Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound woke me from my nightmare.
My eyes opened, and my heart raced as the shed disappeared and the bathroom came into sharper focus. It took me a moment to fully return to the reality of where I was.
The door shook as Daphne knocked again.
“Blair! Are you ready to go?” she shouted from the other side.
I drew in a shaky breath while wiping tears from my face. “Yeah,” I said, the word sounding hoarse as it left my mouth.Sniffling, I wiped my eyes and leveled my palm against the wall to lift myself.
As fast as I could, I dressed, shoved my feet into my shoes, and stepped out of the bathroom.
“You okay?” she asked when I came into her view.
“Yeah,” I lied, sniffling as I tucked my chin into my neck. “Just allergies.”
The look she gave me said she didn’t believe me, but she nodded anyway, allowing me to get away with that excuse.
My stomach roiled, but I was grateful she didn’t keep pushing.
We left the dorm, and I forced myself to make small talk as we walked to class.
I took my usual seat in American Gothic Lit, but ten minutes in, the grogginess crept back in. I rested my head on the desk before I could stop myself. My eyelids kept growing heavier, and I didn’t mean to doze off.
The shed door busts open, waking me, and a flashlight shines straight in my face.
“Grab her legs!” a man shouts.
“No!” I scream, clutching my blanket as they drag me out. My dress lifts as branches and rocks scrape against my skin.
They carry me down the dirt trail we use when we gather our drinking water.
“No, no, no,” I cry, fighting to free myself.
“Calm down, girl,” a man warns. His breath reeks like rotten fish.
Papa waits by the river with two other men. Mama stands beside him, the only woman there.
“You know the drill,” Papa says, puffing on a cigar.
They force me into the freezing water, gripping my waist on each side to keep me still, and I scream when theyshove my head under.
Bubbles burst from my mouth as I struggle to breathe before they yank me back up.
I take in two gulps of air before they push me under again.
“May our lord reveal the truth,” they chant. “May our lord reveal the truth. Save her soul! Demons be released!”
Their lord is my papa.
He’s their religion.
But me? I know the truth.
He’s no lord.
No god. Just a very bad man.
