Chapter 1 (Whisper)

I hid behind a pile of rope at the dock, the wind blowing off the lake and into my face and hair, caressing my neck and ears. I couldn’t let him find me.  If he did, he would hurt me. He beat my mother the first night she brought him home. I don’t know why she stayed with him. But here I am, hiding at the lake from my drunken mother’s boyfriend, and I don’t know when I can go home. He could always be there, hiding. He’s both stupid and smart enough to do something like hide in my closet or shower. Then when I least expect it, the little pervert will come out. Surprise! I have to think like this when it comes to my mother’s men. She picks the ones that’ll hang around for a few days, get her hooked on a new drug, sleep with her, and leave for the next woman.

My stomach growled, and if felt as though it was tightening, twisting up inside me, trying to scavenge food out of nowhere. I squinted against the building wind, and pulled my uncontrollable, dirty blond hair over my shoulder, twisting it to try to keep it from tangling in my face. No use. The moment I let go it was up and in action again. So I ignored it and let it go. It wasn’t worth fussing over at the moment, anyway. I had bigger problems right now, like getting home. I pulled down the sleeve of the windbreaker that just wasn’t quite enough in this weather and looked at my watch. It was 10:42. I would be lucky if I could get home by midnight tonight without passing him in the house. Depending on where he is, of course. But it wasn’t a risk I could take. I would probably be sleeping here. It wouldn’t be the first time I couldn’t get home at night. Once, when my mother was knocked out, the man she brought home locked her in the bathroom and stalked me throughout the whole city. I couldn’t get home for hours. And it wasn’t like I couldn’t just skip down to the police station. We have one, but during the war we’re in, the police are rarely ever able to help with a minor problem like mine. Especially while they’re trying to sweep the town for spies from the other countries at war with us. Which my stalker turned out to be.

I heard a distant yelling, someone screaming my name. It was him. Then the dock shook as he began to run down it. Maybe it was just the wind carrying the sound, maybe he wasn’t so far away. I hurriedly turned to face the edge. There was an old, splintering ladder down to the water. Water in November in my country, Hali, wasn’t very inviting. It was black and rippling, with short, choppy waves from the wind. But I couldn’t stay here either. So I began to descend the ladder, my knuckles white against the wood. I could see a dark shadow through the wooden planks, cutting in front of the moonlight. It was him. I searched desperately for a perch under the dock to hide out; somewhere he couldn’t see without coming down.

More footsteps. I had to move fast. There were crossed beams about two yards away, but I couldn’t get to them without swimming over. I dipped my fingers into the icy blackness. I couldn’t do this. I was so sensitive to the cold; I could get sick so fast. Then a shadow covered the small amount of moonlight on me. I looked up. He was looking down at me, breathing heavily. He smiled a creepy, yellow-toothed grin. His rotting teeth were disgusting; and his face was red. He kicked. I ducked down, but he wasn’t aimed for me. The ladder suddenly gave way, falling towards me, and I was plunged into a world of icy cold.

Reviews

[Alice Locke]

This is interesting... kind of reminds me of A Team by... what's his name? Ed Sheeran. (The song). Just a suggestion, the font is a tad distracting. I mean, I know it's supposed to enhance the writing... or something... but there's obviously a reason you used that font. It's just kind of distracting to me, but that's just me.