I Pray for Death

Chapter Eleven

My first instinct was to scream but the dirty hand covering my face prevented any air from entering my lungs.

“You make a peep and all the people in this house are dead.”  The person whispering in my ear was none other than my father.  His vile, rotten breath poured over my face and his hand clamped down harder over my mouth.  I nodded, not knowing what else to do.  The Harper family had taken me in no questions asked and I didn’t want them to be hurt for their decision.  I tasted panic and the pain to come as he led me down the hall, through the house and out the back door where my mother was waiting with a malicious grin on her face.  

Seeing her face was like a blow in its self.  Her eyes glinted with evil intentions even in the darkness surrounding us.  She read the fear in my eyes and grinned bigger showing her stained and decayed teeth.  I could tell she was going to enjoy this.

“What did I fucking tell you would happen if you went to the cops?”  She breathed in my face.  She cocked her head toward the woods and my father pushed me away from the house as my mother closed the back door.  They steered me deep into the woods, the cold, damp ground quickly freezing my socked feet.  The cold wind cut like a knife and I could barely breathe.  

My panic rose as the seconds and distance went by.  I was pushed deeper and deeper into the dark woods, leaves and small branches crackling under our feet.  The sounds were as loud as gunshots to me but nothing seemed to be awake or moving.  I held back the screams that were begging to be set loose.  If this had to happen I would not let anyone else get hurt because of me.  

I was pulled to a stop and thrown onto the frozen ground.  I hit with a thump but stayed silent.  This is where I’m going to die, I thought as I looked around.  There was nothing but bare trees and piles of leaves.  As I looked, fat snowflakes started to fall, covering the bare branches and ground near me.  I had always loved winter and snow but now it would only make this harder on me.  

I closed my eyes tight as the first blows hit me.  I pictured Shayde, Grayson, Hope and Faith as fists landed on my back, legs and arms.  In my mind I told them one last time how much they meant to me and how much I loved them.  In the end I would be with Shayde but I really wanted to be with Grayson.  I wanted him to return the love I felt for him.  I wanted the love and freedom but it wasn’t going to happen now.  Silent tears tracked down my cheeks and froze before they reached my chin.  

“You stupid bitch, I knew I should have gotten rid of you a long time ago!  You will fucking die here!  Do you hear me?  I told you what would happen if you went to the cops!”  My mother screamed as she reared back and kicked me on the back of the head.  I grunted and groaned but refused to yell out at the pain.  My vision swam and sudden nausea overtook me.  I curled into a ball as best I could and covered my head with my arms.  

They huffed and grunted as they slammed their fists and boots into my body.  I looked at them through my arms as my body was hit repeatedly.  Their breath made white clouds in front of their hate filled faces and their clothes rustled incessantly with every movement they made.   There was never a flicker of regret on their faces as they set out to beat me to death.

“You always were a fucking idiot just like your sister!  You should have died!  You should have died a long time ago but you just kept on taking it!”  My father spewed at me.  His words filled with an inhuman rage.  Their blows became harder and harder. 

I heard the snap of my left arm and couldn’t stifle a yelp.  The pain was excruciating.  Repeated blows landed all over my body, I felt and heard other bones snap and as it went on my vision dimmed.  I had no control over the sounds coming from my mouth but tried my best to keep my mouth closed and stay silent.  The warmth of my blood flowing out of my body contrasted sharply with the cold of the ground and the snow falling on me.  After a while the pain drowned out the panic and fear and I was left with nothing but agony.  

I felt my heartbeat stutter and slow.  Taking a breath was impossible.  My mind was hazy and black.  The pain increased for a moment and then I felt nothing at all.  

My prayer for death was finally being granted.

Grayson

I woke from a dream filled sleep and looked out the window.  Snow was flowing by fast and heavy in the light from the moon.  I checked the clock beside the bed and saw it was only two forty-five in the morning.  Realizing the house felt colder than usual, I got out of bed and walked down the hall to turn up the thermostat.  Reaching in the linen closet I grabbed an extra blanket and walked back to Memory’s room.  I snuck in planning to lay the blanket over her and leave without waking her but when I walked in her bed was empty.  

Frowning, I looked around and then looked across the hall at the bathroom.  The door was empty and dark and I knew she wouldn’t have went in without closing the door.  Letting the blanket drop to the floor, I went back down the hall, turning on the lights as I went.  

“Memory.”  I whispered and as my panic grew so did my voice.  When I reached the back door, thinking she had went out to swing I realized why it was so cold.  A pane of glass was missing from the back door and snowy wind was blowing through.  I turned on the light to outside and looked around.  There was nothing.  

“Hope!  Faith!  Call 911, they took Memory!”  I yelled as I ran back to my room.  I threw on my coat and shoes and grabbed my cell phone.  Hope and Faith ran down the stairs in their pajamas, Hope was screaming into the phone and Faith was trying to guide her down the steps without either of them falling.  I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest flashlight we owned and took off through the back door.  

I looked at the ground, trying to find tracks but they must have taken her before the snow started and now there was at least an inch of it covering everything.  I glanced at the dark house beside ours, wondering if they had taken her there.  If they had the police would have noticed something.  I swung my flashlight back to the woods but couldn’t see anything.  

My heart was breaking; the pain was building and causing my lungs to constrict.  They would kill her.  I had to find her.  I loved her; I was not going to let her go.  I was not going to let her die.  

Trying to calm my thoughts, I asked myself where I would take someone to beat them to death close by.  I cringed at the thought but the answer came instantly.  I turned back to the house and yelled to Faith who stood in the back door, “Tell the police she’s in the woods.  I’m going to find her.”  I ran toward the woods before Faith could protest.  

I pushed branches out of the way and kept my flashlight trained on the ground making sweeping motions the entire time.   As I got closer to the center of the woods I began seeing snow dusted tracks and drops of red.  The sight of blood caused me to quicken my pace and I stumbled to a stop when my flashlight landed on a puddle of half-frozen blood.  

“Please God, let her be alive.”  I whispered and moved closer.  Curled into a ball, black, blue and covered in blood was Memory.  I knelt beside her in the snow and pressed my fingers to her throat.  Her heartbeat was barely palpable, but I could see the tiny movements of her breathing.  I wanted to pick her up and run back to the house but I could tell I would only hurt her more.  I took off my coat and draped it over her.  Reaching into the pocket, I pulled out my cell phone and called 911.   

I sat beside Memory, holding her hand and telling her everything would be okay.  I told her how much she meant to me and how much I loved her.  I told her she had to live because I wanted to be with her forever.  She had nestled her way into my heart the first time I saw her.  She was sweet and kind but scarred and afraid.  She just needed love and I wanted to give that to her.  

Ten minutes later paramedics and police officers crowded around Memory.  Even when they moved her onto the back board she didn’t make a sound and my worry tripled.  

She had to live, she had to.  

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