Life becomes more difficult when you are living with an abusive father. Things are hard to deal with. Emma's father is an educated man who is a caring and kind to everyone, but her. It is quite uncanny for him to be treating her like a traitor.

After Emma's mother died fourteen years ago, her father resorted to drinking to drown out his sorrows. He had started treating the pub like a second home, and it only kept getting worse.

But then things slowly started to change. One night, her father came home with a bottle of beer in his hands. The confidence that he always had while her mom was there had blown away like the wind. Emma looked into her father's eyes and saw the pain his heart was going through.

"Daddy, I'm going to Jane's apartment for awhile, I'll be home before ten!'' Emma shouted as she grabbed her coat and began to walk to the front door.

"Okay, sweetie take care and have fun," her father yelled back at her from the next room.

Emma opened the front door of her place and began to stroll to Jane's apartment. It was around eight at night and the streets were deserted. Jane lived only a couple blocks away, but that didn't stop Emma from calling a taxi.

******-*******-******

"Em, I can't believe you came. I missed you so much. How's college going?" Jane asked sipping her tea with her usual smile on her face.

"College's fine. I got to make new friends at the campus. They're very welcoming." She said.

"How about you? I haven't heard anything from you for quite a while. How's everything between you and Michael? Are you guys finally a thing?" Emma questioned, taking a bite of her steak.

"Yeah, about that, uh... we broke up a few months ago." Jane explained shyly.

"Oh no, that's terrible... what happened?" She asked flabbergasted.

"He cheated on me with some whore from the bar. And he thinks she's better than me." Jane said as a tear rolled down her freckled cheek.

"Oh, Jane. I can't believe he treated you like you that. I mean, what kind of a person does that? Treating you like a traitor. I am so sorry. He is so stupid to leave you. I mean look at you, you're the most beautiful girl in the world. Those beautiful ocean blue eyes and that bright smile, anybody would be lucky to have you. I'm sure you'll find someone soon, someone who'll give you the love you deserve."

"Yeah, I hope so too." She replied.

"I heard that your brother is in the army now. How is he doing lately?" Jane asked, as she stood up from the table and walked to the kitchen.

"He's alright I suppose. I haven't seen him ever since I was fourteen. He's been incredibly busy with work and barely has time for me. Poor Ben. He's only doing this for our well-being, for our family. I feel sorry for the man. Hardworking, suffering his life for me and Stephanie. I wish I could see him again." She sighed.

"All I want is for him to come home and spend some quality time together. Just the two of us." She chuckled.

They continued talking and didn't realize as time flew by.

It was almost a quarter past one now, when suddenly her phone rang. Upon looking at the caller ID on the phone screen, she answered the call.

"Hello?" She mumbled softly.

Her father's stern voice answered the line. "Emma... where are you? I thought you promised me to come home before ten. Why aren't you home yet? We need to discuss this! Come back home this instant, do you hear me?" Her father said, the concern in his voice evaporating as his tone of voice got louder and louder.

"Y-Yes sir, I'll b-be right t-there,'' she said timidly and quickly ended the phone call.

"What is it Emma? Is everything okay? Is something wrong?" Jane asked, worriedly.

"No, I'm fine, it's just my father. He was expecting me to be home a few hours ago, I'm sorry Jane but I have to go. We should hang out like this again sometime soon," she said as she slid on her coat in a rush.

"Yeah sure, that would be great. I'll see you later Emma. Take care bye," she said as she walked her out.

She rushed down the steps of Jane's apartment and quickly called a cab. She stared out the window praying that her father won't get too mad at her. A few minutes later, she reached home and steadily walked into the apartment.

"Daddy, I'm home! Are you here?" she shouted nervously, walking into the eerily silent living room. The room going pitch black as she continued walking.

In the living room she saw her father on the arm chair with a bottle of beer gripped in his hand, with his eyes glued onto the TV.

Her father's eyes were glued to the television screen watching a rerun episode of Family Ties with red bloodshot eyes. His face was covered in a gruffy beard that was attached to his squared chin, his favourite white T-shirt was ripped into shreds and his pants were stained from the alcohol he was drinking. Her father saw her coming in and placed the beer bottle on the ground.

"Come here, Emma, I need a word with you," her father called, motioning his finger for her to come towards him.

Emma's heartbeat kept rising with every step she took towards the couch.

"Sit down," her father ordered.

Silently, Emma sat down on the couch across from her father, petrified.

"I thought you were going to be home three hours ago, tell me, what were you doing over at your friend's apartment?" his words were saturated with paranoia and anxiety.

