The Revelation (Caleb, Aurelia and Brooke)

Caleb rushed through the hospital wing concern etched into every line on his face. When he finally found Brooke, it wasn’t hard to figure out that something bad had happened to her because she rarely ever passed out. Her face was deathly pale as if she was in shock and her skin was cold to his touch as if she had lost all the blood in her body. Even unconscious, she looked like she was exhausted and in need of rest and good food. He brushed her hair from her face and sighed.

“What happened to you, Brooke?” he whispered. “Let’s get home.”

Using the Floo Network, he got her home and carried her to her bedroom. Laying her down gently, he pulled the blankets up to cover her and tucked her in. He placed a light kiss on her forehead and turned to look out the bedroom window. The pull and push of the tide on the beach was a soothing rhythm to his ears. Taking a deep breath of the salty air, he turned to watch Brooke.

“You better tell me what’s going on, young lady.” He exited the room and went to the kitchen to prepare a hot soup for her to drink when she woke up.

She blinked her eyes open, staring at familiar ceiling. This wasn't the room of requirement, that much she knew, but she was far too groggy to identify the place. Turning on her side, she let out a soft moan, her body aching and hurting all over. Reaching up, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, trying to recall what happened. Everything came as a blur, flashes of images that made little sense, and she wasn't even sure if they had happened or if she had just dreamt it.

Being lowered onto a bed in the hospital wing.

Her dad's hushed tone as he spoke to the school healer.

His gentle arms lifting her up.

The lick of flames as they arrived home.

The door closing as her father left her room...

Was that where she was? Sitting up, her body cried out in pain, and she gasped aloud, doubling over and clutching her stomach. Lifting her head slightly, she looked around, confirming the fact that she was, indeed, in her own bed. It was normally where she felt the safest, so why, then, did she feel no relief? And then suddenly, everything came rushing back, and she remembered, a wave of nausea washing over her. Not able to control it, she retched, but, on her empty stomach, nothing came out. It was then that she heard the door open, and the sound of feet rushing in, and she didn't dare turn to look. It didn't matter if it was her mum or her dad - both would want to know what happened, and she knew that she would not be able to face the events that had occurred, not now, not ever.

Caleb rushed into the room when he heard Brooke was up. It sounded like she was about to vomit. Entering the room, he saw Brooke doubled over but nothing was coming out of her mouth. She refused to look at him. He stopped by her bedside. She was still a little pale and Caleb thought she looked as if she was in pain.

"Brooke?" he questioned in an uncertain voice. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?" He sat down on the edge of the bed and gave her his undivided attention. He wanted to know what was going on with Brooke. He wanted to know who had hurt his precious daughter and made her pass out. He could feel a twinge of anger rising at whoever it was that dared to make her like this.

"You know you can tell me anything right? I won't judge you," he reassured Brooke.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

"Do I look alright? I tried to protect Tristan. I tried and I failed, and now..." her mind trialled off, forcing itself to block out the memories of what happened. None of this had been said aloud, and she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the bed sheet, giving no indication that she had even heard him.

"You know you can tell me anything right? I won't judge you,"

This time, she shook her head once, barely moving it more than an inch each side. No, she couldn't. She couldn't tell anyone what happened, because it was simply too hard for her. She didn't dare open her mouth to speak, knowing that words would not come, or, if by some miracle they did, they wouldn't be in her voice. She didn't know who she was, not any more.

When his question was met with nothing but silence, Caleb grew worried. He could tell that something was eating Brooke up and he could do nothing about it if she didn't tell him what was wrong.

She still refused to meet his eyes and he let out a heavy sigh. He caught sight of the slight shake of her head in reply to his second question and wondered what she meant by it. Did she shake her head because she didn't want to tell him or because she thought she would get in trouble if she told? Caleb was never really good at knowing what went on in the minds of girls. Perhaps her mother could get her to talk.

Caleb got up and went to the door. When his hand was on the knob, he turned around and said, "I'll get your mom to send a bowl of soup up to you." He exited and closed the door gently behind him. He hoped with all his heart that Aurelia could coax an answer out from Brooke of what happened. Aurelia would also be able to examine Brooke for any injuries.

The silence was worse than she had imagined, but she didn't know how to break it. And so, she just let it remain, not moving other than for shallow breaths that seemed to cause her more and more pain with each taken. Finally her father had stood up, and she listened to him walk away.

"I'll get your mom to send a bowl of soup up to you."

