PeaceMaker

"Did I do something wrong sis?" Justin asked, taking a step back from his sister. 

"I don't know, did you?" Annabeth cocked her head, her arms rising to her chest and folding. 

Justin flinched, he hated that answer the most. It didn't have a clear answer and it forced him to reflect on something that might be the most ridiculous thing or something he did but never realized it was wrong. 

"Was it something obvious?" Justin muttered, his voice lowered in case her anger increased when she analyzed the tone of his voice. "Did I do something that's obviously seen as wrong?"

"I don't know, it seems like this entire family has gone blind," Annabeth snapped. 

"What?" Annabeth's mother called out from the kitchen, walking out with a plate of food in her hand. She turned to the slave who stood in front of the stove cooking and yelled a command at her before turning back to Annabeth with a frown, "Annabeth Elise Crowly! Watch your mouth!"

Annabeth smirked, her smug smile soon twisting into a scowl, "Watch my mouth? Hell no. You all have lost your minds. And you, mother, are you blind? Illiterate?"

"Illite- what?" Annabeth's mother repeated in confusion, she turned to her husband for help. He hadn't even looked up from his newspaper.

"Oh… I forgot. You are. And so is every other incompetent female in this household. Thank god I got to leave these walls you built for yourselves," Annabeth spat, "No wonder we relied on actions like that, we were so unsatisfied with ourselves that we took it out on things we could buy."

"Dear Annabeth quit talking in parables and please get to the point," Annabeth's oldest sister, Jena, sighed, rolling her eyes, "every time you go into a fit, you start out spewing nonsense until you finally get to the point."

"Oh shut up Jena," Annabeth retorted, "don't polish your words when almost everyone on the streets had known you as a slut. Skipping from bed to bed and then returning home to hurt another. Isn't that where you learned how to speak nicely? From that rich scholar... Rich, right?"

Jena twitched, her gaze immediately shifted to her mother whose plate dropped to the ground at Annabeth's words. "Mo-mother," Jena begged, reaching for her mother who stepped away. 

"I-is that why you were so happy about moving?" Mrs. Crowly stuttered, her leg trembling as she stepped backward, "what happened to keeping your purity? What about marriage? Y-you're supposed to be the perfect lady."

"HA! Perfect is the furthest thing from what she is," Annabeth chuckled, "well… unless you're talking about her bed skills, then yes, that would be excellent."

Mrs. Crowly's steps faltered and Mr. Crowly's hand twitched.

"ANNABETH!! SHUT UP!!" Jena screamed, her voice trembling.

"Annabeth! What are you doing?!" Marie cried out. The second oldest sister couldn't stand sitting still.

"Marie?" Annabeth turned to Marie and stared blankly before a smile crawled onto her face.

A chill ran down Marie's spine and she regretted speaking up.

"How are those pearl bracelets sitting on your hand? Were they worth stealing father and mother's money for it?" Annabeth cocked her head, an innocent concerned expression forming on her face, "And every jewelry in that precious treasure box you'll place under your bed, were they worth it?

Marie turned to her father and mother, her eyes pleading with forgiveness. She knew she was already in trouble.

Mrs. Crowly held onto the arm of the couch Mr. Crowly sat on, her arm vibrating, "y-you what? What happened to your job with that seamstress Marie? Y-you said you'd be an independent woman... AFTER BEGGING ME FOR MONTHS TO LET YOU DO WHAT YOU WANTED!!! A-after all those days you would go outside and return with a paycheck proudly… it was just my money? You were lying to me… ha… haha."

"Annabeth! Shut up! Why are you lying?!" Marie screamed desperately, her eyes filling with tears, "w-why are you lying? Tell them you're lying… don't be mean."

"Lying?!" Annabeth gasped, "I would never do that to mother! Also, I know I'm not lying! I can show her those preposterous books you have hidden under your bed along with that treasure box."

Marie jumped, the hairs on her neck standing up.

"Those positions… are you looking for future reference? Planning to do the same thing Jena did?" Annabeth muttered, pretending to be deep in thought. She looked up with a bright smile, "I mean, with all that studying, you'll at least know what'll happen when you're on that bed."

