Beautifully Broken (2 page)

The girls were allowed to go to high school. But they were
not allowed to have boyfriends or bring friends back to
their father’s house. Veronica loved high school. It was the
closest thing to freedom that she got to experience. She
tried to take care of her sisters the best that she could.
Veronica always protected them when their dad was mad.
She took the beatings for the other girls. Veronica felt
responsible for her sisters as she was the oldest and
Harold was her real father. Veronica always felt guilty. If
she could have been enough for her father, he wouldn’t
have needed to hurt her sisters, but she wasn’t enough.

Veronica was seventeen years old now. She drove a
bright blue Porsche. Everyone in the small town of Envy
knew the five Burns girls. Daddy had to work hard to make
them all happy so they wouldn’t tell their family secrets.
Veronica was so hopelessly devoted to making her father
happy and she was so terrified of him she would never
have told a soul.

“Ding, Ding, Ding!” The old grandfather clock in the living
room chimed 7 times. Veronica caught her breath and
broke free from her memories. But the nightmare wasn’t
over and she didn’t know how to wake up.

Veronica stood up and looked at the clock her sisters
would be home soon. What was she going to do? Up until
that point everything had just happened. Veronica only
had two options, one she could phone the police and tell
them the truth, or two, act like a criminal and run.

Veronica looked around the house. It was beautiful.
Everything in that house was perfect; every item had its
place. Nothing was out of order. The house was a
combination of new and old. Veronica looked at all the
family pictures of her and her sisters on the walls and
fireplace mantel. It was the facade of a happy family from
the outside looking in. The house would appear to be a
great place to live. Her father had worked hard to make a
name for himself. He was a very wealthy man and many
people admired him. Even though Veronica hated him so
much for everything he had done to her and her sisters, a
part of her still wanted to please her father. She couldn’t
let the outside world know of their family secrets.
Veronica would protect herself and her sisters from the
shame and in some ways she was still protecting her
father. Running was her only option. It would be better to
run and be all alone out there somewhere in the world,
than to stay and tell the horrible truth. Veronica didn’t
want people to know what she and her sisters had been
through. She didn’t want to be pitied by others. She didn’t
want to see shameful eyes watch her.

Veronica didn’t care about going to jail. She knew the
cops would catch her someday, but she didn’t want to tell
the truth just yet, she just wasn’t ready to let everything
out.

Veronica wiped her tears away and she walked into the
bathroom and washed the blood off her hands. She looked
at herself in the mirror and she saw her face was all
bruised up and her neck and shoulder were scratched and
bleeding. She cleaned herself up quickly and went to her
room. Veronica changed her bloody clothes and packed
her bags. She went into the girl’s bathroom and took
everything she could find; makeup, hair dye, straightener,
blow-dryer, tampons. Veronica went into her father’s
office and broke open his safe looking for something she
didn’t find. Evidence, proof of anything, but there was
nothing but money in the safe. Veronica took all the
money that her father had in the safe. She grabbed her
bags and took them to her car.

Veronica took her ripped, bloody clothes and threw them
in the fireplace. She watched her clothes wither away in
the blue and yellow flames and then they were gone. She
was frozen looking into the flames, she had overwhelming
feelings of guilt. Veronica was abandoning her sisters’ at
the most difficult time in their lives. How could she do this
to them? Just leave them? Alone. Like her mother had done
to her. The fire cracked and Veronica gasped for air, it
was like she was being suffocated by her troubled
thoughts. She looked at the clock and realized that she
had to get out of there soon. Veronica found a bag and
took a bunch of things from around the house. She wanted
to make it look like her father had mean murdered during
a robbery. Veronica knew it wouldn’t be long before the
police would be after her but she just wanted to buy them
all some time. She trashed the house and broke some
china, giving the police more things to go through and
more time for her to get away.

Veronica went upstairs to her father’s bedroom and
cleaned up quickly, hiding all of his secrets. She pulled
the rug over the choke chamber in the floor. Looking down
she got lost in her first memories of being locked in the
chamber.

