Chapter 1.58: The Odds Part III
Author's Note: Originally this was meant to be strictly in Tabitha's point of view but I feel like it is equally important for Seth to have a voice in his part. So for the first time, you will hear from Seth! Warning, this chapter also contains mention of sexual abuse!
Seth
I told them that we could continue this discussion upstairs and showed the man who claimed to be my biological father and the woman upstairs. Of course, Rylan had to come with us as he didn't want to be left alone and I was relieved when Valentine showed up but what as she came up the stairs she smiled warmly.
"Father," Valentine whispered, tears forming her eyes. I looked between her and the man who now had even more tears streaming down his face. "I can't believe it," she choked out.
"Val, you know him?" I asked, holding my irritated toddler even closer.
"Seth.... you don't remember our father? Not the man who we lived with before we ran away but our father?" Valentine asked. I shook my head as I could only remember the guy who took us in when we were little and after that it was a series of hiding from social workers as well as the police. I couldn't remember anyone from before then but I was too young then.
"Valentine, I'm so glad you remember me! I-I looked for you and your brother for years, truly I did. But nothing came up, no one knew what happened to you two. It was as if you two didn't exist anymore," the man said, shaking his head.
"Umm I'm Tabitha by the way. I'm his daughter too," Tabitha said quietly, looking down at her feet nervously.
"Daddy, what does kidnapped mean?" the toddler asked. I frowned because I wasn't sure this was a conversation I could have around my son especially with him now having trouble sleeping. The last babysitter forgot to put the parental block back on the TV and didn't see him watching some horror movie.
"It's where a kid takes a very long walk and doesn't come back home for a while," Tabitha said quickly. I mouthed a thank you to her, and put Rylan down as Isobel came upstairs to go feed him as I stayed up here with them.
"So, we're step-sisters then?" Valentine asked. Tabitha nodded, and opened her mouth to say something but I spoke first.
"And you're sure that he is our father?" I asked my sister. I was starting to see it more and more now; the resemblance between the man and myself. We had the same features, and somehow his voice was vaguely familiar but it was a strain.
"Seth, a long time ago before we brought to the man something really bad happened and these people came to get us. You were only four at the time, and they didn't want to scare you," Valentine said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Son, your mother was murdered and when we got back you and Valentine were no where to be found," the man said. I looked to Valentine, pleading with her to tell me he was lying and that our mother wasn't murdered.
"I searched for it on the police database a while ago to be sure I wasn't imagining everything but a woman by the name of Gabrielle Marino was killed twenty years ago and it is reported that two children went missing," Valentine said.
I shook my head, no this was some joke. I would remember if my mother had been killed and I would remember my father but yet here they were in my house with the truth out in the air. "Terrible," I said, still shaking my head. "After all these years we finally get back together," I choked out.
"Valentine, what exactly happened after Gabrielle was killed?" Father asked as he looked to Valentine.
"It's a little foggy, but from what I can remember these people came bursting into the house and were yelling about how they might be too late. We were hiding under the bed in your room when they found us and then well they told us mother had called them before the men got upstairs. They said they were going to take us away so we wouldn't get hurt but they wouldn't tell us who they were. We spent the week at a hotel several miles away before they dropped us off at this guys house," Valentine said. I nodded, I couldn't remember anything before staying at the guys house and having to learn to help clean the house with my sister.
"I remember hearing him talk to someone about giving us away and a price, so we decided to wait till he was asleep before we ran away. After that it just hiding and then finally going to school," I said, as Valentine nodded. We had stayed at the house for two years before running away and going from place to place so we wouldn't be found. It was hard but we were terrified of getting caught and dragged back to the man who would have sold us.
"Valentine, this man... did he ever?" Father asked. I paled and Tabitha covered her face as we both realized what he was asking. Valentine looked away, and it was a couple minutes before she spoke.
"Sometimes he would come into the room and he wou-" Valentine began to say but father's hiss cut her off.
"I will find this man, and he will pay for what he has done to you both," Father growled.
"So, we're step-sisters then?" Valentine asked. Tabitha nodded, and opened her mouth to say something but I spoke first.
"And you're sure that he is our father?" I asked my sister. I was starting to see it more and more now; the resemblance between the man and myself. We had the same features, and somehow his voice was vaguely familiar but it was a strain.
"Seth, a long time ago before we brought to the man something really bad happened and these people came to get us. You were only four at the time, and they didn't want to scare you," Valentine said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Son, your mother was murdered and when we got back you and Valentine were no where to be found," the man said. I looked to Valentine, pleading with her to tell me he was lying and that our mother wasn't murdered.
"I searched for it on the police database a while ago to be sure I wasn't imagining everything but a woman by the name of Gabrielle Marino was killed twenty years ago and it is reported that two children went missing," Valentine said.
I shook my head, no this was some joke. I would remember if my mother had been killed and I would remember my father but yet here they were in my house with the truth out in the air. "Terrible," I said, still shaking my head. "After all these years we finally get back together," I choked out.
"Valentine, what exactly happened after Gabrielle was killed?" Father asked as he looked to Valentine.
"It's a little foggy, but from what I can remember these people came bursting into the house and were yelling about how they might be too late. We were hiding under the bed in your room when they found us and then well they told us mother had called them before the men got upstairs. They said they were going to take us away so we wouldn't get hurt but they wouldn't tell us who they were. We spent the week at a hotel several miles away before they dropped us off at this guys house," Valentine said. I nodded, I couldn't remember anything before staying at the guys house and having to learn to help clean the house with my sister.
"I remember hearing him talk to someone about giving us away and a price, so we decided to wait till he was asleep before we ran away. After that it just hiding and then finally going to school," I said, as Valentine nodded. We had stayed at the house for two years before running away and going from place to place so we wouldn't be found. It was hard but we were terrified of getting caught and dragged back to the man who would have sold us.
"Valentine, this man... did he ever?" Father asked. I paled and Tabitha covered her face as we both realized what he was asking. Valentine looked away, and it was a couple minutes before she spoke.
"Sometimes he would come into the room and he wou-" Valentine began to say but father's hiss cut her off.
"I will find this man, and he will pay for what he has done to you both," Father growled.
I wonder if Seth knew that Valentine was abused. Maybe that's why she said Hayden forced her to cover up what really happened to her...
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