Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
GIRL TWO
One and I keep glancing at each other as we pack our meager belongings.
Both of us are anxious to leave for different reasons.
Mine is based around fear and nothing but.
I don’t want to still be here when our father gets back, but then again, I’m scared of what will happen once we walk out.
What will happen to us if he catches us leaving?
I don’t want him to release another can of whoop ass on us.
That’s what he says when he’s extremely mad. ‘Girl, I’m gonna give you a can of whoop ass, and once that top’s been popped off, it’s not going back on,’ and that’s when we know we’ve really, really messed up.
While we were bagging our things up, Nova kept searching down here, gathering things he’s found that he says will help him put Father away.
I haven’t figured out what that means but if it keeps Father away from us and keeps him from hurting other people, I’m all for it.
When my sister comes up next to me while I’m stuffing my favorite blanket into the trash bag, she says, “I don’t like this, Two. ”
“I know,” I whisper back. “But this is our chance to get out. It may be the only one we get.”
“I was gonna get us out,” she states in a reprimanding tone.
“I know you believe that, but Father was never going to let us leave, One. We know too much about what he does down here.”
“After hearing what Nova said, you may be right,” she sighs, her shoulders slumping. “I didn’t realize the significance of what we’ve seen and heard until today.”
“It’s because we don’t know any differently, sister. What do you think it’s like out there?”
“I’m not sure, but I can’t wait to find out,” she excitedly quips.
“You aren’t scared, One? I am. I’m terrified of what’s out there.”
“I’ll keep you safe. Nobody and nothing will hurt you as long as I’m around.”
“Promise? You’ll never leave me, will you?” I ask, scissoring my lips between my teeth, chewing on them until I fear they’ll bleed.
“Never, Two. We’re a team. It’s you and me against the world.” She holds out her pinky finger at a crooked angle and I smile. Reaching up, I lock our knuckles together and we make a pinky promise. “Together. Always.”
“Always,” I parrot.
“You ladies ready?” Nova inquires, breaking into our moment.
“Does it matter if we are?” One sasses.
“Not really, no. I was being polite,” Nova remarks, not looking ashamed in the least. I have a feeling he and One are going to knock heads more often than not.
He lifts up our bags as if they’re light weight whereas I struggled to drag them over to the bottom of the steps once they were filled. “Is this all you’re bringing with us?”
“It’s all we have,” I state, my cheeks burning from embarrassment.
“We’ll get you more,” he huffs out.
“We don’t need more,” One argues as we begin our ascent up the stairs.
With each step I take, my heart begins rapidly beating in my chest. The sound making its way into my ears like a percussion drum.
It’s getting harder to breathe the closer we get to the door that leads into the main part of the house.
Nova twists his head, probably to argue with my sister but when he sees the panic on my face he stops. “You okay, Two?”
I shake my head, lowering my feet to the lower rung of the staircase. “I can’t do it.”
“Can’t do what, Two?” Nova asks, opening the door and sitting our bags in the hallway. “What can’t you do?”
“I can’t leave. I’m sorry, I just… I can’t do it!” I hysterically yell.
My sister wraps her arm around my shoulder and tugs me into her side. “You can do this, sis. You’re braver than you think you are.”
“I’m not,” I dispute. “I need to stay here. I’m safe here, sis.”
“You’re not,” Nova contests. “In a few minutes, this house is going to be swarming with a SWAT team and other government officials. You can either come and stay with me where I’ll keep you safe, or take your chances with them.
Their only priority is taking your father down.
Mine is to keep the two of you protected and out of the spotlight until he can be located and taken to jail. ”
“But this is our home,” I cry.
“No, it’s not, Two. This is your prison,” Nova contends, tossing his arms out in the air.
“You have no freedom here. It’s not right.
It’s not normal.” He vehemently shakes his head as if he’s trying to knock the memories of this place out of it.
“This isn’t life, ladies. It’s a cage. He’s confined you to this house for your entire lives.
You have no friends outside of each other.
You’ve never gone to a party, or experienced other things teenagers your ages have.
Your father has made a mockery out of you two and it pisses me off.
Let me show you how life should be. Take a chance, Two. I swear, I’ll keep you safe.”
“But what if he finds us and brings us back? You don’t know what he’ll do to us, Nova,” I whine, my entire body shivering from the thought.
“If he finds you, I’ll kill him,” Nova swears. And I don’t know why, but those words are the ones I needed to hear to find my bravery.
“You will?” One questions, her resolve breaking.
Nova gives us both a stern look. One full of promises and absolution. “I guarantee you that I will. I absolutely will not let him lay a single finger on either one of you ever again. That’s my solemn vow to you.”
“Okay,” I say, my voice quivering.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” One says, looking determined.
Nova reaches out and systematically squeezes our shoulders.
“You’ve got this.” My knees weaken and try to buckle as I retake the step I’d backed off of earlier before I had my meltdown.
I keep my head hung and my eyes on the floor as we trail behind him.
They put me in the middle and keep me there the entire way through the house.
“I can do this, I’ve got this,” I chant underneath my breath. The next thing I know, the front door is swung open and sunlight hits my eyes, blinding me. “It hurts!” I slam my hands over my eyes to dim the sunbeams that are trying to burn my retinas.
The door quickly shuts and Nova mumbles something under his breath I don’t catch. “Okay,” he sighs. “I’m going to take your bags out to my truck and grab my spare pairs of sunglasses. I’m taking it that you two have never seen sunlight before, right?”
“No, we only come upstairs when it’s dark outside,” One admits.
“That’s what I figured. Sit tight, ladies, I won’t be long.”
Once Nova takes our things outside, I turn to my sister and ask, “Did you know it was that bright?”
“I didn’t,” she insists. “We’ll get used to it.”
“I hope so, that was… unexpected,” I state.
“Brace yourself, sister. I have a gut feeling that a lot of what we’re about to discover will be unexpected.”