In Veronica’s father’s bedroom was a box built into the
floor like a secret chamber. Veronica didn’t know why or
how it was there. But one day she came home from school
and her father was mad at her, he had seen a boy talking
to her.

“You never talk to boys. You think he is nice? You think he
would want you? Why? You are disgusting! Look at
yourself. You are an ugly pig. You were once my most
beautiful daughter but now look at you. No one would
want you now!” he screamed at her and tied up her hands
and feet, chained her up and whipped her repeatedly until
she blacked out.

When Veronica woke up her father was carrying her to his
bedroom. That’s the first time he put her in the chamber. It
was a wooden box that had a little netted face hole so she
could breathe. She was terrified. She cried and screamed
for what felt like days for her father to let her out. It was
dark and tight, Veronica cried and was left all alone with
her mind to think and fear what he would do to her next.
Eventually the fear and lack of oxygen took over and she
blacked out and fell in to a deep sleep. When Veronica
woke up she was in her bed with her pajamas on and her
sister Natasha was sitting with her. Veronica hugged her
sister so tight she didn’t want to let her go, she didn’t want
to be alone.

Chapter 2

Veronica broke free from her memory and finished
cleaning up her father’s bedroom. She was shaking and
overwhelmed with guilt and fear. She went into her father’s
closet and locked the secret door to the torture room,
covering it with his clothes, so no one would know the
door was there. Veronica felt like she was going to be sick
thinking back to what happened in the torture room. She
took a deep breath and regained control. Veronica didn’t
want to think about it anymore. She was free from him and
the torture.

Veronica walked through the house looking around at
things. She hoped the police wouldn’t find out who her
father really was. She wasn’t able to handle the truth
herself, how could anyone else understand?

Veronica found a piece of paper and a pen and she wrote
a letter addressed to her father and dated for two days
earlier.
Dear Daddy

May 10

I am sorry to just leave like this but I need to
experience something new. I can’t stay here
anymore. I want to be an actress so I am
going to New York City, please don’t come
after me. Let me go. I couldn’t tell you or my
sisters face to face because I knew you
wouldn’t understand and you would try to
stop me. I have to do this for myself dad.
Please try and understand, I am 22 years
old, I need to find myself.

Veronica Burns

 

To my sisters

I am so sorry for abandoning all of you like
this. Things have become more than I could
handle, I tried so hard to be better. I never
in my life imaged leaving all of you but I
can’t stay. Please forgive me for my selfish
ways. I can’t change the past but I can try
and change the future. I will always love
each and every one of you.

Love Veronica Burns

 

Veronica left the note in her father’s office for her sisters
to find and for the police.

Veronica looked in her bedroom one last time and tears
fell down her face. Her bedroom was large and had three
big window’s that let lots of light inside. The walls were a
soft purple color and the trim was all old fashioned dark
wood. Her furniture was all white including her canopy
bed and she had a pretty purple bedspread. The room was
lovely; perfect even, but if the walls could talk, no one
could sleep in that bed room because all they would have
is nightmares. Just as Veronica was leaving her room she
saw her sketch book and she gasped. That was the biggest
piece of evidence and she almost left it behind. As she
shut the door to her bedroom Veronica felt like she was
closing the door to her past. After this day she would no
longer be that broken little girl anymore. Veronica ran
down the stairs, she grabbed her purse and took her
father’s wallet he had sitting on the table by the front door.
Veronica took a deep breath and walked back into the
living room. She looked at her father lying on the floor
and she bent down to close his eyes. She shook as her
skin touched his it sent shivers up her spin and she got
goose bumps all over her body.

“Good bye dad, I wish life went differently for us,”
Veronica whispered as tears fell down her cheek. She
quickly wiped them away as she stood up for one last look
at him.

She walked to the front door and it started to open.
Veronica was startled, she wanted to run but she couldn’t.
She was frozen by the fear of having to face her sisters.

