Page 1 of Into The Darkness

Prologue

Help me.

The screaming downstairs is so loud—there are so many noises.

Walsh being scared has my breath going ragged as I clutch onto my blanket. I curl my toes inside my favorite slippers and squint while adjusting to the darkness of the closet. Walsh hid me beneath Mommy’s pretty summer dresses. At first, I think it’s cool that he built me a fort inside her clothes, but then he tells me to stay as quiet as I can. My legs go numb staying completely still. I lift my favorite doll up to my nose so I can smell the comforting and familiar scent. It smells like Mommy’s favorite lilac perfume. My fingers unconsciously braid the doll’s yarn hair while I squeeze her to my chest.

If I imagine myself as being as small as an ant, then maybe it will come true. I beg him to stay with me, but he says he has to go check on Daddy and Mommy. The banging and yelling continue as he leaves me alone.

“Franco, you need to think about what you are doing. You need to fucking understand there are consequences—” The vent in the closet acts as a megaphone, carrying their voices straight to me.

“Shut the fuck up, Roberta,” an unfamiliar voice responds to my mother’s oddly quick and panicked tone.

Where is Dad? He must be around. He always promises me nothing will ever hurt our family. Daddy will be here soon. He has to be. Sometimes, Dad has friends come over and they are loud, but my mom never shrieks like this.

“Roberta.”

Oh good, there he is.

“Do what he wants.”

Why does Daddy sound so cold and mad? Maybe I should go check on them. I give my dolly a big sniff before getting the courage to stand in the dark closet.

Walsh stuffed me so far back and threw blankets on top of the clothes on top of me, making the fort super tight. I have to dig myself out of them in order to get to the door. Where is Walsh?

Bang.

More screaming and bangs erupt from below.

Where is Walsh? He will save me; he always protects me.

“Franco, I am begging you. Let me take her to the hospital. You don’t have to do this.” Daddy sounds so scared. I need to get downstairs to make him feel better. I need to be brave like my mommy taught me.

Bang.

Uh-oh. Something isn’t right.

“Nooooooo” echoes through the house with loud cries.

I cover my ears and rock at the abundance of noise. My blanket drops to the floor, and another loud bang shakes the room. What is that? I grab where Daddy has shown me where my heart is because it keeps beating so fast and pain sears through my chest.

“Walsh,” my dad cries out. My brother is only twelve, which makes him four years older than me. His feet thump as he bounds down the steps.

“Daddy.” My brother’s voice cracks. I should really go check on them. My brother is never worried, so my sisterly instincts kick in.

“Don’t look,” my dad commands as I creak open the wooden accordion doors on the closet. I look around, taking in the quiet and dark of the room as my brother screams like he has watched another scary movie.

As I walk past my mom’s big wooden bed, her cream sheets laden with crimson handprints catch my eye. I wonder if they are painting. They always tell me my paint set is a downstairs toy. My mom has her thick cream-and-red curtains pulled back because she claims she likes to see the night sky and the twinkling of the lights against the pool below. I turn toward the main door. The night-light is still on, so I put my blanket on the bed, then hurry toward the stairs.

We live in a big house compared to some of my cousins. I don’t have friends at school and aren’t allowed playdates, but when I go to my cousins’ houses, their halls aren’t quite as long as ours. They aren’t filled with golden frames on the walls like my house is.

“Daddy?” I whisper, knowing he won’t hear me from the stairs.

“Son.” My dad’s voice is definitely coming from the living room. I just have to travel down the steps, past the front door, and through the kitchen. It isn’t that farto go . . . but in the dark, it’s so scary. “We will avenge this. We will spend the rest of our lives doing whatever it takes to make sure the fucking man responsible for this is taken down. We are Solises, and we never bend to our enemy.”

Our enemy? Who is that?

My brother is crying, and I know I have to get to them quickly.

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