In My Arms

Matt’s P.O.V.
The next morning I woke up and first went to go check on Kasey. When I didn’t find her I panicked. But as I was looking in the living room I saw through the screen door to the porch that Brian was holding her on the swing. Within seconds I relaxed.
“Brian wake up.” I said shaking him.
“What?” He said opening his eyes slowly.
“Wake up and get inside.” I laughed.
“Oh here, take her.” He said nodding his head to Kasey. Gently I lifted her up in my arms and walked inside. He followed soon after and I laid her down on the couch. Brian and I went into the kitchen and I started making breakfast.
“What were you guys doing outside?” I asked curious.
“She had a nightmare so I figured the sounds of the waves would help fall back asleep. And apparently it helped me too.” He said yawning.
“What was her nightmare about?” I asked while I cooked some pancakes.
“Something about how she was trapped in a house with this man and he killed her sister.” He said.
“Oh.” I said. As I was finishing up my last batch of pancakes the doorbell rang and Brian went to answer it. When he came back he had a yellow envelope in his hands.
“Who was it?” I asked.
“No one, but they left this on our doorstep.” He said handing it to me. I opened it up and saw pictures and small cassette tape. I pulled them out and started looking at the pictures. What I saw made my blood boil. It disgusted me. I handed them to Brian and he had the same expression. I couldn’t understand who would do such a thing to a child.
“Matt? What’s wrong?” Kasey asked startling us. I looked at her and then back at the pictures. It was her in the photos and it broke my heart.
“N-nothing. Come eat breakfast.” I said putting away the pictures. We all sat down at the island bar and ate quietly. Once we were done I excused myself to my office and pulled out the pictures and tape again. I slipped the tape into a video camera and pressed play.
What I saw brought tears to my eyes. It was Kasey and her dad in her room. And he was kicking, punching, and slapping her over and over again. She begged him to stop but he paid no attention to her. Finally I couldn’t watch it anymore and shut it off. As I was putting the stuff back in the envelope I saw a small piece of paper. It said ‘Save these, you’ll need them. –Sarah’. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was planning.
But for now I had to go talk to Kasey. I knew she was hiding this, but I needed her to say it. I needed her to tell me.
“Kasey!” I called. A few seconds passed and she came into my office.
“Yeah?” She asked walking in. I motioned for her to sit down and she did.
“I have a question that I need you to answer. I’m pretty sure I already know what the answer is but I need to hear it from you.” I said. She nodded her head and I continued.
“Have your parents ever hurt you?” I asked kneeling down in front of her.
“N-no.” She said.
“Don’t lie. Don’t try to protect them. You’re safe here.” I pushed.
“Yes.” She sighed.
“Do you still have any marks or bruises?” I asked gently. She nodded her head yes.
“Can I see them?” I asked. Again she nodded her head and then stood up. As she turned around she lifted the back of her shirt revealing multiple bruises. Then she turned back around and lifted up the hem of her skirt revealing a giant bruise the size of a basketball on her thigh with scratches around it.
“How did that one happen?” I asked.
“My dad pushed me down the stairs outside.” She said.
“Why didn’t you guys ever tell anyone?” I asked her.
“I didn’t want to believe it was true. It had been going on for so long that for me it was normal. But sometimes I think I knew it was abuse. But didn’t say anything because at least it was attention.” She said.
“I swear to you Kasey, your parents will never be able to hurt you again.” I said pulling her into my arms. I heard her sigh and saw her start crying softly. After a while I let her go back to doing what she was doing before and I got on my computer. When I checked my email I saw I had an email from someone unknown. I clicked on it and there was just a simple message.
‘Use the pictures to make Kasey’s parents sign over custody. They would rather lose their daughter than go to jail.’
And then there were attached files. I opened them up and they were custody papers. Knowing what I had to do I printed out the papers. While they were printing I made copies of the photos and locked them in my desk. I took the originals and put them in a folder with the papers. Next I called Brian in to my office.
“Yeah man?” He asked coming in.
“I need your help. Tell Zacky to watch Kasey for a while and then meet me in the car.” I said getting my jacket. Within a couple minutes we were both sitting in my car.
“So what are we doing?” He asked.
“Getting custody of Kasey.” I said and handed him the folder.

******************

As I knocked on their door I couldn’t help but feel nervous. This had to go right. After a few seconds a man opened the door.
“Can I help you?” He grumbled.
“Your Kasey’s parents right? I need to talk to you.” I said.
“I haven’t seen her in a couple weeks so whatever you’re after, you’re not going to find it here.” He said trying to shut the door.
“I bet you haven’t even reported her missing. Some father you are.” I growled pushing the door back open.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” He growled back.
“The man that’s been taking care of your daughter for the past two weeks!” I shouted.
“If it’s money you’re after, then you can just keep her!” He said narrowing his eyes at me.
“I don’t need your money. I just need you to sign these papers.” I said dangling the custody papers in front of him.
“And if I don’t?” He asked.
“Then these pictures along with a video of you beating your daughter will go straight to the police! And you and your wife can rot in prison for the rest of your life!” Brian said forcefully pushing the door open and making the man stumble backwards.
“What’s it gonna be?” I asked shutting the door behind us as we walked in.