Chapter 5 – VENOM
Chapter
Five
VENOM
The belt comes down across my bare back, and I grunt. Another blow, and I scramble for anything to bite, but only the TV remote is in reach. I jam it between my teeth and brace for the lashes.
When the punishment ends, I’m thrown back into my dark hole.
“Get in your room!” my mother screams as she shoves me inside and turns the lock. She calls it my room, but it’s just a closet—big enough for a toddler-size mattress and too small for my long legs.
I flick on my flashlight and press a loose board until it opens. I pull out the three books I stole over the years: The BFG, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
When I was little, I pretended I was Harry, waiting for my Hogwarts letter.
No owl ever came. No bearded giant.
The books still comfort me, but I’ve accepted my life now. The only thing I hope for is that one day my mother goes too far and kills me—only then would I be free.