Chapter 1
I stared at the silver coffin, tears forming in my eyes. "Dearly beloved, we gather here today to mourn Natasha Monson," the speaker said.
The tears rolled down my cheeks. "It's okay," Marianne said, gently wiping away my tears.
I looked into the eyes of my aunt. "Why did he do this to her!?!" I questioned, hugging her and crying on her shoulder.
Stroking my back, Marianne said, "I don't know, Alyssa. " She continued stroking my back, then after awhile, she patted it. "Let's go home." I nodded in agreement. Marianne stood up and we walked to her car.
"I'll bet he was drunk!" I sobbed, climbing into the passenger seat of my aunt's white VW bug.
"Huh?" Marianne asked, confused stepping into the driver's seat.
"When he killed her! He'd been drunk before!" I nearly shouted. My aunt started the engine, and pulled out of the cemetery. "I hate him!"
Marianne looked over at me. "You don't mean that!"
"Yes I do!" I screamed. "I HATE HIM! I HOPE HE BURNS IN HELL!"
"Alyssa, he's your father!" she exclaimed.
"I don't care!" I sobbed.
The rest of the drive was driven in complete silence. Marianne stopped infront of an old, brick apartment. "Well, this is where home's going to be, for awhile anyway."
Stepping out of my seat, I stared up at the building. I then grabbed a suitcase out of the back of the car and walked up to the door.
After Marianne unlocked the door, I stepped inside and looked around at what I would now be calling home. There was an old gray couch and an electric piano with a copper chandelier hanging above a glass coffee table. "I'm sorry it's a little small and. . ." she searched for the word.
"Old?" I suggested and she nodded her head. Sighing, I said, "That's okay. That's practically how my house looks." I paused, then asked, "Aunt Marianne?"
"Call me Ann, " she corrected me.
"Ann, where is my room?"
Smiling, she led me to a narrow hallway and stopped infront of the first door on our left. Ann then opened the door and I stared into a small bedroom. A twin-sized bed with a polka-dotted blanket lay in the middle of the room and an old, pink chest of drawers stood infront of the window. "Nice. . colors! The red and the pink really blend together!" I said, sarcastically.
"I wasn't sure what colors you were into," my aunt explained. "We'll go to the store tomorrow and I'll buy you some stuff there."
"Thanks." I said, throwing my suitcase on the bed.
My aunt wrapped her arms around me. "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you!" she cried.
"So am I!" I muttered under my breath.
"Are you going to be alright?" she asked me.
I stared at her, fury building. "My mother was just murdered by my father in front of my eyes, and you expect me to be alright!?!" I loudly questioned.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way," Ann tried to apologize.
"Just. . . LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yelled as I slammed the door.
I leaned against the door and slowly let my breath out. Reopening the door, I discovered that my aunt was still there with her head towards the ground. "I'm sorry," I apologized.
"That's okay," Ann said, staring up at me. "I'll go make some lunch." I watched as she walked back down the hall and into the kitchen.
* * * * *
I stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. "Lunch is ready!" I heard my aunt announce.
"Alright, I'll be there in a sec!" I called back. Slowly, I got off of my bed and left my room.
Sitting down at the table, I looked at what my aunt had made me. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches lay on a plate at one end of the small table while apples and a jug of milk sat on the other end.
"Shall we say a prayer?" Ann asked sitting in the seat across from me. We folded our arms and a word was about to come out of her mouth when something interrupted us.
R-R-RING! R-R-RING! Sighing, my aunt got up from the table and walked over to a small counter. I watched as she searched for something. "Do you know where the cordless phone is, Alyssa?" she asked me.
"How am I supposed to know!?!" I questioned.
Deciding to give up, she pushed the button on the speakerphone. "Hello?" she answered. There was nothing but silence. "Hello?" she asked again.
"Hello, Marianne. It's nice to hear from you!" I heard a deep, scratchy voice say.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"I'm surprised you don't know!" the voice answered back. "Perhaps my daughter can tell you." I felt my face drain of color as I stared at the speakerphone.
"What do you want, Dirk?" Ann questioned.
"Want?" he repeated. "I want to talk to my daughter!" I stared up at my aunt and shook my head. "No," I mouthed, pleadingly.
"No," she replied.
"No?" he echoed. "Ann, I don't think you heard me. I said 'I WANT TO TALK TO MY DAUGHTER!'"
"Perhaps you didn't hear me!?!" my aunt said. "You are never going to talk to your daughter!"
"We'll just see about that!"
* * * * *
Silence came from the other end and Ann hung up. I stared at the phone, my eyes wide open. "He's going to kill me now, isn't he?" I asked, horrified.
My aunt came over and hugged me. "Don't worry, Alyssa," she tried to comfort me, "he'll probably miles away!"
"Then why did he say 'We'll just see about that'?!?" I wondered.
"He's probably going to try and call you when I'm not around, that's all!" she explained, but I didn't feel comforted at all.
* * * * *
I was sleeping in the twin-sized bed when I was suddenly shaken awake. I blinked a few times, then stared up into a pair of green eyes. As I began to scream, a hand was placed over my mouth. "What's the matter? Ain't you glad to see your old man?"
Shaking my head, I tried to pry his hand off, but he had too good of a grip. I then started to pound on the wall, in hopes that my aunt would hear me. "Shut up, stupid girl!" he said. I felt his rough hand slap my cheek.
"Alyssa? Are you alright?" I squinted as the lights came on. My dad looked behind him and saw Ann standing in the doorway.
"Well, Marianne! You're looking beautiful, as ever!" he said.
"Get your hands off her!" she ordered.
"Or what?" he wondered.
"Or I'll call the police!" my aunt replied. "I'm sure they're looking for the murderer of my sister!"
"I didn't murder anyone!" my dad shouted. He released his grip on me, then began to head towards my aunt.
Hopping out of my bed, I put my arm around his big neck and began to choke him. "Call 9-1-1!" I shouted to my aunt. Without being asked again, Ann disappeared.
I choked him with all of my strength, but he was too big. He grabbed my arm and began to twist it. He spun me around and threw me across the room where I landed on top of my chest of drawers. My dad threw me again. This time, I could hear the glass from my window shatter as I flew out of it.
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