Again she didn't acknowledge his statement, and heard the door close. Slowly easing herself back down, she lay on her side, curled up in a foetal position, waiting for her mum to arrive. Maybe she'd know how to make the pain disappear, she thought. Her mother had always been good like that. But, her mind offered - and it seemed to have become her enemy ever since that day by the lake - would she be able to take away the hurt you have in your heart? She would find out soon enough, because, before she could dwell on those thoughts, the door opened again, and she heard the lighter footsteps of her mum nearing her.

As Aurelia made her way up to Brooke's room carrying the bowl of soup, she pondered over what Tyler had told her when he asked her to go up to Brooke's room. According to him, Brooke had refused to say a word and didn't look at him once. Her main priority now was to get Brooke to eat and check her for any injuries. Only after all that was done would she get her daughter to open up to her. She ran through her mind the possibilities of what could have happened to Brooke. The most logical one she could come up with was that must have something to do with a boy. Yes, that was what it was.

Aurelia pushed the bedroom door open and spotted Brooke curled up tightly. Her heart went out to her daughter. She placed the bowl on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. She tenderly brushed away the dark green hair that had fallen into Brooke's face.

"Hey. I brought you something to eat," Aurelia said in a gentle voice. She paused then said, "Would you let me check you over?"

At the touch of her mum's hand, Brooke finally relaxed. If anyone could help her, it was Aurelia, for the two witches had a close bond, more like sisters than mother and daughter.

"Hey. I brought you something to eat,"

"Not hungry," she whispered, her first words to an actual person in what felt like years. She shivered at the way they had come out, emotionless and dry, exactly the way she was feeling. Merlin knew she was feeling so much it completely numbed her senses, and she felt as though she was a ghost, real, but at the same time, not. The second question was one she knew the answer to, and she nodded. "Everything hurts." Again, it came out as a whisper, her voice not able to bare the strain of anything louder.

Aurelia had to bend over to catch Brooke's whispered reply. She frowned at in. In a mock stern voice she said, "You better get something in your stomach, young lady, or I'll make sure you do." She smiled and said in a gentle voice, "You really have to eat something Brooke. Even a few bites would be good."

"Everything hurts."

Aurelia became concerned at that statement but she was determined to keep a light tone. Being depressed would make her of no use to Brooke. She would be concerned and would listen but she would keep a cool and calm head on her shoulders. "'Everything' is quite a vague term, my dear. Maybe you could be a bit more specific."

Aurelia gently put her hand on Brooke's back and began slowly prodding to see if there were any broken bones. She kept her eyes on Brooke's face to see if there was any pain.

She heard her mum talking about eating, but she really didn't care. If she ate, she would only throw it back up, and that was not something she wanted to do. It wasn't as if she was hungry, either.

"Maybe you could be a bit more specific."

Another shake of her head, trying to tell her mum that it was everything that hurt. Her back was sore from the hard ground. Her legs and arms were bruised and painful. Her stomach was cramping. But the worse pain was felt in her woman parts. There were no words to describe the feelings - just constant throbbing and aching, reminding her of what had taken place. "Everything hurts," she repeated, finally turning to look at her mother, hoping her eyes could explain it better than her words could.

When her daughter repeated what she said, Aurelia frowned. How could it be that everything hurt? What had really happened to Brooke to cause her to be in such pain? The bruises on her arms had not escaped her notice. When Brooke turned to meet her eyes, Aurelia could read the pain and desperation in them. She was trying to send Aurelia a message through her eyes but Aurelia couldn't read what she was trying to say.

Now it was time to be serious. "What happened, Brooke? Start from the beginning." Aurelia placed an arm around Brooke's shoulders to reassure her that she was safe to confide in her. Aurelia would always be there for Brooke when she needed her and she prepared herself for a long and horrifying story because nothing else could lead up to Brooke being hurt so bad.

"What happened, Brooke? Start from the beginning."

Taking a deep breath, she tried to consolidate her thoughts, but they were as jumbled as they had ever been. "He kissed me," she started, slowly, from the very first memory she could conjure. "I met Joe and then he kissed me." She stopped again, trying to pull more from her mind. "He made Joe give him the flowers and he kissed me again."

Suddenly, a thought struck her and she sat straight up, the pain shooting through her, but she tried not to think about it. "Tristan! Oh, mum, he can't hear any of this!" she half-cried, her voice becoming shriller than before. Almost instantly after this, she fell back down against the pillow, her voice returning back to the hoarse whisper. "I did this to protect him, mum. You have to understand. He's safe now."

