The Family Tool

Five years after my biological mother finally brought me home, a text message suddenly popped up on my phone.

Now that you have the family youve longed for, are you very happy?

The sender was me, five years ago.

Back then, I was still lying in a narrow bed at the orphanage, completely consumed by the sudden, overwhelming joy of finally having a family. I remember holding the little welcome gift my mother had given me, carefully typing out my hopes for the future, word by word.

But right now, my mother was busy punishing my younger sister for her dropping grades.

In front of my sobbing sister, she slapped my face until my skin turned a bruised purple and my eardrum ruptured. Then, she forced me to the floor, grinding the heel of her boot over my fingers, crushing them against the cold hardwood.

She stared down at my sister, her voice cutting through the room like ice: "I cant bring myself to hurt you, Hailey, so I am using her as your example. If you dont study hard, this is the pathetic, trampled life you will live. Anyone will be able to step on you."

Terrified by the violence, Hailey wept hysterically, begging and swearing that she would never neglect her studies again.

Only then did our mother finally lift her foot off my bleeding hand.

I swallowed the copper tang of blood in my mouth, using my broken, trembling fingers to slowly type a reply.

Don't go home with her. Not all reunions are born out of love.

The blood was pooling in the back of my throat. Unable to hold it back any longer, I let out a harsh, ragged cough, splattering red across the polished floor.

Hailey shrieked, clutching our mother's sleeve in desperation. "Mom, please! Ill study, I swear Ill study! Stop hurting Alicia! She... shes coughing up blood!"

Margarets expression remained terrifyingly gentle as she pulled Haileys hands away. In one swift, brutal motion, she grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my swollen, distorted face up so Hailey was forced to look directly into my eyes.

"If you feel sorry for her, then you had better remember this pain," Margaret whispered, her voice smooth and venomous. "The next time you fail an exam, the punishment your sister receives won't be as simple as a few slaps."

Hailey nodded frantically, her eyes darting away from me in sheer guilt.

Seeing that her message had been properly beaten into her younger daughter, Margarets face softened into a satisfied smile.

I kept my head bowed, fighting back the choking bitterness in my chest, and pressed send on the message I had just written.

Five years ago, Margaret had walked into the orphanage, weeping as she wrapped her arms around me. She told me she had spent years searching for me, that she wanted to bring me home and make up for every single day we had lost.

But by then, Hailey had already been spoiled into a rebellious, untouchable terror. She skipped classes, talked back, and caused chaos wherever she went. No one could control her.

Until the day Hailey was caught shoplifting at a local grocery store and refused to apologize.

Faced with her daughters stubborn defiance, Margaret had forced me to wear a cardboard sign that read "THIEF" around my neck, making me kneel outside the store entrance to apologize in Haileys place.

It was only when Hailey saw me humiliated in public that she panicked, crying as she finally begged the store owner for forgiveness.

Having tasted the success of this twisted method, Margaret began to use me as a tool to train my sister.

Whenever Hailey talked back or lied, Margaret would pierce my lip with a sewing needle. Whenever Hailey got into fights at school, Margaret would tie my hands to the school gates, making me stand there in the freezing rain to humiliate her into obeying.

Slowly, Hailey became the perfect, obedient daughter. And slowly, my body became a canvas of scars.

Gently wiping the tears from Haileys cheeks, Margaret cooed, "There, there, don't cry anymore. Were you scared, my darling? Mom booked a table at your favorite restaurant. Lets go have a wonderful dinner, alright?"

Hailey nodded tearfully, then looked back at me, her voice trembling. "Can we bring Alicia with us?"

Margarets face instantly hardened. She cast a cold, repulsed glance in my direction. "Alicia still has to pay for your mistakes. She will remain on her knees until tomorrow morning. From now on, whenever you do your homework, she will kneel beside your desk. She will only be allowed to stand when your grades improve."

Haileys head drooped, her shoulders shaking with silent guilt.

I bit my lip, my nails digging into my palms until the skin broke, but I couldn't feel the physical pain anymore. My heart was already numb.

"Go on, change your clothes," Margaret urged, her voice light again. "If were late, well lose our reservation."

Hailey turned back, giving me one last look filled with sorrow and helplessness, before she walked out.

