Page 78 of Yours on the Canvas

My father smirks at his words, watching me like the prey I feel beneath his gaze.

Ray takes a step around the trolley, bringing himself uncomfortably close. “Let’s get down to business. I don’t have time to deal with little tantrums today, Jackie.”

They always saw my panic attacks and body paralysis as tantrums. It was toxic as fuck to deal with, and it’s the exact reason I can’t handle touch now. When my body shut down, that was when they took advantage of it, beating me when I couldn’t cry out, pulling blood from my body easily. I felt every strap, every fist, every kick; fully conscious, fully aware, and completely unable to move.

“You will be coming home with us, Jackie. This isn’t up for discussion,” my uncle says quietly, even as he flashes a polite, neighborly smile to a woman walking past us.

I shake my head slowly, tracking the woman, begging her to see me. I know her, she’s Finn and Deck’s neighbor, Amy.

I met her at a BBQ once. She looks at me with a small frown on her face, and I hope she can see me pleading with her for help. But her attention is snatched away by my father, whose tone is quiet but forceful. Her gaze flicks quickly between Ray and me, and then she steps away, leaving me entirely alone with them.

“Wise thing for her to do. You wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt, would you, Jackie?” My uncle lifts his coat just enough to reveal a gun nesting in a holster against his side.

I look at Amy’s receding back and then back to Ray, shaking my head.

“Good boy. I knew you were smart. So, let’s chat. As I said, Jackie, we want you back.” He looks at my father, then back to me, pulling his lips back tight against his teeth and drawing air through them. I hear a high-pitched sound, like a quiet whistle. “If you don’t, we are going to find your boy Hale again. And rest assured, Jackie. We will take him this time.”

My head jerks up to Ray, and white-hot terror rushes through me. He can’t take Hale. I’ll never see him again, he’ll never see us again. I start shaking, my head moving frantically side to side as my uncle continues.

Pulling out his phone, his fingers swipe across the screen. He turns the display toward me. “And Jackie? You will never find him. He will be mine to do with what I want.”

I look from him to the phone screen, and what is on it shatters my heart. My knees give out, and I collapse to the floor.

A video is playing: the brutal sounds, impacts of fists, cries and the sharp crack of contact fill the audio.

Hale stands in the middle of a mat, my father standing right in front of him. I can hear Hale crying. Ray doesn’t say anything; he just watches. The next thing I see is my dad slapping Hale viciously across the face, followed by my uncle’s voice playing over the audio.

“This is what will happen, Jackie, if you don’t come back.”

I watch as my dad rains hit after hit down on Hale. The boy tries to fight back, but he’s ten.

Ray crouches down in front of me, the video still looping in the background, and tilts my chin upward, forcing me to look at him. My skin prickles at his touch, like a million fire ants biting into my flesh.

“You have until seven tomorrow morning to decide if you’re coming or not.”

“Coming?” I croak out, my voice filled with dread.

“Of course, Jackie. If you don’t come back, we…” He gestures with his head toward my father towering over us. “…take Hale. It’s quite simple, Jackie. You come with us quietly, we leave Hale alone. You don’t…” He stands up, taking a step back. “You have until seven in the morning to decide.”

A million thoughts race through my mind; arguments about why I should tell them to go fuck themselves and hope Silas can protect Hale.

But I also know the harsh reality. I know what I have to do.

Taking a deep breath, I force my shaking legs to push me back to my feet.

“Let’s go.”

Ray lets out a bark of laughter, shaking his head. “Not even going to think about it, Jackie?”

“No. Just let me go home, pack some gear, and I’ll come with you now. But you have to promise me: you leave Hale and Silas alone.”

Dad steps forward, his eyes the exact same color as mine locking onto me. “You have my word.”

I let out a harsh, condescending laugh. “Like that means a damn thing to me.”

Ray steps aside, holding an arm out toward the exit. “Let’s go, then.”

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