She still hadn't told her about what had happened in the bathroom, and the words formed in her mind but wouldn't come out the way she wanted. "I tried to make him stop, so Tristan and Joe would be safe but I couldn't. He was too strong. But it doesn't matter because they're still safe. I failed but they'll still be safe." Looking up at her mum with dry eyes, she repeated her last sentence, trying to make her understand that it didn't matter what had happened to her, as long as the two boys in her life that she loved were kept safe.

"He kissed me. I met Joe and then he kissed me. He made Joe give him the flowers and he kissed me again."

"Who's 'he', Brooke?" a puzzled frown adorned Aurelia's face as she tried to follow what Brooke was saying and make meaning of it.

When Brooke sat up suddenly, Aurelia caught the look of pain that flashed across Brooke's face. She didn't say anything about the pain but Aurelia wanted to make sure she was out of it before letting her continue. The pain most likely came from her back as it hurt when she tried to sit up. Slowly and gently, Aurelia lifted the back of Brooke's shirt and what she saw there horrified her. Deep indentions and scratches that look like they came from fingernails digging into the skin. Hand-shaped bruises on the back and hips discoloured the once unblemished skin. "What caused all of this?" she gasped. Aurelia examined the rest of Brooke's body to see the extent of her injuries. She found more bruises on her knees and a bite mark on the lower lip that had a little dried blood coating it. She said a spell under her breath to help ease the pain and used her wand to summon a potion to help reduce the bruising.

"Tristan! Oh, mum, he can't hear any of this! I did this to protect him, mum. You have to understand. He's safe now.

"Protect Tristan from what?" Aurelia was becoming more and more confused with each sentence Brook was uttering. When Brooke went on to say that she couldn't stop someone and how it didn't matter that she was hurt because Tristan and someone named Joe was safe and how she failed, Aurelia's mind was a confused muddle. She could conclude one thing though. That was that someone had threatened Tristan and Joe and Brooke had tried to stop him and ended up getting hurt in the process. What she couldn't grasp was how she could have failed and yet the boys were safe. She had never believed that a person failed, only that they made mistakes and so she never considered her daughter a failure no matter what she did.

"Honey, who is the person who hurt you and what did he do to you?" Aurelia asked Brooke, her voice laced with compassion. She became worried for Brooke. Whoever it was that was causing this whole mess was a person with no humanity at all and was most likely a ruthless person with no feelings. He had to be to hurt a sweet girl like Brooke or any girl for that matter.

"Who's 'he', Brooke?"

"Jo-" she had started to say his name, but stopped, unable to do so. She felt her mum check her back, ignoring her comment. The potion and spells had begun to take effect, and as the pain subsided, the confusion did too, and clarity had never been less welcomed. At least when things were nothing but a jumbled mess she didn't have enough concrete memories, but now the full picture was perfectly formed in her head. And it was not one she wanted to face.

"Protect Tristan from what?"

"From him," she whispered, not able to say anything more. He was the reason behind all of this hurt and pain. Her mum had then asked her the question she was dreading, and she kept quiet, trying to process it all. "He..." she couldn't say the simple word, and she ended up motioning towards her woman parts, staring Aurelia directly in her eyes, knowing that she would understand immediately. "If I didn't do it, he would have hurt Tristan," she added, still in hush tone. Now that her mind had been cleared, she remembered everything in detail and her entire body felt disgusting to her. "I failed to stop him from promising not to hurt them because he overpowered me. But it's going to be okay, because they're not going to be hurt." It had sounded alright in her head, but out loud... She wondered if her mum would make any sense of what she was saying.

"From him."

"Who's 'him'?. I need a name so I can help you. If I don't know who it is, i can't protect you or Tristan."

When Brooke motioned to her woman parts in reply to her question of what that person did to her, Aurelia understood immediately. At first, she just stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Brooke. Then, she felt anger and indignation rising and boiling up inside of her towards the person who did this to her precious daughter. How dare he? She wanted to find him and give him a piece of her mind, maybe even a piece of her fist. It would be a heartless person indeed to do such a deed to an innocent girl. Now her daughter had lost her virginity to someone who was a cruel, heartless and psychotic guy. She was so blind with rage that she barely registered what Brooke said next. All she heard was Brooke saying it was okay. Aurelia completely lost her temper at that.

"No! Don't even think that it's okay. It's not okay and will never be okay for a guy to do such a thing to a girl, especially my daughter." She looked straight into Brooke's eyes. "You need to tell me exactly who did this to you. He deserves to rot in Azkaban for doing what he did to you," she paused as a thought struck her. "Do you know why he wants to hurt Tristan?" she inquired.

