Betrayed (Cursed Hearts #2)

Prologue

Twenty Years Ago

“Idon’t like you,” came the angrily muttered announcement that had Ashlyn biting back a sigh as she shifted to get more comfortable on the thin, pink sleeping bag, careful of the cast on her right arm, only to give up, roll onto her side and stare helplessly at the pink wall covered in princess stickers while she waited for her cousin to fall asleep.

She wanted to go home.

“Daddy and Mommy don’t like you either,” Amanda whispered as Ashlyn reached up and wiped her eyes with the back of her fingers. “They think you’re weird.”

“Everyone’s weird,” Ashlyn found herself whispering, repeating the words that her mother used to tell her to make everything better.

“They’re not going to let you keep Charlie,” Amanda announced with a satisfied sigh.

“I know,” Ashlyn mumbled sadly, which meant that she couldn’t stay either.

“Do you even know who your dad is?” Amanda asked in a taunting whisper.

“Leave me alone,” Ashlyn mumbled sadly as she stared down at the teddy bear the nurse at the hospital drew on her cast.

“You know your mom’s not coming back for you, right?” Amanda said, making Ashlyn’s stomach turn as she reached for the Eeyore backpack that the social worker gave her and pulled it closer.

“She loves me,” Ashlyn mumbled quietly as she reached into her bag and placed her hand on Mr. Teddy, knowing better than to take it out of her bag since Amanda would just take it from her.

“That’s not what my mommy said,” Amanda said as Ashlyn absently caressed Mr. Teddy’s soft cotton belly.

“She’s wrong,” Ashlyn said, using her hold around Mr. Teddy to bring her bag closer.

“Then, why did she leave you?” Amanda asked right around the time that Ashlyn decided that she’d waited long enough.

She pulled her hand free, making sure that Mr. Teddy was safely in the bag before she closed it, careful of his fur, and made her way to the dimly lit hallway and-

Swallowed hard when the bedroom door was slammed shut behind her. That was followed by the sounds of the lock being thrown and her cousin releasing a satisfied sigh while Ashlyn stood there, taking in the dimly lit hallway and-

She really hated this house.

It was old, big, and scary and she really didn’t want to be here.

Deciding that it was now or never, Ashlyn awkwardly pulled her backpack on as she glanced back at Uncle Jack and Aunt Mildred’s room, making sure their door was closed before she made her way down the stairs into the pitch-black foyer below.

Slowly exhaling, she dropped her hand away from the banister and searched for the wall.

Once she found it, Ashlyn released a shaky breath as she made her way down the long hallway, past the living room only to pause when she came to the basement door.

For a moment, she stood there listening to Charlie bark only to realize that they were going to need food.

Slowly exhaling, she dropped her hand away from the doorknob as she glanced up at the lock that was just out of reach before she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that no one was coming.

When she didn’t see anyone, Ashlyn released a shaky breath and made her way to the kitchen, pausing by the door to glance over her shoulder again before she pushed the door open and went inside only to wince when the door made a loud “whooshing” sound behind her as it closed.

Really hoping that Amanda wasn’t telling on her, Ashlyn quickly made her way to the pantry and searched for something that Charlie could eat.

When she didn’t find any dog food, she grabbed a small box of Cheerios and shoved it in her bag.

That was followed by the cookies and snack cakes that Amanda refused to share with her along with a jar of peanut butter in her bag and a half-loaf of bread before she grabbed Amanda’s old Minnie Mouse thermos and made her way to the kitchen sink.

She dropped the bag on the floor, grabbed Amanda’s Mickey Mouse stepping stool and shoved it in front of the sink, climbed on top of it, and, after struggling to open the thermos, turned the faucet on and filled the thermos with cold water.

When she was done, she shoved the thermos into her backpack before struggling to pull it back on and grabbed the stepping stool.

Slowly exhaling, Ashlyn made her way back the way she came, pausing along the way to make sure that no one was coming downstairs before she quickly made her way to the basement door.