"Did you do something bad behind my back, young lady?" He gritted through his teeth.

"No, we were just having dinner and talked about how we missed seeing each other. I haven't seen Jane for quite a long time." Emma explained truthfully.

"Why did you need to break your promise?" He yelled.

Emma kept quiet not knowing what to say.

"Answer me before I beat the heck out of you!" He roared.

"I'm so sorry dad, I lost track of time and didn't realize it was already so late, please forgive me," she begged. Her father threw the bottle of beer towards her, causing the thick liquid to splash over her frail body. Her eyes widened as she started to tremble in fear.

"I'm sorry, dad, I promise I won't repeat it again, please forgive me. I beg you."

"You're sorry, huh?'' he chuckled.

She looked at him and nodded.

Emma couldn't quite remember when it all started going down hill. When the line was crossed, and the man she once knew was no longer found. He would find flaws in everything she did. He would then give her a cold shoulder every time she would try to speak up. He pretended to not notice her or he would threaten her. It kept on continuing until the day she finally broke.

''You're sorry? You're sorry? Come with me, I am going to give you the punishment you deserve." her father said dragging her upstairs to the bathroom. He entered the bathroom and grabbed Emma by her head before dunking her into the bathtub filled with water. "You will listen to me next time, you little bitch," He smiled maliciously.

"I hate you! I hate you so much! You are such an asshole. You ruined this family. I would rather not have a father at all than have you. You're just a sorry excuse for one. Why can't you be like a normal father who cares for his children? I rather stay in North Carolina than stay here with you."

Just as Emma finished speaking she felt a sharp pain on her left cheek as her father slapped her. "Don't you dare talk back to your father that way." He roared crossly.

"You are not my father!" Emma spat.

He threw a pail of water at her frail body and started to move towards her.

Before her father could do anything, she ran downstairs to the living room and hid herself in the closet trying to contact the police. Her hands shivered as she picked the phone and dialed 911.

The person on the line picked up on the third ring, "New York Police Department, how may I help you?" The male officer on the line asked.

"Hello? Yes, I need help! There's a crazy man attacking me in my apartment. Please come here this instant!" She yelled in the phone frightened.

"Could you give me your address miss?" The man in the phone line asked politely.

Before she could respond, she dropped the phone at the sound of footsteps approaching her. Emma slowly turned around and came face to face with her father holding a cane and tapping his foot in disappointment.

"Hello... Hello?" a low voice came from the phone.

"You think you can run away from me and call the police? You are definitely a very ungrateful child Emma." Her father said moving closer to her.

"No! I ... uh..." she said timidly.

As her father continued to walk towards her, she moved backwards until her back hit the wall.

"I never liked how you treated mommy back then. You treated her like she was your slave. Even though she was you wife, you never gave her any respect. You would yell at her and scold her throughout the day. You blamed her for the things she didn't even do! But what bothered me the most was how you treated everyone else with respect, everyone except your own damn family." Emma said staring straight into her father's wide eyes.

"I tried to talk to you a few times. To express my feelings of how I feel about myself during these times of depression. But you never listened, you would be on your phone, twenty-four seven. Most of the times you would force me to listen to you yelling at me for three hours straight, accusing me of not being good enough and not treating you right."

Emma's father's eyes widened and pushed her onto the floor with force.

"I declare that you are no longer my daughter, that includes you, and the rest of your siblings. My life would be way happier without all of you including your mother. You know, it's better if she's dead because she was the one who wouldn't let me live my life the way I wanted to be. I have chosen my own path. Do you want to know what my friends used to advise me through the hard times? 'let me regret trying rather than regret not trying.'"

Her father grinned as he took off his belt. She watched him come towards her with the belt in one hand and the cane in the other, weapon in each hand. He came to a stop when he was just two feet away from her.

"Please, dad. I'm sorry. I won't repeat this again. I promise. Please don't hurt me."

Emma whispered with trembling lips. She watched in horror as he raised his hand holding the cane, and drubbed it onto her body. Emma felt the piercing pain through her body.

"Help me, somebody please," she whispered, trying to defend herself.

Emma felt another hit, this time harder. She looked up and saw a malicious look in the eyes of her father, where she had once seen love.

"Daddy, you can still change yourself. Please, Daddy, please change. Get rid of this ego attitude from your life. Please..." She whispered softly.

"You can't tell me what to do, Emma!"

Another blow and her knees gave up. She buckled down to the ground but her father still continued his assault. Each hit somehow increased the already excruciating pain. Emma felt blood ooze from her arms where the belt had struck repeatedly.

While every inch of Emma's body ached, her father continued with his horrendous violence.

