A New Beginning

She should have been beautiful.

She was a petite brunette of twenty-three of 5'2". Her shoulder length, auburn hair framed a delicate elfin face with green eyes, a button nose and a pair of soft, ruby-red lips. Her figure was slim, yet had all the curves in the right places covered by a short sleeved T-shirt and a knee length denim skirt.

She should have been beautiful.

Her left eye was swollen closed and was surrounded by an angry purple bruise. Her forearms had several small circular scars, about the size and shape of a cigarette end and a slight lump on her right side showed the result of a badly healed broken rib. She walked with a stoop and kept her eyes on the ground as she moved. Her face wore a haunted expression and never smiled. That smile that had, in the past, brightened an entire room.

She should have been beautiful.

Lynne finished packing her suitcase and closed the lid. Then she sat on her narrow bed and looked around the room. It was sparsely furnished, just the bed and a single battered wooden locker. The only decoration was a small crucifix screwed to the wall above the bed head.

There was a tap at the door and a woman's voice said, "They're here Lynne."

She stood up, grabbed the small case and opened the door. Her new friend, Sybille stood there. About 45 years old, she was a blousy looking bottle blonde, somewhat overweight and a cigarette permanently in the corner of her mouth. Her eyes could have been a vibrant blue, but they had seen too much and had lost their lustre. She smiled, "Are you okay love?"

Lynne tried to return the smile, but could not. She was too nervous. She took a deep breath and then nodded.

Together, the two women made their way to the front door of the building where three men stood waiting.

Two of the men, although somewhat larger than Lynne showed a clear family resemblance. The other was a blond man of about 5'10". Broad shoulders and a well toned body with strong well-defined musculature. He obviously worked out on a regular basis. His face was masculine if not classically handsome. But the entire package presented quite an imposing figure.

The older of the other men started to smile when he saw Lynne walking towards them, but his expression turned dark when he saw her face and arms as she came closer. He swore, "Bastard!" He started to shake with rage, "That bastard! Let's find him and kill him!"

The blond responded, "Hang on Brian. The important thing is to get Lynne home. We can think about what to do about Jimmy once she's safe."

Struggling to get his temper under control, Brian was forced to agree. The important thing was to get Lynne home.

Lynne stopped in front of the trio, looked at Brian and burst into tears. He took his sister in his arms and whispered soothing noises as she sobbed uncontrollably.

He managed to calm his little sister sufficiently for her to be led to where his car was parked. Before she climbed in, she turned and looked back at Sybille stood in the doorway of the women's refuge and said, "Thank you."

Sybille smiled briefly and replied, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I never want to see you again," then she returned back inside and closed the door behind her.

Brian took the driver's seat and Tommy sat next to him, leaving the back seat for Nathan and Lynne.

The young man regarded her silently as she sat next to him. Lynne sat with her head bowed and stared at her hands as her fingers intertwined. He had always held a candle for her and it pained him to see the woman he remembered as a happy-go- lucky person with a sparkling personality in such a despairing state.

Her brothers in the front did not dare to speak, if they did then their collective rage would make them spew forth their hatred for the man who had done this to their baby sister, and both knew that the last thing she wanted to hear about was Jimmy.

Nathan too was raging at the changes Jimmy had wrought in Lynne, but he managed to keep his emotions in check so he could at least talk to her. He reached out to touch her shoulder; Lynne saw his hand out of the corner of her eye and without conscious thought, flinched away from him. He recoiled as if he had been bitten, "I'm sorry Lynne," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Lynne looked back at him. She hated what she had become, scared to feel the touch of a man, even one as innocent as what Nathan had attempted. She knew he would not hurt her and she also knew that he had always had feelings for her, but still, she couldn't stand the touch of a man's hand. Her mind always jumped back to the feel of Jimmy's hand as he punished her for real or imagined transgressions.

Her mind floated back. At first he had been an attentive and loving husband, but then one day that had changed. He had been made redundant from his job and had been unable to find another. Depression set in and he had started drinking. She remembered the first time he had ever laid his hand upon her. He had come home from the pub, drunk and they had started to row. Once again, he had spent the housekeeping on drink and he had slapped her.

