Page 77 of Finding Us
He’s ramming himself into the back of her, really hard. Every time he makes contact, her body jerks forward and her head hits the adjoining wall. I don’t know what he’s doing to her, but I can tell by her cries it hurts. I clutch my doll tighter to my chest as tears fill my eyes.
“You like it when I fuck you hard?” He grabs hold of a chunk of her long blonde hair, yanking her head back so violently I gasp. “Answer me you fucking whore!”
A tortured whimper is her only reply.
My gaze moves to Mum’s face and I notice one of her eyes are swollen shut, and there’s blood dripping from her nose. Drip, drip, drip. I watch the droplets fall, collecting into a small puddle on the floor by her hand. My heart hurts, I hate seeing her like this. I sniffle, swiping the back of my hand over my cheek to catch the tears.
Poor Mummy, I wish I was big enough to stop him.
He continues bumping into her, over and over and over again. I want to scream out, “Stop hurting her,” but I don’t.
His movements suddenly slow, and when he jerks his hips forward, he throws his head back and makes a funny sound. I secretly hope those are the sounds of death, but my hopes are dashed when he abruptly stands a few seconds later, pulling up his pants and buckling his belt.
My mum falls into a heap on the floor, sobbing; I hate seeing her cry. I want to give her a hug, but I’m not allowed to leave my room when my dad is like this.
He stands there for a moment, staring down at her, and I flinch when he draws back his foot and kicks her in the stomach. “Useless fucking bitch,” he spits before turning and walking away.
“Jacinta … babe, wake up.” I bolt up in bed, and I can feel the warm tears trickling down my face. “You were thrashing around in your sleep,” Mason says, wrapping me securely in his arms.
“He was raping her,” I whisper, choking on a sob.
“Who?”
“My dad. He was raping my mum.”
“Ah, babe,” he says, tightening his embrace. “It was just a bad dream.”
“No, it wasn’t.” I turn my face towards him. “When we first got away from him—and the nightmares started—they centred around him finding us, but as the years went by, they started to change. Lately, they’ve become more vivid … so detailed, I think they’re suppressed memories coming back to the surface.”
Mason places his lips on the side of my head. “I’m sorry.”
“This is why I didn’t want to stay tonight,” I say, burying my face in my hands. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Hey.” He pries my fingers away. “You suffered a lot of trauma when you were a kid, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. None of this is your fault. If anyone can understand that, it’s me. I have nightmares too sometimes.”
My eyes widen. “You do?”
“Yeah, mine are always about the night before my mum left.”
“Did something happen that night?”
“Fuck,” he utters, tilting back his head to stare up at the ceiling. “I’ve never talked about that night with anyone.”
I reach out, stroking my hand down the side of his face. “You don’t have to talk about it if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”
His haunted eyes move back to mine. “I think my dad killed her.”
Chapter22
Mason
Jacinta gasps at my confession. “What?”
The fact that I’m even talking about this with her, speaks volumes. This is something I thought I’d take with me to the grave.
“The night before she disappeared something happened,” I say as I’m immediately transported back.
I’m just drifting off to sleep when I hear a high-pitched scream followed by a loud thud. Leaping out of bed, I open my bedroom door and sprint down the corridor. As I approach the landing, I see my father standing at the top of the stairs, staring down below.
