Around two, we stopped at a gas station for gas. I rushed to the toilet. Dad looked in all the stalls first.
“Dad?”
“It’s your life now, Bear. You don’t know Fox.”
I nodded.
“Make it quick, I’ll be right outside.”
I rushed to the stall and closed the door. I pulled off my pants and the relief of emptying my bladder felt amazing.
A silence I’d never experienced before surrounded me. An antiseptic smell mixed with ammonia burned my nostrils, and I coughed.
“Dad!” I yelled through more coughs, but he didn’t answer.
My heart pounded as my thoughts went haywire. What the hell was in this bathroom with me?
I covered my nose with my sleeve and breathed in my scent as I finished fast and left the stall.
Arms grabbed me and covered my lips. It wasn’t my father. The powerful scent came from whoever was behind me, clasping me tight into his arms. I didn’t know the scent, and I tried to scream. His palm muffled my screams and grunts. Tears blurred my sight as they burn. The deafening silence was still around me, and I did not know how that could be possible.
The man behind me chuckled as the door flung opened and Emanual and Dad’s eyes grew. They tried to step forward, but the guy left out his hand that carried a ring.
“Say bye, bye, Daddy,” the guy said. Both of them stopped. Their bodies vibrated as blood poured from their noses.
I screamed again as my tears rolled down my cheeks and my eyes flickered to his arm. The ring? I grabbed his arm and tried to lower it away from them.
Fire exploded around them, and I froze, but my mind screamed and the sobs that came out of me didn’t sound like mine.
The guy exploded, and a beast crawled out of him. My body jolted in all directions, as something hard struck me against the head.
I lost sight and the last thing I felt was the icy cold seeping through my bones.
20
The pungent smell of antiseptic cleaner, an ozone-like tang from metal and cement mixed with the foul odor from a blocked drain, made my stomach turn. I wanted to cover the stench. I tried to bring my arm to cover my nose, but the pull cut into my wrists. My eyes flew open.
I was standing with my arms above my head. I lifted my head at the pipes running across the open ceiling where my wrists hung from shackles. The murmur of voices and footsteps crossing the floor overhead put me into another frenzy.
Shit! Where am I?
My eyes skidded around, searching for anything that I could use.
The outline of wooden steps was on my right and the dim lightning against the walls cast eerie shadowy figures against the wall. The thumping in my chest became louder and faster.
A cement floor with mildew spider webbed led to a drain in the corner and my eyes flickered to the wooden table with various shapes of knives sprawled on top of it.
I lifted my leg, but it wasn’t long enough to reach the table.
I didn’t want to die. I was way too young to die.
A dragon grabbing me flew through my thoughts. He’d exploded and something hard connected with my temple. My lower lip vibrated as I tried to get my wrist out of the shackles, but it hurt pulling at them. Tears pricked my gaze, and one rolled down my face.
Was Dad alive? How could he? Whatever this guy did to them made them explode into tiny pieces. A door opened, and I froze. I didn’t know what to do, and I did the cowardly thing and pretended to be asleep.
The footsteps thumped on the wooden steps, mimicking the loudness of my heartbeat.
A chuckle came from my right. “I know you are awake, princess.” Warm breath caressed my face. It was the guy from the bathroom.
