AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
Heidi
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t scream.
A hand pressed hard over my mouth, muffling any sound that tried to escape.
Panic flooded my small body, my heart pounding against my chest. like a wild drum. Desperate, I reached up, trying to free myself from the suffocating grip.
But then, through the haze of fear, I heard a hushed voice, a whisper that sounded familiar.
“Hush, luv, don’t make a sound,” my mother whispered urgently.
Relief washed over me, mingling with confusion. Why was Mama covering my mouth? Why was she awake? Hadn’t I just gone to bed?
As my eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, I caught a glimpse of her face, her eyes wide with terror.
“Hush, darling,” she whispered again as she took her hand away from my mouth and brushed her trembling fingers across my forehead. “Everything will be okay, I promise.” She tried to smile, but her lips trembled.
I strained my ears, and that’s when I heard them—the sounds that made my heart skip a beat. Men’s voices, loud and angry, seeped through the cracks of my bedroom door. They shouted and argued, their words a jumble of chaos.
A heavy feeling coiled in the pit of my stomach, and a cold shiver crawled up my spine. Who were they? What did they want? The questions lingered, unanswered and terrifying.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I clung to my mother, burying my face in the warmth of her embrace. She held me close, her trembling arms a protective barrier from the chaos outside my room.
But amidst the chaos, I heard it. My father’s voice.
Why was Daddy shouting too? Was he in trouble?
“It’s going to be okay, luv,” my mother whispered, her voice quivering. “Just stay quiet, and everything will be all right.”
But the noises grew louder as we huddled together in the dark. My heart raced and I trembled. Even my mother’s warm arms couldn’t drown out the dread that consumed me.
And then, as if in a terrible dream, the bedroom door exploded open, a thunderous crash as it slammed against the wall. Two men barged into the room—one tall, one short, both of them dominating the space. Angry eyes locked onto us, freezing my blood in its tracks.
“Get out here, now,” the tall one bellowed, his voice dripping with authority. He sounded like us. He was from home! And yet, the sheer force of his words sent tremors through the room, rattling the very foundation of my being and leaving me paralyzed with fear.
My mother’s grip tightened around me, and I pressed myself harder against her chest, like I could burrow into her and hide.
“Please. Please, she didn’t do anything,” she pleaded, her voice quivering but resolute.
The tall man’s lips curled into a malicious sneer as he stepped closer, his eyes burning with twisted satisfaction. “No, butyoudid, you slag,” he spat, his voice oozing with contempt.
The room filled with a palpable tension as the two men advanced toward us. I clung desperately to my mother’s side and squeezed my eyes shut.
Wake up. Wake up. Wake up,I pleaded silently.
But my mother’s scream made my eyes fly wide open as the men grabbed us both by the hair and dragged us out of my bed and across the room.
“No!” I cried as my mother screamed and flailed.
She looked savage, wild, as she kicked and punched and yanked madly against the tall man’s grip.
My feet caught on the hem of my nightgown as they dragged us out into the hallway, and I stumbled, crashing into the wainscoted wall.
The man didn’t stop; he kept dragging me along the short hall to the sitting room where he threw me down onto the gray carpet.