Emma felt her body giving up and her vision started to blur. Soon she found herself collapsing on the ground as she lost consciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Emma's eyes slowly fluttered open, trying to focus her vision in the bright white living room. She blinked several times trying to remember last night's beating with her father.

She scanned the living room area intensely. The white wallpapers were torn to shreds, and plenty shards of glass were scattered across the cold cement floor. The living room had turned into a disaster. Emma squinted her eyes and looked out the window trying not to get the sunlight in her eyes. The people were smiling, chatting, and walking to work in a cold autumn morning. She shut the drapes closed and sunk onto the floor with her face in her hands as she cried.

"Why does this always happens to me?" She cried softly.

Emma gathered herself slowly and walked to her bedroom. Nobody ever knew what happened to her at night.

Walking her way to the bathroom, she accidentally stepped on a piece of glass. She yelped in pain but took the piece of glass out of her feet gently.

She went into the bathroom, washing her hands and face. She stared into the mirror, her hands both gripping the sink.

Her pale ivory skin was covered in bruises and her emerald green eyes had become red and puffy from crying last night and her long brown hair was messy and dirty.

Slowly she turned around and looked over her shoulder in the mirror, her back was also covered with bruises from last night's beating. She carefully touched the bruises on her shoulder and hissed in pain.

She took a shower, washing away the blood from her tender skin and then applied make-up on the exposed black and blue bruises on her arm.

Emma went downstairs and looked at the living room, trying to recollect all the little happiness she felt in this place. She saw pictures of her mother neatly arranged on the concrete fireplace. She picked up the picture frame and gently brush her thumb on the frame.

"Mommy, please forgive me I'm so sorry..." she sobbed, a tear rolled down her cheeks. She placed back the picture frame back onto the fireplace and buckled her knees down to the floor crying softly.

Emma was too young to have any memory of her mother, or her passing. She both felt lucky and sad at the same time.

Suddenly, she heard the front door opened, and in walked her elder sister Stephanie with an umbrella in her hands.

"Emma! I'm home! I just got some good news to share with you..." her sister said walking into the living room area to search for her. All of a sudden, her sister's facial expression turned into a frown as she saw what just happened to Emma. She ran towards her and hugged her small figure.

"Oh, dear. Emma! What happened to your face? Are you hurt? Oh my God, I should have come home sooner. This is all my fault." Her sister cried onto her shoulder.

"Daddy he d-did this to m-me." Emma said between sobs.

"What did Daddy do?" Stephanie questioned stroking her hair softly.

"He scolded me because I was out spending time with Jane at her place that I told him I might be back before ten but I forgot that it was already past my curfew. And so when I reached home, he was mad and drunk at the same time. So he did this." Emma cried showing the bruises to her sister.

Stephanie's eyes widened in shock to see the bruises on her sister's wrists and skin. "That's it. Pack your bags, we're leaving..." Stephanie ordered getting up from the floor and walked upstairs to her bedroom rigorously.

"But, Stephanie. Where will we go? We have nowhere to go," Emma said looking at her sister.

"We're going back to Greensboro, North Carolina. Now, meet me downstairs in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, I'll go pack my bags." she said as she stood up from the couch and walked upstairs to her bedroom to began packing.

Grabbing the suitcase out from her closet, Emma started packing her stuff. She packed a few clothes, undergarments and her toiletries in one bag. Every time her resolve started to break, she reminded herself of the torture she's been going through.

Beatings became a norm for her after that. Every time her father got drunk, he'd beat her up with his belt and cane several of times. She couldn't take it anymore. This was it. She and Stephanie needed to escape, and to help themselves.

When she was done packing her stuff, she walked over to her bookshelf and grabbed the hidden money she had been saving for the past six months.

Sitting down on her desk, Emma turned on her laptop and began to search for cheap Airline ticket on Google. She clicked on the link and found an affordable price for fifty-six dollars per flight. Euphorically, Emma clicked the purchase button and turned off her laptop blissfully.

Before leaving the apartment, she grabbed a pen and a piece of paper out from her drawer and started to write a note;

Dear Dad,

Stephanie and I are running away from home because we have chosen to live our lives on our own. Please don't make us come back home.

We don't know how long we will be gone for, but it won't be any longer than forever. You will probably never get to see us again. We don't have the guts to stay with you anymore because of the way you treated me last night.

We want to thank you for everything you ever done for us. From bringing us into this world to being the father whom I knew and grew up loving so much, we want to thank you for all of it.

Please forgive our sins and God's will. We will always be your daughters until the end of the world. We hope to see you change once you read this letter.