The girls walked into the house and Veronica stiffened up,
her face expressionless. Veronica started crying
hysterically. All her sisters stood there looking at her,
then they saw the bruises on her face and scratches on
her neck.

“What did he do to you now,” Natasha screamed throwing
her arms around her sister. “I want to kill him.”

Veronica held her sister tight. “You can’t kill him,”
Veronica cried. “I already did.” The words flew out of her
mouth and at that moment it all became real. Her body
started to shake, she started sweating and her knees gave
out on her and she fell to the floor. She was crying looking
up at her sisters.
“I didn’t mean to kill him, it all happened so fast. I couldn’t
take it anymore he was going to kill me this time. And
before I knew what I was doing he was dead.” Her voice
was lifeless and dry, she spoke with no emotion, but tears
fell from her eyes.

Amanda picked Veronica up off the floor and hugged her.
Then all her sisters hugged her and they all cried together.
They cried with relief, they let out all of the pain and fear
they had and they cried with sadness. Even though they
hated their father so much for all the things he had done,
they loved him in some sick twisted way that only the five
of them could understand.

“So what were you doing?” Lila asked with a heartbroken
look on her face.

“I am leaving, taking off, running. I don’t want people to
know the truth about what happens in this house. I know
what I did, I am a killer now and I have to live with that. I
am ok with going to jail but I don’t want you all to have to
pay for my sins. I messed up the house to make it look like
dad died in a robbery,” Veronica cried looking at her
sisters “I am so sorry to do this to all of you.”

“I understand,” said Natasha very calmly. “What can we
do to help you?”

“You could tell the police I left town a couple of days ago.
That might throw them off me for a while,” Veronica said
wiping her tears. “I left dad a letter saying I am headed to
New York, I am hoping to get as far as I can. I know I will
get caught one day, but hopefully you four won’t have to
deal with the backlash by then.”

“Can we do anything else?” Amanda asked with a worried
looked on her sweet face.

 

“I don’t know, I am so lost, I don’t know what else to do,”
Veronica responded.

“I have an idea,” Amanda said “I’ll take dad’s car, put a
bunch of stuff in it and run it off Envy bridge, making it
look like whoever broke in crashed.”

“Yeah that’s a good idea,” Natasha said looking at
Amanda.

They were all standing there in the door way talking;
Veronica looked at Claudia’s face. Claudia was horrified
by what Veronica had done. Veronica felt the pain and
resentment Claudia felt at that moment.

“I am so sorry for what I have done. I hope you all can
forgive me one day,” Veronica cried “I can stay and turn
myself in but that means everyone knowing what we have
all been through.”

“No way!” Natasha said. “We don’t want people to know
what happened here. Tonight was self-defence. Veronica
you are not a killer and you do not deserve to go to jail.”

“You run and try to start a new life for yourself. You have
taken care of all of us for so long. It’s time you take care
of yourself for a while. We will figure things out here, we
still have each other,” Amanda said in a comforting voice.

Veronica looked at Lila and Claudia who were not saying
anything. She watched her sister’s faces; Veronica didn’t
want to let them down.

“Veronica, go, he can’t hurt us anymore we will be ok
here,” Lila said as tears fell down her face.

 

Veronica looked at Claudia, her face was red and her
eyes were filled with fear.

 

“Claudia, what do you want me to do? I will stay if you
want me to,” Veronica said.

 

“No, leave.” Claudia said, her voice was loud and she
sounded angry.

 

“I love you all so much, I am so sorry,” Veronica said
crying, as she looked at each one of her sisters.

 

“Can we see him?” Claudia asked her voice cracked and
her body was shaking from the fear and grief.

 

“I think we should all go in together.” Natasha said,
looking at Veronica for approval.

 

Veronica held out her hands for her sister to hold.

“There is a lot of blood,” Veronica whispered.
They all walked into the family room where their father’s
lifeless body was on the floor in front of the fire place. The
fire cracked and they all screamed out loud and cried
looking down at their father’s lifeless body. All of the girls
were holding on to each other. They screamed and cried
together, each lost in their own thoughts.