Chapter Thirty-Four
Candace
It’s dark. So dark, but I can hear them.
There are voices of men in the house.
I can hear Mom too, crying.
The men come at this time every night when Papa's not here.
He doesn't know.
They come for her, and they come for me.
Uncle Lucas comes for me, and sometimes he’s not alone.
I foolishly thought if I went back to doing as I was told, he’d leave me alone.
He hasn’t though since that night, and since then I can’t sleep.I can’t eat.
My bedroom door creeks open and I hear him breathing.I grip the sheets and press my body into my bed.Tears sting the backs of my eyes when footsteps echo against the floorboards.They get closer and closer.
“Little whore, I know you’re not sleeping,” Uncle Lucas taunts.“Get the fuck up.”
Another man comes into the room when I sit up.I can’t see their faces and the other man doesn’t speak.
It’s just Uncle Lucas giving his command.
A faint light goes on and I see his face.
Like the monster he is, he grabs my throat and I scream.
“Your mother is a whore and so are you," he snarls, barring his teeth."You little bitch. We’re going to have you tonight.”
As his hand clamps tighter around my throat and my clothes are ripped from my body, I scream and scream and scream.
Then suddenly I see them, my parents.
They’re dead.
Their bodies are on the ground.
My mother burned.
My father headless.
I jump out of the nightmare and land in Dominic’s arms, crying so hard I can’t catch my breath.
“Candace, baby, I got you. Angel, I got you.You are safe,” he mutters, holding me.
I hold on to him so tight, but it’s like I can’t get close enough.I can’t feel safe enough even though he mutters those words over and over again.
“You are safe.”
Dominic holds me just like that until the soft rays of sunlight peek through the windows, and I cry until I have no voice left.
It’s been years since I had such a terrible nightmare.This is the result of simply seeing Uncle Lucas' name written on a notepad and hearing Dominic was looking for him.This is what happens to me at the mere mention of that man's name.