author's note; Please read! You might've missed the first chapter due to the notifications issues last week. Also, I decided to bring in another character, Sierra's twin brother. I added him to the cast list but I'll post information about him in this chapter, too. There's not much Jax in this chapter but I promise he'll be back in the next one! Also, I'm sorry that the chapter is so long and that there's not much conversation in the first 700 words but please read the whole chapter anyway! Thanks 🤎

warning ⚠️; heavy and disturbing topics mentioned like child a'buse and domestic violence (se'xually, emotionally and physically) in this chapter, abuse in general, death scene described in detail but also not too detailed, blood.

new character introduction ↓

𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒
𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘪𝘹 | 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 | 𝟧'𝟪 | 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 | 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘕𝘰𝘦𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳

NEW YORK ᅳ 2012

IT HAD BEEN A LONG DAY at work before Sierra finally stepped through her door and was able to put down her bag. Not bothered by the darkness in her apartment, she leaned against the door after closing it and exhaled loudly, finally allowing herself to relax a little.

Her feet ached from all the stairs she had to clean today in a tall office building. Fifteen floors was definitely a lot, but nothing unusual. Her adoptive father's cleaning agency was probably one of the most well-known in the city and, thanks to the good customer reviews, was often booked for large buildings.

Luxurious homes, villas, party locations and houses in need of renovationᅳ they basically cleaned everything you could think of.

Sierra didn't mind working hard, standing on her feet all day. Her boss was also her father and so she would never find a job with a better boss again anyway.

Miguel Garcia was one of those men who always treated other people with respect, as long as he received the same treatment in return. His employees were treated fairly, and if they had to work overtime, Miguel made sure they were paid generously. Every December he threw a party for his employees so they could enjoy a Christmas meal togetherᅳ which was expensive, after all, his company was big and consisted of over a hundred employees.

But if there was one thing that was important to Miguel, it was to show how much he valued good employees, and his wife Lucia, Sierra's adoptive mother, supported him. Every year Lucia and her daughter Camila, who was also Sierra's best friend, spent days in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies and cakes for the big partyᅳ with Sierra's help, of course, although she didn't have much talent when it came to baking. Cooking was definitely more her thing.

Without her adoptive parents and her best friend, Sierra would never be where she is today. After the cruel death of her mother when Sierra was just six years old and a court battle that Miguel and Lucia never gave up, Sierra was finally allowed to move in with her best friend and her parents after they officially became her foster familyᅳ and three years later Miguel and Lucia finally had the chance to adopt Sierra after her father, who was already in prison for the murder of his wife, was finally stripped of all rights to his two children.

They also wanted to take in Sierra's twin brother, Cody, but the then six-year-old had rebelled, was completely against it and wanted to be alone so that he himself, at his young age, had refused and preferred to end up in the system. In contrast to Sierra, Cody had lost all trust in anyone since his mother had died, his little soul so wounded and broken that he had pushed everyone away.

So Sierra not only had to deal with the loss of her mother, but also with the loss of her brother, who was still alive but disappeared from her life, their bond suddenly torn apart just because of their father, who killed his own wife, leaving behind two deeply traumatized children.

Sierra let out a deep sigh as her thoughts, like every evening when she was alone again, wandered to her brother. Cody had tried to reach out to her again when they were fourteen, his heart aching for his sister, whom he had simply pushed away back then.

All the pain, the griefᅳ all of that had turned him into a trouble-seeking boy for years and pushed him down the wrong path. Apart from alcohol and drugs, there was nothing that could ease his pain; except the thought of his sister. Feelings of guilt had plagued him even in his younger years. He should've never left Sierra alone, even if she found a loving family that was a thousand times better to her than their father ever was.

Fortunately, Miguel and Lucia had never tried to drive a wedge between the two, instead they had encouraged the siblings to find back together. Their bond was quickly restored; to be honest, it never completely disappeared.

But Cody was no longer the innocent little boy, he had problems, just like Sierraᅳ the difference was that Sierra had a support team behind her and Cody didn't want to accept help.

What was he doing right now? She didn't know, probably selling drugs or getting in a fight.

