Page 26 of Sacrificing Zoriah

“Yeah…” Jim says slowly. “Clara dropped the phone and screamed at them to let her go… Someone grabbed Clara. I knew what they were doing to my little girl because I could hear her screaming. All the sounds… I knew they were raping my little girl, but I was still an hour away from home… Clara never stopped screaming. When she did, it was because someone was raping her and… All I could do was listen and drive as fast as I could. I was praying they took their time so they would at least be alive… Zoriah got quiet after a while, but I could still hear them raping Clara. What they were saying, it was… I couldn’t help them… Clara must have gotten away from them at some point because they all started screaming at her before the shots went off. Zoriah started screaming again, but it was muffled. She went quiet after a second too. The men hung around for a minute but eventually left… I didn’t want to hang up, so I just kept driving. When I got home and found them, Clara had been shot in the head. She was lying on top of Zoriah to protect her but couldn’t get out from under her. She shut down and went quiet, so they must have thought she was dead. That saved her. I called the police and had Corbin with me. They cleared me immediately, and nothing ever came of the men who raped my girls and killed my wife… I lost myself so fast because I had no support. Corbin helped with Zoriah a lot, but the drinking got out of hand so fast. I went to work and provided for my kids, but I was always drunk. It was the only time I didn’t see her mangled face in my head. When I don’t drink, I can still hear the way they screamed… Now with Zoriah getting hurt again, I can’t keepdrinking away the pain. She needs me now, and she needed me then. I have to do right by my kids.”

“That’s awful,” I say. “I don’t know what to say.”

“When did Zoriah meet Haley?” Ben asks.

“About six months after that incident,” Jim says. I look at Ben, and he is typing on his phone. I recognize that look. He’s up to something.

“Why?” I ask him.

“I find it odd that all of that takes place right before the man who just kidnapped and raped her moved to town,” Ben says. “Every accusation that has been made against that cult has come from lifetime members that got out and went into hiding.”

“You don’t think…” Jim asks.

“We should just ask her,” I say.

“It’s going to throw her off the deep end,” Corbin says. “But if they are connected to Mom’s death and her being brutally raped at six years old… We need to find out.”

“God, that’s awful,” I sigh. “We do need to know the truth if that’s connected. If it is, they’ve been planning that for a long time. Anything sketchy in Clara’s past that would connect her to them?”

“She didn’t talk to her family because they were physically abusive. She had scars all over her back, butt, and legs. Looks like someone slashed her open, but she never opened up about how that happened,” Jim says.

“I will look into her past. I am going to look into yours too, okay?” Ben warns.

“Nothing to hide,” he says with a sigh. “If… If Richard and this Doug character were the ones who hurt my little girl back then and took her mom from us… What does that mean?”

“It means…” I say as I sit up. “It means we have a much bigger problem than a random sacrifice.”

Chapter Seven

Zoriah

Hot, stabbing pain burnsthrough my body. Screams echo through the room. I can’t make it stop. I can’t get away from them. Their hands and hot breath overwhelm me, but I can’t escape. Not this time. I am awake, but I cannot move. My eyes are closed, yet it all seems so fucking real.

“Riah. Wake up. Baby, wake up. Can you hear me?” Roman asks hurriedly.

My eyes snap open, and the realization hits me that I am the one screaming. I still can’t stop, and my body is violently shaking. Roman wraps his arms around me, and I roll into him as the sobs break free and the emotions pour out.

“I’m sorry,” I choke out through broken sobs.

“Shh. It’s okay,” he says as he pulls me into his lap to cradle me and gently rock us.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Corbin says sleepily as he bursts into the room with Dad and Ben in tow. Seeing them sleepy-eyed and wobbly breaks me out of my panic, and I laugh through my tears.

“She had a nightmare. She’s okay,” Roman says. “I was right here. You didn’t have to get up.”

“You were screaming,” Dad says softly.

“I’m okay,” I say with a forced smile.

“I’m sober, Zor. I can see through the bullshit,” Dad says bluntly, making Corbin cackle.

“Okay,” I sigh. “It was like sleep paralysis. It’s like it was happening all over again, but I knew I was sleeping. I just couldn’t make myself wake up. No faces, just… I felt like I was on fire. It felt so real.”

“Lay down and let me check your back,” Roman says.

“Dreams can’t burn you, Rome,” I say. I giggle when he pokes my side.

“No, but your burn could have been hurting, and that could be what caused the dream to feel so real,” Roman says. “Lay down.”

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