Farrington-Gores: Therapy, part II

A/N: Again, physical abuse warning.

'That's so horrible.'

'I know I've got issues... I'm not a danger to anyone though.'

'We know that. You're one of the gentlest people I know.'

'You're certainly not dangerous. What he did to you was gaslighting.'

'I...don't know what that is.'

'Manipulating you into doubting yourself. Your memory, perception and sanity. That's what he's doing when he calls you crazy.'

'That sounds familiar. He tried it with me. He'd do something and then immediately take it back afterwards and try to convince me I imagined it. So I started writing shit down.'

'Oh, yeah... I know what you mean now... Dad slapped me in the face once. I asked him why he did it and he acted like he had no idea what I meant. I told him, and he told me that nothing like that happened and I must've imagined it. ...I still don't really know which one of us is right, honestly...'

'You, without a doubt. His tendency towards violence is proof enough. In addition to the things he's said... it's definitely you who is right.'

'I don't understand why he hates me so much.'

'He hates all of us, it's not just you. Me, Laz, the twins...'

'...Definitely the twins. Their names are enough.'

'What are they called?'

'...Parasite and Failed Abortion. My gran, Wed's mum, she wanted a girl. Got twin boys. Abraxas didn't protest the names.'

'Oh my God!'

'Wow, that's fucking awful.'

'Jesus...'

'They're ghosts. They, um, literally are failed attempts at termination... But it means Dad can't hurt them.'

'...I shouldn't find this funny, but 'cause they can phase through walls and shit, they take advantage of it and break into Abraxas' private winery. Breaking news, the guy's a fucking snob. So they like to steal a couple of bottles just to piss him off.'

'I think I'd be tempted to do the same in their position!'

'Yeah. So, what other kind of shit does Tate pull?'

'He threatened to kill Mum.'

'...Oh for fuck's sake.'

'He said all kinds of awful things to her. Calling her a worthless whore, stuff like that...'

'She was angry with him because he cheated on her and got another woman pregnant...'

'We don't know for certain what happened to her, but I don't think it was anything good.'

'Yeah, then I overheard him admitting to the whole thing. I was in the fucking toilet. That's when he started with all the insults and murder threats. He still doesn't know I heard.'

'Fuck, man. That's horrible, I'm sorry. D'you guys have any plans to leave his abusive ass in the dust?'

'...We're moving abroad once I stop being a fucking pussy. Mum bought a house. I'm the only thing holding us back.'

'But we don't blame him or anything!'

'Jesus Christ, you're not being a pussy. Hey, when you get the chance, tell your mum to give me a call if she needs a hand when you guys have a leaving date set. I could grab Tate's attention and cause a distraction somehow maybe.'

'Oh, sure.'

'I can pass your number onto her.'

'Cheers.'

'What if Tate tells Dad?'

'The pair of 'em can fucking suck it up. If Abraxas wants to come down here to throw his weight around because I helped his abused family out, it'll be his Goddamn funeral.'

'Wait, do they know each other?'

'...Oh, yeah. They're in business together.'

'Oh, I didn't know that...'

'Makes sense that two assholes like them would get along.'

'I looked through Abraxas' emails before he threw us out, found a few to Tate, that's how I discovered they're in business togther in the first place. ...Actually, one of them was kind of amusing, Abraxas had to use a voice to text function. One of the twins started yelling in the background and it went into the email too. Some business related shit, and suddenly Abraxas says something like "fart dickface no Parasite stop that fuck off boobies for Christ's sake I'll have to delete this now bloody hell how do I do it I can't figure it out delete".'

'That's brilliant.'

'You okay?'

'...I'm just wondering why I'm here.'

'I'm really sorry to hear about Abraxas. But I can't help. I'm not an abuse victim.'

'Well Edward said it might be beneficial for all of us to share experiences of similarly cunty parents.'

'You've put up with terrible treatment too.'

'But that's just it, I haven't. I'm the fucking favourite. Everyone but me gets abused!'

'That's not your fault though.'

'...I really shouldn't be complaining. But look where it fucking got me.'

'...Yeah. We're both sorry you had to go through that. It's fucked up.'

'Tell me about it. I mean, jeez, it's not like I wanted it to happen to anyone else. I'm glad it was me and not any of the others. But knowing that's the reason... I just hate Father even more. Even if I'm meant to be fucking grateful because ooh, he put himself in the way for me! Well, fuck it. I didn't ask him to.'

'Fuck no, you don't owe him any fucking gratitude. Tate's the one that fucking started it, this Goddamn mess is all his stupid, selfish, narcissistic cunting fault. He and that fucked up psycho should both jump into a vat of acid, and take his demon bitch daughter with 'em.'

'I know how you feel, Tristan. I've been there. But I think you're doing incredibly well.'

'He's right! So what if you're taking time to recover? You need it.'

'Thanks... Can I leave? I wanna go see Charon now.'

'Of course.'

'So... what else is there? You said there's one stand out story for everyone. That seems to be true for us too.'

'Well, not for me. It's ongoing. But for you...'

'...Yeah. Dad arranged a marriage for me.'

'...What the fuck?'

'One of Dad's political backers bought our house, so he owes him. Apparently that means selling Carmella to the old guy's son. They said he's nearly forty.'

'I've only met him that one time.'

'What?!'

'...Jesus Christ. Even Abraxas hasn't gone down that route of douchery.'

'Tristan tried to talk him out of it and he said I should put aside personal discomfort. And he referred to me as an "investment". I felt so special.'

'...Jesus fucking Christ, that's horrendous.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Thanks. It's okay. We won't be there long enough for it to happen.'

'...You're right, by the way. Everyone's one stand out story. Laz got steroids forced on him, Wednesday got abandoned in a fucking car boot overnight... I should at some point face up to the worst he did to me. So what's the protocol if you make your counsellor cry? Uh, no offence. But you seem pretty sensitive, and...this is fucked. Massively fucked.'

'...We can stop afterwards.'

'...I dunno.'

'Is this something new?'

'...Kinda. I probably shouldn't have brought it up, never mind.'

'You'd tell me to speak up if something was bothering me. That's the reason we're here in the first place, because I was bothered.'

'...Yeah.'

'So you should be able to too.'

'Nothing is off-limits here. You don't have to, but you're welcome to tell us what it is.'

'I, um... I have this scar. On my wrist. It's faded now, you'd barely notice it unless you were specifically looking for it. The story shared is that I slit my wrist in a suicide attempt. ...I was seven. I'd started writing down Abraxas' shit and he was pissed that he struggled to gaslight me. I was always the one he had the most trouble with controlling, 'cause even back then I stood up to him, so he had to escalate his abuse to get me in line. He's the one that cut my wrist.'

'What the fuck?!'

'He ran about screaming "my daughter cut her wrist, she's tried to kill herself", playing the terrified doting father. He took me to hospital and I got patched up, and never left my side. I was too scared, in too much shock to tell anyone that he fucking did it. Not that it mattered though. He pretended to be comforting me as I got stitches, bandages, spoke to a shrink, when really he was stopping me from telling the truth. We got home, he hugged me. That's the only time in twenty-two fucking years he hugged me, and it was only because Phaedra - Wed's mum - was watching. He whispered to me that I'd better keep the act up. I got shoved in an office with a fucking shrink who tried to get me to talk about my so called suicidal ideation while that fucking cunt got away scot-fucking-free.'