Page 39 of Ensnared By Silence
Thoughts of them in an intimidate embrace as everyone cheered for them and their love.
Those thoughts shifted, and I saw Hayden hurting me like Tucker did.
Like my father did.
I felt the tears falling, chilling my cheeks as they slid down unchecked. Swiping them away, refusing to let the anxiety and despair fill me, I snubbed the joint out and went back inside, locking the door and placing the security bar across the track. I dumped the rest of my wine and grabbed a glass of juice before taking my Kindle into my bedroom.
I checked my phone again and saw it was almost nine. I sent Hayden a quick ‘good night’ text and asked home to drive safely. Waiting for a reply, I sighed and placed my phone on the pillow next to me. I wished Hayden was here with me, holding me and keeping me safe as I fell asleep in his arms. I read until my eyes grew heavy, and as I snuggled deeper into the covers, I let sleep overtake me, pulling me from my safe home and into the nightmare I thought was buried.
A hard slap came out of nowhere, stinging my cheek and causing a ringing in my ears. “Pay attention. Do what he asked before I let your father know you’re not cooperating.”
The thought of my father being angry made me tremble as I walked closer to the chair. The strange man was sitting there, appearing bored as I looked over my shoulder to Tiffany, my dad’s new girlfriend. She was standing to the side, then she nodded to the man and walked out the door, leaving me alone with the stranger.
“What’s your name, little girl?” he asked.
I clenched my hands in front of my dirty sundress and whispered, “Aubrey.”
He patted his knee and replied, “Come here, Aubrey.”
I didn’t want to go near him, but I was more afraid of my father and his painful fists. Tiffany started bringing me out here shortly after she came to live with us, mostly when my father was at work on the late shift. The first few times, I stood against the wall with my eyes pinched closed and my hands over my ears. I hated what she did in that shed with those strange men, and the first time she slapped me, telling me I was supposed to be learning, not hiding, I threw up as she made me watch them do things no child should ever see. I hated her, and every day she was here, my father got madder and madder at me. I still don’t know why, and I try everything I can to avoid them.
I placed my little stuffed bull on a shelf so he wouldn’t get dirty as I walked across the grimy floor to the strange man. He reached out and lifted the hem of my sundress, rubbing the dirty material between his fingers. He was dressed in church clothes and I tried to step away from him and his inspection.
“We can’t have you dirty, now can we?” he asked, and I swallowed thickly as he ran his finger under the strap of my dress. He pointed, and I turned to find a box wrapped with a bow. “I bought you something. Go try it on and let me see how pretty you can be.”
I opened the box and cried as he watched me lift my dress off and place it on the small table near the door. I pulled the frilly red dress over my head, hiding my body from him, and turned with tears in my eyes to find the man rubbing himself through his pants.
He beckoned me with his finger, and I stumbled on my feet, sobbing with each step as I approached him. He smiled up at me and patted his knee again. I sat down and he tugged me across his lap, a hardness pushing under my legs. The tears flowed as he whispered, “You’re such a pretty girl. Aren’t you going to tell me thank you for your dress?”
“T-t-thank-k-k y-y-you-u-u.”
“Is that the way Tiffany taught you to say thank you?” he whispered, and I felt his wet lips pressing against my cheek.
Ten minutes later, the shed door opened, and I was huddled in the corner, sobbing and rocking as Tiffany took money from the man and he left us alone. She walked over to the shelf and pressed a button on something as I stayed tucked into the corner. The red dress he gave me was ripped and covered in unthinkable things. I heard her pull open a cabinet before I felt my stuffed animal hit me on the head.
I lifted my gaze, and she smiled at me. “He said you did a good job.”
She walked away, leaving me in the shed alone as the dark sky shadowed the world in the same blackness I felt bleeding into my soul. When my father came home, I heard them taking, and he laughed as he bellowed, “Like mother, like daughter, I guess.”
I never understood what he meant by that, and five more times before they died, they made me go to the shed. The last time was the night before the stranger killed them, setting me free. That was the night I lost the last of my innocence.
I woke up with a startle and fought to catch my breath as the feeling of the strangers’ hands on me filled me with disgust. I reached over and grabbed Wooley Bulley from the dresser and pulled the old stuffed animal to my chest, hugging him tightly as the last of the painful memories bled from my mind.
Going back to sleep was impossible after my nightmare, and I picked up my phone to see Hayden had texted.
Hayden: I’m finally home. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you tonight, but I’ll be there before breakfast in the morning. Sleep well, beautiful. I hope you dream about me.
I would love to dream about Hayden, but the only dreams that would visit me tonight would be from demons long ago slain. As hard as I tried not to think about it, one thought kept repeating in my head.
What was he looking for in the shed?
