Page 103 of Damned and Broken Gods
“Give me your word.” She shakes me.
“I give you my word.”
She shoves me into the chest and closes the lid before I can say any more.
“I love you,” she says.
And then she’s gone.
My heart beats hard, my pulse throbbing in my head. Screams filter in through gaps in the wood. My stomach twists.
“No! Get out of here!” Ma says. “You have no right. No business?—”
The sound of flesh striking flesh is followed by a thud.
Anger flares in my chest, but my vow keeps me still.
“Ma!” Heena screams. “No!”
“Let her go, you filthy animal!” Ma cries.
The sound of fabric tearing. Male laughter.
My young mind struggles to piece together the picture, but I know enough to understand what’s happening. I won’t, I can’t stand by and do nothing.
My thighs bunch as I make to stand.
But suddenly there is silence.
Deathly silence.
My stomach contracts as the sound of boot falls echo around me.
This isn’t what happens.
This isn’t right.
A soft whistling sound drifts through the gaps in the wood, and my pulse stutters. The boot falls get louder, moving toward me, and I shrink, instinct warning me that whatever is coming isn’t good.
This isn’t meant to be happening.
The boot falls stop outside the chest, and the whistling cuts off.
There is a moment of deep silence, and then the lid lifts and red light floods my vision.
“Ah…there you are…” a smooth male says. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Something inside me tugs, and then light fills my vision.
“Araz? Oh my god!”
The light clears, and Leela’s face fills my vision. My chest flares with sudden heat, and she blinks sharply.
“Araz? Can you hear me?”
My throat burns as I summon words. “I hear you. I’m here.”
There’s a shiver at the back of my mind and an odd ache in my solar plexus. Something…something isn’t?—
