Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“You really want to go see him tonight, don’t you?”
I nodded, swallowing a sandpaper-covered cotton ball as he leaned even closer. He was squeezing my wrist with enough force to make my nerves jump to life. Something was wrong. And I realized at that very moment, I was scared of my step-dad.
“Well, I can let you go and not tell your mother,” he said, and though those words should have brought me relief, they only made me shake in his grip. His next sentence proved my fear to be warranted. “But you’ll have to do something for me.”
He grinned wider, licking his bottom lip as his eyes fell to mine. Bile rose in my throat and I couldn’t hide the horror that quickly appeared on my face. “Oh my God, Dale.” I tried to shove him away, but he only grabbed my other wrist, and now he had both of them in a tight grip. My heart pounded in my ears. He was serious. Oh God, he was serious.
A mixture of fear and disgust rolled through me and I jerked my arms with as much force as I could, but it barely fazed him. My muscles were exhausted, and Dale was stronger. It didn’t take me long to realize the sickening implication behind those two facts.
“Dale, please, let me go,” I cried, tugging my arms again. He shoved me back hard against the door, knocking the wind from my chest. Wide-eyed and shaking, I flexed my knee forward and connected with his groin. Dale coughed and bent forward, but kept his grip on my wrists. I squirmed against his grasp, trying to wriggle free as he strained to catch his breath again. But I was trapped. And when he lifted his head again, his dark eyes were venomous. He released one of my wrists long enough to rear back and slap my face.
The force hurled me to the ground and I hit the hardwood floor with a smack. Groaning, I grabbed my head between my hands, trying to stop my vision from spinning. Pain echoed through my skull as I tried to focus on the legs of our coffee table across the room. I blinked over and over, but the room kept sliding quickly from the left to the right in my vision. I squeezed my eyes tight, willing my head to settle, praying the dizziness would pass.
Dale dropped down on top of me, pinning my wrists above my head. My chest was tight, my breaths labored. I felt the panic setting in and I couldn’t think straight. Shaking my head wildly, I thrashed against his grip, my eyes wide, vision still blurred.
“Dale! Stop! Please!” I screamed for Mom, but that only made him laugh. He knew as well as I did that she was passed out and not even my screaming was going to wake her. When a sickening snarl curled on his lip, I realized this was how he liked it. He wanted me to fight. He wanted me to struggle.
I swallowed back the acid rising in my throat, squeezing my eyes tight again. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.
“God, you smell so good,” Dale whispered, inhaling a deep breath against my neck. I squeezed my eyes tighter as hot tears leaked out of each one. I focused on them as they seared a trail from my cheeks to my ears. When I felt Dale fidgeting with the spandex band of his sweatpants, my eyes snapped open.
I bucked against him, thrashing, kicking, screaming, crying. A rush of adrenaline had sparked to life and I tried so hard to help it catch fire. I tried to head butt him, to knee him again, but every attempt was futile. My muscles wouldn’t cooperate, and Dale wouldn’t budge.
“Dale,” I groaned, tears streaming, throat aching. “God, please. Please stop. Please. Please.” I said the word over and over, praying to his humanity or God or whoever would listen first.
“Shhh,” he whispered, touching his finger to my lips as his other hand still held my wrists firmly in place. I shook my head against the touch. “Just relax.”
I choked on a sob, writhing beneath him. My heart was pounding in my ears. It was beating so fast. Too fast. I was going to pass out. I was sure of it.
My eyes fluttered open, the beat growing louder and louder in my ears. Dale was still saying something, but I couldn’t make it out anymore. Everything was muted, vision still like a dream, or rather a nightmare. I simply stared up at the chandelier, watching it shimmer and glitter like the horrific scene just beneath it weren’t real. Like I wasn’t real. Like I didn’t exist.
Everything was in slow motion. Time was morphing. Inhale. Exhale. Dale’s hand slid up my inner thigh and two more tears slid down to join the puddles forming in my ears. A cry left my lips, but I didn’t hear it. I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t smell or feel or taste. I only saw through blurred, distorted vision. The chandelier. The chandelier was all that existed.