KIM ANDERSON

Flash Back.

When Kim's mother first took in, her father was ecstatic. He bragged about how soon enough, he would be provided with a male heir. It was quite the sexist take, but Rebecca his wife, confused it with love. With every girl they birthed, he became more violent.

"You will not be getting anything tied up, until you give me an heir." He had threatened her one day .

"Then give me a male child to carry. You do not get to blame me for your sex organs not producing your desired child!" Rebecca who was tired of his constant nagging, flared.

The baby she was breastfeeding sensed the tension in the air, and began to cry. This only made Matthew more furious.

"Shut that thing up!" He balled his fist, and his jaw clenched.

"That thing is your child Matthew!"

He struck her across the face. The impact of the slap, caused her hands to slip, and her baby fell to the ground. He pounced on her immediately, ignoring the wailing baby.

The other three of his little girls who were hiding behind the curtain all this time, ran out to help their mum, and baby sister. They were six, five and four respectively.

Kelly, the eldest, quickly rushed to pick up her sister from the floor. The confused little girl didn't know what to do when she saw the back of her baby sister's head swollen. While the other two of her sisters pleaded with their father to stop hitting their mum, she ran into the room to fetch a balm she had seen her mum use before.

"Have you seen the weaklings you gave me as children?" He screamed after every punch. "This is why boys are superior. They never have to beg, and cry like silly little twats!" He kicked one of the girls holding his legs, and she fell to the ground.

Rebecca who could barely move, struggled to protect her children, but it just made him hit her the more. He didn't stop hitting her, until she lost consciousness.

Satisfied with himself, he turned to stare bitterly at his children crying on the floor.

"Cursed souls!" He spat, and walked out of the house.

Kelly who had returned from the room with baby Nina, handed her over to one of her younger sisters, and rushed over to her mum.

"Is she dead?" Ashley shuddered, hugging baby Nina to herself even tighter.

Valerie who had been pushed by her father, began to cry.

"Don't say that Ash. Mum is not dead." She walked to Valerie, and folded her into her arms. "Don't cry Val, I'll go get help from Maryanne."

Kelly sprinted out of the house in search for Maryanne, the towns nurse. Their house was faraway from the town houses, so she had a long mile to run. She was tired, but her mum's life was on the line so she forged ahead. Just as she took a bend, she saw Maryanne coming from the other side, and began to call out to her. Maryanne spotting the child, they never did see in town, instantly went to her.

Maryanne's heart broke when she came into the room and saw the two little girls clustered around their unconscious mum, with the baby in their little arms. She quickly bent to check for a pulse, and was relieved when she found one. The ambulance had followed behind them, and in no time, Rebecca was transported to the hospital.

While in the hospital, Maryanne who had tried and failed to have kids of her own, took great delight in looking after her children. Despite their fathers disturbing personality, Rebecca had managed to raise such amazing girls.

When Rebecca was finally discharged, Maryanne begged her not to return home before Matthew finally killed her, but she refused. She knew if she did, Matthew would still find and kill her. Maryanne in defeat, called for her driver to go drop off the family.

The car finally came to a halt at their small house in the middle of a big field. She looked at the place she called home and sighed in frustration. This was not an ideal place to raise kids. The isolation was taking a toil on them, but what exactly could she do? She considered herself a failure in every aspect. However her greatest failure was raising her kids in such a toxic environment. There was not salvaging the situation. It was plain for all to see. She had failed as a mother and she didn't think she could ever forgive herself.

She should have known that Matthew had extremely terrible plans for her when he insisted they lived faraway from others, when they first settled in this neighbourhood. Matthew had not always been a monster. There was a time she actually dreamt of forever with him. Shortly after she was forced into marrying him, he convinced her that he had nothing to do with his father's decision. He insisted that he was also forced into marrying her. When she suggested they went their separate ways, when they were finally able to convince their fathers they were genuinely contented with each other, he discarded her ideas, and convinced her that they could make the marriage work. Slowly, she started to believe him. He would entice her with the sweetest gift daily. They even moved to this small town in hopes of beginning a new life together. They opened up a restaurant and started to plan for their children. But all of it was just a facade. His wickedness began to show when she birthed only girls. Then his true colors began to show.

