Prelude

Run

I could feel the soft earth beneath me compress as I rushed across the garden, away from the house. I didn't fully understand why we were running, but we always did. Alex, my older sister, used to say it was a game, but I didn't believe her. Then she told me, a couple of days ago, on my tenth birthday that I was ready to know. Someone was after us. She wouldn't say who, but it was a man. If I didn't hide I'd regret it for the rest of my life. I believed her this time. If I didn't hide, I would regret it just as she does. I can see it in her eyes. I know that she's going to tell me to hide before she opens her mouth.

I almost got caught once before, I think. We were under the table in the kitchen and somebody walked in. At first I thought it was my father, but he's never home, either at work or at the pub. There was no way it was my mother; she'd died years ago. My sister was right beside me, holding my hand, so I was intrigued as to who this stranger was. I poked my head from under the table and Alex instantly pulled me back, accidently knocking my head. The stranger stopped. Alex glanced at me, and I noticed single tear fall down her cheek. She placed her finger to her lips and I nodded, before she stepped out from under the table. Instantly, the stranger turned. He growled in anger.

'Are you trying to hide from me again?' He asked, his words slurred and his tone violent. 'You know what happens when you hide from me, Alex.'

Alex stepped back, her feet shuffling.

'I- I'm sorry,' she stuttered. 'It won't happen again.'

'You're right, it won't,' he agreed. 'That's because I'm never letting you out of my sight again.'

He stepped around the table and took Alex by the arm, pulling her towards him.

'Where's that little sister of yours?'

Alex hesitated.

'Staying back late at school,' Alex lied. He believed her, it seemed, as he dismissed the subject and dragged Alex into the hall and up the stairs. When he had slammed the door upstairs, I crawled out from under the table and took a deep breath. I didn't understand what happened after that. I stayed in the kitchen, not really sure what to do and waited for Alex. I remember regretting that descision. There was a lot of noise from above me. While I waited in the kitchen for at least two hours, the noises didn't stop. I could hear slamming and smashing, Alex screaming and crying. After about ten minutes I'd gone upstairs and stood outside the room, wanting to stop her screaming. Fear stopped me. I was only ten and I didn't want to cry, as much as I loved my sister. She'd told me to stay away if anything like this happened, to never make a sound. She said it would make it worse. Only thing was that I didn't know what "it" was.

The screaming stopped. Alex was close to the door though, I could hear her muffled breathing. She was trying to scream, but he'd wrapped his hand over her mouth. I could hear something rip before there was another hit against the wall and I jumped back. Alex attempted to scream louder. Then I could hear him. His voice was close to the wall and I could hear some kind of groaning. I didn't understand at the time, I didn't understand any of it, but of course I knew now. The rest of the time I waited in the kitchen, before Alex finally came down. She walked over to me, her mascara lining down her cheeks, before taking me by the hand and telling me that I did the right thing. She said it was best that I didn't get involved. After we got down to the bottom of the garden, we hugged for a long time before falling asleep.

The next month Alex was away. She had to stay overnight in the hospital. She told me it was to get rid of something that she didn't want. I was alone in the house and didn't see him coming without my sister.

After that night, hiding was the priority in my life.