Forgive us

Johan was shocked. "What?" Johan asked Macey. Macey looked up at Johan and realised what she had just said. "I don't feel safe with any of them knowing where I am. I can't stay here, I'm sorry" Macey replied with tears in her eyes. She liked Johan and would like to be in a relationship with him, but her safety came first.

"Macey, you can go anywhere you want. Mum left you the house and a huge inheritance" Asher stated. He wanted his sister safe and he would help her leave if she didn't feel safe. "Macey, I won't let them hurt you. You can't keep running" Johan continued to speak to Macey ignoring what Asher had just said. He liked Macey and wanted to see how the relationship progressed. He didn't want her leaving, to him that showed them they were winning and she would have to keep running if they found her again.

"I can't ask you to do that for me" Macey spoke to Johan. "Macey, I like you and want to see where things go. You can't keep running from them because they will keep coming. Let the police do their thing. You are safe at the uni and I am at work with you" Johan pleaded with Macey. He didn't want her to leave. "I can also stay around to watch over you" Asher added.

Macey shook her head remembering Asher was here. "I don't want you around Asher, I don't want to owe you anything" Macey stated. "Macey, I owe you, not the other way around. You missed out on so much because of me. Let me do this" Asher stated. Johan kept looking at Macey and placed his hand on her thigh needing to feel that she was there.

"You said mum left me the house?" Macey questioned. Asher nodded his head and took a bite of his food. "I don't want it. I will never step foot into that place again" Macey stated with finality in her voice. "Mum wanted you to have it, it was her house" Asher stated. "You don't get it. I can't ever go back there. I don't care who it was. I don't want it. Sell it or burn it down. That place is the place of my nightmares" Macey said louder stabbing at her salad.

Johan squeezed Macey's thigh in support. He could see she was getting agitated with the fact the house of her childhood was being discussed. "OK, we can get someone to sell it for you. You can then buy your own place. You won't have to work while at uni either. The inheritance should have been paid to you at 18. I started the paperwork already, it just needs your signature and your bank details. It should be in your account within a week. I was supposed to be your legal guardian" Asher stated mumbling at the end.

"So you are doing this to make yourself feel better?" Macey snapped. Johan smirked he was glad Macey snapped, it wasn't healthy for her to keep her feeling bottled up at all. "No, I'm doing what I should have done earlier. I know it's not going to fix things" Asher responded. He knew nothing would change what he had done at all but he could make things easier for his sister.

Macey was tired of going around and around with Asher. Nothing was going to help at all. She busied herself with eating her salad that way she didn't have to focus on Asher at all. Asher studied his sister. He would give anything to turn back time and see her looking at him like he was her hero. He shook his head realising she only looked at him like that because he would bring her food when no one else was around.

"You know our family was fucked up Macey and nothing you did caused that" Asher said. He wanted Macey to know she was never at fault. "You were the bright star in our family. Mum adored you, fuck we all did. You were never a daddy’s girl though, even before Mum died, you avoided him like the plague. Wait, he hurt you before Mum died?" Asher asked working out that Macey never once liked her father.

Macey's head shot up looking at her brother with big doe eyes. No one was supposed to know what her father did. She had sworn to keep it secret to keep her mum safe. She had gone to help her mum one night and been thrown across the room by her dad. She and her mum tried to leave that night but her father caught them and grabbed Macey before she could run. He strangled her and she didn't remember anything after that. She woke up at her grandparent's house and stayed there for two weeks. When her mum came to get her nothing was ever said about it.

"Macey, what did he do?" Asher asked. Macey shook her head, she couldn't say anything at all. She didn't even know if she had dreamt it or not. "Wait, the two weeks you were at our grandparent's place by yourself. He hurt you didn't he?" Asher asked. Macey's eyes grew even bigger as Asher worked it out. "Mum was devastated and she couldn't tell us where you were. Dad was hardly home. Mum didn't know where you were until she came home with you, did she? What did he do?" Asher asked again.

"Macey, what happened?" Johan asked quietly. "We tried to leave after he threw me across the room. He caught me before I could run when Mum told me to. He had his arm around my throat and then I woke up at our grandparent's place. They said I was in an accident. When I told grandma what happened she told me it didn't. Then mum turned up two weeks later when the bruises around my neck were gone. She didn't say anything so I thought I dreamt it. He would sneer at me after that" Macey mumbled.

Asher wanted to kill his father but he was already dead. Macey was 4 years old when that happened. Why wouldn't his grandparents help when they had seen the damage that their son had caused his own daughter?

Macey watched her brother and saw the question in his eyes. "Grandma would scream for help every night" Macey stated causing both Johan and Asher to fall back into their seats. The entire family was full of abusers including Tyler and Diesel. Asher had never raised his hand to a woman but he still hurt Macey emotionally. He knew he had to work to not end up like his father and grandfather. He would never forgive himself for what he had done to Macey as a child.