As soon as she reached the door, she placed the stepping stool in front of it, climbed on top of the stepping stool and worked the lock open before she climbed back down, pushed the stepping stool out of the way and-

Froze when she heard it.

The unmistakable sound of a door opening upstairs.

Trying not to panic, Ashlyn struggled to get her trembling hands to cooperate as she grabbed hold of the doorknob and pulled as hard as she could until the heavy door that she normally liked to avoid when she was forced to visit finally opened with a scraping sound that had her stomach dropping.

Slowly exhaling, she tried not to think about the time that Amanda trapped her in the basement for five hours and forced herself to take a tentative step closer so that she could reach into the pitch-black stairwell and grab hold of the string above her head.

As the light flickered to life, Ashlyn stood there, watching as the wooden steps below disappeared only to reappear seconds later, leaving her in pitch-black only to light up the stone basement below and-

She couldn’t do this, Ashlyn thought, swallowing hard as she moved to step away only to go still when she heard Charlie whimper.

Knowing that she couldn’t leave him here, not when she knew how much Uncle Jack hated dogs and not after what he said as soon as the social worker left, Ashlyn shifted the bag over her shoulder and forced herself to place her good hand on the banister as the light above her head flickered two more times before it finally came to life as she made her way downstairs.

She ignored the creaking noise that accompanied the move, the shadows that led the way, the darkness waiting for her below and the throbbing pain that was starting at the back of her head and forced herself to keep moving.

A moment later, she reached the cracked cement floor below and-

“Oh, God...” Ashlyn mumbled weakly when she was forced to reach out and grab hold of the banister when her head started spinning.

She closed her eyes as her grip tightened around the banister.

She ignored the soft splinters threatening to tear into her skin as she slowly exhaled, willing the pain tearing through her head to go away.

A small whimper had her wincing as the soft sound sent a fresh wave of pain through the back of her skull.

“It’s okay, Charlie,” Ashlyn whispered only to immediately regret the move when her head started spinning faster.

When her legs threatened to give out, she sat down on the bottom step, dropped her head between her legs, and tried breathing through the pain the way the doctor at the hospital showed her.

When that didn’t work, Ashlyn pulled the backpack off her shoulder and dropped it on the floor between her legs, praying that the pain stopped before she was forced to take her pills. She-

“Help me!” came the angry demand that had her opening her eyes and forgetting how to breathe when she found a large man with blood caked on the right side of his face standing over her.

Before she could react, he was grabbing hold of her right arm.

She watched as his hand disappeared through her cast only to scream in agony when she felt ice-cold fingers wrap around her arm and squeeze, sending pain tearing through her arm and straight into her bones.

She tried to beg him to stop, tried to yank her arm free, but all she could do was scream when he tightened his hold around her arm and yanked her to her feet.

“Help me!” he screamed in her face as black spots began dancing along her vision and tears began streaming down her face.

When she didn’t respond fast enough, he used his hold on her arm to shake her, the move causing the bone the doctor set to snap and-

“What the hell is going on down here?” Uncle Jack demanded as the overhead lights came on as she found herself suddenly hitting the floor, the move causing her back to slam against the edge of the bottom step, knocking the wind out of her before she could scream.

Gasping for air, Ashlyn watched in terror as the large man shifted his attention to Uncle Jack as her uncle made his way down the stairs.

She hugged her broken arm against her chest and pressed her back against the wall as she watched the angry man step over her.

She waited for the moment when Uncle Jack ran, screamed, did something to stop the man, only to watch as he made his way down the stairs, absently fixing his robe as he leveled a glare on her.

Ashlyn shook her head frantically, trying to warn Uncle Jack only to have him ignore her and-

“He’s going to hurt you!” she managed to get out on a pained gasp when the man reached out to grab Uncle Jack and-

“What the hell are you talking about?” Uncle Jack demanded, his glare slowly turning into a frown as he stared down at her, completely oblivious of the man wrapping his hand around his throat.

“That man,” Ashlyn said, raising her trembling arm and pointed towards the man as the black spots dancing along her vision moved faster and-

“There’s no one there.”