The Lighthouse

Chapter Eight

She opened her eyes but there was nothing but darkness. She could hear the sea and seagulls outside. She tried to move but her wrists and ankles were bound together. She tried to scream but he had taped her mouth shut. She could hear the dripping of water nearby. She was terrified. She felt something crawl over her legs. Unsure of what it was she wriggled to get it off. She laid back down and started to cry. She wanted to go home.

The door creaked open. There was a tall, stocky figure with long hair standing in the doorway. She recognised him. He walked over to her and picked her up. He carried her over his shoulder down a cold stairwell and through another door. It led to another cold and damp room. He placed her in the corner. She could smell the alcohol and tobacco as he breathed heavily on her, he started cutting her silk nightdress. She wriggled again as more tears streamed down her face but he did not move or say a word to her.

He then got up and left, bolting the door behind him. She could hear his footsteps going up the stairwell and out of the building. She was alone again. She knew he would be back every night, like he always used to. She laid back down and saw the small crabs scuttling about. She cried herself to sleep.

Holly slowly woke up to tears running down her face. She saw Kiwi looking at her and managed to smile at her. Holly knew these dreams were Lucy's way of telling her she needed her help. Holly felt as though Lucy was trying to tell her what had happened to her.

"HOLLY", called her mother

Holly turned over onto her back and let out a big sigh. Kiwi took this opportunity to jump on Holly to try and lick her face.

"Stop it Kiwi, I'm getting up" she giggled

"Holly, you're going to be late for school", her mother said as she peered around the door to Holly's bedroom.

"Okay, mam, I'm getting up"

Holly was so tired, she did not feel like going to school but she knew she had to. She needed to stay in her parent's good books, especially if she wanted to get tickets to a concert for Christmas.

"I'll see you guys later" Holly said as she left the house.

"Wait", her mother called out, "take this with you", her mother smiled handing Holly a bacon bagel.

Holly smiled and took the bagel from her mother then left for school.

As usual, Holly's walk to school took longer than she planned. She stopped off to stroke the ginger cat that always sat on the wall by the primary school. When she realised she was going to be late, she ran all the way to the school gates where she bumped into, Lola.

"Hey, you wanna hang later?"

"Not sure, I'll let you know"

"Okay, so you wanna go to the Halloween dance together?" asked Lola

"Yeah, that be great"

"Fab, I'll catch you later"

When she got to class, she really did not want to sit next to anyone, so she made her way to the empty seats at the back of the classroom. She would be happy if no one bothered her all day, she just wanted to be left alone to try and figure out the dream she had had. She was still feeling upset.

Not a single word any of her teachers said during lessons had sunk in and at lunchbreak she decided to go and sit under the tree at the far end of the school yard. She knew her friends would go to the park, but she wanted to be alone.