He was instantly contrite and apologetic and swore never to do it again. Lynne had believed him and forgave him that little slip. But it did happen again, repeatedly and each time he was just as apologetic and each time she forgave him.

The slaps had turned to punches and kicks. His dinner was late, punch. She stayed out too late, punch. She accidentally broke his favourite beer glass when she was washing up, kick. On that occasion he had broken her rib and she had been too frightened to go to the hospital, so it had mended badly leaving the misshapen lump on her side.

He started to tell her how stupid she was, how ugly she was and how worthless she was. And in time, she started to believe him.

Her sex life with him was something she had come to fear and hate. On the rare occasions when he was able to perform, he would force himself on her. Thrusting his tongue into her mouth and physically making her perform oral sex. His rancid breath and unwashed body nearly made her sick, but she had to maintain an air of enjoyment or risk another beating.

One day it came to a head. He had come home drunk as usual and started accusing her of being unfaithful. One of his drinking cronies had told him how she had been seen dancing with another man on one of her infrequent nights out with her friends. The story was a tissue of lies; she never would have dared do such a thing, much as she might have wanted too.

All of her entreaties fell on deaf ears. She could still remember his words, "You cheating slut! I'll show you what happens to wives who fuck around!"

He removed his leather belt and had given her a savage beating on her back and buttocks. She curled into a screaming ball on the floor, but still he hit her until she thought she would pass out.

Then he had calmly lit a cigarette and had applied it liberally to her forearms. The agony had been almost more than she could take.

Once he had finished, he had calmly stood back up, put his belt back on and said coldly, "Now, Bitch. I didn't want to do that, but I had to. You do understand don't you? You gave me no choice."

He then walked into the kitchen and called out matter-of-factly, "Is dinner ready yet?"

That episode had been the turning point for Lynne, she couldn't take any more. She was terrified that the next time he beat her up, he would kill her. Once, she had loved him, but now the only feelings she had were fear and loathing. So, the very next day when he went out to continue with the destruction of his liver, she had grabbed a small suitcase, filled it with her few clothes and headed straight for the women's refuge.

Nathan watched Lynne carefully as she sat deep in thought; his voice was thick with emotion as he asked, "Jesus, Lynne. What's he done to you?"

Lynne couldn't answer him, all she could do was sit and weep in silence.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was a few days later. Lynne had been brought home to live with Brian and Nathan in the house they shared together. She had been given her own room and a rota for the bathroom worked out. Both men were careful to give Lynne all the privacy she needed. They knew she was very conscious about her body and the scars it carried.

Their evenings were spent listening to music or watching television in the living room. Sometimes Brian and Nathan would enjoy a beer, but Lynne never drank anything stronger than tonic water. However, this particular evening, Brian was forced to work late and so Nathan and Lynne had the house to themselves.

They were stood together in the kitchen and were just finishing off the washing up. Nathan had just rinsed out the bowl and turned to ask Lynne if she wanted a hand with the drying. She turned her head to look at him and as she did so, accidentally knocked a wine glass from the draining board onto the floor, where it landed and broke into several pieces.

Lynne stiffened as she watched it fall; it was almost as though it was slow motion. She looked back up at Nathan, but all she could see was Jimmy snarling in anger at her clumsiness.

Nathan reached out to see if she was okay, but what she saw was a fist flying towards her.

She screamed.

Lynne fell to the floor and curled into the foetal position, still screaming, "Please Jimmy! I didn't mean it! No!"

Nathan stood in shock. Never in his wildest imagination did he ever expect to see Lynne in the state she in now, "Oh Jesus! What's that bastard done to you?"

He crouched down next to her and tried to gather Lynne into his arms. She felt his touch and started lashing out wildly, desperate to escape the beating she knew was coming.

And still she screamed.

Nathan ignored her tiny, flailing fists. He forced her into a semi-sitting position and wrapped his arms around her firmly, "It's okay, it's Nathan. You're safe here. It's all okay."

Over and over he whispered those words as she sobbed and hammered against his chest. Eventually, she reached the point of exhaustion and her fighting and sobbing died down. She held her arms in front of her chest inside his embrace and she cried quietly into his shoulder. But still he maintained his steady soothing words.

