A roughly tied bandage circled my forehead, my eyes struggling to focus through the haze.
I pounded on the ce
door with all my strength, once, twice, thrice.
“Holly! Dad! Mom! Let me out!”
My hands were raw, bloodied from the effort, when I finally heard a stir from above.
“Yasmine, you’ve got two choices. Go back and file for divorce yourself, so I can marry Anthony, or I’ll set you up with some guy and seal the deal. Then, let’s see if Anthony still wants you, you damaged goods!”
What choice did I have? The only sensible thing was to play along and agree to the divorce.
“Holly, I’ll do it. I’ll file for the divorce. Just let me out!”
A sliver of light pierced the darkness as Holly’s face came into view.
“Just remember, you better tell them I was the one who saved them back then! Or else…”
A sudden pain exploded in my shoulder as Holly, for some unfathomable reason, turned on me and kicked, sending me crashing down the stairs.
My back was tingling from the hard smack against the steps, but I clutched my head tight, avoiding any real damage.
“No way, you little troublemaker. You wouldn’t be saying that if I let you go. You’d probably run straight to some no–good guy,” she spat.
Hearing that, I pushed through the pain and scrambled to the cellar door. “Holly, I’ll do whatever you say. Just please, let me out!”
Silence had already settled on the other side.
Seconds turned to minutes, and a man’s voice drifted in.
Gripping an old, rusty pickaxe, I braced myself for a life–or–death struggle as soon as that door swung open.
Moonlight trickled in, and I took my chance, swinging hard at the sliver of an opening.
However, there was no cry of surprise.
