The Human Mute: A Phoenix Tale

CHAPTER 1 BROOKE No one can hear me. No one knows I am here. I am only allowed to come out when they are here. I am their slave. I am their punching bag. I can’t talk. I never have, not since that day, the day my mother was killed. “TIME TO COME UP AND CLEAN b***h” she shouts. I can hear her through the door. I have been sitting on the mattress I have as a bed on the floor. Staring into the nothingness of the room they put me in the basement. No one is allowed down here but I’m not allowed in the house unless they are with me. I have nothing down here, just the mattress, a bucket and a few old T-shirt’s and leggings. I hear the door unlock and open. I know they are up there; I slowly get up and make my way up the steps to the door. “MOVE IT b***h” she shouts as she grabs my hair and throws me into the kitchen. I land with a thud. All three of them are there; great...this is going to be bad. “WELL WELL WELL” she says, I look down at the floor. I can’t look at her. She already caused so many of my scars and injuries. “Look at me Slave” she says, I look up and see her, my Step mother, Aubrey. Aubrey is my step mother; my dad married her about a year after my mother was killed. Everything was fine until six years ago. He left my step mother for another woman, he left me with her. She took it out on me for what he did to her, her children, Madison and Austin. Madison is my age, 17 and Andrew is a year older. He did move out but he comes back every now and then. “You need to clean the whole house while we are out, I want it spotless. Once you are done, you go back to your room” Aubrey says with a snarl. She reminds me of the evil step mother in Cinderella. “Also wash my clothes to loser” says Madison “I want them all down before we come back. I have a date tonight” I nod, I get slowly up to my feet but I am pushed back down again by Madison. “I didn’t tell you to move yet” she said “Brother is there anything you want done, the slave can do it for you” I look to Austin who has a blank expression on his face, he doesn’t look at me “No, I have to stay here anyway, I have to finish an assessment off for college, I can keep an eye on her while you both go out, make sure she does what she is told” he says. “Every well son, you need to pass that assessment to go to that college” Aubrey says she turns to me “Get the f**k up and start now” she says to me. I slowly get up and grab the cloth, I make my way to the kitchen counter and start to clean but I can still hear Aubrey talking “So, Maddie, who are you going on a date with?” She asks. Madison has been known to bring boys over all the time; her mother doesn’t know most of it though. She sneaks them in. I have no voice to say anything so I can’t do anything about it. “Well mother, his name is Hudson” she says but Austin shouts “You mean the new guy who bothers with that weird crowd” “They not weird, they are all hot and Hudson likes me” she says with a bit of a whine. I start to wash the dishes that they all left in the sink for me to do, I block everyone out. After a few minutes, the door slams shut. All you can hear is Aubrey and Madison’s heels on the ground as they walk to the car. “I will help you Brooke” says Austin. I turn to look at him; Austin looks back at me while leaning on the doorframe. I smile at him. “I will sort out the clothes and put them in the washer, you clean the kitchen and living room, and I will tackle upstairs” he says with a smile. I nod, I just about to turn around to get back to the dishes “We have to get you out of here, you look more skinner than the last time I saw you and that bruise under your eye is bad” he says. I shrug and look at him. His eyes full of pity for me. I turn and get back to the dishes. Austin is the only one out of the three of them who is nice to me only when no one is around, he helps me when he is here and also he sneaks food down to me. I have been in this situation for a long time and I don’t know how to get out of. It is laughable that he thinks I can ever leave here. After the dishes, I sweep up the floor to the kitchen, placing all the rubbish in the bin. I set up the bucket for me to mop the kitchen. Then I take the rubbish to the bin outside, I walk to the front door and open it. I walk down the drive way, getting to the end where our bin is kept; I place the bin bag in once I opened the bin and closed it. I looked around at the sight; this is the only time I am allowed out. We are in the middle of nowhere, the house is on the outskirts of the village and away from anyone. “I should have done that” says Austin, suddenly behind me. He made me jump; I clutch my chest in fright but turn to glare at him. I shake my head and point to the view around us. He looks at me and smiles “Yeah it is nice out there” He turns around and heads back into the house “Come on, nearly done and I will make some food for you” he says. I look back at the view one last time as I probably won’t be able to see it again for a few days. I turn back to head to the house but I suddenly feel like someone is watching me. I stop and look back but I don’t see anyone. I shrug and head back into the house. Austin was right, we were both done and the house was spotless. Madison’s clothes all washed and now were in the dryer. I empty the mop bucket out the back end of the house and come back inside to see Austin with a plate. He smiles “Have some” he says, handing me a plate of pasta and meatballs. My mouth waters at the sight of them. Austin clears up the mess he made and sits with me at the counter to eat the food he has made. After twenty minutes, everything is back to spotless and I am full. I look at the clock and grab Madison’s clothes out of the dryer, I set up the ironing board and iron them. Most of her clothes don’t need ironing as they are not meant to be ironed but they are all done. Austin takes the clothes upstairs and places them on the bed for her. Once everything is done, I look towards the basement door. “Take this” says Austin, he hands me two apples. I smile and nod. “Oh I grabbed an old blanket from my room from college. You can have it” he says with a grin, I look at him. I am about to step onto the step of the basement but suddenly the front door bursts open, Aubrey and Madison stumble in with bags and bags. I was about to go down... “What the hell are you doing with that?” screams Aubrey, dropping her bags on the floor and running straight towards me. She pushes me down the stairs; I tumble all the way down and land on my wrist. The pain in my wrist shoots right through me. I can feel tears prick behind my eyes. “What the hell mother?” Shouts Austin “I was giving her my old blanket from college, it is supposed to be cold tonight” Aubrey glares at me as I look up towards her, tears are now spilling out from the corners of my eyes. “I decide whether she has anything or not” she says and looks at him but he cuts her off “Well, if she dies down there, you won’t have anyone to clean your f*****g house then will you” he shouts at her and throws the blanket down at me. Aubrey slams the basement doo, I can hear her shouting but I can’t tell what was happening, I slowly get up. I forget about my wrist, pain shoots through it. I hold it to my chest. I pick up the blanket but two things fall out, apples. I pick them up and stagger over to the mattress. I fall down on it; I place the blanket over me. I lay there, looking up at the ceiling. My life hasn’t been the best; both my parents have left me. I am on my own, well except for Austin. Aubrey blames me for my father’s leaving. So does Madison. Both of them used him for his money but when he left, his money left too but he sends money for me even though I don’t see any of it. I am 17 years old, never went to school. I can’t talk, I have tried but nothing comes out. I have black hair which is long; it goes down past my backside with blue eyes. I have scars all over my body from the beatings that Aubrey and Madison have given me over the years. I have a big scar on my neck but that is due to the night my mother was killed. I wish for a better life. I wish someone would save me from this hell.