FicWad

Chapter 7: Escape

She was running through the fog, but she wasn't going very fast. She kept tripping, falling hard, and then picking herself up again, slower each time. It became harder to run, harder to breathe, harder to think. What was going on? Why was she doing this? What was she running from? Of course, it was a dream! "Wake up Sofi!"
Shaking the fog out of her brain, Sofi woke up slowly. While it was hard, Sofi was able to slowly pick herself up off the floor, look around and try to remember what exactly happened. She noticed that the door to the basement was still open and the basket of laundry was strewn everywhere. Sitting down at the island in the kitchen, Sofi realized just how much pain she was in. Gingerly touching her face, she gasped. Her hand was covered in blood, fresh blood. She had been bleeding freely for who knew how long. She had to get it stopped, or she was going to bleed to death, really fast.
Walking to the bathroom off the family room, Sofi closed the door and flipped on the light. Slowly turning towards the mirror, Sofi tried not to scream. Her face was barely recognizable. Blood was matted in her hair, pouring from several open gashes all over her face. Opening the linen closet, Sofi pulled out a hand towel and a washcloth. Hydrogen peroxide was next on the list, followed by gauze and large bandaids. Turning on the water, Sofi went to the meticulous task of cleaning herself up. When her face was washed free of blood, Sofi bandaged herself, then looked down the length of her body for the first time since she woke up in the kitchen.
Her shirt was torn almost completely off of her, her pants where gone, along with her underwear. There were red sores all up and down her legs and arms. Her father had done this and this was the worst he had ever done. Yes, he had hurt her before, but it was usually something that could be fixed with some make-up. This would take days, if not weeks to heal from. She had to get out, and she had to get out now. If her father woke up and found her, he would probably beat her again, then call someone and blame it on a boyfriend, or a date or something. He had done it before, once when he had gotten out of hand. But this was worse than he had ever done. It was like he actually wanted to kill her. She had to get out, now!
Sofi hurried back to the kitchen and grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt from the laundry. Not bothering with any type of underwear, she was headed out the door, when she realized she needed a few things. She was going to have to risk going upstairs. Walking up the back staircase, which would take her directly to outside her room, Sofi approached her room. Barely allowing herself a chance to breath, Sofi rushed around, grabbing her purse, her laptop, her cell phone and another set of clothes. Slipping on a pair of flip-flops, Sofi was ready to go. Slipping back down the staircase, Sofi made her way out of the house, as silently as possible, and began to run. She didn't know to where, and she didn't know how long it would take, but she had to get out.
After several blocks, she slowed down to breathe and think through her options. She needed to hide. She needed to hide in a place her father would never know to look and there was only one person who could do that for her. Looking at the clock on her phone, Sofi realized that it was a little after 3 in the morning. If she continued walking, she could be at Gee's apartment by dawn. It was her only option and she had to do it. If she didn’t her father would kill her to keep her silent. She knew too much, and she was sure her father knew about it. Her secret was out, but at least he would never be able to find her.
It took a little longer to get to the apartment building than Sofi had originally planned. However, it was well before 7 when Sofi showed up at the door of the apartment. However, she didn't knock. Was this where she wanted to be? She had only known the guys for a few days, and who knew if they would be willing to take her in. Maybe she should just keep running. If she left the city, or the state, her father would have a much more difficult time finding her than he was willing to put the time into. It's not like he loved her, or cared at all about what happened to her. She was simply a means to an end, and she was sick of being that. At least if the guys turned her away, she would know where she stood with them. She at least had to try.
Sofi knocked softly, then a little bit louder. Waiting for a few minutes, Sofi finally gave up, she knew that they wouldn't answer. Just as she was turning away, the door opened.
"Sofi wait are you doing here? It's so early!" Gee's voice almost made Sofi cry.
Slowly turning, Sofi let the bruises speak for themselves. Tears streaming down her face, Sofi moved to Gee, not looking at his face, knowing what it would hold.
"Did he do this to you?" Gee's voice was angry, controlling, but loving at the same time.
"Yes, it happened last night. He was acting weird all day, but he's never hurt me this bad. I hurt all over, and I think I've started bleeding again. I don't really remember what happened, but I can probably guess. I didn't know where else to go. If you want me to leave, I will." Sofi tried not to sob, knowing it would kill her if he turned her away.
"You're not going anywhere. You can stay here for as long as you need to. We will take care of you for as long as you need it."
Gee led Sofi into the apartment, closing the door softly behind them. Sofi barely noticed as she was led to the couch and a blanket was placed over her shoulders as she sat down. Frank was watching from the kitchen and when Sofi began to cry again, he moved to the couch, sitting next to Sofi. Taking her hand, Frank let Sofi cry. He knew that Gee wasn't comfortable with tears, even though he also knew that he wanted to be there for Sofi when she needed him the most.
"Sofi, I know what this feeling is like. You're safe. We love you and will protect you forever. We promise." Frank's answer was sincere, his response going a long way in healing Sofi's broken heart.
"Thanks Frank. That means a lot. I don't want to intrude..."
"You're not intruding."
"No, let me finish. I don't want to intrude in you're lives. Tell me now if you want me gone, because if you let me stay, then asking me to leave later will be worse than what has already happened."
As Sofi was speaking, Gee had moved to kneel in front of her.
"We will never, never, ask you to leave. You have become a part of this family, and that means you will always be welcome and will be under our protection for as long as we are together." On those words, Gee leaned in and gave Sofi the most tender kiss she had ever received. Tears sprang to her eyes again, this time tears of joy.
"Thank you. That means so much to me."
"Did you bring anything with you? Any clothes or anything?"
"Not really. I brought a change of clothes, but I don't even have underwear."
"We'll go shopping later."
"Oh, okay. I have a little bit of money, but..."
"We don't need money, we have plenty of that. It may not look like it, but we only live hear because we want to. We don't need to. You're money is never going to be an option."
"Okay, let's go shopping." Sofi's smile stretched across her face, showing her delight in the midst of her pain.

