BELLA had to blink several times to clear her vision. Almost immediately, a blinding and overwhelming pain started from the edges of her temples, slowly grating through the front of her skull. She whimpered in pain and tried to stand to her feet, but she could only stay limp on the cold tiles beneath her.

A low buzz invaded her ears, and when she looked up, she saw Elliot across from her, still wrapped in his towel. His head was between his knees, his arms curling around them, and his small torso was racking with sobs inaudible to Bella.

"Elliot," Bella whispered, but her voice was so quiet that he didn't seem to hear her.

Gradually, her hearing came back to her, and the groans and screams all coming from beside her were prominent. Her head swung to her side and the first thing she saw was the man in the dark sweatshirt, and she knew instantly that it was Mommy's boyfriend. His face was shadowed by the hood over his head, his shoulders were broad and his body was stocky, she could tell by the way his dark pants barely fit him. She could see only his mouth - his lips were pulled back in anger as he mumbled something through his crooked teeth.

Mommy's boyfriend was holding Cole up, his arms curled beneath Cole's arms.

Cole's face was dripping with blood. There were gashes on his forehead, bruises on his tired eyes, fresh, reddened marks littering his torso just beside the infected wounds. Mommy had her back turned to Bella, but she could see Mommy's fist winding back and slamming into Cole.

She could hear at that point, and her heart broke at the sound of Elliot's cries throughout the chaos. She scrambled up and ignored the intense pain she felt, pulling her towel up around her body more as she gestured for Elliot to move over to her.

Elliot looked up at her - his face was bright red, and tears were streaming from his terrified eyes, slipping down his sweaty cheeks. His bottom lip was pushed out in a pout, and it quivered as he continued to sob and move over to Bella. He cuddled against her in fear, his cries muffled into her towel.

She watched in pure horror as Mommy continued to punch and kick Cole, to the point where he was hunched over and pleading for her to stop under his breath.

"You're going to kill him!" Bella cried out, her head aching with the forced volume of her words.

Mommy stopped her movements, and Cole lifted his head to look at Bella. He almost fell to the ground, but Mommy's boyfriend bent his knees to pull Cole up again.

Mommy slowly turned to Bella, and Bella noticed a gash on the side of Mommy's forehead that covered almost the entire area of it. She also had a dark bruise on her left eye that swelled her purple eyelid so much, her eye was practically forced closed. Small drops of blood dripped down her forehead as her nicotine-eroded teeth gritted together.

"Look at what your idiotic fucking brother did to me!" Mommy's voice was a high-pitched screech, invading the small space of the bathroom as she pointed to the gash.

Bella's mouth opened a little in shock as she looked towards Cole, whose eyes were closed in pain. A long string of blood slipped from his lip, and he spit on the ground, his saliva holding a dark pigment of crimson.

Elliot couldn't stop crying, and Mommy shook her head, her fists curling in anger.

"Shut that kid the fuck up before I have to!" Mommy screamed again, her face turning cherry red in the dim lighting of the bathroom.

Bella's heart dropped and she tightened her grip around Elliot.

"Shhh," she cooed to Elliot, and Elliot sniffled and shook his head against Bella's arm.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Mommy shouted at Cole, her knuckles turning white from how hard she was closing her fists.

Cole's entire torso heaved, desperate for air. "Ti odio cagna delirante," he mumbled, his voice breathy.

Bella flinched when Mommy slammed her fist into his stomach again.

"I didn't raise a Wop! Learn some respect, I hate your father for ruining you children!" Mommy cried out, her fingers touching the gash on her forehead as tears streamed down her wrinkled cheeks. She shook her head and pressed her back against the wall, her body shaking as her thin and bony fingers moved towards her eyes.

Cole's black hair was matted with sweat and blood, thick strands falling onto his bloodied forehead. His light irises contrasted intensely with the straining, bloodshot scleras surrounding them, and his face and torso were so bruised and bloodied, Bella was shocked he was still conscious.

"Wait for me upstairs, okay, honey?" Mommy asked her boyfriend, and her boyfriend almost instantly complied. He released Cole, and Cole fell to the ground by his feet, groaning and closing his eyes as he spit more blood out onto the ground again.

Mommy's boyfriend instantly turned away and walked out the stuffy bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

Mommy stepped closer to Cole's limp body, staring down at him. She pressed her high heel against his lower stomach and he flinched a little bit, but he couldn't move to do anything to defend himself.

"You never hit your mother. You hear me? And you better start speaking English to me, or else these beatings will become regular. Got it?" Mommy growled as she took her heel off of him. "I don't want to do this to you baby, but you leave me no choice."

Mommy stepped away from Cole and closer to Bella, who slowly tightened her arm against Elliot who whined in fear. Bella stared up at Mommy, her expression distasteful towards the psychotic woman as Mommy knelt down to her level.

"You will never touch your older brother again. I know that you can't control yourself, but that is your brother," Mommy said, her voice stern. "And that is repulsive of you."

"He's sick," Bella said quietly, staring up at Mommy.

"Excuse me?" Mommy recoiled, her drawn-on eyebrows furrowing in disgust. "What did you just say?"

Bella swallowed hard and licked her cracked lips. "I said that my older brother is sick. He needs to go to a hospital or s-something, his cuts are dangerously infected. I was just... trying to clean them as best as I could."

Bella couldn't help but falter against Mommy's dominant gaze. Mommy's lips lifted into a grin, and Bella could smell the cigarette smoke on her breath and feel the heat of it beating against her skin. Then, Mommy began cackling under her breath, as she reached up to wipe a stray tear off of her cheek.

Mommy ignored Bella and instead, her skeletal, bruised hand reached out towards Elliot, who immediately flinched away from her. She slid her hand through Elliot's hair, and his lip quivered as he stared up at her. Bella felt him shaking rapidly against her, and she felt his grip around her arm tighten as Mommy's tiny eyes watched him intently.

"Don't be scared of me. I am only mean when your older siblings give me a hard time. I know that you are a good little child. Please do not look up to them," Mommy said, leaning over and pressing a lingering kiss to the top of Elliot's head.

Elliot sniffled, still trembling as Mommy stood up and wiped her blood-stained fingers off on her dress.

"I will retrieve clothing for you two," Mommy said calmly, her hand covering the gaping injury on her forehead.

She turned on her heel and stepped over Cole's body which was laying in front of the door. Then, she walked out and slammed the door shut as hard as she could, shaking the soap on the sink and edge of the tub.

Bella looked down at Elliot, who was still quietly sniveling.

"She didn't touch you, right?" Bella asked him, and he shook his head in response, his small fists rubbing his eyes.

Bella waited a few seconds to walk over to Cole and kneel beside him. She held her towel up around her chest with one hand and slowly pressed the back of her palm to his forehead, which was even hotter than before. When she took her hand off, his blood was smeared on her knuckles.

Cole's eyes slowly opened, and Bella stared down at him in concern.

"I don't feel good," he suddenly croaked, his voice raspy and his breaths slow. Blood was still dripping down his chin from a slice in his lip.

Bella's heart was pounding quickly in her chest. "You're okay, I promise. You'll be okay."

He closed his eyes tight in pain and let out a heavy exhale through his teeth, and a tear slid down Bella's cheek. She had never felt so hopeless.

_

of course any discriminative remarks used in this chapter do not reflect my views and opinions i hope you guys know that by now ❤

thank you for reading!