Hold True

Chapter 5

I had fun writing this chapter.  I hope you like it.

Please vote and tell me what you think.

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Mommy was in the kitchen making spaghetti and garlic bread.  The smell of cooking onions drifted throughout the house making me hungry. She quietly hummed the Andy Griffith song which seemed to be her favorite and swayed to her own music.

Daddy was in the living room sitting on the fluffy white couch watching the news .  He seemed to be watching the news more often than he used to.  He keeps telling me that if I want to understand what was really going on I had to listen to the things that are unsaid... He confused me sometimes.

There were only five days until  my sixth birthday. I was sitting at the kitchen table drawing my very own birthday invitations  Mommy told me to color right where they both could see me.  They always kept me close and in sight.

I jumped when there was a loud bang on the side door and looked at Mommy who sent Daddy a worried look, placed the spoon she was holding on the counter, and turned the burner for the spaghetti off. Daddy got up from where he was sitting, walked to my side, and placed his hand on my shoulder.  Whoever was at the door didn’t sound too happy.  Mommy leaned over the kitchen sink and looked through the kitchen window to see who was there. She looked back to Daddy and nodded. He lead me to the  wooden staircase that was right across from the front door, up the stairs, halfway down the hall, and into my pink and white bedroom.

He knelt down, placed his hands on my cheeks, and whispered. “Get in your closet and hide.” He looked over his shoulder through my door and added as he looked back at me.  “Don’t come out, no matter what you hear. Stay hidden.” He reached around me to open the closet door then placed his hand back on my face.

I reached up and wiped a tear that escaped my daddy’s eye. I didn’t understand why he was crying and I wanted to know why...so I asked.  “Why?”

“Because.” He answered.

“Because, why.” I demanded.

Seeing his eyes filled with tears brought tears to my eyes as well.  A look of sorrow and pain crossed over his face caused my first tears to spill over.  I was so confused.

“I love you, so...so much. You’ll always be my baby girl.” He pleaded that I understood. Daddy took a raspy breath and added. “So does your mother. We love you more than anything.”

He placed his hand over my heart and whispered. “We’ll always be with you, right here... in your heart.”

Tears were flowing down my face and making it hard to see, I tried to wipe them away and just made a bigger mess.  I still didn’t fully understand what was going on, but I knew it had to be something bad.

“Daddy, please stay?” I begged.

“I can’t baby girl. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” He said as he brought me in for a hug. “Don’t come out for anyone... Unless it’s your mother, brother, or me...Ok?”

“Ok.” I replied defeated.

Daddy placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I love you.” He cried then ushered me into the closet staring me in my eyes as the door closed.

I went to hide just as Daddy told me to.  Crawing behind a stack of boxes  I sat there for what seemed like hours. My ankles were aching and my feet were numb from crouching there for so long.  I haven’t heard a single thing since daddy left. It seemed so quiet.

I crept out from behind the boxes and was about to open the door when I heard a crash then a heartbreaking scream.

I froze.

I didn’t know what to do.

Was that mommy, Is she ok?

Where’s Daddy?

What made mommy scream?

I then heard some guy yell. “Find her.”

Listening as someone climbed the stairs my eyes widened.  I unfroze when they entered my room and silently made my way behind the boxes and decided to hide under a pile of clean clothes.

I could hear the person trying to be quiet as he searched my room. After some time the closet door opened and I held my breath. They guy just stood there for a few minutes.  I peeked through a hole in the clothes and watched as he looked behind the boxes.  I have never been so scared in my life. He kicked some clothes on the other side of the closet and in the middle then retreated from the closet. 

The man yelled. “This room’s clear.”  I could also hear other men yelling clear from the other rooms in our house.

I waited as the voices faded then crawled out of my hiding spot and cracked the closet door open.  Looking out I couldn’t see anyone in my room and still heard no noise.  Feeling brave I opened the door all the way and stepped out.  Nothing happened so I headed for the hall and poked my head out the door. There was an odd smell creeping up the stair...It reminded me of the hamburger in the spaghetti before mommy cooked it.  I tip toed to the stairs and peeked around the corner.  Still no one, but there was something dark red pooling on the hardwood floor.  Focusing on the red liquid I didn’t notice the man creeping up behind me until he grabbed me around the waist, placed his hand over my mouth, and lifted me up. He carried me down the stairs wiggling and thrashing trying to break free. His hand muffled my screams and cries.  I even licked his hand.  Everything I did only made him hold me tighter.

When we made it to the bottom of the stairs he stepped over the puddle on the ground and turned to the kitchen. My eyes went wide the tears were instant. Mommy was on the ground with the knife she cut vegetable with sticking out of her chest. A steady stream of blood flowed from her wound. I wanted to go to her...more than anything I had to be by her side.  I needed to look in her eyes one more time... before the light faded.  

I kicked, elbowed, scratched, and bit.  Nothing helped.  The giant of a man held me and nothing I did would make him let me go.  I didn’t notice the man standing over mommy until he gushed.  “Harper?”  

My eyes shot to him and glared as the tears fell. “Thank god!  I thought I would never find you.”  He stepped over mommy and reached his hand out to touch me.  I cowered into the giant man. Which caused the man with mommy’s blood all over his hands to smile and say.  “You’re now mine... and I’ll never let you go.”

He grabbed me from the giant and ordered another man who was covered from head to toe in blood to tie a piece of cloth around my mouth. I still struggled and wanted to know what happened to daddy.

I looked back at mommy and saw that the the light had left her eyes... I didn’t get to be the last thing she ever saw. I went limp in my captors arms and lost all my fight.

“Good girl.” My mommy’s murderer said as he started for the front door.

When we got to the door I looked in the living room and found daddy.  Or what used to be daddy.  He had no head. Where the hell was it?  There was so much blood.  The living room was covered in it.  Everything was a bright sparkling red. The walls dripping in blood and the floor looked as if it would gush out from under your feet.

No...no, no, no, no.  I didn’t what to believe that that thing was daddy, but he was wearing the shirt I got him for father’s day.  The one that said 'Number 1 Daddy' I wished I could deny it but I knew it was him I could feel it in my heart.    I cried and reached out for what used to be my parents as these evil men dragged me out of the house and threw me in the back seat of an all black car.

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Oh and please let me know of any errors that you see.