Through the Eyes of a Child

Goodnight

His breath ran down my neck, so cold it made my bones rattle. I could feel Jayden's hands roaming everywhere, filling my body with a sense of fear Jack could never light within me. His finger tips ran down my bruised arms as I stood, shaking, his touch felt like fire running down my skin. Jayden began to hum, a slow, soft tune, a sound that echoed in my ears.

"Mommy's little sunshine."

Mommy's voice ran through my ears, everything she ever said to me seeming to eerily echo, as though it was a nightmare, haunting me every time I dared to shut my eyes. Her smile, her shinning blue eyes, the soft touch of her skin and the smell of her hair that lingered when she held me so tight, it all ran by like an old film, seeming as though it happened centuries ago. . .

My head bounced off the wall, the sound of my surroundings becoming fuzzy as Jayden threw me against the hallway, towering over me. He stared me in the eyes, his piercing green stare seeming to slice right through me. The boy pushed into me, cutting me down smaller than I already was.

"Gracie. . .Gracie May, let me see that beautiful body," he growled, like a monster, as though there was something dark hidden within him, clawing to get out, the only sense of it's presence it left was that tone in his voice. The tone that left me petrified and screaming from inside.

"This is it," I thought to myself, "This is my life.

I am nothing.

I am just a little girl, and this will forever be my life."

The sickening ripping sound of cloth filled the hallway, fighting to be louder than the music occupying the house. My face was soaking wet, I was crying, sobbing, as Jayden ripped my shirt down, revealing my chest to him.

His eyes filled with lust and curiosity as his finger tips brushed against my bare skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps as I sobbed out loud. Jayden's head jerked up and met my eyes. The light in his eyes seemed to darken as he saw the trails of water running down my face. The shock of his fist against my jaw was enough to throw me to the ground. I gripped the itchy carpet tightly, squeezing my eyes shut, praying I'd never have to open them again. I'd rather live in darkness forever than suffer the hell I am. Counting up to ten than back down to one, I awaiting the horrendous touch of Jayden once more, not daring to move an inch. But it didn't come. Letting out a sob, slowly, I opened my eyes.

Instead of the torn converse of a nineteen year old in front of me, there stood the black dress shoes that were an all too familiar sight. Daddy.

Slowly, my whole body shaking uncontrollably, I raised my head off the ground, glancing around through my knotted blond hair. Jack had come, and now, only the three of us were in the house. But somehow, the rolls had changed. Jack had Jayden pinned against the wall, his hand wrapped completely around his throat.

Jayden seemed to be struggling, pulling and pushing as much as he could, but he had no hope, and no chance. He had made a mistake, a deadly one, and now he had to pay for it. Anyone in the world would know that right now, his time was over.

And I knew it was wrong to just sit and watch, but I couldn't move either. I was frozen. Stuck, watching someones life slowly be drained from them. Now, I don't know why, but I felt sorry for Jayden. I looked him straight in the eyes as the light in them slowly went out and his movement died with him. In that moment, I didn't realize anything. I didn't know what exactly was going through my head as Jack dropped Jayden's motionless body to the ground.

As Jack's voice echoed in the hallway, some how loud enough for me to hear over the blaring music.

"Goodnight."

I don't know exactly what I was thinking as I saw a hint of someone I knew I recognized. Somehow who looked just like my father.

But who wasn't.

It never came to me, the consequences of what would happen to me if I did what I had done, or if there was any at all. In fact, I didn't feel anything, nor was I thinking very much in general. It was a sense of emptiness, calm, something I hadn't felt in so long. It was a sense of freedom I felt as the word rolled off my tongue and the world stopped.

"Daddy?"

As he turned to look at me, I saw a monster.

I knew, in that moment, that I was free.

~~

Still one more chapter! The whole book I would suggest if you are an older reader to go back and reread before moving onto the next chapter. But if you are a new reader, welcome! And stay tuned for the ending! I'm excited.