Presently, her crying stopped and she stared into space dully. Lynne felt like a rag doll in Nathan's arms. Gently he picked her up and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. He laid her on the bed and covered her in a blanket and then sat down next to her and stroked her forehead. Her eyes slowly focussed on his face and she tentatively reached up to take his hand. She squeezed it gently, held it to her cheek and gave him a shy half-smile.

Nathan gazed down at her and smiled back gently, "You're exhausted," he said, "try and sleep a bit."

Brian arrived home later that evening and stood in the doorway to his sister's room. He saw her asleep on the bed and Nathan still sat next to her holding her hand. Nathan noticed the new arrival, and at Brian's look of askance carefully extracted his hand and left the room.

Back downstairs, Brian asked what had happened and Nathan recounted the events of the evening, getting more and more emotional as he spoke.

"She panicked because she broke a glass?"

By this point Nathan was shaking with impotent fury and tears flowed unbidden, "Oh Jesus Brian! You didn't see her!" his hand flew to his mouth as though he were about to be sick, "If I ever see him, I am gonna put him in a fucking wheelchair!"

Brian was shocked, he had never seen his friend like this, and the vehemence with which he spoke convinced Brian of his sincerity. He reached out to clasp Nathan by the shoulder and answered, "Join the queue."

Late into the night, the two friends sat together. Brian barely spoke, but he listened as Nathan poured his heart out. How he felt about Lynne, how it hurt him so much to see her like that, what he was going to do to Jimmy if he ever saw him. But mainly how he felt about Lynne.

During a lull, Brian said, "Do you think I'm blind? Do you think I didn't know how you felt? I know you better than you think Nathan," he paused, "I want to ask you a favour."

"What?"

"You've got a lot of holiday time left. I haven't got any. I want you to stay here with Lynne and keep an eye on her for me."

"Of course," Nathan looked a little embarrassed, "Actually I was going to do that anyway."

Brian didn't speak, but he did smile quietly to himself.

The next morning after Brian had gone off to work, Nathan rang his employer and told them of his plans. Once made fully aware of the circumstances they were more than happy to let him have leave at such short notice.

Then he prepared a light breakfast on a tray and took it upstairs. He tapped lightly on Lynne's door and hearing no response quietly entered the room. She was still asleep burrowed inside her blanket. Nathan put the tray on her bedside table and then gently shook her awake by the shoulder. Her eyes opened and he smiled, "Morning. I've brought your breakfast."

Lynne presented him with her curious grin and answered, "There's no need, I'm not an invalid you know."

"I know I didn't need to. I wanted to. Come on, sit up and eat."

Lynne sat up and accepted the tray. The smell of the scrambled eggs on toast made her mouth water. She took a drink of coffee and then set about her breakfast with gusto, "Mmmm," she said, "This is tasty."

Nathan sat and watched her polish off the food, when she had cleared her plate and had drank the last of her coffee, he slowly reached up so she could see his arm as it moved and wiped the side of her mouth with his thumb, "Crumbs," he said.

She shivered slightly at his touch but did not flinch away, Nathan considered that a good sign, "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked.

Lynne looked down, "Better... Nathan... I'm sorry about last night."

His hand dropped to her shoulder and he rubbed it gently, "Don't be silly, you have nothing to be sorry for."

Lynne placed her hand over his on her shoulder and replied, "Maybe, but I wanted to say it anyway," she leaned forward, placed a delicate kiss on his cheek and whispered, "Thank you."

Nathan was embarrassed and excited by her kiss. He was also disgusted with himself for being turned on by such an innocent gesture, especially as he knew how difficult it must have been for her. He fought down his conflicting emotions and with just a slight quaver in his voice said, "I'll take this away and you can get yourself sorted out. If you want, we can go out somewhere today. I've taken a few days leave, so whatever you wanna do..."

She considered the proposal, "Well, I do need some new clothes. I don't have many, Jimmy sold most of my clothes along with just about everything we owned."

Nathan stood up, took the tray and said, "That's it then. I'll take you shopping."

"Wait, I... I haven't any money."

"Don't worry about that, I'll sort you out."

"Oh Nathan, I couldn't."

"Rubbish! Tell you what, we'll call it a loan and you pay me back when you can, okay?"

A slight smile, "Okay then, a loan. Thank you."

