Dad pushes past my mum and down the stairs. Are we really leaving?
“Jason!” Mum shrieks, running after us.
I hide my face in Daddy’s neck and smell his cologne. I don’t want to look at her, but I can’t stop hearing her shouts or how her footsteps tap harshly against the wooden floor.
When we’re in the lounge area across from the kitchen, Mum clutches Dad’s arm.
This time, he stops. “We’re over, Renee. I didn’t want to take your right to be a mother, but you don’t even deserve that. What type of nonsense have you been telling a child?”
“The truth about how you raped me.”
I peek at Mum and she appears in her dazed state. She must’ve taken her pills.
Dad’s face ashes. “How crazy can you be to tell a small girl that?”
“I’m the mother of your daughter.” Her voice is smooth. Too smooth.
“You’re not worth the word mother.”
“Not like your precious Rachel, huh?” She laughs. “What does she have that I don’t, Jason, what? I gave you a child as she did. I loved you more than she did.”
“You never loved me, Renee.” He sounds resigned. “I was only an item on your bucket list of obsessions.”
“Give me my daughter back. She’s mine, not yours.” She smiles and holds her arms to me. “Come here, Zoe.”
I hide my face in Dad’s neck. I’m feeling sleepy, so I close my eyes and drift away.
“Zoe, you want Mummy to be mad?” she asks in a singsong voice.
“We’re leaving. I’ll return to pack our things tomorrow.” I sense Dad walking. “Goodbye, Renee.”
“You think you can leave me?” Her hollow laughter pierces through my sleepy haze.
Dad sways and then we’re falling. The thud reverberates in the air like a crash.
I’m on my knees, shaking my head. Dad is lying on the floor, also shaking his head.
Daddy!
I try to get up, but Mum’s frosty hands shove me down on my knees. The coldness seeps under my skin and melts with my shaking heart.
“I can take the life I’ve given. Shh. Sleep now.” Mum’s haunted smile is the last thing I see.
I wake up with Daddy’s holding me. I want to sleep, but he’s letting me go.
No… No…
Don’t leave me, Daddy.
“I love you, petal.” His voice rips through the darkness. He throws me away. Something slashes through my arms and my legs.
But he’s not with me.
He’s lying on the kitchen floor. Mum is sitting on a chair, eyes closed with no care in the world.
No. Daddy. No!
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I spring to my feet and reach Zoe in two strides. I’ve been barely controlling myself while she lies there, sweating. Her lids are shut so tight, it seems painful. Now that she’s spasming, I can’t fucking take it anymore.
Mist places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. “She has to wake up on her own.”
My fists clench as I hang on to my cool by a fucking thread. Mist goes on about ascending a staircase or some nonsense.
Helping Zoe see past her childhood trauma was all that I’ve been thinking about, but seeing her suffer like this is worse than being cut open.
Her bright green gates open fill with unshed tears. Sitting up, Zoe’s hollow, frantic gaze searches everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Once again, she’s like a frightened broken doll.
I push Mist aside and crouch in front of Zoe. My hand covers her delicate one. “Are you all right?”
She remains silent for long, scary seconds. I draw small circles on her hand to warm the cold, sweaty skin. If only I can take her pain away. I’ll cut myself fucking open if it wipes her tears away.
A few more seconds pass by before Zoe meets my imploring gaze. Tears stream down her cheeks as she chokes out. “Daddy s-saved me… he’s g-gone… he…”
“Hey.” I hold her by the back of her neck and pull her to my chest. Her fingers curl into my T-shirt as a sob tears from her throat.
My fingers stroke her hair and I let her purge it all out. If whoever is making her shed tears were a person, I would’ve hunted them down and tortured them until they begged for death.
Since killing isn’t an option, I offer her my silent support. I continue caressing the strands of blonde hair in a slow rhythm.
I never wanted to protect someone as much as I want to shield her from the whole fucking world. Even my life never held much value. Dying is inevitable in our line of work so I