Abused

As soon as he walked into the room he sensed something was bothering his twin, “What’s wrong Britney?” He asked. But there was no reply, well not one that could be heard anyway. She did answer him though. “I had the dream again,” she told him. “You know which one it is.” Of course he knew which dream she referred to, it was the one of their father and how he nearly killed them. But the thing is, is that it wasn’t just a dream but a memory of that horrible night that changed their lives forever.

It had happened about ten years ago, their father Alexander de Castellanos used to be a very important man, everyone had respected him and thought that he had every thing that life had to offer. Even though his wife had passed away just seven years earlier while giving birth to twins. Yet Alexander wasn’t at all what he seemed. In reality, Alexander was a cold, cruel-hearted man who abused his two young children.

One night Alexander came home drunk and started to beat them. The kids tried to get away but every time they did he would go after them and start hitting them even harder, while saying that they deserved to be punished. For an hour or two he kept on hitting them until it had gotten to the point that just hitting them didn’t satisfy him anymore and just started to choke Britney. While he was choking her, Alexis went at him and tried to push him off of Britney. But then Alexander shoved him against the wall were he hit his head and became unconscious. The two kids were fortunate because at that very moment one of the many servants that worked in their palatial home saw what Alexander was doing to them and hurried to the nearest telephone that she could find and called the police.

While the police were on their way, some of the other servants that worked there went to aid the two children by grabbing hold of Alexander and holding him back while struggled to free himself from their grasp. When the police finally arrived, Alexander was arrested and Britney and Alexis had to be hurried to the local hospital where they were admitted. It had been that very night that they were told that Britney would never be able to speak again.

Then three days later Alexander was sentence to seventy-five years in prison for child abuse and attempted murder. And a month later Alexis and Britney left their home in Madrid to go live with their grandfather, Jorge de Castillo, in Barcelona. Now they are both seventeen and in their last year of school. Over the years Britney and Alexis have become extremely close and their ability to communicate telepathically has become even stronger then when they were younger.

A week after Britney confessed to Alexis about the dream he went to her boyfriend Sam, who was studying psychology at the time, to talk to him about it.

“I honestly don’t understand why she’s having these dreams!” Alexis declared suddenly. “She hasn’t had them for years.”

“Do you think they might mean something?” Sam asked
“I don’t know. All I do know is that they won’t go away,” Alexis said. “She’s been having them all week.”

Then all of a sudden, Alexis’s grandfather Jorge came storming into the room. “What is it abuelo?” Alexis asked him

“My lawyer just called me, it seems that your father has broken out of prison,” He said.
“What do you mean he’s broken out?! Does Britney know yet?” Alexis asked Jorge.

“No not yet, I didn’t want to upset her?” But as Jorge was talking Britney suddenly appeared at the Door.

“Alexis? Please tell me it isn’t true what abuelo just said?!” Her question startled Alexis because he hadn’t sensed her presence.

“Britney! How long have you been listening?” Alexis asked her, but Britney wouldn’t answer him though instead she went to stand at the window and glance out towards the garden. Then after a while she turned to them and asked her grandfather through sign language whom had told him the news.

“It was our lawyer who told me.” Jorge said, “Do you remember who she is?”

“Yes, I think. Wasn’t her name Mercedes Lopez?” she asked him.

Then without waiting for an answer she turned towards Sam and told him to go walk with her outside. After they left Alexis and Jorge continued their discussion.

“How did he manage to breakout?” asked Alexis.
“They’re still not, but the police suspects that someone might have helped him” Jorge replied back.
“Do you think that he might try to come after us?” Alexis asked him.

“I’m not sure, but I will tell you this, if that man even tries to come near you two, I swear I’ll make sure he’s put back in his prison cell and never let out of it ever again!” Jorge shouted suddenly.

