Page 24 of Snowman

She moved closer until her palm came to rest ever so lightly on my shoulder as if she needed to fix herself to the floor.

"Two years ago," she began in a watery tone, "do you remember anything?"

"Just pieces," I said, my throat arid. "Pain."

"I remember," she whispered, leaning in closer yet. "And now… I understand."

My chest tightened. I turned to her slowly, "Understand what?"

"What you did," she said softly, it was a dagger to the heart. "Why you did it," her voice broke and her sniffles caused her face to rise toward me. "I wish I did it too."

She slumped against me before a word could escape my lips, her sobs shattering the silence. I drew her close, wrapping my arms around her trembling frame as her tears drenched my shoulder. I could feel her trembling, her pain bleeding into mine.

"I had to," she managed to choke out. "I had to call for him. And if I didn't…" Her words fell away, lost amid the racking sobs shaking her frame.

I drew back, gently, and cupped her tear-streaked face with my bruised hand. "He… last night…?" I asked, my voice shaking, not wanting to know the answer.

She looked up at me with red, swollen eyes. "He did it again," she whispered, her voice cracking. "And I let him."

My heart stopped.

"What happened?" I managed to say, barely more than a breath.

She looked at me, her eyes dark with a truth that stole the air from my lungs. "Joe…" she whispered. "He's not our dad."

The words crashed over me like a wave, pulling me under.He's not our dad.

I was paralyzed, unable to move, or breathe. My arms dropped listlessly at my sides, numbing into oblivion. Everything around me began to blur together, swirling into a gray haze. My mind sought to make sense of it-to piece together the shards of a puzzle I didn't even know existed. But it was too much.

The memory of her arms around me was grounding, but then- footsteps. Heavy, growing louder.

Before I could react, I had felt her being ripped from me. I staggered forward, reaching for her, when I saw him.

Joe.

His dark eyes connected to mine, and not a thing showed in the blankness of his body language. Soulless, empty, blacker than the shadows surrounding him.

"That's enough of you two," he growled, his voice a sharp edge slicing through the air.

Mel screamed as he tugged her away, and I couldn't move, couldn't stop him. My feet were glued onto the floor, my body frozen. Then his attention fell on me. His face contorted in angeras he closed the gap between us. I hadn't time to move before his hand slammed me hard against the wall. A wave of pain coursed through my back, and the air was knocked from my lungs.

Joe wasn't Dad anymore. He wasjustJoe. And he was ready to hurt me.

My eyes locked on his, searching for something—anything—that might tie me to him. But there was nothing. Not his eyes, not his mouth, not the way his hair fell in dark coarse strands. There wasn't a single piece of him in me. My blood didn't belong to him. My body didn't belong to him. For the first time in my life, I understood that. And for the first time, I fought back.

My bruised palms connected with his chest with all the strength left in me. I pushed as hard as I could, hard enough to see the surprise flash across his features before he fell backward, landing on the floor with a thud. I was above him, my chest heaving, my body trembling, yet I didn't move. I couldn't anymore. Not for him.

He bared his teeth; his anger was simmering below his skin, like coals, but he said not a word. Slowly, he pushed himself up; his eyes were sharp, seething. Then he turned, his hand shooting out to grab Mel by the arm and yanking her up roughly.

"No!" she shrieked; her voice cracked. "Bree!"

"Shut up," he snarled and his palm met her face with a sickening crack.

She stumbled under the force of the blow, her cheek ballooning in an instant into red welts.

I flung myself at her, but he was quicker, towing her down the stairs along with him. I ran after them, my heart going crazy, but before I even reached them, the door slammed shut. A second later, the sharp click of the lock sounded through the attic like a death knell.

"No!" I screamed, my fists going against the wood. "No! Let me out!"

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