silent

54

• AMALIA •

I wake up when the car I'm in jolts. My eyes shoot open as though I've just woken up from a bad dream, and when I remember what happened before I fell asleep, I figure I might as well have been.

     I fail to hold back a small groan as I twist onto my slide. I notice Briana snap her head up to the rear view mirror, then glance at whoever's beside her in the passengers seat.

     "Amalia." Briana says. I slide my nervous gaze to her as my hands begin to shake. "I know you might be confused, but everything that's happening is for your own good. Your dad and brothers are dangerous. Everyone in our family is. But I'm gonna protect you, I promise."

     I groan again, this time louder, as I turn onto my back. I sniffle, suddenly freezing despite the warm weather outside.

"Shit. Lex, put a blanket over her please." Briana says to the woman in the passengers seat. She looks back, meeting my eyes with her brown ones before she turns around and grabs a blanket from the floor. She leans back and wraps it around me, holding me in place by wrapping her hand around my arm when I try to wriggle away. Her rings dig into my skin.

Briana begins to talk to me again. "This is my friend Lexie. She's gonna help us get away."

     I shake my head. I thought that it might be better if I wasn't with my dad anymore, but as I try to hug the warm blanket closer to me while I'm sprawled in the back seat of my aunties car, I realise that it's all I want.

     And how stupid was I to think that me talking was the reason for all the horrible stuff that's happened? If I really wasn't supposed to talk, God wouldn't have given me a mouth.

I inhale a breath. "L-let me out."

"You don't understand, Amalia. They're horrible people." Briana says, her voice becoming louder with each word that comes out of her mouth.

     "N-no they're n-not. Take me back!" I exclaim, trying to make my tone as scary as I can, but I don't think it does much, since she doesn't seem bothered.

"They'll kill you, Amalia. They—they killed Daniel. They locked me up. They were gonna hurt me—"

"My dad w-wouldn't do that." I say.

"He was the one who watched him die, Amalia. And that's not the first time he's killed someone. Your dad's a murderer. He's a crime—"

"Maybe we should explain everything to her when we get to the motel?" Lexie suggests. "We don't wanna draw any attention to ourselves now. Lord knows how many connections your brother has."

     Briana nods. "Yeah, right. You're right."

     I use all my effort to pull myself up so I'm resting on my elbows, stomach down. I exhale a large breath and try to open the door, but it's locked. Briana looks at me again. "Lay back down, Amalia. You don't realise it now, but it's for your own good."

"L-liar!" I exclaim. My dad wouldn't hurt me. That's the only thing I know for sure in this world; he's proved it time and time again.

This woman is crazy.

     "I'm not lying." She says. "He's a murderer."

"And you're a psychopath!" I say, pulling the blanket closer to me as I force myself into a sitting position. I scoot over to one of the edge seats and begin to pound on the window. A moment later, the same ringed hand as before wraps itself around my hair and yanks me back into a lying position.