"How much more do I need to forgive him?"

She had forgiven him after he forced himself on her, and that's how Valerie was born. Forgiven him when he had deceived her again with his smooth tongue, and they had conceived Nina.

"How much more?" Her mind cried, as she ushered her children out of the vehicle.

She heard Ashley scream from the room where she had sent her to fetch Nina's plush toy. She quickly ran to the room and saw Mathew in bed with a woman. His kid had caught him in bed with a woman, but he did not care. He did not stop. She dragged her child away from the scene, gathered their things and went back to Maryanne's

Two weeks later, Mathew arrived with his father to Maryanne's house, were Rebecca was mourning the sudden death of her parents from a car accident. Mathew had demanded to see her and his kids. After much tussle with Maryanne, he managed to push her to the ground. Her husband was not around to help. Rebecca not wanting the matter to escalate, quickly came out glad her kids were in school. Mathew claimed he was here to take his kids.

"Where are my children Rebecca? They are coming to stay with me." She had lost it and attacked him with all her strength. His father managed to pull her away from his son, and they tag teamed to beat her up. The noise woke Nina up, and she began to cry. Just then, her kids arrived from school. Mathew quickly seized them, and pushed them into his father's car.

"Where is your strength? You can't get up and fight anymore? I thought you were so strong?" He mocked her. "Say goodbye to those three, cus you'll never see them again. There's a new lucrative business in town, and your kids are going to make me a shit ton of money. I'm going to sell them, but don't cry my darling Becca, I leave you with our last. You can have her. I've finally decided to let you go. Isn't that what you always wanted?" He laughed.

"Don't." She begged, despite her pain. She could hear her kids crying and kicking in the car. She could hear them calling for their mummy from a distance. She wished she had the strength to get up and save them. She begged for God to send them help. She prayed that Maryanne's husband came in, but all of her requests fell on deaf ears. Mathew had finally won.

He spat on her face and laughed at her. He placed his foot on her neck and pressed hard until she was coughing out blood. Then he turned to Maryanne and told her to run if she knew what was good for her. He threatened to kill her, and her husband if he ever set his eyes on them.

"Kids, tell your mummy goodbye. Your daddy is going to bring you to your new homes now." His

They screamed, and pleaded for him to take them back to their mum, but he only laughed and threatened to spank them thoroughly if they made any more noise. Kelly quickly hushed her siblings, not wanting to see them get hurt. She held them to her body and reassured them that they were going to be okay. She held back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she heard Nina cry loudly, without anyone there to pet her back to sleep. She hugged her siblings tightly, and said a little prayer.

"Lord, I pray we all see each other again"

After that incident, Maryanne and her husband fled from the town. Everyone knew Mathew was capable of any, and everything bad. It was dangerous to take his threat for granted. Before they left, they made sure Rebecca was all healed up, and mentally stable enough to take care of her little girl. They also took her to a new town far away from the previous, and did everything to make sure Mathew never had access to her again. They all decided to change their names, and that was how Nina became Kim. Rebecca reverted to her maiden name, Stella Anderson. They all began to live a new life.

Thirteen years later, on Kim's Fourteenth birthday, Mathew resurfaced. He found them in their house where the two were celebrating with the little cake Stella had managed to buy. He barged into the house, and Stella stood still when she saw him. She never thought she was going to see him again.

"Baby, get into your room now." Stella pushed her daughter into the room.

"My lovely Rebecca. Did you think you could ever run from me?"

"I'm not Rebecca anymore!" Her voice trembled.

"Of course, you're not. I was a fool looking for you all these years with that name, Stella." He smiled.