Dad, please take care of yourself while we're gone. We love you.

Sincerely,
Emma and Stephanie.

She got up from her desk chair and took her suitcase downstairs to the front door. When she was about to leave the apartment, she slipped the note into an envelope and wrote, To Dad in big italic letters and left the letter on the coffee table.

"Okay, Emma, are you ready?" Stephanie asked as she brought the suitcase downstairs to the front door.

"Yes, I'm ready." She grinned.

"Great! Come on, we need to go before dad comes home," her sister ordered as she took out her cell phone and called for a taxi.

Emma slid on her coat and confidently walked out of the apartment. She looked at the people surrounding her and took a deep breath. "Today is the day I start a new life," she murmured quietly.

She began walking and decided to wait for the taxi to approach. While waiting for the taxi to arrive, Emma checked her cell phone to see if there were any important messages from Jane but there were none her mood slightly dampened at the thought. She turned off her cell phone and a few minutes later, the taxi came to collect her and Stephanie to the airport.

"Driver, take us to the police station, stat!" Stephanie ordered.

The taxi driver nodded and drove them to the said location.

"Stephanie, are you out of your mind? What are we going to do at the police station?" Emma questioned her bewildered.

"We are going to report this to the police. He needs to be punished for harming you like this. You said you got into a fight and hit you like this. He needs to be stopped." Stephanie replied honestly.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Miss, we're here!" the man exclaimed as he looked at them through the rear view mirror.

"Thank you, can you give us a moment to talk to the police?" Stephanie asked as she slid on her coat and got out of the taxi with Emma.

"Sure, take your time."

"Thank you! Come on, let's make this quick." She said walking into the building nonchalantly.

"Stephanie..." Emma called.

"Quiet Emma," Stephanie protested as she sauntered to the police officer quietly.

"Hello, dear, how may I help you?" the man asked politely flashing a toothy grin at her.

"Hello, I'm here to report a serious case." she smiled sweetly to the man.

"Yes, what seems to be the problem?" the man asked as he chewed on his pink sprinkled donut hungrily and stirring his coffee cup softly.

"You see, my father was abusing my younger sister last night. He is an alcoholic and abuses her badly. When she woke up this morning, I found multiple bruises on her body."

"I see..."

"What's the victim's name?" the man questioned writing the information on the fresh new document.

"Emma Campbell, twenty- two-years-old." She responded honestly.

"Alright, and who's the abuser's name?" the man questioned vigorously.

"Richard Campbell, fifty-seven-years old."

"Okay, so I need you to fill this form and we'll find him in no time." the man grinned.

"Alright, thank you so much sir!" Stephanie smiled.

After filling out the restraining papers they thanked the policeman and left the building.

"Come on, Emma, we're going to be late for the airport."

"Stephanie, will dad know what we're doing?" Emma questioned shoving her hands in her coat nonchalantly.

"No, he won't know anything we do. And right now, he has his name stated in the criminal record from the police. It's going to be alright Emma."

They got into the taxi and drove to the airport.

It was such a very strange and new things for them to do everything on their own but they were learning and quite excited to do so. She gazed out the taxi's window, trying to distract herself by looking at the busy streets outside. The streets of New York were busy as always. People were walking on the pedestrian walk going to work on a Monday morning. Doing their usual errands everyday. She looked at the sky and noticed it was about to rain. When they reached the airport, the taxi driver was kind enough to help them with their luggage. Emma gave him a warm smile and left him a generous tip which he kindly accepted with a grin.

Walking into the airport, Emma and Stephanie immediately walked to the check-in counter to check-in her luggage. After that, they went to the departure hall to wait for their flight to be called. Assuredly, she took a seat on the benches and read her book entitled Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. While she was about to read, the PA system went on signalling that her flight was ready for boarding.

"Ladies and gentlemen, flight 2611 to Greensboro, North Carolina is now ready for boarding please proceed to Gate E for departure. Thank you."

"Come on, Emma, that's us." Stephanie said grabbing her belongings and shove her stuff in her luggage.

Emma kept her book back in her luggage and started to queue in line with her sister. While walking, she took out her passport and boarding pass and placed it into her passport.

"Do you have your passport and plane ticket with you?" Stephanie asked as she took out her passport from her pouch.

"Yes..." She replied.

"Great!" She smiled.

"Hello, miss, welcome aboard! May I please see your boarding passes?" the stewardess asked politely with a wide smile. Emma generously showed her boarding pass and the stewardess kindly escorted them to the right seat.

"Thank you so much." Emma smiled at her, in delight.