As they opened the front door, they ran into our next-door neighbor.

The neighbor smiled warmly at Hailey before turning to Margaret. "Oh, Margaret, you really know how to raise a child. Hailey used to be so wild, but look at her now, she's so polite and disciplined."

She leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a low whisper. "Is that your older girl inside? Shes incredibly tough. I could hear the blows from my living room, but she didn't make a single sound."

Margaret didn't show a hint of shame. Instead, her chin rose with pride. "Hailey is still young and reckless. Someone has to show her the real cost of making mistakes."

With a light laugh, the heavy front door slammed shut.

Kneeling on the freezing floor, I felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing the remaining life out of my chest.

Just then, my phone vibrated. A new message flashed on the screen.

Why are you lying about Mom?

You have no idea how much she wanted me back. She already had a daughter, but she told me I was the one she missed the most.

I stared at the glowing screen, my mind spinning.

I was actually speaking to my past self across time. It felt like holding the key to my own destiny. My hands shook as I frantically typed a response.

I am you, five years in the future.

Please, listen to me. Do not go home with her.

You are not her daughter. You are just a whip she uses to keep your sister in line.

A few minutes later, the screen lit up again.

I don't believe you. Mom loves me. She told me so.

Love?

I stared at the word, a hollow ache spreading through my chest.

It was true. When she first brought me home, Margaret really did seem to love me.

She had wept when she saw how painfully thin I was. She cooked elaborate meals every single day, and within a few months, I had gained ten pounds. She blamed herself for losing me, trying to make up for my lost childhood by taking me to amusement parks on every holiday. She bought me pink cotton candy, took beautiful portraits of me on my birthday, and stayed by my bedside without sleeping a wink whenever I ran a fever.

"Alicia, sweetie, don't be scared," she would whisper, stroking my hair. "Mom is here. Im never going to leave you again."

Even Hailey, spoiled as she was, used to pout and complain that I had stolen all of our mothers affection.

That brief period of my life had felt like a beautiful, fragile dream.

So when Margaret used me to punish Hailey for the first time, I was devastated, but I forced myself to believe she had no choice. I told myself she was just desperate.

It was only much later that I realized her love came with a hidden price, a weapon that would eventually destroy me.

My tears dripped onto the glass screen, blurring the text. I forced my shaking fingers to type one last warning.

Her love is a knife. And she is going to use it to carve you to pieces.

I lost track of time before the front door clicked open again.

When Margaret walked in and saw me still kneeling but holding my phone, her face contorted with rage. Without a word, she lunged forward and kicked me squarely in the shoulder.

My head collided violently with the sharp edge of the dining table. A blinding flash of pain tore through my skull, and a warm, thick crimson began to obscure my vision.

Margarets screaming voice echoed in my ears. "I told you to kneel and reflect, and you're playing on your phone?"

"Because of your pathetic attitude, Hailey will never understand the weight of her actions!"

My vision swam, and I reached out blindly, trying to explain. "Mom, please, I wasn't... I was just..."

Before I could finish, a resounding slap delivered with full force struck my other cheek.

"So youve learned to talk back to me now, have you?" Margaret sneered. "Clearly, you haven't learned your lesson. Slap yourself until both sides of your face are even. Maybe that will help you remember."

Hailey, shrinking back in the corner, grabbed Margarets arm, her voice trembling. "Mom, stop! I get it now, I really do! Please don't make her do this!"

Margaret shook her off, her voice cold and unyielding. "If she treats her punishment like a joke, how will you ever learn? Alicia, start. If you don't hit yourself a hundred times, you won't be allowed to stop."

Swallowing the bitter tears, I raised my hand and let it fall against my own face.

Margaret let out a sharp scoff. "Are you starving? You hit like a coward. You're completely useless."

She stepped forward, swung her arm wide, and delivered a blow so heavy my head spun, my left cheek instantly swelling.

Rubbing her palms with a sigh of irritation, she muttered, "Keep that exact level of force."

Under her watchful eye, I raised my hand again and again, striking my own flesh until my eyes were swollen shut, my lips split and bleeding, and my face turned a sickening shade of purple. Only then did she signal me to stop.

