Page 63 of Deranged (American Street Kings 3)

His eyes.

His hands.

The noises he made.

It was wrong.

Everything was wrong, and I wanted it to stop. I’d rather not remember.

“Dahlia?”

For a moment, I didn’t recognize his voice.

“Dahlia, it’s Glenn.”

I felt him place his hand on my ankle, and I didn’t know why, but the second he touched me, I jerked away, scrambling with my achy body to the top of the bed. Away from him. Away from someone touching me.

“Dahlia. I won’t hurt you. Please.”

I pushed my face deeper into the pillow, my breathing fast and out of control, like I had just run all the way home from school.

“Dahlia, let me help you.”

I wiped the tears away, looking at my brother standing next to my bed. “He hurt me.” Finally, I managed to say something.

“I know.” A tear slowly slipped down his cheek, and he crouched beside me, his eyes level with mine.

“Did he hurt you too?”

He shook his head. “No.”

I sniffed, wiping at my nose.

“But Dad’s other friends…they hurt me.”

“Why?” I didn’t understand why they would want to hurt us.

“Because they’re bad people.”

I placed my chin on the pillow, looking at my brother. “That’s why you didn’t smile.”

He stared back at me, more tears running down his cheeks, a big blue bruise protruding from the side of his face.

“You didn’t smile because you knew Daddy’s friend would hurt me. That’s why you didn’t eat your cake.”

The mattress dipped, and Glenn got on the bed with me, lying down on top of the bloodstains, hiding it. I liked that he could take it away.

He took my hand while he kept looking at me. “You know what I do when they start hurting me?”

I shook my head.

“I use my superpower.”

“You don’t have a superpower, silly.”

He smiled. “I do. I turn into a snake.”

“A snake?”

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