Page 198 of My Sweet Dollie, You Have to Love Me
Dollie!I mouth.
She’s trying to scream, but her tiny hands, pulling at his giant one clasped over her mouth, make it hard for her even to breathe.
Giant steps cripple my knee as they take me through the water because, of course, I landed awkwardly in it.
I rush for the stairs, my heart pounding in my ears because I know I won’t be fast enough to get to the top before he slams the door in my face and locks it, and I know what happens up there.
And I know she’s too small, too ill, too innocent for it all.
My heart hammers harder, worry pounding through me.
I put my foot on the first step, and Colin, standing at the top, turns, that painted-on red smile warping as he tilts his head to the side.
Don’t, I plead silently.Don’t take her.
I drop to my knees, and the pain in my left knee forces a pitiful sound out of me. Ignoring the painful threats it makes to keep me up tonight, I mouth,Take me instead.
Colin’s smile widens, showing off his rotten teeth.
He stares into my soul, seeing all the turmoil and fear he usually enjoys, and as if simply bored by it all, with a shrug, he says, “Nope. Today, I have a job for Dollie.”
Those words knock the air from my lungs, and with a scurry of limbs against wood, I can’t lurch to my feet quickly enough before he slams the door.
The bolt locks on the other side, echoing in my ears with my still-pounding heart. I force my wobbling legs to get me to the top, and I pound on the unmoving door with tight fists before slamming my shoulder into it.
Pain rattles from my shoulder to my elbow, but the door doesn’t budge.
And I don’t stop, throwing myself at the door again and again.
I wish for that super-human strength you hear of in times of need, but my wish isn’t granted, like all the other ones I make to get out of this hellhole.
Another twang of pain radiates. This time, in my toes as I try my luck kicking it. I kick again, hearing her call my name somewhere on the other side.
Something inside me cracks, all the way down to my soul.
I’ve done everything he’s asked, and it isn’t enough.
He’s taken her anyway.
Another echo of my name slips under the door.
Dollie.
Her name is no more than my lips moving while the rest of my body melts to the floor.
I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry.
I blink a tear out. The cold droplet trails down my cheek slowly before more follow, dragging the grief out of my heart to keep me company down here in the cold.
I promised her I’d protect her. I’d promised we’d be okay.
She won’t be okay after this.
Her nightmares will get worse. Her anxiety. Whatever she thinks she sees in any dark corner, it will all be scarier after this.
I failed her.