Her thoughts wandered on, biting her lip as she thought of a certain person. Jax Teller was still haunting her thoughts to this day, even though they had lost contact two years ago. One day the blonde simply stopped answering, even changed his number.

Sierra would be lying if she said she didn't care. She had found someone in Jax who understood her, who accepted her as she was. They had been talking and texting for months, promising to visit each otherᅳ but it never happened.

A soft thud tore her out of her thoughts, her gaze immediately shooting to the corner where the noise had come from. She quickly felt for the light switch when she saw someone sitting in one of her colorful armchairs. And for a moment she wished she had just left the light out.

The warm light illuminated the room, casting an orange glow on the brick walls and reflecting in the windows. Her heart was racing so fast that it would probably give up any second, causing her death right then and thereᅳ which she actually preferred instead of having to face the man who had turned Cody's and her life into a nightmare already long before he had killed their mother.

"Hey honey", the man drawled, his angelic voice carrying so much menace. With a low grunt, he pushed himself up from the chair, taking slow, long strides toward his daughter. "Wow, you've become quite the womanᅳ looking so much like your mother. I'm..just wow."

Sierra couldn't move, frozen in place as the man she despised stopped in front of her. Fighting, running, screaming her lungs out to get the neighbors' attention; she could do anything, considered all of it, but her body refused to cooperate with her mind.

A murderer stood right in front of her, not just any murderer, but her mother's. The man who had sexually abused her for months, crawled into her bed at night and slipped under the covers with her when her mother was at work.

A whimper fell from her trembling lips, hating herself for how weak she must be looking right now. But she had every right to be weak, to want to cry out for help when it came to Frank Davis.

"Oh sweetheart, don't be afraid." His palm came to rest against her cheek, his thumb rubbing tenderly into her flesh, catching the first tears that rolled down Sierra's cheek. "Hey hey, shh, don't cry, there's no reason to. Or have you missed me so much?"

The nerve that man had. If she wasn't deeply shocked and afraid, still frozen in place, Sierra would kill him just for his last question, driving a knife into him just like he did to her mother.

Twenty stabs. Sierra's could still remember the sound every time the knife sliced through her mother's flesh, blood spurting like she was a fountain. And within seconds, the woman was laying in a puddle of her own blood, the crimson red a stark contrast to the white tiles beneath her cold body.

The day the tragedy had happened was still, and would forever, be burned in Sierra's mind. In the middle of the night, after a loud argument that had also woken up the twins, Frank had dragged his wife across the floor and into the bathroom by the woman's long, black hair. Nothing new for the twins, but traumatizing every time. But what was new that night was the knife in Frank's hand.

Sierra could still remember how she and Cody had followed their father, crying and screaming, their bare feet tapping against the cold floor to beg him to leave their mother aloneᅳ but nothing helped, Frank was already too deeply lost in his anger and rage.

Her mother's strangled sobs and screaming, her desperate begging not to hurt her in front of the children; Sierra had repressed everything, and thanks to her therapist had managed to find strategies to live with the pain and the trauma after physically hurting herself for years as a teenager.

But it all came back when she looked up into her sperm donor's eyes, full of fear.

He was twenty years older, but still looked the same as he did back then, just with wrinkles on his face. Stubble covered his chin, his light brown hair combed back loosely, his outfit neat and tidy. He looked like a random guy in his fifties, but behind this facade that seemed so friendly there was a monster hidden.

A monster that was now standing in front of her, in her apartment, coming closer and closer.

"Someone stole your tongue?" Frank asked boldly while arching an eyebrow, sliding his thumb lower, dangerously close to her lips. "No 'hello', 'I missed you, daddy', 'how long have you been out?', nothing?"

Acid from the pit of her stomach rose in Sierra's throat, burning its way upwards and leaving a bitter taste on her tongue before she managed to choke out two weak words. "Get out."

Frank wrinkled his nose, weighing his head from side to side before shaking it. "No, you're not getting rid of me that easily, honey."

The cheerful, angelic hum disappeared from his tone, replaced by a slicing coldness. Clicking his tongue against the top of his mouth, he shoved Sierra's stiff body against the wall, resting both hands next to her head. His menacing stare grew more intense with each second, leaving Sierra trembling as she wrapped her arms protectively around her waist.

