Page 13 of Born in Depravity

How had this been hidden for so long? Surely my father would have known about it long before he had inherited the house from his father.

We hadn’t always lived here.

The house I had been born in—the house my mom was murdered in—had been in New Mexico. When I was thirteen, just six years after her death, Father had come home from a long business trip looking strung out and panicky. I didn’t know the cause of it, and I didn’t dare ask.

Then, seemingly overnight, we had moved from New Mexico to Arizona, and I was pulled out of school.

It was also around that time that Father paid more attention to me, or, more particularly, to my virginity.

I still didn’t know what changed, and even though I listened in on the servants talking, it seemed they didn’t know anything either.

Roberto pulled the door up and looked up at me. The light from the flashlight was enough for me to see his face, but. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I’m going to go down first, and I want you to follow.”

Follow him down into the dark, deep hole?

A small choked noise came up my throat, and Roberto grasped my arms gently. “It’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you, okay? I promise.”

I took a deep breath, then offered a small nod. The only other person who had ever promised me they wouldn’t let anything happen to me was my mom.

I watched as Roberto climbed down the hole. I aimed the flashlight his way so he could see better where he was going, but other than some movement, I couldn’t make out much.

Apprehension wrapped around my heart in its tight fist, and then Roberto held out his hand for me.

I took a deep breath and slowly climbed down the hole. I didn’t know how deep it was, but I hung by my hands from the floor above now, and my legs still hadn’t touched the ground. Tears pricked my eyes.

I couldn’t do this.

I couldn’t just run away and out into the unknown world.

I didn’t know how to survive on my own, and the only thing my books had ever taught me was that everyone had problems.

I took in another deep breath, but it wasn’t enough. Not enough air, not enough—

Hands grasped my waist.

“Miss. It’s okay. I’ve got you. Let go, okay? And I’ll help you down.”

I closed my eyes, then I let go.

Years of practice had me holding in my scream, and before I knew it, Roberto had me set firmly on the ground. My feet shook from the adrenaline, and I tried to take in as much air as I could while Roberto moved towards the doorway.

He closed it, encasing us underground and in darkness, save for the small light coming from my flashlight.

Roberto moved over to me.

“Let me hold on to that,” he said, nodding toward the flashlight. I handed it to him. “And hold onto me, Miss. The road is narrow, but long and curved. I don’t want to lose you.”

I nodded though again he couldn’t see me, and grabbed onto his forearm. He was surprisingly sturdy.

Roberto had always moved very slowly but surely around the house. I always thought it was his age catching up to him, and I tried not to make too many messes for him to clean, but standing next to him now …

His steady presence was the only thing keeping me from collapsing onto the dirty ground.

And I didn’t really know how old he was. He had one of those faces that was hard to tell.

We walked in silence.

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