Several hours later, after some intensive shopping and some catch up, Sofi began to settle into her new life. Mikey helped her set up in the living room, where she would be sleeping at least for a while. Ray had tried to give up his bedroom, but Sofi wouldn't hear of it.
"I'm not here to disrupt your lives. I don't want to put anybody out of their rooms. This is your place."
"But you're not putting me out. I want to do it."
"Well, I won't hear of it. That's the final word on the subject, okay?!"
"Fine, Sofi, but we'll pick this up later when you've been sleeping on the couch for a while." Ray's voice had a hint of laughter in it.
Mikey was setting up a new bookshelf near the tv stand.
"What are you going to put in here?" Mikey asked Sofi.
"I have no idea. I guess for right now I could set up the few outfits I have, and then later, when I get my stuff, if I ever get my stuff, I can set it all up." Sofi's voice was sad, thinking of all she left behind. Her scrapbooks, her letters, her journals, everything she had to her name, except for a few items of clothing and some electronics was gone, possibly forever. "Do you think I should have left? Did I overreact?"
Mikey whipped around, looking at Sofi as if she were crazy. "NO! Of course you didn't overreact. He almost beat you to death. If you hadn't regained consciousness when you had, you might have bled out. You had to leave, because who knows what he would have done next. He has already hurt you so much, I can't stand seeing you hurt anymore." His eyes filling with tears, Mikey grabbed Sofi into a hug. "We, I, love you. This is where you belong. Nobody will hurt you here."
"Thank you." Sofi was happy to just stand there, letting herself be held and loved. It was so nice to know that the person hugging her didn't have ulterior motives.
Just than, Gee came into the living room, followed by Frank and Bob.
"Hey, Sofi, you moving in on Mikey, cause if you are, I gotta tell you, it will cost you." Frank’s voice was filled with laughter.
Sofi turned out of Mikey's arms, trying to hold back her own laughter. "Don't worry Frank, I have someone else in mind." her eyes locked with Gee's and her smile was gentle.
Bob stood up, clearing his throat. "Guys why don't we let these guys have some time alone. I think we owe them that much." Everybody but Sofi and Gee stood up and left the room.

"Sofi, we need to talk about you sleeping on the couch." Gee's face was hopeful.