Excerpt Five

It’s been five months and life has kept me pretty busy. I have finished up another semester of school. Now, I am free for the time being to get back to my writing. I know I left things off at a bit of a cliffhanger. I have worked on the story some more and have edited some things and added some things. So many ideas I have. Let’s continue where I left off with Stacy and Khalid. Enjoy! Oh yeah, feedback is much appreciated.

She sat there quietly trying to come up with the words that would make this easier for the both of them. She was afraid that once he knew just how damaged Leslie was he wouldn’t want to see Stacy again.

Khalid cradled Stacy in his arms and caressed in her back moving his hand in slow circles attempting to comfort and soothe her. His senses were on high alert. He was ready to spring into action in case of an impending threat. The confident woman that he admired for her strength now appeared as if she was trying to shrink inside of herself. He knew something spooked Stacy and he wanted to know what was going on.

Stacy looked up at Khalid not knowing where to begin. She looked down at her hands and then stared off into space.

“When you’ve stared into the face of pure evil, there is no coming back from it.”

Khalid placed his fingers on her chin and lifted her face to his. He searched her eyes in an attempt to coax her into letting him in.

“I saw things that no young girl should ever see. When I was able to look in a mirror again, I didn’t know who was staring back at me. He kept me locked in the darkness and I couldn’t find the light.”

Khalid held Stacy closer to his chest. “Who kept you locked in the darkness?”

Stacy began to tremble and shake her head back and forth. Khalid whispered softly and repeatedly “I am here. I got you.”

“When I came back, no one looked at me the same. I couldn’t get away from their pity. It was in their eyes. My parents were afraid and didn’t know what to say to me. I just wanted to be who I was before he took me away. The only thing I could think to do was to change my name. I was about to go off to college and no one there would know who I was. My parents reluctantly agreed.”

Slowly, Stacy looked up at Khalid. She was surprised he was still holding her, still listening. She cleared her throat and continued. “Uh, my name was…my name was…” Stacy started to stammer and she was suddenly unable to catch her breath.

“Stacy, look at me. You don’t have to rush into this. I am still here. You can tell me as much or as little as you want to. Take your time.”

Stacy nodded giving herself permission to continue to tell her story.

“I was fifteen I was taken from everything I’d ever known and loved. He kept me in the dark for ten months. It felt like I was down there for years. I thought I’d never see my family again. He killed so many girls.” Stacy’s voice trailed off as she began to shake. She hiccupped her next breath. She tried to continue on the next inhale.

“When he first took me, I was blindfolded so I couldn’t see anything. The moist sounds and the screams were so loud. It was never quiet. At night, he would get close to me and sniff me. I couldn’t tell whether it was day or night. I didn’t know how long I had been there. All I knew was one minute I was on my way to a friend’s house and the next minute I wasn’t. Every day I thought I was going to die. I saw no signs of escaping. I was always chained to the wall. I tried to curl myself into a ball hoping that I could make myself small enough that he wouldn’t see me. It didn’t work because every night like clockwork he would either stand over me or sniff me. That was only in the beginning. The longer I was with him it got worst. Sometimes I wasn’t alone. I would hear the others either crying or screaming for help. He would always come and silence them.”

Stacy began to rock back and forth. Khalid could only listen and try his best to comfort her. He had no idea what Stacy was going to say but he could have never prepared himself for everything she was sharing with him.