his face completely void of the amusement he just showed. "Oh, how your worshippers would kill to see this."

Skaii's stomach sank. "Screw you Matthew!" She said through gritted teeth, her eyes slightly clouded by the tears.

"Ha," Her stepfather tsk. He looked up from the object that had not too long ago captured his focus. "Keep your voice down, wouldn't want to wake the neighbors."

"I'll wake the whole neighborhood if you don't let me go up to my room," Skaii warned, but her small voice did her no justice. And they knew that.

Her stepfather scoffed and threw the tablet to the table. "Where were you? I called the school, they said practice ended at six." Skaii gulp as her uneasiness mounted. Their history made it obvious enough that Deane Shaw would never call anywhere to check on her. But there was something off with his tone of voice. She dreaded that if they knew she visited her brother, the results would be unpleasant. So she lied.

"I was at a friend's house." "Bullshit, I know how you are at school, you don't have friends." Matthew hopped down the stairs, almost playfully, one foot after the other. Skaii was silently praying for him to fall. But her hopes were shattered when he came off the last step.

"Yeah, well this friend is special, unlike you." She swiped her tears away and met his eyes. Matthew was standing just a few meters away from her.

"What did you just say?" Before she could open her mouth to speak, he closed the distance between then and grabbed her by her throat. He gave her a forceful push and her back painfully met the cold glass wall. Her bag fell from her hands as she automatically gripped his wrists, trying to loosen his strong hold on her, but like many times before, she failed. The base of her throat burned as it got harder and harder to breathe. But even though he was choking her, she was tempted to tell him to kiss her ass.

"If you think that you can disrespect me while in my own house, you are mistaken." He gritted out and squeezed her tighter. "I own your mother, your father, your brother. I own you, you should understand that by now." Dark circles formed in Skaii's eyes and legs began to sway.

"What the hell is going on in here!" Her mother thrilled voice interrupted. "Deane, we talked about this!" Sophie shouted again as she rushed in from the front door. She then looked between Skaii and Matthew and her eyes ablaze. Her mother's presence should have made Skaii feel better, but it did not. Her mother didn't have a say in what goes on in the house, she never did. And all her presence did was ward off Matthew, for now. He slowly unclasped his hand from her neck and stepped back, revealing a taunting smile. Skaii released a chain of dry coughs and held her neck delicately.

"Are you alright sweety?" Sophie rushed over to Skaii while touching her face tenderly. Skaii pushed her hands away and shook her head. "I think you know the answer to that." She grabbed her bag that she completely disregarded until now. She glanced at Deane warily, "I will never be okay as long as I live in this house."

—————

Dear Mr. Nobody, It happened again. My stepfather and stepbrother have made a fresh cut. My mother would be the person I vent to but now she has fallen deeper for this man's charms and money. She only sees him now and not me. I don't know how long I will get through another day with them, I can't bear to think about it.

Skaii clicked her pen and opened her bag to stuff her notepad inside. Writing in that book had become somewhat therapeutic, she only had herself to talk to. Ian figured that she was unhappy in the house but he only knows what she told him. He still believes that the worse that happened to her was that she moved miles away from her sick father and him. She couldn't tell her brother, she knew how he'd react.

Skaii straightened herself, she was sitting at the back of the girls' locker room. Everyone was dabbing their faces with makeup and examining their cheer uniform. Some were talking to each other, just to get mentally prepped for the big game. This was the biggest semi-finals of the basketball season, Trinity Vale was playing their rival team from the next county over, Queens Valley.

The two teams rivaled for as long as the history of Trinity Vale, in almost everything. Except cheer. When Skaii took the chance to be cheer captain, she made sure no other team, whether this county or the next, came close to burning a candle to them. And tonight would be no different.

"Ladies, this is it. Try to find your happy place." Even though she tucked away in a corner to herself, the moment Skaii spoke up over the noise, an instant silence engulfed the room. "Alright, you all know the routine by now. We've done this so many times, Queens Valley is looking for a loop hole tonight, I don't know about the basketball team but that definitely won't be us. So please try your best and not be a chip on my shoulder and don't even think about recreating that scene from last week." She glared at Melinda and Kelly, those words went especially for them.

"You know what happens when you do." Skaii continued. "With that said, hurry up and get out there." She clapped her hands together and they immediately scrambled to slip on their uniform.

Skaii turned back to her locker and pulled out her gold and blue armor and stared down at it. She was just a junior when she started wearing it, and that uniform made her feel like the whole world was paused, and only cheerleading existed. It was her sanctuary, it made her feel invincible. The rustling and chattering of the girl's locker room became muffled. Remember everyone loves you. You're the beautiful baby. She whispered softly to uniform with a smile. Maybe she was even referring to herself a little as well.

"Skaii, the game's about to start." Melinda nudged her side with her elbow, breaking her trance.

"Everyone leave now!" Skaii snapped to the people behind her. The talking died down for a moment, then it started again as when the girls stalked through the door.

When the room was empty, she turned to face the mirror at the corner of the room. And then quickly began to apply concealer to her neck. The bruises that Matthew left were now a darker shade of purple, it might not hurt but they were still there. In no time, with a lot of concealer, the marks were blended evenly into her skin.

But unfortunately, Skaii knew that no amount of makeup can fix the damage the Shaws had done to her.