PeaceMaker

"You will be staying in here," Annabeth proudly announced, waving her arm in a wide circular motion. 

Kalmin gasped, his eyes unable to believe what he saw. There were beds, the ground looked clean but he wasn't the one that spent hours on cleaning it. There were windows and although they were tightly shut and barred, they still let in some light. The room wasn't bigger than their other house, but it was in much better quality. It was warm, not frigid at least and the room was sparsely decorated, was probably five full steps wide and eight long, but it was perfect.

At least to him.

"Is it only one bed?" Kalmin asked, his grip around Alice's big waist struggled to stay stable "sorry if I'm being rude, but is there no bed for Alice?"

Annabeth flinched, her eyes shaking nervously, "um… that… Alice was sup- I guess you'll be sharing beds then," she smiled.

"Hmm," Kalmin looked down at Alice's figure, finding it hard to even keep her standing while she slipped in and out of consciousness, sleeping, "okay, at least it's not the cold floor. Thank you so much."

He bowed his head happily, a bright smile forming on his face, "you're the best lady Annabeth."

Annabeth grinned, "Hehe, I know." She looked down at his hand around Alice's waist and then back to Kalmin, "I suggest you get settled on the bed, before you end up dropping her."

"Ah…" Kalmin chuckled, tightening his grip around Alice's waist. "I'm going to do that now."

He carefully carried Alice to the bed and laid her down gently. He brushed some of her long black hair behind her ears and observed her pretty face. Although it was severely tainted by the deep, heavy bags under her eyes and a cut on her tiny lips, she still held an air of purity from her cute face.

"Do you mind if we go to sleep for a bit?" Kalmin asked as he brushed Alice's hair with his fingers. 

"Oh…" Annabeth flinched, her hand clenching for a moment as the words she wanted to say clogged up in her throat, "o-ok, I guess some sleep is needed after that really long ride. I'm guessing both of you barely got enough sleep in."

Kalmin grinned, "that's right my lady." He turned back to her and gave a smile, "I'll get to sleeping now."

"Ok, I'll be going," Annabeth smiled back. She turned around and stepped out into the hallway, preparing to close the door, "I'll be locking the door and keeping the key so you can rest easy. She won't be taken away while you sleep."

Kalmin chuckled, his smile growing brighter at every word she said, "you truly are the best my lady. I appreciate you so much. It's been a while since I've gotten to rest easy, I can tell today's going to be the first time of this month."

"Yea, me too," Annabeth grinned, "now get to bed you sleepy head."

"Yes ma'am," Kalmin teased.

He unbuttoned the first two buttons on his shirt and did the same to Alice, flinching when he saw the purple bruises and red marks on her neck. His face immediately scrunched up into a frown. 'Why in the world…' he muttered to himself as his hands ran over the wounds on her neck. He lifted her shirt to show her collar and shivered when he spotted more marks on her body. 

It wasn't like he hadn't experienced it before, he had had his fair share of being taken advantage of, but this- it wasn't only taken advantage of, it was abuse and being marked like some territory. 

Alice squirmed in her position on the bed when Kalmin ran his finger on one of the bruises on her neck. "No… please go away… please don't do this to me," she begged even though she was in the middle of her sleep. She instinctively turned the opposite direction of Kalmin and buried her head in the sheets of the bed.

A wave of shame rushed over Kalmin again and he simply pulled the covers over Alice's body and then laid in it with her. He was unable to do anything. Any action he made would come back at Alice, hurting her more than what he saved her from. Any words he said were left unlistened to and he would wake the next day with his sister in more pain than the last. This wasn't a suitable place to live in. The abuse, harsh environment and overall treatment was horrible and frightening. He had been reminded of it when Alice's first child was sold after birth against her will just to be informed the next week that it had died. It was the day that Alice lost all life in her and gave up but he didn't blame her.

Now she had to carry another child in her belly that was ready to leave any day from now while being tortured. It was another level of hell he couldn't believe someone as young as her was going through. Hadn't even reached the age of 16, but had already given birth to a child, using as a maid and servant and got beaten up daily. He wished he could switch bodies with her, be the one taking the pain, holding a child, and being hunted after by a shameless predator but then again, it was one of the many things he couldn't do for her. He was the embodiment of useless.

"Sleep well Kalmin," Annabeth sighed, slowly closing the door. 

"Hmm," Kalmin replied, burying his face under the sheets as tears ran down his face.

He listened to the sounds of a door slamming shut and metal locks snapped into place as he silently cried. The only thing he was thankful for in that moment was the warmth of the bed and that the metal locks weren't wrapped around his wrists. 

Annabeth took one look inside the room and slowly walked away, feeling ashamed of herself. 

'This is pathetic,' she thought to herself as the moment replayed in her mind. From where she stood, she could see the unappreciated love marks ridiculing Alice's collarbone and the bruises on her neck. 

'It was pathetic the way they had to take that, it was pathetic how they can only look at each other suffer, it was pathetic how they pretended to be strong. But it was more pathetic that we're the reasons why we are like that,' Annabeth raised her arm to her eyes and rubbed them, wishing she could erase the memory from her head permanently. She could erase seeing those bruises, knowing of sick relationship between her brother and the people beneath them, and wished she never saw that crestfallen face Kalmin had when he went to sleep. 

She wanted to be ignorant. Ignore all the issues around her and pretend that everything was fine and nothing they did hurt the people around them. Ignore that their whips gave them marks, ignore that their sickening desires break them down and ignore the fact that they could cry. She wanted to forget she even saw them as humans in the first place because with enlightenment came the need to do something.

Annabeth walked down the halls of the house, and stopped in front of the family room, knowing they were all behind the door. Her reign of ignorance was coming to a screeching stop as she pulled open the door to the room and saw the smile from her brother. She was going to stop smiling like that. Beating someone and then smiling innocently after, she was done turning away from the sounds of a whip beating down on the person she wanted to save and then hitting him right after, hoping her whips would wake him up while knowing she was being an hypocrite. She was done letting her parents agree to letting their kids use something they called dirty as a toy and letting their son force himself on a girl they called filthy. 

She really wanted to be ignorant, but standing on the sidelines was also a part of why this was still happening and the fact that she could dare to want to be close to the people she hurt, ate at her from the inside out. 

"Justin," Annabeth called out.

"Yes sis?" Justin grinned, running to his big sister's side and swinging his arm around her shoulder, "what is it?"

Annabeth's face scrunched up at his carefree behavior, unable to believe he had the audacity to act innocent after taking someone's purity as he pleased. She growled. "Get your filthy hands off me."

Justin flinched, his hands immediately lifting off his sister's shoulder. Annabeth was not one to get mad. She had always been the calmest out of his three elder sisters and been the one to resolve peace in arguments. She even had power over their parents. But the days that she did get mad were hell. The house was torn into pieces and her harsh words spat forward with no filter and she belittled those she were mad at to the point that they would hate themselves even if they originally thought they were right. 

He didn't like the look in her eyes.. He felt like a dart board, ready to be attacked by shiny impeccably pointed bullets of words.