“She’s holding back,” he said to Kellan. “Won’t let me in. She’s wound up too tight.”
“Like I said, she needs to yell. To get it out. Life has been shit for her lately.” Kellan turned and walked into the bedroom. Eli followed, curious about what he was going to do.
Drawing back the blankets, Kellan lifted her out and stood in front of her with his hands on her shoulders.
“Yell.”
“What?” she asked, blinking up at him in surprise.
Was Kellan scaring her? Eli was about to step in when Kellan bent down to make his eyes level with hers.
“Yell. Scream. Let it out, Butterfly. Let it all out. Your anger, your fear, your disappointment.”
“I can’t yell or scream.”
Eli realized then that she wasn’t intimidated by Kellan. She simply looked confused and a bit lost.
“Why not?” Eli asked.
“It wouldn’t be nice or dignified.”
“Screw dignified,” Kellan told her. “Who cares about that? If you need to let it out, let it out. Aren’t you angry at what was done to you? Aren’t you upset?”
Again, he almost told Kellan that he was taking things too far, pushing too much, but then her face twisted, her hands forming fists.
“Yes!” she snapped. “Yes, I’m angry! I’m furious! Do you know what it’s like to have your father control your life!”
“Tell us,” Eli said.
Horse poked his head into the room, but didn’t come in. As though he sensed something was happening.
“It’s . . . it’s awful!”
“You can do better than that,” Kellan prodded. “Tell us how you really feel.”
“I feel angry . . . why me? Why did I end up with such a terrible father? Why didn’t he love me? What sort of father doesn’t even tell their own daughter when her mom dies? A complete asshole, that’s who!”
“Give it to us, baby. Lay it all on us,” Eli said, moving closer to her. Now they were both in front of her.
“We can take it,” Kellan said.
“But I feel terrible because he never hit me like your father.”
“Our father was a monster,” Kellan admitted. “He hit me, hurt me, I’ve got the scars to show for it.” He stripped off his shirt and pointed to each scar. “All from him.”
“Kellan,” she sobbed, reaching out to trace each scar.
“But now I fight monsters. I punish people like him. So they can’t hurt others. That’s how I fight back at him.”
“And what do I do? Nothing,” she said bitterly.
“That’s not true,” Eli told her fiercely. “You take care of others. Look at what you’ve done for Shaw. How you look after your neighbor. You found a dirty dog on the side of the road and chose to sleep in your car rather than put him back out into the cold. That’s who you are. Kind, sweet and caring.”
“But you have to let all of the anger go or it will eat you up inside,” Kellan told her. “Yell.”
She let out a small scream. It was pathetic but it was a start.
“Louder,” Kellan told her.
