Just A Number

Raiding the Women

The tears flooded my eyes for hours. I gazed out my window. Before I realized it, the whole day passed by. The moon and stars appeared seemingly out of nowhere. One moment the carefree sun was shining, and within seconds the sky looked like a black hole of darkness. Never had I felt so empty. The darkness was a symbol of what my soul must have looked like.

My bedroom door creaked open. I turned my head to find a blurry image of Dad. The drips of emotion continued to run down my cheeks. I wiped them quickly, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“Hayley?” He asked, stepping across my wooden floors, making a creaking noise with each stride.

I tried to clear my voice before answering, “What do you want?” Angrily, I crossed my arms over my chest. Dad said nothing, but wrapped me in his arms. It reminded me of when I was young. When I would be hurt, or sad, and Dad would hug me. I let all of the tears flood out like a never ending waterfall.

 It was pitiful.

It was childish.

Why am I being such a baby?

Stop crying.

Stop crying.

Please, stop crying.

Be strong.

Be the family rock.

I grabbed his arms, pulling them away from me. The gesture confused him.

“Go away.” I said simply. It came out hateful, but I didn’t mean it to be. I just wanted to be alone in my own misery. He didn’t understand. I was scared to death that at any moment I would be taken away from him, from my own life.

He got the idea and closed the door. I snuggled into my bed, my head pounding from all the crying. I wasted an entire day. A day I may never get back. Who knows, this could be my last night in my own home. And I took it for granted.

I shut my eyes tight. They were burning and dry, but eventually I fell asleep.

“Hayley…” Mom smiled at me. Her appearance was healthy. Her hair was a perfect shade of red, auburn.  The blue in her loving eyes twinkled. We were in water, the ocean I believe. She reached her hand towards me, so I grabbed it. Her skin was golden, lighted by the yellow sun.

As soon as my skin touched hers, she started to disappear, first by the hand, then the arm. Her body continued to turn into nothing.

I sat up in my bed, my heart racing. I peered at the clock. 5:26 am. I blinked, and looked again. 5:26 am.

I heard banging downstairs. I rushed down the hallway to the stairs.

What if Dad was hurting himself?

He sat on the couch, staring at the wall. Finally, he glanced at me. His eyes grew big and he motioned his hands. I didn’t understand.

Then he mouthed, “Go.” My eyebrows furrowed together. Go? Go where? Go back to bed? He looked into the kitchen, and then stealthily crawled toward me.

“Go hide in the attic.” He whispered. I was even more perplexed.

“Why?” I asked. He shushed me, and looked around nervously.

“They’re here, Hayley. Go hide!” He nudged me up the stairs. I followed his orders, but was so disoriented.

Was I still dreaming?

The attic door was located at the end of the hallway. I silently open it, my heart starts to race. I climb into the dusty attic. A place full of nightmares for young kids. I sit in the corner of the small room and hold myself.

Below, I can hear voices and knocking around. Glass breaking and furniture being moved.

“We know she’s here. Where is she?” I hear a deep voice say.  I hold my ear to the cold floor. I find a thin crack that leads to the living room. I squint one eye and peer down. My dad is still sitting on the couch, but there is a man in a military uniform standing in front of him.

Dad mumbles, “She’s dead. They’re both dead.”

“That’s not what our doctor said. Daniel, we’re not idiots. Just hand her over.” The man flashed an evil smile. I wouldn’t trust him with anything, especially my life. My dad maintained his emotions; he wasn’t telling them what they wanted to hear.

The man inched closer, staring into Dad’s eyes. An eerie smack echoed throughout the house.

I gasped.

The man had smacked my dad across the face, leaving a red outlined hand on his cheek.

Dad still wouldn’t speak.

“Tell us, now!” He screamed, and punched him, hard. Dad whimpered, but kept his face strong.

Dad stayed silent.

“You’re obviously an idiot. We will find her. And when we do, you’ll pay.” The man gave Dad one last hit to the head that knocked him out.

“Continue searching. We’ll find her.” He told his team. I held my pounding heart; I was having a panic attack. I couldn’t breathe because the air was too thick. I wheezed, begging the air to flow into my nose.

I lay on the ground. Calm down.

I closed my eyes. Calm down.

I took a deep breath. Stay calm.

I hid farther into the pile of clothes. Stay calm.

It’s okay, Hayley. You’re fine. They won’t find you.

I shut my eyelids tighter, and I saw Mom. She was telling me something, but no sound came from her mouth. She grabbed her long dress and hid herself in it, then stuck up her thumb in a “good job” kind of way.  What did that mean?

Eventually, the panicking came to a halt when I couldn’t hear the men anymore. I peeked back down into the crack. Nobody. Dad was gone. Did they take him?

I was starving, the last meal I had was yesterday morning. My stomach grumbled. Was it safe downstairs?

Suddenly, I swore I could hear my mother’s voice say, “Safe.” I wanted to trust the voice, but I couldn’t chance it. I stayed in the attic. There was an old radio hidden deep in the pile of clothes. I turned it on, but made sure it was barely audible.

“The count made a surprising turn around. No woman passed today, keeping the count at 60. Although the progress of this disease has paused, the government went through with their plan. Without warning, they took 42 of the 46 young girls from their homes. The four girls remaining are still being searched for; if anyone has any information on their whereabouts, please contact any local official. Tonight marks a fresh start for women. Hopefully, this day will be known as The Day of the Future for women.”

The Day of the Future?

 More like The Day of the Terrible Women Raid. 

Hello lovely readers! How was your day? 

How do you feel about this new chapter? It's a pretty important one. Why is Hayley dreaming of her mom? Is her mom really contacting her, or is she imagining it? Will the government find her? Is her dad okay? 

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