13elieve (Short story collection)

Skye

Jeff and Nancy were married when they were 26. They thought they were the perfect match, but they soon found out that they have nothing in common, and shortly after the birth of their daughter, Skye, they got a divorce. The custody battle over Skye was fierce, but Nancy ended up winning custody. Jeff was only allowed to see Skye on the weekends, but seeing Skye only made him want her back more. He also knew that in order for Skye to have the best life possible, she should live with both parents. He tried to work things out with Nancy, but when he proposed the idea of moving back in together, Nancy freaked out.

"No!" Nancy shouted, "No one is going to take my daughter away from me. No one!"

Jeff had no idea what was wrong with Nancy. He was not trying to take Skye away; he was trying to let her have a normal childhood. Jeff knew he must have done something wrong, because Nancy had forbidden him from seeing Skye anymore. Jeff went from being confused, to being angry. He could not understand how someone he once loved, could completely change, and forbid him from seeing his own daughter. He decided he was going to go visit Nancy and talk to her.

"What do you want?" Nancy asked opening the door. "Oh, it's you. I already told you, you couldn't visit anymore." Nancy said, realizing it was Jeff.

"Why not? She is my daughter too." Jeff said. Just then, Skye started to cry from the other room.

"Sorry, I have to go." Nancy said sarcastically, and closed the door on Jeff. Jeff had no idea what was going on with Nancy, but he knew it had to change. He knew that for whatever reason, Nancy did not want him to see Skye, and that she was not going to change her mind about it. Jeff, however, wanted to see his daughter, and was not going to take no for an answer.

He knew Nancy was not going to let him in, so he had to think of another way to see Skye. He was desperate to see Skye, and would do anything to see her. He thought about what he could do to see her, but the only idea he could think of, was to kidnap Skye. He really wanted to see her, but he thought that kidnapping was a little extreme, so he tried thinking of other ideas. Unfortunately, Jeff was unable to think of any other ideas. He was not going to kidnap Skye, which meant he was not going to be able to see Skye anymore. It pained him, but he knew it was out of his control, so he tried to move on. It was hard for Jeff, but he was eventually able to move on. He was doing really well, until he snapped one day.

When he snapped, he suddenly thought that kidnapping Skye was a good idea. He honestly thought that he could not go one more day without seeing Skye, so he decided to kidnap her that day. He was about to just head out the door, when he thought about Nancy. He knew he needed to be prepared, to try and stop Nancy from taking Skye back, or from calling the cops, so he brought a gun. When he knocked on the door, Nancy couldn't even finish telling him that he was not allowed to see Skye, before Jeff shot her dead. He then went into the house, and found Skye in her crib. Knowing he had little time to get out, he took Skye, and a few of her belongings, like her car seat, back to his house. At his house, Jeff was feeding Skye, when he noticed that, not only was she very underweight, but she also had bruises all over her body.