Chapter One
“Get inside and don’t come out until I call you.”
I huddled in the narrow crawl space under the cabin’s wooden floor, flinching at the screech of rusty hinges as my father swung the hatch closed. My lungs seemed to go into overdrive as I gasped for air. Though not airtight, the small, dark confines of my hidey-hole tricked my brain into thinking there wasn’t enough oxygen.
My harsh breaths echoed around me as my heart beat a staccato rhythm inside my chest. The scuffing sound of furniture being moved sounded above me, and in a panic, my hands pushed at the trapdoor. It didn’t budge. Not even a centimeter.
I was trapped, and I didn’t even know why. Why did Dad suddenly freak out in the middle of dinner and shove me under the floor? His terror had been palpable, spiking my own fear enough to make me blindly obedient as I squeezed into the coffin-like space without questioning his demand or his sanity.
He knew I hated small spaces.
I gasped for air, despite my lungs filling with each breath. I knew I was hyperventilating, but I couldn’t stop the desperate panting. My whole body shook with terror, and I knew I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to get out. Immediately.
I opened my mouth to scream at Dad, to beg him to let me out. But whatever I might have yelled died in my throat as I heard the front door crash open, banging against the floor. I slapped a hand over my mouth in an attempt to quiet my harsh breathing.
“Go away!”
My dad’s voice was laced with fear and revulsion, making the order sound more like a desperate plea. There was a scuffling sound accompanied by a guttural growl, and my breath froze in my throat.
What the hell was that? my mind shrieked, repeating the phrase over and over as the scuffling grew into a heavy thrashing.
Hot tears poured down my cheeks as my father screamed in agony. I pushed at the wooden trapdoor again, this time putting everything I had into it. It still didn’t move. No! I had to get out. I had to help him!
Suddenly the noises stopped, a heavy silence falling over the cabin. Fear paralyzed me, my frozen blood clogging my veins as I struggled to breathe. My ears pricked, listening for…anything.
The scrub of wood against wood as Dad moved the furniture off the trapdoor. The squeak of hinges. His sigh of relief at the sight of me, unharmed. His voice, telling me everything was going to be okay.
But none of those came.
I waited for an eternity, then for another one after that. But silence reigned supreme. I sucked in a breath, ready to call out to him when a dull thud echoed above me. I snapped my jaw shut, and I held my breath.
Footsteps, slow and steady, thumped toward the front of the cabin. The sounds grew fainter as they moved over the downed door and out onto the porch before disappearing altogether. Still, I didn’t breathe.
I waited.
I waited for the scrub of wood against wood, the screech of hinges. The sigh of relief.
I waited for Dad to open that damned door and let me out of the hell he’d put me in. For fresh air and open spaces. For warm arms and tight embraces. For the world to be made right and start turning on its axis once more.
My lungs screamed for oxygen and yet, I still refused to give in and breathe. Dad was going to pop open that door any minute. He’d laugh and tell me it was just a wild dog or a bear cub. He’d tell me he’d overreacted when he’d squished me under the floor and ordered me to be silent. We’d go home to Mom, then laugh and laugh as we retold the story, embellishing it with funny voices and wild hand gestures.
As my lips tried to curve up into some insane version of a smile, something dripped onto the apple of my cheek. I reached up to wipe it with a fingertip. It was warm and wet. Another drop landed, and as I wiped it away, it was replaced by another. Then another and another, until a steady stream of drops pattered against my skin.
I tried to scoot my head away from the stream. But the space was too small, my movements in vain. The thick, warm liquid ran down my cheek before streaming onto my neck.
I sucked in a harsh breath, my need to breathe overcoming