Looking down at the ruin of my face, Margaret finally seemed satisfied. She knelt down beside me.

My entire body tensed, my eyes shutting tightly in anticipation of another blow.

Instead, she opened a tube of ointment she had prepared beforehand and began gently dabbing it onto my bruised skin. My body shuddered at her touch.

She paused, letting out a long, weary sigh. "Alicia, you have to understand why I do this. We are a family. We rise and fall together."

"You are the sensible one. You have to help me guide your sister. Only when she becomes disciplined and successful will our family finally have peace."

She took an alcohol wipe and began cleaning the cut on my forehead. The stinging pain was agonizing, but I didn't pull away.

Summoning the last shred of my courage, I looked at her through my swollen eyes and whispered, "Mom... can you please stop using me to teach Hailey?"

"Every night, the pain keeps me awake. And... I can barely hear anything out of my right ear anymore."

Margaret froze for a brief second.

Thinking I had finally reached her, I reached out and gently took her hand. "Mom, you brought me back because you loved me, right? So please..."

Slap!

Another sharp blow struck my right ear, sending a deafening, high-pitched ring through my head.

"How dare you try to manipulation me?" Margaret spat, her face twisted in anger. "I thought you were the good daughter, but you're just trying to play the victim to ruin this family!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice was gone, drowned out by the torrent of her familiar, venomous curses.

I was forced to kneel there for the entire night.

When morning arrived, my phone screen flickered to life.

I still don't want to believe you. Unless... you can prove it to me.

I raised the phone camera, capturing a photo of my bruised, unrecognizable face.

But my thumb hovered over the send button, paralyzed.

My mind kept betraying me, drifting back to the early days. I remembered the warm bowls of soup she used to cook for me, the comfort of her embrace when I was sick, and the soft smile on her face when she told me I was her good girl.

Those memories were fading, but I clung to them like a lifeline.

I looked at the calendar on the wall. There was only one month left before Haileys college entrance exams.

Maybe once she passed her exams, this nightmare would end. Maybe Margaret would go back to loving me the way she used to.

With a heavy heart, I deleted the photo.

Suddenly, my phone rang. Margarets voice on the line was devoid of any warmth. "Alicia, get to Hailey's school right now."

Terrified that something had happened to my sister, I ran out of the apartment as fast as my legs could carry me.

When I reached the principal's office, I found Margaret sitting with a dark, furious expression, while Hailey stood in the corner, her eyes red from crying.

My chest tightened, and I instinctively took a step back, trying to slip away.

"Alicia, get in here," Margaret's cold voice cut through the air.

The homeroom teacher, Mrs. Gable, looked shocked when she saw my swollen face, but she quickly masked her concern and turned back to Hailey. "There is only a month left before the final exams. This is the most critical period of her high school career, and yet, Hailey was caught in a romantic relationship on school grounds."

"If this ruins her chances at college, the consequences will be devastating."

"We weren't dating!" Hailey cried out, her voice cracking. "I just didn't understand some of the study questions, so I asked him for help!"

Mrs. Gable sighed, pulling up a photo on her phone and showing it to Margaret. "She is still lying. Look at how close they are. Their faces are practically touching. This is clearly a physical relationship, and she is using studying as an excuse."

Due to the angle of the photo, the two teenagers did indeed look as if they were kissing.

"No, that's not true!" Hailey sobbed, shaking her head wildly. "I swear we weren't..."

"Silence!" Margaret roared, her voice cutting Hailey off. "Is this the real reason your grades have been slipping?"

Without warning, Margaret lunged forward, grabbed me by the hair, and began dragging me toward the door.

Mrs. Gable jumped up in alarm. "Mrs. Chen, what are you doing? Please, let's discuss this calmly!"

Margaret kept her grip on my hair, her voice tight with controlled fury. "Don't interfere, Mrs. Gable. The only way to make Hailey understand her mistake is to make an example out of her sister."

Mrs. Gable looked at my bruised face, opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately remained silent.

Hailey ran after us, sobbing as she clawed at Margarets hands. "Mom, please! I wasn't dating him! Just leave Alicia alone!"

Ignoring her cries, Margaret dragged me all the way to the school gates, where students were walking by. In the middle of the crowded pavement, she began tearing at my clothes.

