Rockabye

Chapter One

Boston: Twenty-one years ago...

An awful smell finally coaxes her eyes to flutter open. Thick black smoke clouds the air making her lungs wheeze and cough in protest. She lunges forward but the strap across her chest keeps her tied against the backseat.

"Mommy?" She coughs out for her mother, but her voice is barely audible passed her dry lips. There's a feeling she doesn't quite understand stirring in her chest, but she is all too aware that she doesn't like the sensation. "Daddy?" She calls out, but the only sound she hears is a sizzling or maybe it's a hissing noise.

She rubs her tiny fists against her eyes, hoping to clear away the foggy sight. Her blurred vision refocuses, discovering her mother's long black hair is in disarray as her head leans toward the center of the car.

"Mommy!" She tries again while stretching her hand as far forward as the seatbelt will allow.

Her tiny hand pats her chest where the belt is keeping her contained. Her mother always made her promise never to remove her seatbelt unless her father or mother granted her permission. She thinks long and hard if this occasion is different because her parents aren't answering her.

"Daddy?" She calls out again.

Her voice breaks on his simple little name. Hot tears are forming quickly in her eyes, but she's far too young to hold them back. One after another the warm liquid burns a path down her cheeks.

That sensation she hates claws at her chest again, provoking her hand to press the little red button to free her from the seatbelt. The sound of her door popping open, catches her attention, forcing her to leap into the center console toward her unconscious parents.

"Mommy, wake up," she cries as more tears stream uncontrollably down her face. "Daddy, please!"

"Little girl, please come here. I need to get you out of here. It's not safe," some stranger calmly states but she ignores the woman.

"Mommy!" She lifts her mother's head to discover a sight she will never be free from, for as long as she lives.

Her mother's face is covered in thick red blood. She stares aimlessly at her tiny hands that are stained in her mother's blood. She's frozen in place, her little body is too young to endure this type of trauma.

"Little girl! Please come here!" The strange woman pleads desperately in an attempt to save the young girl from the horrific sight.

"Mommy! Please wake up!" She cries once again.

She is begging and pleading with anyone to listen to her frantic cries. She needs to hear her mother's voice again. She just wants to go back to this morning when her mother hugged and kissed her when she placed her into the backseat of the car. She just wants to see her father's warm eyes and soft smile that always makes her feel safe.

All her thoughts are forced out of her mind once she feels a strong set of arms wrap around her. Someone's tearing her away from the car, away from her parents.

The young girl shrieks out in agony for her parents but the person is refusing to loosen their hold. The frantic child claws at the headrest, where her father's lifeless head remains. She screams on the top of her lungs and kicks her little legs, pleading with the person not to take her away.

"Little girl," the woman kindly coos as she holds the distraught child against her chest, desperately trying to calm her broken heart.

"My name's Regina!" The child cries out, furious at this woman for prying her away when she needs to save her parents.