Page 1 of Torn In Two

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KARA

Dirt filled my nostrils.

Every time I opened my mouth to scream, it was all I could taste until I coughed and choked, trying not to swallow it down. My muscles froze with each clump of soil hitting the wood just inches above my face.

From the tinny speaker I’d been buried with, my husband’s teachings played in an endless loop.

“Women need to be reborn when they have sinned. They need to prove their worth. Prove that the evil can be leached from their souls.”

The box around me was tiny. I wasn’t tall but I barely fit, my legs twisted painfully. Once they’d filled my grave, no air would seep through the cracks and crevices letting in the dirt.

How long could a person live, buried beneath the ground?

It couldn’t be long in a coffin this size with my panic stealing great gulps of air, my brain unable to calm enough to stop.

Josiah was going to get his wish.

I was going to die with his godforsaken words ringing in my ears.

“Are you sure about this?” a muffled voice asked from somewhere above me. “This is…shit, man, this is a lot.”

“Just fucking do it!” a second voice snapped. “You heard his words. Women need to be reborn to cleanse their souls of their sins! Put your foot on the motherfucking shovel and do what you were told to do. Stop questioning me!”

Their voices were too muffled to recognize, my fear too thick around me to think clearly.

Hayley Jade had already lost one mother when I’d taken her from Shari’s home. Now she was going to lose another. Had I even told her I loved her? I’d been so wrapped up in worrying about her refusing to speak, and hating myself for not knowing how to connect with my own daughter, I hadn’t even said the words she should have been told every day.

That she was loved. Special.

Safe.

I’d never been able to promise her that. Not after running from Josiah. Not after my sister had been murdered and everything pointed toward me being next.

At least it was only me in here. I could only thank the Lord that Hayley Jade was with her Aunt Rebel and cousins, surrounded by men who would protect her, the way I couldn’t.

She’d be okay. Rebel would raise her as her own.

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes at the thought of never seeing my daughter or older sister again. But at least they’d have each other.

The makeshift coffin lid bowed beneath the weight of the dirt, the men arguing back and forth. The recording mixed with their words, all of it becoming a confusing mess I couldn’t make sense of. Another shovel load of earth forced the flexible plywood to squash my nose and kiss my lips.

Fresh panic speared through me. Frenzied, I kicked and fought and punched, but it was no good. Everything became harder, sharp movements growing sluggish and weak, sleepiness creeping up on me like a shadow I couldn’t escape.

My brain battled to block it out. To fill my memories with something happier. Something worth fighting for.

Hawk.

Hayden.

I’d found happiness and hope in their arms. It had been barely a glimpse of what I could have had, and it had been sweet, but it had disappeared in the face of Hawk’s lies.

I hated him for lying about Hayden’s death, while simultaneously loved him for teaching me how it felt to be desired.

I hated Hayden for holding me captive, but then being so kind and sweet I’d spent five years secretly in love with a man who could never be mine.

The wood groaned, trying to keep the load from collapsing on top of me. My chest squeezed with pain from lack of oxygen.

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