Chapter 176: Her Neck Is Proof Enough
Chapter 176: Her Neck Is Proof Enough
Camilla
Not much was spoken as Avan and Kate walked me back to the road, disappearing the second they suspected people could see them again back into the shadows. I didn't bother to try and find them this time but I knew they were close.
Walking straight into what could be considered a backyard, I led myself around the house until I arrived at the front door but the sight of a car parked in the driveway had me stiffening. They are home. I instantly felt my throat begin to tighten but I forced air to pass into my lungs, not allowing me the opportunity to panic or show weakness.
I was so much stronger than the last time I was here and I refused to let myself be anything but. Pushing every ugly feeling down, I knew the door was unlocked as I walked right in, my heart already racing at the first sight of my mother and stepfather. Swallowing down my emotions, my eyes glazed over Edward sprawled on the couch, clearly drunk and getting dirt all over my things.
"Oh, Camilla." My mother smiles widely as she notices me, her eyes red and looking even more disheveled than when I last saw her.
"I miss you so much, my sweet girl."
My sweet girl? The name makes my stomach churn, hating how happy she looks to see me as though nothing was wrong. It took a few beats before I closed the front door behind me but the noise seemed to have grabbed the attention of the man currently using my blanket.
"And where exactly have you been?" His words slur as his voice was just as scratchy as I remembered it to be.
Just the sound of him speaking had chills running through my body and it was the kind that made me feel nauseous. A quiet laugh passed from my chest even though there wasn't a single part about this that was funny.
"Where have I been?" I repeated, my voice low yet anything but quiet.
"Is that a serious question because it is a pretty fucking stupid one if it it."
Never in my years that I have known this man have I used this tone with him especially in my mother's presence. To be completely honest, if it weren't for my men's secret visit last week, I am not sure if I would have been brave enough to still be standing here.
I waited for the lash back, for the inevitable rage I was ready to face but none of that came. Watching slightly off guard, my stepfather's gaze slipped to my mother's before sitting up slightly on the couch.
"I told you this would happen, woman." He shook his head a little qs though he was a disappointed father catching his teenage daughter sneaking back in on a Friday night.
The act appalls me and I am already finding myself more and more done with this shitty place.
"Edward, don't." My mother responded with a dismissive yet lazy gesture, moving over to the small fridge she owned to grab herself a beer.
I still hadn't moved from the doorway but from the direction I could sense this conversation going in didn't exactly seem welcoming. Besides, there were no longer many places I could go now as the two of them took up the space. Choosing to lean slightly against the walls instead, I remained tense and Edward pushed himself upright, the blanket I had been using now half on the floor and half across the couch. It was not something I would be touching again, I knew that for sure.
"Her neck is proof enough." He continued as he shot a disgusted sneer my way but I let it wash right over me even though I didn't know what he was going on about.
"I mean, look at her. Little Miss Perfect is whoring herself out for money because her boyfriends probably got sick of the bitch and dumped her."
Was he actually insinuating that I was a prostitute? If I thought I was angry before then the white hot rage pouring through my veins made my previous emotions look like one of a saint.
"Let's get two things straight here." I began, my voice surprisingly steady despite everything else that would make it be otherwise.
"First, though it is funny, this is the second time this month I had to explain this. I am not a fucking prostitute."
I didn't think he was even listening to me and that only made my irritation burn hotter. It didn't take me long to realize his accusations were a result of the fading hickeys across my throat from my last night with my men but I was almost curious to know how he would react to learning the men who gave me these marks were the same ones who had him pissing himself in fear.
"And secondly if you call me a bitch again, your tongue will be the next thing you will lose."
I could feel my adrenaline surging through me with each passing second and as I watched the color blanch from his cheeks, I will admit it is satisfaction that flows through me next.
"Camilla, you apologize right now…" My mother started but I cut her off.
"Do you even give the slightest shit about me, mother?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest so nobody could see the shake of my muscles.
My body's response was one of the fear, sadness and adrenaline. I didn't want either of them to know I was feeling anything at all. My question caused her to stumble for a beat but then she was back to scowling as though I was the one completely wrong here.
"You come into my house and treat your family with such open disrespect. It is you, my dear who should be asking yourself if you care for us."
I didn't want to cry, I have wasted way too many tears on these people who don't deserve them but I was afraid my will to remain strong wouldn't hold up for much longer. It was at this moment I wished I would have put my mindless insecurities aside and invited even one of my boyfriends to come with me because right now I feel as though I was about to collapse with no safety nets to catch me.
"You are the ones who have been gone for the last five days for the trip you initiated." I argued and while Edward groaned on the couch, my mother took a step towards me.
"You are stressing out your father right now, mind your mouth."
For Christ sake, he is not my father but it was a long lost claim I have insisted for years. I wanted to scream that at the top of my lungs but it would be childish and I didn't want to reveal how much these horrible people had an effect on me. Another humorless laugh left my body and it hurt as it came out.
"I am stressing him out?" I said under my breath, forcing myself to hear what she said so I could let it dissolve away in my head. Of course, it is me who is the problem here. Sure, my host has been gone for nearly the entire trip without a word but I am the one at fault. I am so done with these people.
"Your father is going through a lot of pain and…." She said yet again but I am so sick and tired of listening to the bullshit excuses that spill from her mouth.
There is always another excuse, another mindless reason that always makes me feel guilty but this was not my fault. If this conversation was happening even a month ago, my responses would have likely been extremely different compared to what I am about to say now. I was done rolling over to things I shouldn't have to shy away from. I came here for closure and I was slowly getting it even if I felt a part of myself breaking in the process.
"It is funny how you seem to care so much about every goddamned thing in this world except for me." I said, not allowing either of them to talk over what I needed to say.
"Do you care about how many times this man has hurt me while you were too drunk to help me?"
My chest was constricting inside of me but I pushed through it. This was the one and only time I would be speaking these words so I just needed to be strong for a little longer.
"Don't talk to your mother like that." He tried to defend as though he were a loving husband standing up for his wife but it only made my lips curl with disgust.
"What has gotten into you?" She lectures like I was disappointing her, like I had no reason to be upset.
The first year fell at that and I hated everything it represented. I was done and I didn't know how to repair those pieces of me that longed for the parent that died a long time ago.
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