Page 56 of Neverland

“There’s a reason why your father treated you the way he did,” he snarled, preparing to cut deep to the bone. “‘Cause he fucking hated you and your whore of a mother.”

“She wasn’t a whore,” I seethed because how dare he. Not only was he defending a molester, he was defending his brother who’d brutally murdered his own wife. I was in trouble. My only allies were three five-year-old kids, and they were too scared to tell the truth.

“Like mother like daughter. And guess what?” Uncle Brian stepped closer, his finger on the trigger. “I fuckin’ don’t like you either, coming into my house and upsettin’ it the way you have. So I’m gonna give you all of ten seconds to pack your shit and get the fuck outta my house. You gettin’ the words comin’ outta my mouth?” He pressed the barrel against my forehead, his eyes narrowing. “Or, do I need to show my kids here how we deal with the people we don’t like?”

Swallowing bile, I shook my head.

He smirked as he counted. “Ten, nine…”

My feet moved fast but clumsily, terror causing me to make mistakes. Reaching under my bed, I pulled out the small backpack which contained my worldly possessions. A few odd pieces of clothes CPS had given me from their office. That’s it. I hadn’t bothered unpacking because, well, there was nothing really to unpack. Despite the meager amount however, I wasn’t about to leave it behind.

Hearing whimpers, I scooted over to the triplets who were huddled together on Jessica’s bed, the furthest away from the men.

“Come here,” I said, holding out my arms. They fell forward wrapping themselves tightly around me, wet cheeks soaking through my shirt. “I love you. I’m going to do what I—”

“Five, four…”

“I have to go.” Kissing the top of each head, I faced the molester. “If I ever hear you hurt any of them, I’ll come back and cut your balls off and then your dick while you watch, and then feed them to next door’s Rottweiler.”

“Time’s up.”

“I’m going.” I started the walk down the hall, the shotgun now pressed against my back. Aunty Meryl was nowhere to be seen, still the coward she always was. With a shove to the spine, I was sent through the creaky screen door. On the porch, I faced yet another family member who was a complete and utter disgrace. I trembled with rage despite staring down the barrel of a shotgun. He may have kicked me out, but I wasn’t leaving quietly.

“You said I was like my mother, but I’m not weak. What you don’t see is how much you are like your brother. I hope both you pieces of shit rot in hell because that’s where you deserve to be. And same rule applies to you if you touch those kids or if you let anyone else touch them.”

His shoulders jolt from laughter. Laughter because he most definitely did not see me as a threat. “You’ve been a curse since the day you got here. And if I ever see your cunt face again, it will most certainly be the last. Now get the fuck off my property.” He aimed his shotgun at the ground and pulled the trigger, the blast frightening the sleeping birds around us. They scattered through the trees in a frenzy. I fell to the ground instinctually even if it was the wrong thing to do.

He truly was as crazy as my father.

“Run little rabbit,” he chuckled like the psychopath he was.

Getting to my feet, I fell into the shadows and took off at a sprint down the dark street, knowing I had to ignore the three small faces crying in the window. Then and there, as I passed each house still with their lights out, still uncaring to anything outside of its four walls, I made a promise to myself that as soon as I found someone who cared enough, I’d save the triplets from a fate like mine.

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