While all this is happening, outside Sam is trying to comfort Britney, who is crying. “Britney, please don’t cry”

“How can I not cry? Don’t you get it Sam! My dad has broken out of prison, he might try to do something to us.” Britney told him while at the same time continuing to cry.

“Britney, listen to me he’s not going to do anything to you or Alexis. Your grandfather wouldn’t allow it.” Sam reassured her. But what neither of them had realized was that Alexander was watching them at that very moment.

Alexander had broken out of prison to finish what he had started ten years ago. But when he saw Britney, he thought that he was looking at her mother because she looked exactly like her.
“Maria?” he whispered.

Alexander couldn’t believe it. For years they had been telling him that his wife was dead but he would never acknowledge it and now he had the proof that she wasn’t. But what he didn’t realize was that was that the person that he was looking at was his daughter and not his wife. While he watching Britney, he sees her talking to Sam and then kissing him.

At the sight of seeing them kissing, Alexander become s furious but soon calms himself with the thought of being reunited with his wife again after nearly seventeen years.

Three days later Alexander shows up again at Jorge’s home again. When he got there that night he waited for awhile to make sure that everyone was asleep. Then he scrambled up the walls that surrounded the house and breaks into the house through a back door. Once inside he went to the bedroom that his wife had once occupied and instead found Britney lying asleep in the bed. Minutes ticked by and Alexander just stood there watching her. Then he bent over her sleeping form and place a feather light kiss on her forehead.

“I knew I’d find you one day,” he whispered “and know I have. Soon we’ll be together again.” With that he lifted her gently into his arms and carried out of the house into a waiting car.

The next morning Britney woke up startled to find herself in a bedroom that wasn’t her own, Where am I?” she wondered. Then all of sudden she saw him.

“You’re awake.” He stated “Tell me Maria do you remember this place?” then without waiting for a reply he turned around and picked up a tray and went to place it over her lap. “You probably don’t, it’s the villa I had built for you when we got married. Here you go I’ve brought you some breakfast to eat.” But when she hesitated he said “Go ahead try some”

But Britney still wouldn’t try it. Alexander meanwhile was starting to worry because his dear Maria wouldn’t talk to him, but instead just sat there doing nothing but stare at him with a scared look in her eyes. “Maria, darling, why won’t you say anything?” Alexander asked.

When Britney still didn’t say anything, Alexander started losing his patience with her. “Maria, talk to me right this instance!” he bellowed, shaking her so violently that her teeth shook. But she still would speak, Alexander didn’t understand it “Maybe she’s forgotten me” he thought to himself.

Britney meanwhile was terrified of him the whole time. “Why won’t he leave me alone?” She thought. “And why does he keep calling me Maria?” Britney didn’t seem to realize that her father was confusing her for her mother, Maria. So the whole time she was puzzled when he called her Maria. She also didn’t understand how she ended up in the room “How’d I get here?” she thought.

As time went by Alexander seemed to get furious and suddenly smacked Britney hard across her face leaving a livid mark. But when he saw the tears start to well up in her eyes, he quickly knelt down on the floor beside and held her.

“I’m so sorry Maria, I don’t know what came over me. I guess it’s just that I started to get frustrated at you for not speaking to me that I lashed out at you. I promise it won’t ever happen again, as long as you just say something.” He said. “Please, I beg you just say something. I can’t bear this silence anymore!” he pleaded.
With that Alexander stood up again and turned to leave but before he left he tried to kiss Britney’s cheek but she pulled pull away from him, so instead he just told her that he would return later.

Back at her home everyone was in a frenzy trying to find her. They looked for everywhere inside and outside the house.

“How could she have just disappeared?” Jorge questioned. But Alexis remained silent at his side. All he could seem to think about was his father and whether or not he was involved in Britney’s disappearance. Then suddenly he heard a voice calling him,

“Alexis?” it was Britney. She was calling him, but he didn’t know from where the voice was coming from> “Alexis? Help me!” again the voice called to him.

“Britney?” He whispered out loud.

