Escape!

Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

I am awoken in the morning by the door slamming open and a girl screaming like her limbs were being cut off limb by limb and Jack’s angry voice booming throughout the room. “YOU WILL NOT TALK THAT WAY YOUNG LADY! YOU’RE LUCKY I’M GRANTING YOU YOUR LIFE! GET DOWN THERE!”

A girl clearly the age of thirteen comes stumbling through the door as Jack pushes her and she lands with a ‘thud’ on the ground. Jack slams the door behind her after gathering the dirty cloth next to it, and by this time everyone is awake, including two screaming babies named Savannah and Rayne. I try to quiet them as Jenna and Giavanne go over to the new girl and help her up. Her blue eyes are vacant of any emotion but fear.

“Hey, it’s okay. We are good people.” Jenna says, trying to coax her into the middle of the room. The girl shakes her head and her small eyes fill with tears. I get up with Savannah on my left hip and Rayne on my right. I walk over to the girl and get down to where she is on the floor.

“Hi. I’m Aliesha.” I say, smiling. I see her eyeing Savannah and Rayne. “Do you want to hold one?” She nods her head and reaches out her arms. I take Savannah off my hip and carefully hand her to the girl. “Now that you’re holding my daughter I need to know who you are as you are a complete stranger.”

“I can’t.” She whispers. “Not with this many people staring at me.”

I look around and see that the entire room has gathered in a circle around us, waiting for her to speak. “Jenna, why don’t you take the kids to the other side and play a game with them to keep them busy while I deal with this.” I say, turning my head to look at her.

“Uh… sure whatever. C’mon kids let’s go over here.” Jenna and Giavanne direct the children over and the rest of the girls follow her to keep the kids in check.

“So. Now that the crowd’s gone, tell me about yourself.”

“Okay.” She whispers, still afraid. “My name is Kalia.”

“Alright Kalia. Nice to put a name to your face. Why are you here?”

“The man took me from the orphanage and said that he was going to be my father a year ago. Then he did things to me that I’m not going to repeat-” She visibly shudders at that part. “-and then he threw me down here today.”

“How did you end up in the orphanage if you don’t mind me asking.”

She takes Savannah’s outstretched hand before continuing. “My father was an abusive alcoholic. Physical and sexual. My mother, I never met her.  My father said she died, but I don’t think that’s true. I think she’s out there somewhere, either searching for me, or drop dead drunk everyday. Social security came when I was ten and I’ve been living in the orphanage ever since.”

“Wow. You have an amazing story.”

“I guess. What’s yours?”

“Well. The man, Jack, is my biological father.” Kalia gasps. “I know. It’s crazy. He loved me. Then my little sister, Fiona came. You’ll meet her later. Anyways, our mother turned to alcohol and drugs, especially meth, after Jack left. Jack left because he never wanted another daughter, only a son. Our grandmother took care of us since I was about five years old. She cared for us until I was ten. Then, cancer struck and took her down with it. She put us in the care of her other daughter, Carol. We were with Carol for two years, living with her pyhsical abuse and the smell of stale cigarettes. Child services came and took us to the orphanage. We were there for another year before Jack picked us out. Fiona was safe, but I wasn’t. I went through the same thing you did.”

“That’s insane.”

“Yeah, I guess. Do you want to meet the rest? I’ll bring them over one at a time if you want.”

She nods her head and I go grab Jenna. “This is Jenna, Jenna this is Kalia.”

“Hi Kalia! Nice to meet you. I’m known as the “leader” around here, but Aliesha normally takes charge in these situations.” Kalia waves. “We’ll have a chance to get to know each other later.”

I go get Hazel afterwards, figuring the age difference would be better for Kalia. And, I was right. They talked for hours afterwards, even when the children all had to leave for the day, leaving the two, three, and one year olds with us. There were now eleven girls, my twins, two one year olds, six two year olds, and eight three year olds for us to care for.

Hazel and Kalia are still talking by the time Jack comes bounding down the stairs with our breakfast. He throws the food in the room and Jenna and I go grab it. I walk over to my blanket and sit down next to Rayne and Savannah who are sleeping at the time. I take my pocket knife out and divide the twenty pieces of bread into halves and hand out a piece to everybody in the room, leaving thirteen pieces left. Jenna and I sit down afterwards on my blanket.

“Hazel and Kalia like each other I guess.”

I look over to where they sit and see that they are still talking. “It’s good for both of them, especially Hazel, to have someone around their age to talk to.”

As we all finish eating our bread,  Jack comes stumbling down the stairs to our room and throws open the door. “I need you.” He says, pointing towards me.

I get up from my spot and go over to him, my head hanging to my chest, eyes looking at the cold floor. Jack grabs my shoulder and yanks me out of the room, slamming the door shut behind. He brings me up the stairs and opens the door at the top. He pulls me through and shuts it behind me.  No one else is in the room, and I’m surprised when Jack goes over to the couch and sits down, then offers me the seat next to him. I could tell that he had been drinking as there were empty beer cans strewn across the room. His eyes were bloodshot and his leg was jittery. I sit down next to him and he lets out a sigh.

“I’m sorry Aliesha.” is all he says. He grabs the beer can next to him on the end table and takes a drink of it. I stay silent. “You can speak for now.”

“For what?” I ask in a timid voice, wary of him.

“For keeping you down there for six years. I’ve been sick and greedy.”

“I’m sorry sir.”

“For what? You’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve done everything I’ve asked. I’m the one that’s sorry.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. Tomorrow I set up a meet for you. He pays well. Don’t screw it up.” He gets up off the couch and I shrink back into my seat a little. He walks over to the bureau that is next to the flat screen T.V. and opens the top drawer. He takes out cloth and hands it to me. “It’s new clothes for you and Fiona. And you kids. I’m not horrible you know. Before this I loved your mother. I wish I could take her back.” He then starts crying and holds his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry sir. Would you like me to leave?”

“No. Stay.” He stops crying and stands up straight. “I will give you food. And I know that you have a pocket knife. I’m not dull. I let you keep it because you’re the only one that I trust out of all of you. Don’t repeat that.” He goes out to where the kitchen is and returns with four apples, five bottles of water, and twenty pieces of white bread. He hands them to me and I take them gratefully. “Now I’m going to punch you.”

“Wh-” I am silenced by Jack giving me a punch to the face.

“I’m sorry.” Is all I hear before blacking out.  

(A/N Hi! Hope you liked this chapter! Remember to leave a comment on what you like or what you were confused on, and a vote as it helps me to become a better author! Hope you have a WONDERFUL day, and thank you for  taking the time to read my book. <3)