I clung to her legs, begging for mercy, while Hailey fell to her knees, weeping hysterically. But Margaret remained entirely unmoved.

I curled my body into a tight ball, trying desperately to cover myself, as waves of pure humiliation and despair washed over me.

Pointing her finger at me, Margaret glared at Hailey, who was shaking on the ground. "Do you see this? This is what happens when you don't value your own dignity!"

"If you keep seeing that boy, this is exactly how cheap and ruined you will end up!"

Hailey slowly pushed herself up from the ground, her face streaked with tears. The pressure she had carried for years finally snapped.

"I hate you!" she screamed, her voice echoing across the courtyard.

"Why do you always use Alicias body to punish me? I told you, we weren't dating! Why do you have to ruin her to prove your point?"

"This family is a living nightmare!"

Without looking back, she bolted out of the school gates and ran down the street.

Margaret stood frozen, staring at the empty space where her daughter had just been. "Why... why didn't she listen this time?" she muttered to herself.

"It must be because the punishment wasn't severe enough."

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Find me one of the vagrants from the streets near the old district."

A few minutes later, a beat-up van pulled up beside us.

Terrified, I begged Margaret not to let them take me, but she dragged me into the back of the van without a hint of remorse.

The vehicle rattled down the road, eventually stopping outside an abandoned, desolate factory on the edge of the city. Margaret hauled me out of the van by my hair, throwing me onto the dirt floor before turning to the disheveled man who had climbed out after us.

She held up her phone, her voice completely flat. "He's all yours. My younger daughter is behaving like a cheap delinquent. I want her to see exactly what happens to girls who lose their way."

The man grinned, revealing a row of rotted, yellow teeth, and began stepping toward me.

I scrambled backward, my voice raw from screaming. "Mom, please! Don't do this to me! Please!"

Margaret switched her phone to video mode, her face completely blank. "Alicia, if Hailey doesn't learn her lesson today, her entire life will be ruined."

But what about my life?

In the next second, rough, dirty hands tore away the last of my clothing.

I screamed, fighting with every ounce of strength I had left, but I was no match for him. Every inch of my skin was bruised, subjected to a sickening violation that made it hard to breathe.

A few yards away, Margaret watched through her screen, a faint, cold smile playing on her lips as she captured every single detail.

Finally, she nodded. "That's enough. Let her go, I have what I need."

The man grumbled, reluctantly pulling away, and took the cash Margaret held out before leaving the factory.

I lay on the filthy floor, shivering violently, my chest hollowed out by a pain so deep it felt like a physical wound. The last lingering shred of love I had held for my mother shattered into dust.

I reached out, picked up my phone from the dirt, and took a picture of my broken, ruined self.

I sent it to the number from five years ago.

This is the hell she will build for you. Don't come back.

Then, I dragged my broken body toward the stairs, slowly making my way up to the roof of the factory.

Margaret didn't even notice I was gone. She was busy sending the video to Hailey, typing out a message with frantic excitement.

Look closely, Hailey. If you don't want to end up like your sister, break up with that boy immediately.

Your mother only wants what's best for you.

If you keep defying me, I will let him finish what he started.

Be a good girl and come home to apologize.

I stood at the very edge of the concrete roof, looking down at her. My heart felt completely empty.

I wondered, if I had refused to go home with her five years ago, would any of this have happened?

I closed my eyes and let myself fall backward into the empty air.

As the wind rushed past my ears, my phone vibrated one last time in my hand.

I understand now. I won't go with her.

Down below, Margarets phone rang. It was Hailey's homeroom teacher, her voice filled with deep regret. "Mrs. Chen, I am so incredibly sorry. It was a misunderstanding."

"We checked the security cameras. Hailey and the boy were indeed just looking over a textbook. There was no relationship."

Margaret froze. "Really? That's... that's wonderful."

"It's fine... Alicias punishment will just serve as a warning for the future. It will keep Hailey on the right path."

She hung up the phone and looked around, realizing the space around her was empty. "Alicia?"

She ran out of the factory doors, but the yard was quiet. The only thing she found was a shattered phone lying in the dirt, its cracked screen still glowing.