Prologue

"Felix!"

Where is he?

I can't find him.

Where is he?

Why can't I find him?

He took him...

I collapse onto the ground, my knees hitting the cracked pavement with a resounding thump. My son, my son was stolen.

Chapter One

 "Felix is sleeping, Mom." I say as I scrub clean his latest batch of bottles. My son was a premie baby, but that boy can eat more than I have seen any other kid eat. I can practically hear my mom thinking as she tries to find a reasonably reason to wake my two month up in the middle of the day just so he can hear her voice. I wait.

She sighs. "Fine. It's just that I haven't got to meet him --"

"And you are so far away. I know Mom. I'm sorry. You know I wish I could move there now, but the detectives said I had to stay here until the trial is over." I tell her, my hands stilling. "I want you to meet him. It's just --"

"Not possible. I'm sorry Victoria. I am. I have no idea what this must be like for you. I'm worried. What if he finds you?" I can hear the worry in her voice. I can pratically see the skin in the corner of her blue eyes crinkling up, the furrow in her brow, and pinch of her thin lips. I can even imagine that shes pulling at the greying hair that's began to fall from the ever-present clip she keeps it up with.

I set the bottle I had been working on back into the soapy water. I turn my back to the sink and lean against it. Looking around me, I want to tell her that I hate how run down this place is. The tile in here is pulling up and the floors rotting. The ceiling is slightly caved in and the wall plaster is coming off. When Felix's father was acquitted for trial because of me, the police put me in Witness Protection. They say this is the safest place for me and my son.

"He won't. I made sure of that Mom. It's why I turned him in. I didn't want--" I pinch the brige of my nose. "I didn't want Felix to grow up around that." And then I hear Felix start to cry. He's a soft crier; he doesn't even scream. "Hey Mom. I gotta go. Felix just woke up, and he's fussy. I'll call you later, promise."

"Okay honey. I love you guys. Daddy does too." The tears in her voice are just barely discernable.

"I love you both too." And I push the end button on the flip phone that was assigned to me.

I shove the small phone into my jeans pocket, jeans I barely had time to grab before escaping my husaband. I sigh and try my best to rid myself of all the dark feelings building up.

I walk into the room next to the kitchen. It's the only bedroom in the house and has direct access to the back door. It's the one thing about this house I actually like. When I first came, I was still pregnant with Felix, six months along. I got on my hands and knees in this room and scrubbed the hardwood floors clean and then the walls. Nicotine was covering ever inch. I made sure there would be nothing my son could hurt himself on or get sick from. Now the floors and walls are always clean. The full sized bed I was given is decorated with plain white sheets and pillows. There is a heavy devut cover that's white as well, and sitting next to the bed is a bassinet.

I walk over to the white bassinet and lean over. Felix, all six pounds, is snug underneath a trucks baby blanket. His blue eyes stare up at me, his soft cries having gone when I entered the room. I smile down at him.

"Hey baby boy." I whisper. I lean down and lift him out, his weight making me smile more. "I bet you're hungry." I chuckle. "But you always are so that isn't anything new."

I start to the kitchen where I already have a bottle heated up. He never sleeps for too long, and every time he wakes up, he wants a bottle. I pick it up off the counter and put it in his mouth. His small hands emerge from the blanket and he tries grasping the bottle. He only manages to make tiny fists on each side. His dad may be a basterd, but he isn't going to be.

My smile drops as Felix continues to eat. I decided that I need to sit down and walk into the living room. It's sparse, just a loveseat and one of those old box tvs. I sit on the loveseat and lean back. Suddenly I'm exhausted. I guess I should say more exhausted than usual.

Chapter Two

 When I was sixteen, I was in that stupid rebellious stage. I wanted to do what I wanted to do and no one was going to stop me, especially not my parents. I would sneak out, get grounded, and keep doing it. I started dating some guy the year above me who was a sleeze. He was the normal guy wanting sex and more sex. That isn't what made him a sleeze however. He liked to hit when he didn't get his way; I was the target.

One night he and I were out in the woods drinking. Our friends had all gone off, but I hadn't felt up to sex in the woods that night. Of course, I knew what that meant, but hoped maybe it'd be different. It wasn't. This time he just kept hitting me. He wouldn't stop. He broke an arm, bloodied my face, and bruised pretty much every part of me. I was screaming at him to stop. He was too drunk to give a crap if he ever did.

That's where and when I met Jarome. I was curled in a ball, me trying to protect my head from more injury. I heard hollaring, a man's voice. Then there were fast, thunderous footsteps. Next thing I knew, Max, the sleeze, wasn't hitting me anymore. When I dared look up Mark was hitting him instead. He kept going and going. He was ruthless even once he had knocked Max out. I didn't stop him. I was scared.

I later learned that he was twenty and out drinking with some buddies. He heard the hits and came to investigate. When he saw me, he went into a rage. He probably saved my life that night.

I am jerked from my memories when Felix hiccups. His bottle is finished. 

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Impressum

Texte: Cassie Parker
Bildmaterialien: Google Images
Lektorat: None Yet
Übersetzung: None Required
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 07.07.2016

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Widmung:
To my Dad. You won't shut up until I write something I'm actually proud of and this is like nothing I have written before.