She wondered why someone would want to hurt Tristan. Could he have done something to upset the guy? Maybe the guy wanted revenge. But it wasn't like Tristan to upset someone. Even if he did, raping a girl to get revenge was too crazy and extreme a thing to do. Brooke had wanted to save Tristan and some guy named Joe from getting hurt, but why would someone want to hurt them in the first place?

"Who's 'him'?. I need a name so I can help you. If I don't know who it is, i can't protect you or Tristan."

She knew she had to give the name, and she took a deep breath, forming the three syllables in her head and repeating them over and over again before blurting them out: "Josh Murray." His name felt alien on her lips and she shuddered violently, leaning to the side and retching again. "Please don't make me say it again," she murmured, the taste of stomach acid burning her mouth.

Her mum went on about Azkaban and she shook her head. "No, you can't, don't you see? He's won, and we can't do a damned thing about it." The words were strong words, but there were empty, devoid of feeling or emotion, as though spoken by a robot. Her mother's question almost made her laugh. "It's not Tristan he wants to hurt. It's me." Where would she start? Pushing herself to a sitting position, she reached out and fed herself a small sip of soup, the broth warming her insides. Pushing herself to a sitting position, she took another breath and looked away, down at her hands. "Don't say anything till I'm done," she instructed and then began her tale.

Her tone remained monotonous throughout her account. She started with meeting Joe and went on to the first time he had kissed her by the lake, following it with her supposed date with Joe. The only time it quivered slightly when she talked about going to the prefect bathroom, but she regained composure and continued with the story, as apathetic as when she began it. Finally, when she was done, she turned to look at Aurelia, her eyes still dry and lifeless. "Now you understand," she stated, staring at her mother.

"Josh Murray."

Aurelia looked at Brooke in horror when she heard that name. Everyone knew the Murrays were untouchable and everyone knew not to get on their bad side. No one could sue them and no one could do anything to them. Aurelia watched with compassion as Brooke vomited. Her heart broke knowing that Brooke must be feeling dirty and helpless. She agreed with Brooke that they couldn't do a thing about it. No one could. They were the Murrays. They always got what they want and would eliminate any obstacle that got in their way. Her family would be powerless against them.

"Don't say anything till I'm done."

Aurelia nodded and let Brooke tell the story. She felt a stab of pain when Brooke talked about what happened in the prefect bathroom. If she was feeling this way, she could only imagine what Brooke must be feeling. She was speechless by the time Brooke ended and could only nod to show that she had heard everything. She was silent for a moment, wanting to digest everything she had just been told.

"So Josh did that to you to get back at Joe and threatened to hurt Tristan if you didn't comply?" Aurelia clarified. Her voice sounded unusually loud in the silence of the room.

"So Josh did that to you to get back at Joe and threatened to hurt Tristan if you didn't comply?"

She winced when her mum used his name"I... I don't know." It was the truth. She honestly, truly didn't know why he was doing any of this. "Joe's too nice for anyone to want to hurt him. He's the sweetest boy I've ever met." In normal circumstances, she would have started on a rant about the boy, and her mum would have replied in a teasing manner. Part of her hoped that she would open her eyes suddenly and find that this had all been a nightmare, but she felt too much pain for this to be true.

"I didn't do anything to him, either, so I don't know why he would..." she stopped talking here, lying back down and turning on her side, away from her mother. "I would like some sleep now, please," she whispered, trusting that her mum would understand.

"I... I don't know."

Aurelia frowned at that. She knew that Brooke was not just coming up with some excuse to avoid telling her. She truly didn't know why Josh would do such a thing. It confused Aurelia further. Why, why, why would he do this to her in particular? To think that he did it for purely his own pleasure was madness. No decent and sane guy she knew would cause a girl pain for his own pleasure. But then again, a guy who was selfish, heartless and cruel wouldn't even think twice about such things.

"I didn't do anything to him, either, so I don't know why he would..."

Aurelia knew that was true. Her daughter would never knowingly hurt someone. And when she finds out if she upset someone, she would apologise and people would usually forgive her. How could anyone not? She was such a sweet girl.

"I would like some sleep now, please."

Aurelia nodded and tucked Brooke in. She knew her daughter wanted to be alone so she respected her need for privacy. Taking up her wand, she summoned a potion that would give Brooke a dreamless sleep. She gave it to Brooke then left the room quietly to let her rest. Now all she had to do was tell Caleb. She wouldn't go into the details. She would just tell him what was necessary.