She looked into his eyes, and shuddered . He still had the eyes of a murderous mad man, and he had definitely come to finish her off. Her only desire, was to save her daughter.

"What more do you want?" She fell to the ground, tired of fighting..

He crouched so he was levelheaded with her. He brushed the strands of hair that had fallen on her face, and raised her chin so she was staring directly at him.

"To see you dead of course." He whispered, stroking her cheeks.

She turned pale, and he grinned. It was so easy to hurt women, and he loved it. Killing his mother as kid, had sparked his flare for hurting this weak sex. His father had taught him the uselessness of women from a young age. He had told him that women were like toys created for his pleasure. He could do with them as he pleased. He had been willing to make an exception for Stella, because she was beautiful, and so submissive. Until the girl child began to come. She even had the audacity to tell him to the face, that his body was the problem. He couldn't produce male children? What a load of BS!

"You know, things could have been different. You chose to become a rebel. How could you give me only female children Rebecca? Just how?" He screamed and struck her face. Rebecca didn't flinch. Even when the blood dripped down her face she didn't move. She had resigned herself to fate. She only prayed her daughter had fled from the back door. She would die today in the hands of this monster, and she was satisfied that she had been able to train her daughter to this extent.

Mathew stared at her willing her to show pain. She just looked at him, her eyes empty. He could not tell what she was feeling. He wanted her to shudder and scream in pain. That was what he loved the most. He was a predator anyway. He loved his prey begging for mercy. He didn't want no docile prey. So he grabbed a fistful of her hair, and pulled. He pulled her up from the ground by her hair and flung her to the opposite direction of the room. Yet, Stella did not make a sound. That infuriated him the more, and he got more creative.

"You're trying to prove how strong you are right? You think you are anything? You are nothing my dear! You are a hopeless loser who couldn't even save the kids she claimed to love so much. Don't you want to know what I did with them? Don't you want to know where I sent those useless things to? "Mathew taunted her.

He saw pain flash through her eyes, and he laughed. He had finally gotten her.

"I don't want to know." she lied, but he knew was lying.

"Well I want you to know. I sold them to an underground sex house. They promised to groom them to be perfect sex toys for men." Mathew spat in her face.

Something in Stella snapped. She had taken too much for so long, and she was finally done. She rolled unto her sides and pushed herself up.

"What did you say?" she stood toe to toe with Mathew this time. He was taken aback by the sudden shift from her. The tension in the room was physics defying. He hated the sudden shift in power dynamics. He had to regain control of the situation, fast.

"I said, as we speak, your daughters are probably performing sexual favours for men."

Stella lost control and attacked him in a fit of rage. She kicked, punched and pushed. She didn't care about the consequences of her actions. She just wanted to hurt him like he had hurt her. She dodged the blow he threw and proceeded to the kitchen. He ran after her trying to force her back. She kicked against him as he grabbed her, but he held her in a death grip hug. She finally managed to squeeze enough space to kick him in the balls. His hold on her loosened and he dropped to his knees. She quickly dragged a knife and turned around, daring him to come closer to her.

"Drop the knife Becky." Mathew crawled towards her.

"Move another inch and I swear to God, I will kill you Mathew."

"We both know you don't have the guts to do that." He laughed maniacally, and charged towards her.

She was caught off guard for a moment, but quickly regained composure enough to plunge the knife in his heart, just as he was an inch within her.

Kim who had been eavesdropping all along screamed, and the knife fell from Stella's hands. Mathew fell with a loud thud.

She rushed to him, "Don't die on me you bastard!" She hit his chest.

Kim seeing her mother in pain, ran to her.

"Should I call 911 mum?"

"No baby, we can't don that." Stella replied, her eyes blinded with tears. Kim hugged her mum as they stood over her fathers dead body.

That night, with the help of a neighbour who happened to be a cop, they managed to clean up the body. Two days later, they booked a flight to New York City. Stella had fallen into chronic depression, leaving Kim to fend for herself at age fourteen.