A Lie

Nick and Nia left and mum met me cleaning up the casserole and smashed the dish on my back in anger. 

Dad overheard the sound and when he came to inspect and saw me on the ground with a broken dish and casserole on the floor he didn't ask questions; just grabbed his whip from his office and put it to good use against my back. 

After everyone had slept I went to my secret stash and whipped up a concoction to ease the pain and help with the scarring. 

It knocked me straight out. 

The pain meds wearing off was what woke me up and I'll tell you something; it's horrible to be woken up because of a sore and aching back.

I took a quick shower while also trying to be careful of my injuries and a loud knock on my door alerted me from inside the bathroom.

"You have ten minutes to be in the living room." 

I heard my father's voice say and I moved on autopilot. I put on a simple pair of joggers and a black long sleeved top then left my hair damp because my time was up and rushed into the living room. 

Everyone was already seated for breakfast and I had barely sat down when my father's voice stopped me. 

"Come here Hayley," he said and I heard Elena snicker briefly. I gulped and slowly made my way over to him, 

"Take off your shirt." 

My eyes widened and I looked around in panic. He has not told me to strip since I was ten and I can still remember the sting of the whip. 

"I'm not making you strip," he said suddenly making me sigh in relief, "I wouldn't want to show my family something disgusting while they eat." 

I swallowed my shame and pulled my shirt over my head in one move. "Turn around." I slowly turned around and he made a sound of disgust, "Put it back on now." 

I quickly put my shirt back on and I saw everyone sporting looks of disgust on their faces. Elena even dramatically threw her fork down on her plate.

 "I can't eat anymore." 

She huffed and I saw dad narrow his eyes at me. "I would punish you for upsetting her but fortunately for you I won't do that today," he said, "Now tell me Hayley what is the use of having healing powers if you can't even use them." 

I opened my mouth to reply but he cut me off, "Your back is absolutely disgusting." "I didn't cause it." I blurted out and his mouth hung open for a second. 

"Make no mistake about it, I know ways to hurt you and make it look like an accident so watch your mouth," he spat and I gulped and nodded,

"I want words!" "Yes sir." "Good," he said with a sadistic smile, "Now I want you to take care of that back before the people come; you will be standing in while Elena takes her measurements for the ball." 

"Why do I have to be there?" "Because I can't be bothered to stand there for hours while people poke and prod at me."

 She said with a smile.

 "It's utterly boring and I could use some entertainment." "Okay but what about my outfit?" I asked, 

"Won't I need to get fitted?" Everywhere went quiet for a second before dad burst out laughing. He laughed for a few minutes before he finally calmed down.

 "I will not have my workers waste their time fitting you," he spat and I felt the hurt rising in me but I knew protesting wouldn't work so I did what I knew would. 

"If I go in an old outfit people will think that you can't provide for your daughters,' I said and his eyes narrowed for a second before he finally nodded. "Alright then; you'll get a new outfit," he said and I almost smiled, "But; you won't be fitted for it." 

"Then how would they know if it's my size?" I asked and it was Elena who replied. "It isn't hard," she shrugged, "All they need to do is get the measurements off a cow; I'm sure it'll fit like a glove."

I grit my teeth because I knew I couldn't reply and made my way over to my chair to sit down but was stopped by dad. "I didn't call you down here to eat Hayley; you'll make my Elena upset," Elena flashed me a smirk, 

"Why don't you go upstairs and work of that back of yours?" "They aren't even going to see it." "It wasn't a request." I saw the hard glint in his eyes so I nodded and left for my room.

The fitters arrived just after I finished healing myself and I was ushered into Elena's room. Elena played the part of perky sister while gushing to me about how pretty the dresses would look on me and to avoid any punishments from dad I played along to the fantasy of the perfect family. 

When they finished fitting Elena she thanked them and told them they could leave but one of them stopped and turned to me. 

"Won't you get fitted?" she asked and my eyes widened in surprise but I shook my head, "We need your measurements." 

"It's fine; I don't really enjoy ball gowns and all that stuff." LIE; that is a filthy lie. I love to dress up. 

The woman didn't seem to believe me because she narrowed her eyes, "Then how will we know what'll fit?" 

"Just get me anything that you think is pretty and might fit; if it doesn't then we'll adjust it." I said but she wasn't letting go."

"The dresses are arriving on the day of the ball." "It doesn't matter." She opened her mouth to speak but nodded and left the room and as soon as she left Elena whirled on me. "Be a little more believable next time," she spat, "Now get the fuck out of my room."