Philophobia

Chapter 1

"Philophobia" Copyright © 2015 by Ph1lophobia

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher.

In other words: steal my shit, get hit :)
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I ran with tears streaming down my face, and my heart pounding in my chest. A loud sound came from my pocket. I jumped, tripping over a forgotten gas can. I fished the phone from my pocket, quickly turning it on silent. I checked my messages. They were from Justin.

It read, "Ali, are you safe?"

"Where are you?"

"What happened?"

"Let me know if you're okay."

I tried wiping the tears from my face with the sleeve of my sweater, not succeeding.

My thoughts were jumbled. I didn't know what even happened. As I thought back to what I had just saw, I began to bawl my eyes out.

I couldn't believe my dad was capable of that... Of touching my little, precious sister like that.

My thoughts turned deadly towards my father.

Alissa, I thought, calm down and breathe.

I texted Justin back writing: "Too painful to talk about right now, but I'm ok. Talk to you soon."

My chest shuddered, an after response from crying so hard.

I leaned my head against the ominous tree.

"Alissa? Alissa?! Where are you?" my fathers voice rang out, echoing through the trees.

My breath caught in my chest. I curled my body into a tight ball, not daring to make a sound.

Twigs and leaves crunched under my fathers heavy footsteps, as the sounds got closer to my hiding spot.

"Alissa," my father shouted, "Look, I'm sorry, just let me explain..."

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, then I heard his footsteps recede back on the path he had walked upon. I sucked in a deep breath, realizing that I hadn't taken a breath the entire time.

This was so unfair.

Why did mom have to go off and die and me get stuck with the pedophile? I thought.

I got up, wiping the dirt and other debris that had gathered from the back of my pants.
I took out my phone, checking it.
It was 12:09 AM.

I had 4 messages.

Two from my dad and two from Justin.

I instantly deleted my messages from my dad, not bothering to look at them.

I opened Justin's messages:

"ALISSA ARE YOU OKAY?"

"If you dont respond in 5 mins, I'm coming down there."

I typed quickly, "Could you come pick me up and can I stay at your place? I'll explain in the car"

As I waited for his text, I shuffled my feet through the grass, my brain too numb to think.

My phone buzzed: "Sure, be there in 5 mins"

Justin has been my best friend since the first day of kindergarten. You could say he doesn't run with the best people, particularly the drugs and junkies. Everyone gives him a bad rep, but that's not the case. Justin was single handedly the sweetest and most down-to-earth guy I had ever known.

I saw headlights coming from the street diagonal from my driveway. I hurried out of the trees, running to the end of my driveway, tripping a few times on the way. I waved at Justin and quickly hopped in the car.

"Hey." he said, giving me the biggest side hug he could manage in the cramped space.

God, I loved his hugs so much.

"Hey." I whispered, a few tears forming at the ducts of my eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He grabbed my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes, and that's when I broke down. The sobs racked my entire body.

"My.... Dad.... H-he.... I-i....Caught... Him touching my little sister..." You could barely understand me between my sobs.

Justin's facial expression turned to absolute horror.

Justin took my cheeks in his hands and said, "Hey, listen to me, we have to go get Abigail out of there."

My eyes widened, "What about my dad?! If h-he is capable of doing that, you don't know what he's capable of!"