Child Without a Voice.

Chapter One

Child Without a Voice.

An original thriller/suspense story.

Written By: xElementx92

Cover art: Stock image by Hannah-stock on deviantArt, edited on PicMonkey.

The following story is purely and completely, a work of fiction. The events portrayed may or may not have taken place in real life. There is no sexual or erotic content in this story whatsoever. Any similarity or resemblance between the characters and any real person; either living or dead; or already existing characters is merely coincidental and unintentional. © xElementx92 2019.

- - - -

It had been merely a year, since the occurrence of that one tragic incident. Yet in spite of it all, Damian could still remember what had happened, as if it were only yesterday. The loud, ear-piercing screeches of the speeding vehicle's tires, as the clearly manic driver attempted to swerve. His panicked efforts were in vain, however, which was made all too clear by the sudden thud, when the car finally came to a sudden stop... Damian's heart was in his mouth, his body rooted to the spot, frozen in utter fear.

He could hardly believe what he had just witnessed, yet why couldn't he move..? His head was spinning, his stomach felt sick to its pit and any words he tried to shout out, were just falling flat before they even left his drying throat. With the ice-cold, drenching raindrops falling mercilessly from the pitch-black skies; the only thing lighting his surroundings, were the lights of the still open shops around him. All Damian could think about from that moment, was whether or not the young child would make it through. From what he could just about see, her injuries were nearing on fatal. He could only look on, as the passers by showed no signs of panic, whatsoever.

- - - -

"Man, what an awful day that was..."

A rather tall, dark-haired man, quite stocky in stature, turned the old, rusty, once silver key in the lock of his front door and turned around; his loyal companion Ruffles staring up at him with his bright, shining, ocean blue eyes full of wonder. No two days were ever the same for him – and this was one of his owner's favourite things about him. Never a dull moment there was, when Ruffles was around!

"Always happy to see me come home again, huh boy?"

A slight smile made itself visible on the tired, wrinkled face of the man, warranting an excited bark in reply from the dog. With a couple of light pets on Ruffles' head, the man then headed toward the front room of his compact, inner-city home and threw down his briefcase on the old, torn-up couch. It was his favourite part of the day. After all the world had thrown his way, his one true solace was being able to close his door on everything and everyone he'd had to unfortunately deal with since 9 in the morning. It was a tough life, one which would cause any person to take a step back, pause for a moment and ask themselves just what it was that kept them going each day. I daresay this is a question we all often ask ourselves, at one time or another in our lives. Some, more so than others. It all depends on the kinds of lives we live and the luck we have.

Just a couple of short weeks ago; Damian had, rather surprisingly, been put forward for another job he'd been hoping to land. Not too much better than his current one, but honestly, anything was a step up at this point. Nervousness was now beginning to get the better of him, as he hadn't heard anything back since then. This was just his luck though, in his eyes – he never truly expected anything from anyone, for there was always that little voice in his head. The voice which warned him of the many possibilities, which could cause hindrance to his plans – and as usual, it was looking like the little voice was right. If only Damian's luck would change, just once for him. He may be able to at least try to start getting his life back on track.

As much as he would've loved to have believed otherwise all these years, he'd just never been one for the art of socializing. It just never came all that easy to him, the whole talking to people and interacting thing. Though it is true that we all have our weak points, this was one of his. Not that he often minded too much though, he and Ruffles had braved the world just fine on their own up to now; they were doing well, considering everything that had happened to him up until this point in time.

It wasn't as if an overly demanding, stressful job at the office paid even half what the daily slog was worth. The dull, groggy man's head shook slowly as a disappointed sigh escaped his lips. Whatever it was that continued to push him forward, he was sure the answer would come to him someday – at least, that's what he kept telling himself... He had to, for the very sake of his own sanity, as much as anything else.

In spite of the demotivated, almost lifeless manner in which his owner often carried himself, Ruffles was never one to give-up on him. As the man sat silently beside his briefcase, still in the same spot it had previously landed; the large, muscular dog made it his duty to lay his heavy, slightly dirty paws atop his drowsy owner's lap. It was often Ruffles' way of attempting to offer some kind of comfort. It wasn't much, but if anything, it definitely helped solidify the one thing dogs were world-renowned for – being there when no-one else was... or could be for that matter. Not everybody in Damian's life, was so lucky to still be around. Life had not been quite so kind to them, or to those they had left behind in the aftermath.

With the way the cold, unforgiving rain was falling hard outside, it was hard to believe that the Summer months were fast approaching. With them came the harsh, yet surprising reminder that Ruffles' owner had been keeping down his office job for a good 6 months now – not that he felt anything like celebrating. If it weren't for the need to keep both himself and Ruffles fed and watered, the man was sure he would've given-up working there a long time ago. He often wondered how he'd managed to lose sight of the fun-loving, hyperactive little kid he used to be, all those years ago. A once bright, shining soul full of life, possibilities and hope for the future ahead, had somehow lost its' light over the years and become increasingly more withdrawn, disheveled and a shadow of what was formerly one of the happiest children you could ever meet. Scary, when you come to think of it, how one's entire life can change so drastically, in such a short time.

It had been two years to the day since he lost her and life since then had just taken a spiraling turn for the worse. Though most other things in the house had definitely seen better days, the one thing that still shone was a framed photo that sat rather proudly, on the dulling coffee table. It depicted the smiling face of Francesca, his one true beloved and loving wife of twenty wonderful years. Years which would never be forgotten, for a very long time to come. She had been all he had ever wanted in a person, and more. To lose her, had been little short of devastating for Damian. He had loved her with everything he had and more.

The events of that freezing cold, November night had never been lost; still as fresh in the mind now as they were back then.

"If only I could have saved her... If only..."

These were the only words the young man could utter, as he tried his hardest to prevent the drops of water that were beginning to cloud his vision, from rolling down his cheeks.

"I really do miss you so, my one true love..."

The pain made it feel almost as if his very heart were being crushed, within somebody's tightly held fist. A truly indescribable feeling, for sure.

She had a certain smile that could so easily catch any unsuspecting victim off-guard, were they ever unlucky enough to mistakenly cross her path. This beautiful woman seemed the type to be able to manipulate just about anyone into doing her dirty work for her, with very little persuasion. Hardly surprising, though.