Page 18 of Voracious

There’s a dead body, marks all over me and more than enough evidence to get Chris locked up for a long time.

I don’t stop the car until I reach the police station.

6

STACEY

AGE FOURTEEN

“Are you sure you want to join this dance class, Stacey?”

I look up at the building from the passenger seat of my dad’s car. “Yeah. Mum would’ve wanted me to keep dancing. Can we go inside and ask if there’s space?”

Dad huffs and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Nora is against this. She’ll be mad if I let you join. She wants you to start ballet instead.”

My smile drops. “I don’t care what Nora wants. She isn’t my mother. Why are you letting her control what I do?”

Another huff, and he turns off the engine,unclippinghis seat belt. Slowly, he turns his body to face me. “Nora isn’t trying to be your mother. No one can ever replace Marie. Please be patient with her and her sons. They’re trying with you. Nora even wants to throw you a birthday party.”

“I don’t want a party. I don’t even have any friends here!” Then I grimace. “And I don’t like Christopher. He’s weird with me.”

Weird is an understatement. The guy is sick.

“He’s not. I can see how much he adores you already. You should be happy you have two big brothers to look after you.”

I fidget my hands, the words on the tip of my tongue that Christopher doesn’t treat me like a sister. It’s been months since we moved in, and he keeps sneaking into my room and watching me. He makes me keep my bathroom door unlocked, and he always puts his hand on my thigh while we eat dinner. I tried to remove his palm from my skin earlier tonight, but he twisted my fingers until they hurt.

He’s four years older than me. Eighteen and grown up. He won’t leave me alone, even though he has a really pretty girlfriend. I can hear them… doing stuff. And then he forces me to watch videos of them the next day. When I close my eyes, he threatens me to watch so I’ll apparently know what to expect when he inevitably does the same things to me.

He just wants to wait until I’m old enough. But that doesn’t stop him ordering me to touch myself the way his girlfriend does. I always refuse, not only because I have no idea how to but also because he makes me uncomfortable, and then he hits me, usually where no one can see.

A freezing shiver crawls up my spine.

“Can you move me to another bedroom?” I ask instead. “Maybe near yours?”

“Why?” Dad tilts his head. “We’ve just finished decorating your room.”

Because it’s right besidehis. And we’re the only ones on the top floor. “It’s too big. I prefer smaller spaces.”

“No. You’re being ridiculous now, Stacey. We can’t move into Nora’s home and try to change things.”

“But…” I chew my lip and try not to let my voice shake. “I think Christopher is going to hurt me.” He always does, but I meanreallyhurt me.

For a second, I think Dad might laugh, but instead he sighs and wipes a hand down his face, removing his glasses in the process. “And why do you think that?”

“He—” I gulp, averting my eyes. “He touches me a lot. And… And he pushed his way into the shower yesterday while I was washing my hair. When I try to get dressed, he tells me to do it slowly and records me. He’s—”

I flinch as Dad slams his hand against the steering wheel. “That’s enough! Why are you saying this?”

I close my eyes, and a tear slides down my cheek. I’ve never feared my father before, and he’s never made me flinch. Yet now, I’m conscious of his hand, as if he’s going to do the same things as Christopher.

“I understand you’re having a hard time getting used to being in a new family, but you willnotmess this up with your lies. Christopher is a lovely boy, and he’s just as excited as Kyle to have a little sister. You can’t make stuff like that up. How dare you? Your mother would be turning in her grave with shame if she knew the way you were acting.”

I sink my nails into my palms.

“Christophersnuckinto my bed at the weekend,” I continue, needing to tell him and hoping he’ll save me from the monster. “When I told him to get out, he put his hand over my mouth and pressed his… thing against me.”

Embarrassment floods me that I’m even saying this to my dad, but he’s the only one who can protect me. If he knows his daughter is being treated in such a way, he’ll leave and never make me go back there. Mum would have already taken a knife to Christopher’s throat.

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