Chapter Four (Continuation)

Two fucking days? I had to move. I couldn't stay in Littlecan a second longer. I made my way to the train station, the afternoon sun already dwindling to evening and the troll of people increasing as they struggled to get home after a long day from work or for the tourist looking to move on to the next happening spot of the city. I was going to purchase a ticket and then go home to pack my things and board the train before my stepfather got back from his daily rigmaroling. I needed to leave before he got back or else I was doomed. 

I got my ticket, booked for six pm. It was still four, I noted as I looked at the timer just above the ticket window. I had two hours to get home and get back to the train station and say goodbye to this city forever. I was going to be on my own once I boarded that train. I gripped myself inwardly as I began to reminisce. This wasn't the fucking time.

I dodged people as I wound down street after street, following alleys and cutting corners to get to where my house was located. I didn't have money to afford a taxi, everything I had was invested in the train ticket I clutched in my hand. I got to my street—well a close more of because at the end of the line of houses was the Yhoul's and they had fenced their property and made it into an estate— the familiar houses and the bakery, Sweet Mouth that I had known all my life looked gloomy and ominous. Like the inanimate objects could sense my leaving. I got home, sweat trickling down my back as I searched for the key we usually hid under the flower pot on the outside foyer when leaving the house. My heart skipped a beat as I placed my hand on the doorknob and it gave away.

The first thing that welcomed me as I stepped into the house with trepidation filling my lungs was the heavy scent of my very drunk stepfather. He was home. And he was in his cups. No, I cried internally, hoping to whoever ruled the skies that he was so out of it that he was passed out on the couch and wouldn't wake up until I was a thousand miles away from this city. 

Yeah, no such luck for me. I stared into my stepfather's cold eyes as he looked at me from the dining side of our partitioned living room. 

"And where the hell have you been?", my stepfather griped, his worn out face edged with wrinkles and patches of gray hair set in anger. My stepfather was a short and muscular middle aged man with fist that could do enough damage to the human body. I had felt it first hand one too many times. 

"I was clearing Mrs. Witleberg's lawn", I answered, crumpling up the ticket and shoving it into the pockets of my pants. Thank fuck, I had worn the only pair of jeans I had with pockets. 

"And because of that you forgot to make dinner?", he snapped. He hated when I talked back at him or had a response for everything. According to him, it was a sign of disrespect. So I always shut up whenever he was chiding me. 

I hustled to the littlest cut out kitchen and washed my hands. Time was ticking and my hands were shaking because my plans were on the def of being ruined. I took out the bread left from yesterday and the tomato soup I had stuck in the fridge. I couldn't afford for my stepfather to see that I was hiding something. I quickly heated up the soup and spread some butter on the bread and dished it out for him. 

I took a deep breath and was about heading up to the attic to pack up my things and plan my escape out of here when his next words halted me in my tracks. 

"You should start packing up your bags. You're moving into your husband's house in two days".

My head spun at the words coming out from his mouth. You know I had expected that since he hadn't confirmed it, that in some way it wasn't true. In some delusional part of my brain, my stepfather hadn't plotted to marry me off to the most evil man that I had met.

I wanted to lash out. Heaven help me, I wanted to lash out and just make that evil man cram his dick into his mouth. But I knew provoking him was going to result in another beating and I wanted to leave this house in one piece. I squeezed my hands and nodded then continued to my room. I had roughly an hour to leave here and make it to the train station, I had spied the clock on our living room wall so I knew when to leave. 

I closed the door to the attic but then I made a grave mistake, locking it. I had forgotten to lock it. In my haste, I threw together the little clothes I had inside the duffel bag I had found amongst my mum's things. How the hell was I going to sneak out with him around? Our house only had one functional door. What the heck was I going to do? Leave the front door with a bag on my shoulder? And to make matters worse he was drunk.

I thought about it for a second, gnawing on my nails in worry but not coming up with anything. I couldn't leave with a big bag, that would alert him to what I was doing. I was going to use a smaller bag. This was my once in a lifetime opportunity to leave this dead hole. The other times I had run away, I hadn't been planning on leaving the city. The other times, I had thought I could make it to the better parts of Littlecan and then get a job and fend for myself. But my luck was totally terrible. I had finally saved enough to purchase a ticket and move to a better place where no one could see how desperate I was for a better life and force me to suck their dick for a penny. I would be able to find something, good, I was sure of it. I just needed to leave. My luck said, no shit. 

I was closing up the small bag I had found that contained my keepsakes and a Way clothes. The sky had already darkened and I was managing to see and was about to make my way out of the room when my stepfather threw open the door to the attic and the light from the hallway flooded inside a little. My eyes widened as my stepfather staggered into the room, the smell of alcohol wafting in with him. 

"Where do you thinkk you're going'", he stuttered, leaning against the door as he tried to focus on me. He had seen the bag on my shoulder and probably thought I was running again. Which was the truth.

"I'm".., I muttered, thinking my reply through. "I'm going to sell some of my old stuff", I said more clearly, biting the inside of my cheeks and praying he doesn't call me out on my bullshit. 

"Why do you need to go der that?" "You'll be marrying into money..", he laughed, leaving the door a bit and almost falling flat on his face. I wish to god he had done that. I could have a chance to escape.