Later, they arrived at a small High Street Boutique and Nathan said, "Tommy's girlfriend works here, come on I'll introduce you."

Inside, they met up with a tall willowy ash-blonde with a very pretty face. Nathan introduced them and then Julie led Lynne away with a warm smile. Together the two women chose some outfits for Lynne to try on.

While Lynne was in the changing cubicle, Julie popped her head round to ask if she was okay. She saw Lynne from behind bending over to slip on a skirt, she wasn't wearing a blouse.

Speechless, Julie came away from the changing area and sought out Nathan where he stood by the shop entrance. Her face was white.

Concerned, Nathan asked, "What's the matter?"

Julie was close to tears, she swallowed and replied, "Jesus! Have you seen her back?"

"No... Why? What's the matter?"

She didn't answer him, she just said, "You find him, you kick his teeth in!"

Nathan saw Lynne emerge from the cubicle and walk over to them. She gave a twirl, "Well?" She was wearing a long sleeved blouse over a leather waistcoat and a bunched peasant skirt.

Julie managed to squeak, "Lovely. You look lovely."

Nathan agreed absently, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

Eventually, Lynne had selected a few outfits and Nathan paid. Together they left the shop and returned home.

Once they had packed all her new clothes away, Lynne looked at him, "Nathan? You're very quiet. What's the matter?"

He returned her gaze solemnly, "Show me your back."

Lynne's expression clouded, "Why?"

"I want to see it."

"Nathan..."

"Show me your back."

She turned around and unbuttoned her blouse. Her head was bowed as she slipped her top down her arms to expose what should have been a clear expanse of milky skin to his view. He gave a sharp intake of breath and then said, "Why didn't you tell us sooner? Why did you stay with him so long?"

Lynne slipped her blouse back on but did not button it up again, she turned to face Nathan and said, "I was scared to leave him." She was shaking like a leaf. Nathan forced himself to look her in the eye instead of at the narrow expanse of skin left visible by the open blouse. He moved toward her and rested his hands on her shoulders, "All you had to do was call. I would have got you out of there."

She looked frightened as she replied, "I thought he'd kill me."

Nathan embraced her tight and heard her whisper, "I just wish he'd been like you."

That was his first inkling that his feelings for her, feelings he had carried for some years now, were reciprocated. His heart flew, but it was also aching because of what had needed to happen for him to find out. He thought viciously that Jimmy had amassed a score that would be difficult to settle, but he may yet manage it.

A voice from the door surprised them, "Hello hello, what's going on here?

It was Brian.

Lynne jumped like a scalded cat and tried to button her blouse closed, she fumbled but could not make her fingers work, so blushing furiously, she held her blouse closed and bolted from the room and up the stairs.

Nathan raised his hands and said, "It's not what you think."

Brian regarded him carefully, there was an amused glint in his eye that Nathan did not see, "What do you think I thought it was?"

"She was showing me her back."

"Is that what they call it now?"

"Brian..."

Suddenly the other man laughed out loud, "It's not my business, but if you make her happy, then it's okay with me," he stopped laughing when he saw that Nathan had remained sombre. Nathan told him about the scars on Lynne's back.

Brian wobbled slightly and had to sit down, he put his head in his hands and said, "I'm going to fucking kill him. I mean it Nate, I'm going to kill him," he paused and looked at Nathan, "Go upstairs and talk to her. Find out everything he did. I think she'll talk to you."

Nathan nodded and then went upstairs. He tapped lightly on Lynne's door, "Lynne, can I come in?"

She answered quietly in the affirmative, so he pushed open the door and walked inside. Lynne was sat on her bed; her blouse still undone and she stared blankly at the floor. He sat down beside her and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Suddenly, Lynne threw her arms around him and held him close, he could feel her heart beating fast against his chest and she began to talk. She told him about the first time Jimmy had hit her, all the excuses she had made for him, trying to explain away the marks and bruises that appeared almost daily and finally she told him about the beating that had forced her to flee to the refuge. Nathan sat in silence listening to her story and gently letting his hand rub up and down her spine soothingly.

When she had finished he said, "Well, that's over now. It's in the past and we won't let anything bad happen to you. You're surrounded by people who love you... And you wouldn't believe what your brothers are going to do to Jimmy if they ever see him again."