“It’s okay Alexis, we’ll find her soon” Jorge reassured him.

Then Alexis had a vision of Britney trying to escape from a room, but he didn’t know what it meant. Afterwards when they didn’t find her they knew that it was time for them to call the police for help.

When the police arrived the investigated the entire house for any clues that could’ve hinted towards a possible kidnapping. While examining the house, two police officers interviewed everyone that either worked or lived in the house about Britney and of her disappearance. When they interviewed Alexis he couldn’t seem to be able to concentrate on what they were asking him because he kept hearing Britney’s voice calling to him.

During their interview with Alexis, one of the police officers found scratches on a door in the back of the house that looked like someone had tried to break in. Then a few minutes later another officer found fingerprints in Britney’s room that didn’t belong to anyone that either worked or lived there.

When Jorge and Alexis found out, they both knew instantly who had taken Britney.

“I knew it!” Jorge exclaimed. “I knew he had to be behind this the whole time”

“But why would he take her? I would’ve expected him to try and hurt us, but never kidnap one of us, it doesn’t make sense.” Alexis said.

“You’re right, it doesn’t.” Jorge answered back. “But the question remains, where did he take her?”

Later that day Alexander came to see Britney again. As he came into the room with a tray he asked her, “How are you doing?” but she didn’t answer him back. So he asked her “Maria what happened we used to talk all the time and now it’s like you’re a different person.” As he was talking he tried to brush back Britney’s long, lustrous, red hair away from her face. But at his touch she flinched back. “You’re scared.” He stated. “But why Maria, you don’t have to be scared of me. You know I’d never try to hurt you, is it because I hit you earlier?” He asked. “You got to understand, what happened this morning was an accident, I never meant to hit you, I guess I just lost control but I promise it’ll never happen again.” He told her, but instead Britney just moved away from him and went to sit in a corner of the room and just stared at him with a sad, frightened look in her eyes.

Alexander couldn’t bear to see that look in her eyes so he walked towards and knelt down and tried to hug her. But when he tried to wrap his arms around her she started pushing at his chest, struggling to get away from him and accidentally scratched him on the side of his face. Alexander quickly outraged and tried to smack her and at the same time started saying “You little…” but he never got to finish because suddenly Britney kicked him. While he was doubled over in pain, Britney ran to the open door and tried to hurry and locked him in. But she wasn’t quick enough because Alexander manages to reach Britney and seized her around the waist. Then dragged her back into the room, there he thrust her to the ground and started to hit her with his belt.

While this is all happening, Alexis has another vision and sees both Britney struggling to get away from a man and being beaten with a belt. “What are these visions I’m having?” Alexis thought to himself. The visions wouldn’t leave him alone, every time he tried to forget about them they would just come back to him in a dizzying rush.

Alexis eventually told his grandfather, Jorge, about these visions because they were starting to drive him insane.
“You’ve been having visions?” Jorge asked him.

“Yes, they started off as just voices but now I’m seeing Britney in these weird visions.” Alexis said.

“Have you ever had them before?” Jorge asked him.

“Yes. But not often, this is the first time I’ve ever had them occur repeatedly.” Alexis told him.

“Tell me, what did you see in them?” Jorge asked.

“One was of Britney trying to get out of a room and another was of her struggling with a man and then being beaten.” He told him.

“But tell me do you remember any of the surroundings?” Jorge asked him now.

“Not really, all I can remember is seeing the room. It looked like it could’ve belong to a villa.” Alexis told him.

“Are you sure?” Jorge asked

“Yeah I’m sure.” Alexis answered him back. With that they called their lawyer, Mercedes Lopez so that she could find out if any of Alexander’s properties included a villa.

As Alexis and Jorge were trying to find out where Britney is, she is still in the room with Alexander. “I’m so sorry sweetheart, I mean to hit you. Don’t you understand Maria? I love you and I don’t want to hurt you but still you try and anger me so that I would have to punish you.” Alexander told her. “It’s just you made me so angry when you kicked me, but I promise it’ll never happen again.”