Marie glanced from her mother to Annabeth, tears running down her face when she noticed her mother clutching cloth on the space above her heart.

"A-annabeth.. Plea-se," Marie begged, falling to her knees and turning from her mother and Annabeth not sure who to beg.

"Father… you do see this right?" Annabeth called out. 

Her father flinched.

"I mean now that I'm outing them in front of my mother, you don't have to pretend you don't know anymore, right?" Annabeth giggled, her smile switching to frown, "you don't have to pretend you didn't see Jena walk into the motel holding hands with a different man every two days, don't have to pretend you didn't see Marie sifting through the jewelry on the streets with the money from your own pockets. Yes… that's right. You don't have to pretend."

Mrs. Crowly fell to the ground, her quivering legs finally giving in.

"Mother!" Jena yelled, running to her mother's side and offering to lift her up. 

Mrs. Crowly shot a look of hate and pushed Jena aside, stopping Marie before she could even reach her. "Do NOT touch me with those impure hands," Mrs. Crowly spat at Jena.

"Ah.. talking about impure hands…" Anna muttered as she turned to Justin, "ahh, the filthiest of them, my precious little brother."

Justin trembled, stepping back away from Anna. There was a reason she kept him for last and he hated it. The pressure her eyes had, the condescending glares she gave everyone in the family regardless of their title or position. Whenever she got mad, someone was going to get targeted but today, she attacked everyone, revealing pieces of information that was bound to bring their family to pieces but didn't hold back. There was not a hint of regret in her fierce eyes when she stared down at him.

"The father of two children," Annabeth chuckled, "one dead and the other yet to be born… right?"

Justin froze up and immediately turned to the rest in the room, his head shaking immediately to say she was lying.

"Did they know?" Annabeth asked, stepping closer to Justin, "that the one who robbed our so-called maid was you? Did they know that the moment you found out she was a woman, you started assaulting her? That those assaults led to you taking her purity? That you would sneak around the house the first few times you pinned her down? Wait till you thought everyone was done, then tie her down somewhere and perform acts of sin on her?"

"What?" Mrs. Crowley muttered, "you did what Justin?"

"Oh… they didn't know right? That when they started noticing her first baby bump, that the child was yours not the group of friends you claimed raped her? And when you were first caught red-handed, you called it punishment right?" Annabeth cocked her head, "punishment for what? Her refusing to sit still while you pressed into her? Her getting pregnant? What did you fucking punish her for?"

"I-" Justin stuttered, unable to come up with things to say. 'When did she know? How did she know? Were we watched?'

"Well, at least you took the blame for the second child... After saying she begged you to do it to her. Saying she was being a slut right? For begging you to stay in her. What a fucking lie," Annabeth sighed, "it was you who forced her to take it. Don't act all innocent now."

"Justin. You did that?" Mr. Crowly asked, his eyebrow raising in shock.

"A-after I said t-that ...that dirty thing cannot be touched by you it was you… the only one who did that to her?" Mrs. Crowly broke into sobs, crying as the perfect image of her children shattered.

Jena's eyes shook as she looked down at her mother to her brother, her sister, her father, and then back to Annabeth. 

"S-SHUT UP! I-IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?!" Jena cried, "to bring this family to crumbles… IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED?!" 

"There was a time when this house was as pure as we claimed it to be. The moment you took that first boy to the motel, that purity was ripped to shreds. This house is no longer the strong wall it used to be, it's glued together by lies and using the ignorance of others to hide your bad points," Annabeth muttered, glancing down at her hands, "it was about time this all got revealed."

Jena clenched her hands, refusing to go down without a fight. "W-what about you?! D-DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE IF THIS FAMILY IS BROKEN THEN YOU WOULD DEFINITELY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT!" Jena yelled, pointing fingers at Annabeth, "If anybody was to blame… IF ANYBODY WAS TO BLAME FOR KILLING THIS FAMILY, IT WOULD BE YOU! YOU'RE THE WORST."

"Yea, you're right," Annabeth chuckled, her eyes darkening, "I am the worst."