"You won't be using any of them so I thought to sell them and give you the money", I muttered, my hands shaking as my eyes went to where I had dropped the ticket on the vanity. Shit. What had I been thinking? I had gotten into the room and dropped the ticket on the little vanity to pack up my things. 

I quickly averted my eyes away but I was too late, my stepfather had caught on. "Well. What do we have here?", he asked and staggered to the vanity, cursing as he hit the boxes in the narrow room. I couldn't let him get my only ticket to freedom. I beat my stepfather to the table and grabbed the ticket, hitting my side in the process. I hissed and clutched my side as my stepfather grabbed my hair and I yelled in pain. I managed to evade him as he hit his leg and tumbled over the bed and landed with a thump to the floor. That was going to hurt. 

My stepfather tapped out curses and I ran out of the room and out the house with my heart thumping in my throat. I was really doing this. I ran down our dimly lit street not wanting to look back and see my stepfather on my heels. I dodged people and cars as I crossed roads and streets in a bid to get to the station. Just one more alley and I would've been in an open space. I felt a sharp pain at the back of my skull and I was stopped in my tracks. I should have wrapped my hair in a bun. The pain was searing, like someone had torn a piece of my skin. I was seeing stars or was it just night time? 

"You little piece of shit", my stepfather shouted from somewhere in the alley. I couldn't trace where his voice was coming from but it sounded far away. So who had pulled my hair? 

"Is this her?", an unfamiliar gruff voice asked and my curiosity piqued. I had no idea who was talking and everywhere was already dark. I could see a tall figure behind me and

"Yes. It's his kid", another voice answered. There were two? What in the world was going on? I should be seated in my train and heading to London by now but here I was in a narrow alley and people were passing by but no one knew what was going on in the dark alley.

"We'll be going with her now", the unfamiliar gruff voice stated and lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth. The flame from the lighter highlighted his face a little and my blood froze. There was a huge scar running diagonally from one end of his face to another and his eyes were mean. 

That was when what he had said had clicked in my head. Going with me? This was one of Thomas Yhoul's goons. No. This couldn't be happening to me. I straightened, searching for where my bag had fallen. It had been kicked off to somewhere I couldn't find. I would just have to go without it. 

"I'm not going anywhere with you", I spat out and ran or at least tried to get away. I didn't go far when a hand wrapped around my skull and threw me to the floor, my backbone connecting with the stone. I yelled out in pain and a hand clamped around my mouth squeezing hard. My eyes turned and I shut up from the double pain. I didn't deserve this. I just wanted to make a good life for myself.

I heard my stepfather's footsteps. He has finally caught up to where I and the two men were. He was panting and out of breath.

"Gentlemen", my stepfather said after taking in a deep breath. His voice seemed to be trembling. He was afraid of these men. My stepfather was never afraid of anyone. My hackles rose and I tried to decipher who the men were. 

The scarred one laughed gruffly and goosebumps lined my skin. "You know we're not gentlemen and you know that".

"Yes..I..I know that". "I'll have your money ready soon", my stepfather stuttered. He was owing these thugs money? Of course. 

"The boss has given you over three months", the scarred thug retorted, all traces of playfulness gone from his voice. These weren't Yhoul's men. My stepfather was owing someone high up money. 

"I was about to marry her into the Yhoul family. In fact the wedding happens in two days", my stepfather rushed to day, his voice quavering. I could see the fear emanating off his body in waves as I looked back and forth between him and the men. This was someone serious. He planned on using the bridal money he got from the Yhoul's to settle his debt. Bold of him to think the Yhoul's would give him money.

I needed to get out of here. My hands gripped the ticket in my hand, it was already too late but maybe I could ask for a reschedule or a refund to get another train. The pain in my head intensified as the men guffawed.

"In two days? The boss doesn't wait for anyone", the scarred one said, cracking his knuckles and I gulped in fear.

"Besides, we can take the chit as payment. She would work well in our cages", the other one added and my hairs stood as the wind howled with ominous intensity. Cages? I couldn't work in cages. Who the hell were these people? Just how much did that bastard owe?

"Urm..", my stepfather stuttered. "She has already being promised in marriage". Glad to see he was fighting for me while I was in the middle of two devils. Marrying Thomas Yhoul or going to work in cages that I had no idea of its whereabouts.

"Then we'll have your head", the scarred one mused. "The boss will definitely be pleased at that outcome".

"No", my stepfather responded immediately. "You can have her in exchange for my freedom". I would have been so shocked if I hadn't been in pain as it was. At this point in my life after having lived with the shallow man, I realized I was just his beatboxing equipment. He hadn't even hesitated. Not missed one beat. 

"Good", scatter's partner hummed and before my very eyes he unsheathed something from his back and my stepfather's head dropped to the ground, his body following right after with blood gushing everywhere, even on me. 

Chills ran down my body at what I had just witnessed. My stepfather's body was lifeless in front of me, his blood soaking into my clothes as I just stared in shock. They were going to kill me. I wasn't going to work in any cages. And I had no idea who they were and who they worked for. Yhoul? Or some psycho? 

I closed my eyes in desperation, willing myself not to throw up or pass out from the cold that had seeped into my bones.

"Let's get this over with", the scarred one said and I heard a sound like an unzipping of pants.