The Darkest Night

d kept glancing at the clock every couple of minutes. I knew why she did this, my dad was du

Man figures. “Mom, can I go play at Liam’s

. “Not right now, Jakey. Dinner won’t be long and we need

s at me. He was a cute kid, with blond hair and grey eyes with brown flecks in them. He was my big brother, and as big brothers went, he was the best. He always looked after me at home and

dging his shoulder into mine. Jake was ten, and was two ye

miled, swinging my legs as th

ed, sprinkling cheese on the pasta and putting it into the oven. Jake and I j

d if we did anything wrong. If you had heard of that saying ‘Children should be seen and not heard’, well, my dad took that to another extreme. Instead, he liked ‘Children shouldn’t be seen or heard’. A

and didn't smile. My mom got this look on her face, like fear or worry, and she would start rushing around plumping u

the door to signal that he was home. I could feel my stomach fluttering, my hands startin

worst, but I didn’t ever tell anyone about those times, or how he touched me and told me how pretty I was. I hated those days, and wished the weekends would never come. I would much rather it be a school day when we would only see him for dinnertime. I definitely preferred it when

to behave and he held my hand under the table. My father had blond hair

got everyone in trouble or that did something wrong. It always seemed to be me that made things worse for everyone. It never used to be like this, I used to be daddy’s little girl, but since he started his job, three years ago, he changed. Our relationship with him changed com

e time. Just then my mom came in carryin

l started eating in silence and I tried not to shift on my seat

tried out for the ice hockey team and Liam and I we

cted. “What about you, Amber?”

on’t ramble. “Good, than

child!”

o hit me, or maybe send me to bed with no dinner. “

vously wringing her hands together. “So, Margaret, wha

e ironing,” my mom answered quickly. It sounded like a prepared answer, she always did th

upid little bitch!” he growled, grabbing the top of my arm and pulling me roughly from the table. Suddenly my back hit the wall, pain shot down my back and I bit my lip to stop from crying. Crying made it worse, he

! She needs to learn to be more careful!” my father shouted, grabbing hold of Jake by his clothes and throwing him to the floor. He slapped me across the face, sending me to the floor,

her; he was only trying to protect me. Jake always did that. Whenever I got into

to finish his food, muttering something about us being ‘the worst ki

im as if my life depended on it. He groaned and pushed himself up to sitting, hugg

o sorry,” I mumbled quietl

smile and trying to get to his feet, groaning. I jumped to my feet and helped him up. I co

temper in there from my mistake and she needed to calm him down before anything else happened. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I love you both. Please be quiet, a

’t have to work in his job. Maybe then he would be like the old dad, taking us to the park and buying me toys and candy. Jake came to my room and we ate in silence, sitting

than me; he was so much more mature than I was. “It’s OK. Everything’s OK, Ambs. Don’t worry,” he cooed, str

didn’t realise I was holding and looked at Jake, who smiled a small smile. “I’d better go to my room, it’s after seven,” he said looking at my alarm clock. “Lock your door. I’ll see you in

ame to his. I ran back over to my bed and threw myself on it, crying silently. I couldn’t stop, I was sobbing and sobbing. I h

see Liam outside, looking at me sadly. I got up and ran to the window unlocked it and

led at him, shaking my head fiercely. But the stupid boy just climb

was too noisy. “Liam, get out!” I whispered, desperately trying to push him back towards the window. I winced, wondering what my dad would do if he had heard my window open an

started to cry again into his chest; thoughts

ight blue eyes that were like windows to his soul. When Liam looked at you it made you feel like you could fly. He was very cute; all my friends had crushes on him for some reason. Liam and I didn’t get on at

was Jake’s room, maybe he went to the wrong window – but that couldn’t be right, becau