But Britney didn’t hear anything that he said, she was in too much pain from the beating that Alexander gave her. While he was talking to her Alexander kept trying to comfort her by holding her and carefully rubbing her back so as not to hurt her where she was bruised.But his comforts did not sooth her but instead made her feel more pain. Each stroke made her hurt even more and all the comforting words made her hate him even more for his hypocrisy.

“How can he still hit me and yet tell me that he’d never do it again?” Britney thought to herself “and why won’t stop calling me Maria! Doesn’t he realize I’m not her.”

The next morning Alexis and Jorge met with their lawyer Mercedes Lopez.

“ Good morning Ms. Lopez” they both said to her.

“Good morning. I’ve found out the information that you wanted.” She told to them

“Well? Did you find out if whether or not he ever owned a villa?” Jorge asked her

“Yes as a matter of fact it seems that Mr. de Castellanos did own one before he was arrested but has since been a held by the government.” She told them as she was taking out some papers from her briefcase. Then she gave one of the sheets of paper to Jorge to look at a picture of the villa. “Apparently Mr. De Castellanos had the villa built for his wife eighteen years ago.” She told them

“But tell me where is the house? Jorge asked her.

“It‘s in Cordoba. But tell me now, why do you want to know all this?” she asked them.
Neither of them knew what to tell her so they just told her about the visions and how they thought that it might be related to Britney’s disappearance. When they finished telling her the story she suggested to them that they call the police and tell them everything that they had just told her.

Jorge and Alexis did what Ms. Lopez had told them to do. But police at first didn’t believe their story but once Alexis explained to them that both he and Britney were twins and that they shared ESP, the police then believed them. So the police decided to investigate the villa and find out if there was a chance of Britney actually being in the house by sending a police officer under-cover. When the officer that was undercover reported back three days later that Alexander was indeed there they decided that they must take some kind action to recover Britney as quickly as possible.

Mean while at the villa Alexander was still trying to get Britney to speak. “Come on Maria you can’t continue to act this way. Eventually you’ll have to speak” But Britney just ignored him, hoping that he would leave her alone soon. But at that very moment they both heard a door being broken down. Alexander then jumped up to his feet and hurried out of the room to find out what the noise.

On his way out Alexander forgot to lock the door and Britney took the chance to escape now that the door was opened. While looking for a way to get out of the house Britney found an old lamp to use just in case she came across Alexander . Then suddenly Britney heard the sound of a gunshot . With the sound of the gunshot she heard voice coming from the first floor. Carefully she crept down the moldy, old staircase and there she saw a her father shooting at the police but one of the officers shot at Alexander and hit him in the arm and another managed to get him in the chest.

Later that day at the hospital where Britney was being examined for any injuries that she might have gotten when Alexander beat her they told both Alexis and her that their father had died from the gunshot that he received in his stomach. A few days later a Britney and Alexis held a funeral for Alexander even though he had put them through so much trouble.

Walking back to the car, the twins started talking about their plans for the future.
"Britney, I've been thinking... maybe it'll be better if we moveed away. You lnow started our lives over somewhere else. What do you think?" Alexis said.

"Alexis I agree with you, and know that were talking about this, there is something that you should know." Britney told him "Sam proposed to me the other day when I was in the hospital."
"You're kidding me... you're going to marry Sam?!" Alexis exlaimed, surpried at the news.

"Yes, and were planning on living in France. Alexis, I want you to come live with us for a while until you decide what you're going to do." Britney said to him. "Will you do it Alexis?Will you come live with us.

"I don't know. Does Sam know that your inviting me to live with you guys?"

"Of course he does silly, hes the one that suggested the idea." Britney told him.

"Okay then I'll do it."

Two months later they did do that and while in France Alexis met a parisian girl at his university that he married a few years later.