PROLOGUE

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december 8th, 1977

december 8th, 1977

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THE CALIFORNIA AIR was tight within the suburban home of the Hargrove family. Down the street, only houses away, parents were lifting up their children to place the star on top of the Christmas tree. Kids were eating the chocolate out of their advent calendars. Adults were climbing ladders to attach bright, colourful, flashing lights to their gutters. The month of December was finally settling in everywhere, everywhere except for the Hargrove household. Christmas barely existed to their family.

A glass smashed against the floor. Its shards flew across the tiles, spreading its risk of pain as Aven's mother gasped into the night. The young girl watched as a transparent splinter of the sharp material slid past the kitchen door and into the hallway, stopping in front of her feet. She glanced down, eyes wide and lips trembling. She pressed her side closer to the wall, a shudder moving throughout her body as her parents continued to shout. She swallowed.

A hand gently grabbed onto her shoulder, causing the girl to jump and widen her eyes. She expected the worst, waiting for a push or a shove or a kick to be sent her way, but nothing of the sort happened. She blinked to herself, letting out a slow breath as she turned around. Her father was out there, inside the kitchen with a broken glass at his feet, as his face reddened with rage and he pelted audacious words at her mother. He couldn't be behind her.

"What are you doing?" Billy whispered with a frown, eyes soft and lips downturned. Aven looked up, her damp eyelashes batting away the oncoming waves. She sniffed quietly.

"Listening," she said, her voice barely being audible against the frustrated yells in the background. Billy looked behind her with a clenched jaw, catching sight of the light reflecting off the broken glass, before he gently pulled her back. Instead, he stepped in front of her and curled his hand around the door frame, his skin taut and knuckles almost protruding.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍; steve harringtonWhere stories live. Discover now