"You're welcome!" the woman replied, flashing a smile right back at her and left hastily.

She went to her seat and placed her luggage underneath her feet. Emma fastened her seatbelt and turned her cell phone on to flight mode. She took a long deep breath and looked out the city of New York from her small plane window. It's time for her to say goodbye to everything that she had, including her father, who treated her bad enough.

"Goodbye New York, I hope to never see you again," she mumbled quietly as tears started to stream down her cheek silently once again. She shut her eyes tightly and took another breath. "It's time for me to move on and start a new life, alone," she sighed in distress.

"Emma are you okay? There, there, it's alright, we're safe now." Stephanie smiled as she cupped her left cheek in her hands gently. She smiled at her and looked out the plane window once again.

The aircraft went silent, when suddenly the PA system went on with an announcement to make:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to direct your attention to the television monitors. We will be showing our safety demonstration and would like the next few minutes of your complete attention."

The flight attendant demonstrated safety procedures, illustrating the correct protocol in case of any emergency.

After six minutes of flight demonstration, Emma finally took out her book and started to continue reading. As the plane took off from the runway, Emma looked outside the plane window one last time and realized, everything that she left behind was turning into a distant memory. The memories she had made with her family since she was a little girl were all gone like the wind. As she was reminiscing memories of her past, the PA system turned on.

"Good morning passengers. This is your captain speaking." A voice came out in the PA system above her as she listened to the captain speaking.

"First, I'd like to welcome everyone on American Airlines Flight 2611 to Greensboro, North Carolina. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 33,000 feet at an airspeed of 400 miles per hour. This time is 9:25am. The weather looks good with the tailwind on our side, we are expecting to land in Greensboro, North Carolina approximately fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. The weather in Greensboro, North Carolina is clear and sunny, with a high of 12 degrees Fahrenheit for this morning. If the weather cooperates we should get a great view of the city as we descend. The cabin crew will be coming around in about twenty minutes to offer you a light snack and beverage, and the inflight movie will begin shortly after that. I'll talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of your flight."

Luckily, after the Captain's announcement was over, Emma was able to read her book in peace. She grabbed her book out from her luggage and quietly read her book.

While she was reading, a stewardess came by her side to offer her a light snack and beverage.

"Hello, ladies, may I interest you in any food and beverage options?" The stewardess asked in a deep New Yorker accent.

Emma looked up at her, putting a big smile on her face. "Sure... what are you serving?" she asked the stewardess as she put her book away.

"Well, today, we are serving an egg salad sandwich, a cream cheese sandwich, and a turkey ham sandwich. What would you like to have?" the stewardess asked, smiling at her.

"Gee, I think I will have the cream cheese sandwich then," she requested politely.

"Okay, there you go, miss." The stewardess said serving the tray on the small tray table in front of her.

"And what about you miss?" She asked Stephanie who was too invested in her music.

"Stephanie!" She muttered, nudging her sister's arm softly.

"Yes?" She responded.

"What would you like to have? Today we are serving an egg salad sandwich, a cream cheese sandwich and a turkey sandwich." She grinned.

"Oh, I'm having what she's having." She beamed.

"Alright. Here we are!"

"Thanks," Stephanie replied.

"And what would you like to drink?" the woman asked them again.

"I'll have a coke and she'll have a Sprite thanks." Emma smiled nicely.

The woman nodded and took the beverage from a small freezer and filled the cup with a few ice cubes. "Here you go, ladies, enjoy your meal," the stewardess said, as she placed the stuff back into the freezer and walked away.

Emma plugged in the headphones in her iPod and put on some music while taking a bite of her food which wasn't that bad. It was pretty decent for a meal served on an airplane. She finished her meal quite quickly for someone who criticize food undone to her liking. Since she finished eating, she decided to watch a movie. She clicked on the Entertainment section of the television monitor using the remote and saw a bunch of movies came out on the screen.

Emma scrolled through the Latest section on the TV monitor. She bypassed hundreds of different selections, only seeming to find Ferris Bueller's Day Off the most suiting to her taste.

She clicked on the XYZ button on the remote and the movie started playing. She took the blanket and wrapped it on her body distantly.

Halfway through the movie, Emma was fast asleep. She passed out on her seat with the movie kept playing on the television monitor. She hadn't slept peacefully for the past year due to insomnia. Every night, she had to deal with her father's behaviour. Undeniably, her sleeping schedule was flopping.

Lately, it has gotten so bad that she would stay up late almost every night. Surely now, when she decided to storm out of the house, at last, she could fall asleep without her fears haunting her and pain keeping it up.