Page 61 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
“Don’t come near me,” she said, her small hands curling into fists.
His face changed, and he looked like a beast as his eyes narrowed into slits. He pulled the belt out from the loops of his pants, and she knew what that meant. She watched his every movement, her body shaking as he wrapped it around his hand tight. He raised his hand as he got closer to the bed and something broke free inside her.
“Do not touch me,” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
He stopped moving for a moment and looked shocked that she reacted. It was enough to give her hope, but the hope died in her chest as he jumped for the bed and smacked a hand over her mouth.
* * *
Maeve thrashedon the floor as the memory continued to ride her body. A cold sweat broke out over her skin, and she clawed at her own arms, drawing blood. Her back arched again and slammed down to the ground as she screamed, trying to push the flood of images away. The smell of his skin was in her nose, the taste of his mouth on hers, and all she wanted was his blood. The memory of that jingle from his belt buckle made the hair stand up on the back of her neck. An unbridled rage filled her body, and the deep anguish of facing what had happened to her filled her soul.
This man had claimed to love her—what he had done. What he had taken….
* * *
He openedthe door as he put his belt back on and turned his cold stare on her.
“You will always be mine. No one will ever love you as I do. No one will ever make you feel like I do. You need to learn that, or Daddy has no more reason to keep you around.”
Hot tears streamed down her face. Maeve looked down at her torn dress and the bright red marks on her arms from the smacks she’d been given. She shook with an emotion she’d never felt before. It was more than angry. It was something dark like the monster under a bed or one of the ones in the scary movies she wasn’t supposed to watch. It pushed her to move and to do something for a change.
Grabbing Bunny off the nightstand, she ran out the door after him and found him tucking his shirt in as he reached the top of the stairs. She stared at the side of his face for a moment and then didn’t think about the consequences as she ran at him. Her feet closed in as she stared at the smile on his face.
He was happy?
He didn’t get to be happy after what he did.
She screamed as loud as she could and let out all the anger, pain, and fear she’d felt every night he’d come to her room. He turned his head and looked at her, his eyes going wide just as her hands slammed into his side with all her strength.
Daddy yelled as he hit the wall and stepped funny, trying to keep from falling, but failed as his foot missed the stair. He fell forward, and she could hear a strange crunching sound over her own cry. She stood at the top of the tall staircase and watched his body flip over and over again until he reached the bottom. He landed in a twisted pile of his arms and legs, and his head was turned in a weird position.
She clenched Bunny in her hand, her breathing heavy even as she stopped screaming. More screaming could be heard, which confused her. Who else would be screaming? She lifted her eyes from the man that had pretended to be someone that cared about her to her Mom.
“You did this,” Mom yelled as she knelt by Daddy’s head and his unseeing eyes. A small puddle of blood was forming under his head. “You’re a monster. You’re a tempting slut from the devil! This is all your fault. You’re the one that should be dead,” Mom yelled.
How could she say that?
She didn’t ask for him to come to her room.
How could she cry for him? No one should cry for him. No one cried for her.
The police arrived, but she continued to stand in the same spot and stare at the body on the ground. She thought that if she looked away, he would jump up. He would return from being dead, and she and Bunny would have to try again.
A woman was talking to Mom as she cried and glared up at her, pointing and calling her names. Someone forced her hand off the railing she was hanging on to as a white sheet had been placed over Daddy, but she could still see his face. That smile he gave her when he walked out the door was still there. The terrible smile he always gave her when they were alone.
“Monster, you’re a monster. You should be the one that’s dead.” Those words played like the music on a merry-go-round in her head as they put her in the back of the police car.
She was no longer Bug. She was a Monster, but at least a monster could defend itself.
* * *
She didn’t remember screaming anymore.She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she had. She didn’t remember anything after the memories flooded her mind and consumed her until Wolf came in and picked her up. His arms were warm as he held her tenderly, speaking soft words in her ear.
She didn’t want to love this man. She wanted to hate him because he had the power to hurt her more than anyone else ever could. She wanted to hate him for making her feel, for making her remember, and most of all, for showing her what she’d been missing in her life and now wanted more than anything—love and respect. As he walked into the ranch house and sat on the couch, she realized how kind his soul was. As he held her in his arms, she realized she had fallen deeply in love with him.
That one thought alone made the tears fall all over again.
The fact that he wouldn’t sleep with her only made her love him more. He was decent. He cared, and he wouldn’t hurt her, not physically, not mentally, and not emotionally, as much as she pushed him. But he was unattainable.
