AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
KERES—AGE 11
Curled up in a ball in a wooden box in the back of the van, I hug my knees tighter to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible. The van stops, and my back, arms, and legs tingle from the sudden absence of vibration from the engine. Phoenix trembles beside me. Her soft cries echo off the plywood walls concealing us and drown out the otherwise deafening silence of the night. When I saw that she was older than me and had already started to grow into a woman, I foolishly thought he’d take it easier on me.
“Shh,” I whisper, hoping he’ll forget about us if we’re quiet.
Every part of my body aches, and the dirty, suffocating memory of what he did fills the cramped space we share. The coppery tang of fresh blood fills my nostrils and has me swallowing down a mouthful of bile.
All I want is to close my eyes and never feel this pain again. Maybe we should both be loud. Make him come check on us. He will open the trunk and I will run and he will shoot me. Then I can see my mom again.
But no. She made me promise to stay safe. A heavy sob balls in my throat, but I swallow it whole, absorbing it into my chest along with the rest of my pain and terror.
Shouts come from afar, but they’re getting closer. Men’s voices. Men who are here to… My teeth start to chatter.
“No, no, no,” Phoenix chants. Is she praying? Doesn’t she realize that nobody’s listening? I’ve suspected for a while now that God doesn’t exist. Today confirmed it. No god would ever allow the horrors we lived through today.
The van sways as the back doors are pulled open, and I press myself harder into the plywood floor of the box, trying to make myself smaller. God may not exist, but I squeeze my eyes shut and beg the universe to keep the men from finding us.
The voices grow louder.
“There’s a box in here. It’s nailed shut.”
“No, no, no,” Phoenix goes on chanting.
I cover my ears. If I pretend hard enough that I’m not here, maybe they really won’t see me.
“Did you hear that? Crying? Is there someone in there?”
“No, no, no,” she chants.
No, no, no. I shake my head.
The top of the box splinters, and the sound rings in my ears. Blinding light filters through my squinched eyelids. Get away. Get away. Get away.
“Oh, fuck. It’s kids. And they’re—” Muttered curses are spat with a violence that makes me shiver.
“Get ’em the fuck out of there.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” one of the voices says, softer now. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
Yes they are. Men only know how to hurt. I roll as far from the light as I can get, trying to melt into the shadows and disappear. Phoenix’s chant grows louder, more desperate, as it gets farther away, and I know they have her. They’re taking her, but I don’t try to stop them. I can’t. All the fight I had in me was used back in that house. The jagged edges of my fingernails slice into my palms, and I’m reminded of just how hard I fought.
Disembodied voices continue to ring out, but one stands out among the rest. “Put her in the car. It’s okay, I’ll take this one. Give me your coat.”
A soft, warm material covers me, and only that one voice remains. “Hey, I know you’re really hurt, but the monster who hurt you is gone. I promise I just want to help you. Okay?”
I open my eyes. The glare from the flashlight in the man’s hand obscures his face, but I can see the outline of his huge frame as he crouches and peers down at me.
“G-go away!”
“I can’t do that. I’ll take you somewhere safe. Somewhere you’ll be taken care of. If you come with me, I promise nobody will hurt you again. Would you like that?”
I’ve never known safety, but I know that I want it. Every man I’ve ever known has been cruel, and experience tells me this must be a trick. A ploy to get me to go along without fighting. Yet my instincts tell me to trust him. The rough wood scrapes against my cheek, and I realize I’m nodding.
He holds out his hand. “I know it’s asking a lot for you to trust someone you’ve never met, but I have a sister just a little older than you. I know how to pick you up without hurting you. Will you let me do that?”
“I’m scared.” My voice is so quiet, I’m certain he can’t hear me.
