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A moment later, Evan enters the roo it’s in vain

“Do you want a boy or girl, Olivia?” he hisses, inching his way toward the bed Flinging off the covers, he lunges towardme by the waist, he flips me so I’m on my stomach

“Evan, please,” I sob He bends next to ainst my back He’s so heavy, he hasit will be quick

“I’ll teach you who’s boss, you little whore,” he says through gritted teeth, continuing his assault With each thrust of his pelvis,die a little ive up, beco completely numb

Finishing, he gets up and saunters out of my view “I’ll be back in a little while Try to behave while I’one,” Evan yells across the house a fewthe front door

I lay on the bed, exactly where Evan left h away froh, I completely break down I’ worse

I stand up, but a wave of dizziness crashes over ain slowly After a few moments, I walk toward the blacked out , one slow step at a ti the chain behind hs and a sob escapes ht the overwhel of dread I can do this, I just need to believe I can

As I approach the , there’s a tiny flicker of light toward the bottom Evan’s blacked it out almost completely, but there’s a spot in the corner I can see out Using ernails, I try to scrape so out, I can see daylight, but it’s noticeably darker than theor late afternoon Straining ood eye, I try to see what’s outside

The house next door is pretty close and the sun reflects off the hich et these ropes freethe ! If I can just break the , I can use the glass to cut through the ropes The ere never great for insulation, which probablyto break it with

The light glints off the chain attached to ht, it ather the slack in the chain, and fold theers, I grip thea deep breath, I rear back and hit the ith every inkling of strength I have left I hit it over and over, but my arms start to burn and the effort becomes too vast

With the last sliver of adrenaline I have, I drop the chain, back up a few steps, and charge forward, hitting the ithpain radiates fro me to fall to the floor

Curling up into a ball, I sob uncontrollably, feeling hopeless I’m too weak, too bruised and broken to helpthis all really is a nightmare and I’ll wake up at any minute How did I not see this? How did I never see how crazy Evan was? Openingto set, casting an eerie glow froap in the

The light shifts and so under the bed catchesto htly Straining, I stretchout in pain as I forcepain blasting froers connect with the top of a box and I pull, easing it closer beforea deep breath, I calm myof hope bloo

Stretching ain, I touch the box easily and pull it towardEvan could be home at any moment, I focus on the box in front ofit into my lap, I shift the cover off and move it to the side A fresh wave of tears wash down my face as I stare at the shell and rock collection my dad and I built when I was a kid I used to keep it under my bed so he would always be close to me

Swiping the tears froest rock I can find and test its weight inh the pain in sharp hisses and grip the rock inmy arm back, I launch forward and sain, and again, untildown around it “Yes!” I call out, unable the help myself A smile spreads acrossthe cuts, and carefully pluck the shards from the pane