Everything Comes With A Price (The Grabber Fanfiction)

Till She Begged for Mercy

In an empty room, you realize just how small you really are. The room was adorned with nothing but an old mattress, Susanna, and her backpack. The backpack was her lifeline when she was out there on here own. It was always stuffed to the brim, full of everything she could ever need. But now, as she sat on the cold tile floor with its contents scattered about, she was realizing that it might have been full, but that's all it was. It was full of nothing.

She sat at the base of the door desperately rummaging her bag. Susanna grabbed the bottom of the bag and began to shake it violently. Any clothes that had been stuffed in there, he had taken. Probably to dehumanize her more than he already had. As if caging her wasn't enough, he needed to control how much clothing she wore too. And he was right to do that, though, because if she could, she'd cover every inch of skin just to stop his beady eyes from looking at her.

Her wallet was gone, and she figured the grifter who pick pocketed it was probably extremely disappointed with his findings. Her half drunken water bottle toppled out. She shoved her hand even deeper touching the very bottom of the bag, her fingers grazed the crumbled, and old gum wrappers that accumulated down at the very bottom. Then she gasped, as her fingertips were met with something cold, and thin. With her eyes shut tight she pulled it out.

She let out a delirious laugh when she locked eyes with the hair pin. Susanna's father taught her how to pick a lock a long time ago. So long that she wasn't sure if she even remembered. She forced back the two long pieces. She attempted to shape it into a straight line. Then shoved one end into the lock and began to wriggle it around. Susanna shut her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Come on Susanna, come on," she groaned.

Before the ongoing feud her and her father; they were inseparable. He father taught her everything. She used to believe that there wasn't a thing he didn't know. She used to trust him. That was a long time ago. When her father had more hair on his head. When he genuinely smiled when he saw her. Before her siblings came along and took her place. When things still made sense, and she still mattered.

***

"Daddy," A smile beamed from cheek to cheek, "Can we ride with the sirens on," she begged.

He flicked on the lights. They flashed red and blue. When they got home her mother was waiting outside on the lawn. Susanna's mother kissed her on the head. Susanna shimmied her school bag off her shoulders. Her mother grabbed the purple school bag before it dropped to the grass. Because heaven knows Susanna would have just left it there if it meant spending more time with her father. She ran for her him leaving the bag, and her mother behind.

"My little girl," Her father said as he scooped her up. He held her with one arm, and with the other he slammed shut the car door.

"It's almost time for dinner. Susanna, you got to wash up," her mother said.

"Noo..." Susanna rubbed her right eye. Her father exchanged a look with her mother.

'I got this,' he said with just his eyes. Her mother let him work his magic, because that's what it was. Susanna trusted every single thing that left his mouth. His words held so much power over her.

Susanna, and her father sat on the porch steps. It was windy out as it always was in Galesburg; something's never changed.

"You know sometimes I have to do things I don't want to do too," her father whispered into her hair. Susanna looked up at him and stared blankly.

"Can I tell you a secret, "he whispered, and Susanna nodded fiercely. "This hat has superpowers. I can do anything when I wear it."

Susanna's eyes widened, "Really..."