Page 14 of Healing Souls

Could he be right?

No. He can’t be.

Chapter Four

Harley

Three Days Later

Iwakeuppanting,soaked in sweat. As soon as I sit up, I feel something on my arm and immediately start hyperventilating.No! Get me out of here.

Someone’s hand comes down on my own as I try to rip whatever is on my arm away.

“Hey! Harley, open your eyes please. Please open them. You’re safe right now. You need this IV to get fluids.” I know that voice… but that’s not right. I’m back in the basement. This was all just a dream.

Everything fades again as I hear someone call my name. It’s a man’s voice, but then it morphs into a woman’s voice. Mother—no. Not my mom. Tammy.

“Harley! You worthless piece of shit!” I feel the sting of her palm connecting with my cheek as I’m jolted awake. Tears threaten to fall, but I hold them back, not wanting to cry in front of her.

I want my mom… I need her. Wait, Brielle! I sit up with a gasp. Was that a dream? No! It couldn’t have been. Please, no.

I blink my eyes open slowly, finding myself in a room I don’t recognize. It’s dark, but I can scarcely make out the window and a door. The bed I’m on is the same size as the one from Bri’s home. Everything is fuzzy, but it slowly comes back to me the longer I stay awake. Blood… I remember so much blood… But then I feel like I’m falling, and everything goes black again.

“What are we going to do with her? We can’t just keep her down there forever. What if someone comes looking for her? Lilian is dead. That’s what you wanted. What do you want with the girl?”

I recognize that voice… Richard. Father. Wait, is he talking about me? I don’t remember this. It’s dark, but I hear their voices perfectly clear.

“She’s just as much to blame as her piece of shit mother. Lilian destroyed my life and took too many things from me. She may be dead, but I can still take this from her too. She is responsible for a child being taken from me, so I will take one from her, just in a different way. I will be Harley’s mother from now on. If the bitch doesn’t want to call me that and forget about Lilian, then she’ll just have to learn her place fast.”

I faintly remember this… Mother came down shortly after, and when I said she would never be my mom, she beat me.

But she can’t be my mom. My mom—my mom is gone.

Slap! Her nails scrape my face, and I feel blood dripping down my cheek. “You will call me Mother!”

“No.” My voice is but a whisper. I can’t. She’s not my mom. I want out of here. It’s been a day. This can’t be real. I must be dreaming.

She kicks me in the stomach over and over again. I feel like I can’t breathe. I scream and cry, but she doesn’t stop. She laughs at me when I try to move, but I can’t get far because of the pain.

She pulls out a wicked-looking knife and stabs me in the thigh. When I scream and try to kick at her, she shoves me down on my stomach and sits on my legs so I can’t move and starts slicing into my back.

The pain is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. She stays calm, telling me I will call her Mother and forget about my mom. This is my new life, and the sooner I adjust to it, the less she will have to hurt me.

“Hurting you doesn’t bring me as much joy as it may seem. Just behave, Harley.”

“Yes, Mother,” I croak out through a sob, not caring anymore as long as this pain stops.

It never got better. She never stopped even when I behaved.

Light filters in… I can hear voices… No, not again.

“I think she’s waking up.”

“I don’t get it. Why does this keep happening?”

“I don’t know. It’s been two days. I would say her body is just trying to heal itself, but she keeps ripping her stitches. It’s like she’s stuck in a nightmare and can’t fully wake up.”

My eyes slowly blink. Those voices… I don’t recognize them. Where am I?

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