Page 79 of The Spotlight Effect

“We need a phone to call someone on,” I told them.

“It’s too late we need to just run and see what happens,” Dexter said. We carefully and quietly made our way to the door, creaked it open, and ran out. We thought we would make it until we saw Griffin going back to his car and he spotted us. So we ran faster.

We got so far until gunshots filled the air and then a thud came. I turned around to see he had tackled Dexter, and they were wrestling on the ground. Griffin got a hold of him enough to start punching. Griffin punched so hard I was sure Dexter’s nose was broken.

He beat Dexter unconscious and then grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder. He took them back to the room but chained me up in his room. After he left and came back an hour later with Lia, she was unconscious; he had said it was just something to knock her out she would be fine.

He left that day but came back late at night, and I was still chained to his bed in a white cheer-like dress. “Don’t you look beautiful chained up for me?” Griffin grinned. He sat some bags down before pulling out a gag. Oh no! He can’t be. “Don’t cry. You’ll love this,” he cooed and came over to me to place the gag in my mouth. I was defenseless against him.

Totally at his mercy as he climbed over me and began laying kisses on my neck. I hated the feeling. I hated everything about this. “You are just like your mother, but this time, you can’t run from me.” He laughed as he moved to the other side of my neck. I cried and cried as he touched my body until I passed out due to exhaustion.

The next two days carried on with beating and him starving us until finally they came.

Our parents had found us and brought an ass load of cops with them. It was quiet and just talking until gunshots went off. We all stayed huddled together in the corner of the room, and I prayed it was my parents who had been shot.

Many noises filled the air as Griffin came in and unlocked Dexter, dragging him into the hall. I quickly found the bobby pin we’d taken and unlocked myself and Lia before running after Griffin. He was now in the family living room. This room was filled with family portraits and trinkets. I could see the strawberry pink teddy bear my dad got me three years ago on the plush floral chair.

“No, stop, please!” I begged, sobbing as I slowly crouched closer and closer to the ground until I kneeled. I didn’t know what else to do. My dad was being held by a gun and my brother was watching.

“No! This is his fault!” Griffin shouted, his strong and loud voice boomed through the living room down to the halls. I was scared. I walked over to Dex. He was standing very still and had the most childlike fear on his face.

Dexter wrapped his arms around, trying to shield me.

“You will leave her alone. But take me,” Dad demanded.

“No!” I sobbed and placed my head in Dexter’s arms. He can’t leave. I need him; I don't want to be alone here. Everything was blurry and way too loud when a loud ringing burst through the air, someone had been shot.

The ringing was so loud and my adrenaline so high that I didn’t notice I was the one bleeding till Dexter screamed, and I looked down. I was shot in my thigh. I passed out due to the sight, and when I woke up, I was in the hospital.

Over time,these memories have become scrambled, and I can only remember so much. I don’t remember the two days much before we got rescued. I don’t remember much of the days after. I remember the trial and how my dad stood up for his brother, saying it was a mistake, he didn’t mean it, and we should all put this behind us. That’s when I started to hate him, but I could never hate him fully. He was still a good dad. He came to my competitions and all our birthdays, took us out, visited us, and all, but this one thing ruined it for me. I couldn’t believe he took his brother's side over his children.

I remember Dad, Mom, and Stephan fighting in the night, and sometimes, it got physical with the men, so Dexter had to break it up. I remember never talking to my dad for months after.

As time continued, I grew depressed and started overdosing until I was sent away to a mental institution and got therapy. I got better and got out. Cheer is one thing that saved me. I had somewhere to put all the anger into and do my best. Faith was another. She never left my side. For months, we spent every day and almost every night together; she even came to therapy with me. She needed some of her own too. She couldn’t get over the fact she couldn’t save me.

Dex got into football, and Lia became a new person; we all did, in a way.

This time in my life haunts me to this day.

LOCKED IN

GRAYSON

Alexia cried in my arms all night after telling me what happened to her at thirteen.

Hearing what happened to her made me ready to put the asshole under the prison. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.

By the time morning came, she asked me not to feel sorry for her and that just listening to her helped. In such a short time, I feel like this girl has become my whole life. I like, no, love everything about her.

Her curly black hair and how soft it is, how light her brown eyes are and how they are golden in the sun. How she only ever seems to have really long nails. I love how she wears whatever she wants and never cares about what anyone has to say, how sarcastic, bratty and even how grumpy she is.

I don’t even know how I remembered all those things. I’ve only known her for a little over a week. She already holds myheart in her hands. I could never tell her that, it’d give her too much power.

“So what are you doing today?” Alexia asks, coming back from the bathroom.

“I’m taking you out,” I answer. Seeing her so broken last night lit something inside of me and Ineededto make it better.

“What do you mean?” She looks at me very skeptically.

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