Victim

Chapter 8 - Run far, far away

Barbs POV (11 years ago):

She was going to die.

Barb knew it was true.

There was no way she'd go back though. She'd never go back. Ever.

She cursed the day she'd first climbed into the bed of this truck, all those years ago. How many? She struggled to remember. She had thought they were going to a new home where everything would be okay. Her child would have toys and books and food, and a warm bed to sleep in.

Lies. They had all been lies.

How stupid was I? Naïve and stupid.

Marley had only been a year old, so she didn't remember the time before when they didn't always have dinner before bed. When she'd promised her daughter a better life, she'd believed her willingly -eagerly-climbing into the bed of the truck that would take them to hell.

She spat in her mouth, that place had been no paradise. It was torture, pure hell.

Now, she sat with her 5-year-old daughter in her hands. Kendrick's price for this escape had been harsh, but she complied. She'd sold her body for a lot less back at the cult, what was food and shelter if the life of your child is in danger?

Nothing. So, she paid without complaint.

She looked down at the trembling body she held close to her. Marley was heating up. She felt like fire against her. She had an infection, it was bad. So progressed that it could be detected by scent alone. Which was why she was taking this drastic step.

Why she'd battered her own life to get Marley out. To get them away, if not Barb then Marley. Hopefully to safety, but anywhere was better than here.

Barb would've welcomed death if it were not for the small body she held. She brushed a lock of black hair from Marley's sweat-covered forehead, placing a tiny kiss.

Barb remembered what it was like being 5, being free and young. Not a care in the world. Marley's life was nothing like that. She was trapped within her own home, her life filled with tears and pain. And fear. So much fear.

It's all my fault, I agreed to go to that cult. I blindly took my child there. I believed a stranger.

You're fault. You're fault. You're fault. The words played in her head, torturing her until she wished they would stop. But they didn't. It was completely true, and the mocking words continued, taking her breath away. Her child took the consequences for her stupidity.

"I'm sorry, so sorry." She whispered quietly to the sleeping bundle. Marley's eyes fluttered open, revealing her luminescent blue eyes.

"Mom? It hurts." Her murmur was hoarse and harsh.

"Shh, it'll all be better soon. Very soon." She hoped her words were true, but it seemed to soothe her daughter back into sleep. Or unconsciousness. She hoped she was unconscious.

So, her sweet daughter wouldn't be aware of her whimpers as Kendrick stopped the truck every hour, taking his payment from Barb's body. But getting out of that place was worth anything, she had to protect her daughter.

At any cost.

They were almost there, to the train station. She leaned down to whisper into Marley's ear. "Marley? Are you awake?" Marley dipped her head in a silent nod.

"I need you to listen, we need to run. As fast as we can. Just follow my lead and do as I say. If you do one thing wrong, Kendrick will kill us, understood?"

Marley's eyes opened wide, her shock apparent. Emotion flooded in her eyes, and she quietly nodded. Her daughter was so brave, so mature well above her years, and that wasn't how it was supposed to be. She knew why, she had seen things that would scar her for life.