"Wᅳ what do you want?", she dared to ask, followed by a whimper as Frank dipped his head lower, letting the tip of his nose slide along her temple, humming softly.

"What do I want?" Frank barked a laugh, spreading his arms to the side before he cupped Sierra's face in his hands, frighteningly timidly. "There are a lot of things I want. Peace of mind, a cold beer, maybe some closeness from my beloved daughter?"

"Stop, please. Dᅳ don't do that again..", the raven-haired girl cried out, her eyes squeezed shut so she didn't have to look at her father, his mint-laced breath brushing her skin already enough torture. "Iᅳ shit, haven't you done enough to us?"

"Oh, let's not dwell on old things, alright?" His voice dripped with mockery, something sinister in the wide smile he flashed her. "As much as I'd love to make up for lost time with you", his breath hit her ear as he tilted his head, his lips tickling the shell of her ear. "I just wanna make sure my kids can keep their mouths shut, you know, about certain things."

Sierra jerked her head to the side, her father's words and touches unbearable. Desperate sobs filled the small apartment, a scream caught in her throat as a river of tears dripped from her chin, soaking her white work shirt.

"What more do you want, Frank?" She stared at him with wide eyes, wondering what more he could want from her and Cody. "Why did they let someone like you out in the first place?"

Why her father was only sentenced to twenty years was still a mystery to Sierra, and to other people, to this day. It was an impertinence, a crime in itself to give such a man the right to a future of freedom. Maybe she and Cody should've told the whole truth back then, not just the murder they witnessed, but they had only been six at the time and scared shitless, traumatized.

That's why he was here, to make sure they won't talk. Disgusting pathetic fucker.

"Because, Sierra honey, people can change", Frank replied with a theatrical roll of his eyes, his smile never wavering for a second. "And I want to keep my freedom, so I have to keep your brother and you quiet. You won't say a word about certain things, you hear me?"

His fingers dug hard into her flesh, her face aching as short fingernails cut into her cheeks, but she was used to worse pain. "Oh yeah, what am I supposed to keep my mouth shut about, huh? What exactly am I not supposed to tell anyone, Frank? That you touched your own daughter, the sick bastard that you are?"

Anger took hold of her and pushed aside her fear of the man, her words dripping with hate, disgust and contempt as she shoved him in the chest. "I was four, fuckin' four when you started touching me! And Cody? How many times did you beat the shit out of him just because he wanted to protect Mom when you went after her again?! He was five the first time you broke his arm, remember? And Mom..you threatened to hurt us if she ever left you. What kind of sick monster does that?!"

Sierra didn't even realize in her fit of rage that she was constantly slamming her palms against Frank's chest, over and over, pushing the man back a little further each time. And he let her, but his expression darkened with each nudge.

"You ruined our lives, made us incapable of having normal relationships, of having a healthy relationship with ourselves, with our own bodies", she screamed at him, pure pain in the words that fell from her lips, the salty taste of her hysterical tears filling her mouth. "Because of youᅳ"

Her head snapped to the side, cutting her off mid-sentence. She shakily raised a hand to her burning cheek, her ear ringing from the stinging slap across her face that had come as unexpectedly as her sudden courage to tell her father what she thought of him.

Frank grabbed her chin, pushing her body against the kitchen island that was in the middle of the room. A hiss escaped her lips as the edge of the wood counter dug into her back, leaving its mark. "You listen to me now, honey, and I would listen closely if I were you."

Making sure she was forced to look at him, the man snorted derisively, gathering some spit in his mouth before curling his lips and spitting directly in Sierra's face. His manners had been shabby before prison, but now they were completely gone.

Sierra almost gagged as the warm spit slowly ran down her cheek to her lips, her father just humming in satisfaction. "You disgusting piece ofᅳ"

The painful grip on her chin cut her off, the pain becoming almost unbearable as Frank dug his fingers into her hollowed cheeks at her words, pushing the insides of her cheeks between her molars to silence her further.

"Ah ah, no insults, honey", he scolded with a wink, the sinister smile returning. "You leave me no choice", the man sighed deeply, lazily waving his other hand around. "One word to the Cops about what I did to you back then and I promise you that I'll make sure that you can visit Cody every time you visit your mother; because he'll be buried right next to her."

