Page 3 of Apple of His Eye

Thinking back, it makes sense. There were moments I caught her watching me with disgust and a hint of envy. It always sent shivers up my spine.

Now I know why.

This explains everything. It was the reason she kicked out the half dozen boyfriends she found trying to sneak into my room in the middle of the night, and why she didn’t want anyone to know I existed. It would make it easier for her to use me when the time was right.

I was her last bargaining chip.

No, I won’t let this happen.

The words prickle across my mind, and something buried deep inside of me wakes up. It fills me with strength and urges me to move to my closet. I push open a loose board and reach inside. I discovered the board the first time Fran barricaded me inside for one of her wild punishments. The scent of urine and other bodily functions permeates my nose. No matter how many times I scrubbed the carpet, the scent was ingrained in every fiber and every board. It remains a reminder of how bad things can get.

I crinkle my nose against the smell and push back the memories I spent in the dark. I press up onto my toes, giving myself more leverage to search for the small chain I hid years ago. It was the only piece of my family I could hide from Fran. My fingers graze it, and I snatch it up, letting the cool metal settle against my palm. I barely let my eyes see it before clasping it around my neck.

I shove my feet into the too-small, worn-out tennis shoes I found in the library’s lost and found box and grab my hoodie I draped across the bed earlier. I pull it on over my head and cross the room to the window.

I stop and look around, making sure there’s nothing else worth taking. Fran and Raymond’s voices are no closer, but my heart hammers in my chest as I quietly slide open the window. Thankfully, Fran hadn’t bothered sealing it shut when we moved in, but I think it was because of my complacency. She believed she broke me, and deemed I was no longer a flight risk.

Little did she know.

I hoist myself up onto the window ledge, and the sound of thunder rumbles across the sky.

Shit.

The dark clouds look ominous, and the sound of fat raindrops hit the wet ground. I shiver into my hoodie, not just from the icy cold air making it’s way through the thin material.

Shit.

I consider what I’m about to do, recognizing I have no plan. Any safe house or shelter I could run to; I’m positive Fran will search. My usual haunts are also off limits. I have nowhere to go.

But staying is not an option.

I’d rather walk the streets and face whatever dangers lie ahead than stay in this house a second longer. I let my feet touch the ground before I could overthink again and quietly slide the window closed.

Fate is testing my willpower because the second I take a step, the sky opens, and the fat raindrops turn into a downpour, soaking my hair. I move between the house and the dilapidated wooden fence dividing the property between our house and the neighbors. Glancing back at the pathway, I take a relieved breath. There isn’t enough mud to track my steps.

I shiver against the icy wind penetrating the wet hoodie.

Shit.

I need somewhere to shelter, giving me time to come up with a plan, but I can think of nowhere that wouldn’t expose me.

And then I see it.

My saving grace.

An open window.

I step toward the neighbor’s house, trying to remember if I heard the rumble of his motorcycle this morning. I knew I had. He was home.

Shit.

Weighing the options before me, I have no other logical choice. If I want to escape Fran and her plan to sell me to Raymond, the window to my neighbor’s basement is my only choice.

I send a silent prayer to the heavens above as I crouched down and shimmy through the small opening.

Hopefully, this doesn’t get me killed.

TWO

Source: www.allfreenovel.com