Page 148 of My Sweet Dollie, You Have to Love Me
I don’t stop, even though I can’t hear her or Colin beyond the door anymore.
The dead silence pushes me up each step, and I cling to the door between us, pounding on it with both fists.
“Dollie! Dollie? God, please, please don’t fucking hurt her. I’ll trade. I’ll trade places with her. Please don’t fucking hurt her.”
A sob leaves me, my heart breaking over the unknown as I sit alone, terrified for my sister.
The dirty window catches my eye, directly opposite me from the top step—the clanging of a chain and a voice that I can barely make out sound beyond it.
That fucking clown.
“Dollie!” I scream once more, but she doesn’t answer.
Time passes, and my voice fades out.
It feels like days, but it could be hours or even weeks before the door opens again.
I fall through it, landing in the kitchen. A brightly lit space that hurts my eyes.
I push myself up, scanning the white cupboards and silver accessories.
“Where is my sister?”
“Learning her lesson.”
“What does that mean? Is she okay?”
“Follow me.” The clown waves me into an open-plan living room that showcases the same colors.
The TV is on, paused on an episode of Law and Order. Dad likes that show—it reminds him of work.
My shoulders feel heavier thinking of him.
“This show gives me anxiety.” Colin switches it off with a remote on a small table at the side of his sofa, but he doesn’t return it. Instead, he tosses it onto the sofa with such force that it bounces off and smashes on the floor, causing the batteries to fall out.
“Come this way.” He opens the door to another room, and I follow him into a dark hallway.
My eyes feel better with the lack of light, and I can move faster, not having to worry about falling over all his clutter while I can’t see it.
“Where’s Dollie?”
“I told you.”
“You said she was learning a lesson. Where is that?” I pause at the bottom of this staircase, the door to the outside world just to my left.
My eyes roam there, to the stained-glass window that resembles the windows at home.
“You do that, and you won’t see her again,” he sneers from the center of the staircase.
“I’m not going anywhere without Dollie.”
“Good. Now, do you want to change those stinking clothes? I bet you’re freezing, and there are germs all over you.”
I nod slowly, hating that I have to accept anything from him.
“What do you say?”
“Thanks.” I shrug.