Fresh tears burned in Sierra's eyes, Frank's words cutting deep into her soul. His words weren't a threat, they were a promise. If there was one thing her father lacked, it was empathy or feelings in generalᅳ the man didn't shy away from making his threats come true.

She stared up at him in fear, shaking her head hysterically, she couldn't talk after all. If someone had told her she would ever see the man again, she would probably have thrown herself off a bridge years agoᅳ Cody and Camilla had stopped her last attempt when she was sixteen. After hours of searching for her, they had found her only moments before she was about to close her eyes forever.

Snot and tears mixed with her makeup running down her face, her mascara and eyeliner leaving black marks, her chest heaving violently.

"It's okay, baby, I won't hurt him as long as you listen to me and do what I say", Frank cooed as he wrapped his other arm around her waist to pull her flush against his chest, her chin still clamped in his hand. "I missed you so much, you know that? God, all those hours of thinking about you, my pretty little girl."

He inhaled her scent, his nose buried in her black hair while his crotch pressed against her hip, the man significantly taller than her. "God, I need you."

"Not even God can help you anymore", Sierra spat hatefully, her apathetic gaze staring out the window as she tried to block out everything that was happeningᅳ just like back then. "You're going to burn in hell anyway."

Her view of the illuminated city blurred with new tears as her father's low chuckle grazed her neck. Finally, he released her chin, but only to let his hand wander into her hair. With a sharp tug, he yanked her head back, drawing a yelp from her as the pain shot through her scalp.

"You think you're so brave, so big and strong when you say words like that", he mocked, clearly amused by his daughter's little rebellion. "But let me tell you", he whispered sultry, his lips brushing hers as a growl rattled through his throat. "I like that fierceness, it only draws me closer. We've always had a special connection, honey."

It was when Frank began to grind his growing bulge against her hip bone, his tongue already gliding over her bottom lip, that Sierra's body finally began to team up with her mind.

In one swift movement, she pulled her head back, got on tiptoes, and, with an aggressive and forceful thrust, slammed the top of her head into her father's face. The sickening crack as Frank's nose broke sent a shiver up her spine, but she didn't have time to think long.

As he stumbled back, holding his bleeding nose and cursing loudly, Sierra turned around and pulled the largest knife from the knife block that sat next to the sink on the kitchen island. Her arm shot forward, the tip pressing against Frank's throat as he tried to grab it.

"Woah, easy, baby, you're going to hurt someone with that", with a nervous laugh he raised both arms in the air, ignoring the dripping of his bloody nose. "Don't do anything stupid now, you hear me?"

"Get out", her words were just a little louder than a whisper but sealed with a coldness that even Frank hadn't expected. "Get the fuck out of my apartment, out of my life", she seethed, her hand surprisingly steady as she pressed the tip of the blade harder against Frank's throat, her nostrils flaring. "I won't say anything, in return I want you out of my life. And I swear on everything I hold sacred, I'll kill you if you hurt Cody."

"Jesus, stop it", Frank muttered, inhaling sharply as the tip slowly slid through the second layer of skin on his throat, the first red drops seeping into the collar of his button-down shirt. "I'm leaving, for now. But this isn't over, I've waited too long for you, honey."

As close as Sierra was to crumbling, to falling apart, she didn't give her father that satisfactionᅳ instead, her gaze remained cold, disgusted by the monster in front of her. Putting more pressure on Frank's throat, she repeated her words. "Get out."

Frank walked back a few steps, his hands still raised vigorously. Only when he reached the door with slow steps did he slowly lower his hands. "Not the last time, Sierra."

His promise hung heavy in the air as the apartment door finally slammed shut behind him, the moment Sierra shuddered and dropped the knife. Sobs tore through her trembling frame as she slid down the kitchen island with her back, trying to somehow calm herself.

Crying and sobbing hysterically, she pulled her legs up to her chest, staring at the floor in front of her. She had to get away from here, away from New York, away from him. But not without warning her brother and saying goodbye to her parents and Camila first.

If she stayed here, she would lose herself again. If she wanted to survive, she had to pull herself out of the depths, start a new life far away from Frank, even if it meant leaving her home, her family.

word count; about 3.6k