Hinder wiped the sweat from his brow as he loaded in the last bale of hay onto the carriage. The day was hot for being so late into September but he didn't mind the distraction from his school work. The young 19 year old waved off the driver after feeding each horse a carrot that he had in his pockets for his mid day lunch but he was willing to sacrifice almost anything for animals.
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"Get in here boy and finish your school work!" His father yelled from their small run down hut.
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"Coming papa!" Hinder yelled back as he dusted his hands off. He counted the days when he would become a merchant to travel to any part of the land freely. Anything is better than living with his drunk father.
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"How many times have I told you boy those people don't give a damn about you so why do you help them?" He spat in his face as soon as he walked up to the door.
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Hinder sighed as he wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Because papa if I'm going to be a merchant then I need to be nice to get the best of people, Rich people to help pay for your drinking problem"
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"I ain't got no damned drinking problem" his father slurred as he slumped in the chair. "Be a good boy and get me another beer will ya!" He laughed, scratching his stomach.
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Hinder obeyed his father; it was better to be his slave than to be beaten like one. After he was finished he sat back down in his cubby hole of a room to finish what little homework he had so he could turn it in to the teacher early tomorrow morning. He hated being away From an actual classroom but the teachers thought it would be better to keep him isolated so the other students don't get distracted by his bruises.
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He looked at a picture of his mother before she passed. He smiled sadly at it trying to remember what her smile looked like or what she smelled like before the plague hit their small town. She always believed in him and always took care of him when his father got too violent. Every day Hinder wishes that the plague would have taken his father instead. But like always god takes the best to help them learn.
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"Clean the stables boy!" His father yelled, making Hinder jump, breaking away from his thoughts.
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"I already did!" Hinder yelled back, writing a few words on a piece of parchment paper. His heart sank when he didn't hear anything from his father. Oh god no please not today he prayed as his father appeared in the door day the smell of beer lingered in the air every time he took a breath.
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"Who owns this house boy?!" He yelled making hinder cower
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"Y-you do papa" he whispered, his head hanging low.
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"That's right," he said, grabbing a fist full of Hinders hair, ripping his head up to look at him. "And what I say goes. Go clean the stables so you can sleep with the pigs tonight you ungrateful bitch." He sneered the last sentence as he shoved him out the door.
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Hinder rubbed his head stepping outside as it rained. He was glad the rain masked the tears that started to fall as he began to clean the stables. Hinder knew that the stables were already clean since he had done so hours earlier but he did so again to avoid any more conflict with his father. He doesn't remember the last time his father was sober and he highly doubted it would happen again any time soon. The dull ache in his head started to grow, making his work slow down. He didn't mind it gave him the chance to listen to the rain instead of the metal shovel scraping against the gravel as he cleaned. He pats the horse's side with a slight smile.
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"Someday soon buddy it will be you and me away from here...away and free" he promised the spotted brown horse.
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The horse huffed as it ate the hay at their feet not really paying any mind to hinder until his father came out drunken and loud.
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"I said clean the stables! You're just as deaf as you are worthless" his father yelled coming closer.
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"I was just taking a small break papa, they will be clean before the sun sets for the day" Hinder tried to explain but the quiver in his voice showed that he was terrified and his only defense was a shitty shovel and horse.
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His father slapped him hard across his left cheek as the ground greeted him happily seconds after. Heat rushed to that spot making it throb painfully.
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"I didn't ask what the fuck your were doing I said get the stables done!" he spat in his face then went inside grabbing his hunting rifle.
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"Papa no! It's just a horse, leave it be!''Hinder yelled now standing in front of the horse to protect it.
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"I dont give a damn if it was the plague it dies" his father spat again the smell of beer burning hinders nose before receiving the end of his gun to the temple knocking him out cold.
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Hinder could hear nothing when he came to his head, throbbed painfully as he opened his eyes; everything was blurry as he sat up. He was overwhelmed with the urge to vomit but he pushed it away as his eyes focused more. It was night time but this night seemed much colder as his soaked clothes stuck to him from the rain. His horse was dead next to him a single bullet hole was placed in the middle of its eyes painting its soft tan hair red. Hinder couldn't cry; he promised himself that he wouldn't. Instead he stood shakily stumbling to the house as he waited to listen, waiting to see if his father was still awake. When he heard nothing he opened the door and looked around to his surprise his father wasn't home. Which could only mean that his father was at the local makeshift bar with a friend. He shuffled to his bedroom looking in the small broken mirror wincing as he touched where his father hit him with the rifle.
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"There's no way he will let me leave the house now especially to school..." he mumbled to himself before he held his breath hearing something fall in the living room. He waited for what felt like forever but no more noise came from that location. He took a breath and slowly made his way to the living room knowing it wasn't his father coming home. He held a broken bat for defense as he inched forward. When he looked around the corner he saw a young man roughly the same age as him standing there.
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"Who are you?" hinder asked trying to keep his voice from shaking.
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"Im adrian...are you okay, your head is bleeding." Adrian asked concern was laced his voice as he stood there.
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"You need to leave, my papa will be home soon and i already know what will happen when he sees you. Besides, you shouldn't be here anyways." hinder said now more worried for this young man's safety than his own he knows his father will kill him the second he walks through the door. Drunk or not, his father never missed his target.
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The man seemed to stay there hesitant to leave hinder alone but he did no more than five minutes later his father came home waisted as he growled seeing hinder standing in the house.
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"I told you to sleep with the pigs you disgrace" he slurred as he gripped hinders hair painfully pulling him back out into the rain.
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Hinder tried to escape but that only ended with multiple punches along the way. Once there his father threw him face first into a pigs pen. His eyes remained closed to avoid getting anything in them but his father had a different plan.
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"You disobeyed me for the last time boy. Strip your shirt and get on your knees," his father said as the strong scent of whisky filled the pen but he obeyed watching his father unbuckling his belt.
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His father grinned as he looked over and instead he pulled out the whip that was used on the pigs and made one angry long welt on hinders back making him cry out in pain. The loud crack of the whip was loud enough to make many people step outside to investigate. All of them stood there helplessly as they heard Hinders cry of pain as his father whipped him for hours before stumbling back into the house to drink more beer.
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Hinder couldn't move but he could feel his blood stain the concrete beneath him. He could hear the rain hit the roof before everything went black.
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