No Innocent Love

The Dove

"It's so beautiful!"

The white bird sat on the branch of mommy's cherry tree. My identical twin sister and I have been staring at the bird through the window for a while until it flew away on its own.

"Come girls! Wash up, breakfast is almost ready." We hear our mom call from the kitchen.

"Yes, mum!" Replies Sarah. She hops right up and heads to the kitchen.  I was going to follow until I saw daddy's truck pull into the driveway.

"It's daddy!" I yell as I run to the door and wait for him to enter.  I was silent; listening to the sounds of the engine turning off, my dad closing the truck door, his footsteps on the gravel, and the key in the lock. "Daddy!" I jump in his arms and he catches me and picks me up like always. I look at his face and laugh, there is dirt all over, except around his blue eyes, where there was a clean spot where his goggles originally were.

"Oh, Sammy. You're getting big." He says, and gives a breathless laugh, "I won't be able to pick you up soon."

I love my mommy and daddy so much, they are the only ones who can tell me and Sarah apart. Even I, when looking at old pictures, can't tell which one is me or Sarah.

"Breakfast is done, dad! Mum wants us to wash up!" Sarah runs to daddy and tugs on his shirt, "Can't you smell it, dad? There's bacon! Hurry up!"

Mom walks out of the kitchen behind Sarah with her long blonde hair still in a ponytail "Welcome home Darling." She smiles big and closes her sparkling green eyes "I made your favorite."

. . .

... It hurts.

"Sammy! Sammy get up!"

I hear Sarah. She is standing in the corner of the room where she has been ordered to stay.

"Stop hurting her! Please stop!"

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Those happy days are over.  Mom and dad are gone, Mr. Laurin is our father now. He hates me.

"Get up Sam. Now!" That's him. His cold blue eyes look back at me, his short black hair stands slick, I can smell his gel from where I was laying. "Stand or it only gets worse!"

He knows the difference between me and Sarah, everyone does now. The difference is my right eye, Mr. Laurin poured some chemical in my eye, making my usually blue iris red.

I remember it clearly: His grip on my hair pulling my head back, his laugh, his smile, watching the strange colored liquid ooze out of the eyedropper, the drawn-out pain, my face being submerged in cold water, my sister's muffled scream, Mr. Laurin yelling at me to keep blinking if I want the pain to go away, my lungs burning for oxygen, his strong hold, and then nothing. It was dark after that, I guess I passed out.

Mr. Laurin is the CEO of a very successful bodyguard company who is unable to have kids. For the future of the company, he wanted to merge with the leading bodyguard company, to do so he had to marry a daughter to one of the leading company's CEO's sons. Hence why he adopted me and Sarah. The idea of identical twins excited him. He is keeping Sarah pretty and proper to marry off, me on the other hand, am used as a punching bag for my so-called 'father'. I will forever be his toy, while Sarah will be treated as his trophy. But that's okay with me. Sarah is all I have left, she doesn't deserve any of this, I gladly take all this pain for her.

It was when I attempted to stand I realized the wound on my leg. Did Mr. Laurin stab me again? I was on my hands and knees.

...It hurts

"Get up Sam!" I hear his steps, he is walking towards me.

No. No. No no no! I know what's coming next.

"Okay, let's go to your room"

"Father! Please no!" I beg him. He can't take me there again. He ignores me and picks me up.  Strangely, his arms feel gentle as he wraps them around me and he carefully picks me up.  I don't even attempt to struggle as he walks me to my room. "I wanna sleep with Sarah tonight. father? please!" He opens the door to my room.

The room is completely empty, white walls, no bed, no dresser. The only thing in that room is a mirror. I can't hide from that mirror, it is tightly glued against the wall. Mr. Laurin only puts me in this room when I'm weak, I'm too weak to shatter the mirror. Usually, I stay with Sarah. But when I'm bad and have to be punished, he puts me here, where I'm forced to see myself, where the eyes of the girl behind the mirror look at me, judging me. I can't hide. Even if I look away I know she's looking, ashamed.

"No! Don't look at me!" Mr. Laurin drops me and leaves, locking the door behind him.

In the white room, all I can see is red, blood, it's everywhere. Then I see the girl, like always, she's looking back at me. "Please... Just go away."