Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“I heard your daughter is an excellent pianist. Is that true?” Walter asks.
“Absolutely,” my father says, and it momentarily makes me smile. “Though she can definitely still learn a thing or two from her instructor.”
My smile instantly vanishes.
Why do I ever think it’ll be different?
“Nevertheless, I’m quite eager to hear her play,” Walter says.
“She’d be happy to.” My father eyes me down. “Right, Aurora?”
“Of course, Papa,” I reply, putting down my half-eaten cookie on a plate and making my way to the piano. Sitting on the bench makes my heart slow as I stare at the keys. I carefully plant my fingers on them, making sure my gloves won’t get caught between the keys when I start playing the notes.
Like a melody coming alive, my soul sings to the music I play, the notes pulling me apart at the seam like a string from a dress. And even as a tear begins to form in my eye, I continue to play as best as I can.
A single tear rolls down my cheeks as the song comes to an end and my fingers leave the keys. I quickly brush it away.
“Wow,” Walter says, his approval making me turn and smile. “That was amazing.”
“And all that with the gloves still on?” Dana says. “Darling, why don’t you take them off? You must be able to play easier without them, right?”
I clutch my hands, a blush forming on my cheeks. “I, uh …”
My father’s stern eyes watch over me. Threatening me.
Don’t.
Not ever.
The same eyes he uses on me each time I cross his line.
Each time I destroyed my last chance at a semblance of a life outside these walls.
But I have no one to blame.
No one but myself.
“In any case, beautiful,” Dana mutters.
Beautiful.
I gaze down at these hands.
These hands can bring beauty into the world.
They are anything but beautiful.
BANG!
Shaken, I sit up straight, eyes widened. I’m not the only one.
That almost sounded like … a bomb.
Both Dana and Walter peer down the hallway where the sound came from. “What was that?”
My father seems incensed. “I have no idea,” he mutters, quickly getting up.
Two guards run through the hallway toward the front door, guns pulled and all.
BANG!
The room starts to fill with smoke.
Dana’s eyes fill with horror, and she begins to scream.
I quickly get off the piano stool and crawl onto the floor. I don’t know what’s happening, but I know it can’t be good.
“Peter, get my guns!” My father’s voice echoes through the halls as he calls our best guard.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunshots.
Oh God.
Coffee drops to the floor, spraying the carpet, as Walter grabs Dana’s hand and runs into the hallway toward the bathroom. Within seconds, their bodies are blasted right back into the foyer with a giant hole in the middle of their chests.
My eyes widen.
It’s happening. It’s really happening right here in this house.
They brought my father’s business right to his doorstep.
Several guards come into the room, covered in holes and bullet wounds. They stumble and fall, smearing the carpets in blood. One of them makes their way toward me before he collapses right in front of me, his arm flopping down onto my leg.
Panicked, I shove it off, nauseated by the thought of a dead man’s body resting on top of mine. My heart beats in my throat as Peter runs in and hands my father his guns, and they both begin to shoot at whatever comes down the hallway.
I can barely see a thing other than the bursts of fire emanating from the guns being fired.
But the sounds—good God, the sounds—of screeching metal upon stone, lumbering footsteps like those of a giant, the splattering of flesh and blood … those are nightmares come to life.
Within seconds, a figure in cargo pants and thick protective gear appears through the fog, barely visible but immense, towering over everyone here.
My father points his gun at the giant.
BANG!
The bullet bounces off his chest like there’s metal underneath.
And it makes my entire body shiver.
The man moves lightning fast. With one quick jab, my father is on the ground, crying out in pain. There’s a visible cut on his arm, oozing blood. And his gun has been kicked far away.
“No, please, don’t kill me!” my father begs.
Oh God. This can’t happen. Not him too.
Without a second thought, I crawl out from under the piano and slip my hand underneath the dead guard’s jacket until I find his gun. I swallow away the fear and shoot without thinking.
BANG!
The strong recoil throws me back against the piano, and I instantly lose my grip on the gun.
OOMPF!
All the air is knocked from my lungs, and I collapse on the floor.
Our eyes connect as the intruder barges straight past my father. My breath hitches in my throat. Eyes like an emerald dream but with the face of a monster, he’s scarred from top to bottom and wearing a thick, metal collar around his neck. He’s bigger than anyone I’ve ever seen. Just one of his shoulders is larger than both of mine combined. And every step he makes reverberates through the ground.