“I’d like you to meet Ezra.”

Kara stared at this man standing beside her mother. He appeared friendly and interested in them, but she knew better. This was the latest guy to come into her mom’s life—how long before he was gone, too?

But it wasn’t just her mother’s lovers going through a revolving door that bothered her. It was something else about him that tugged at her. Some sort of bad vibe.

“Well, Kara. Aren’t you going to say hello?” her mother asked her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

As if to nudge her along, Ezra looked at her, right after he had just looked her ten-year-old sister up and down. The way his blue eyes peered into hers made her shiver. There was something very wrong about him.

But she forced a polite smile. “Hey.”

“Hello,” he replied.

“Talia is ten, by the way,” her mother said. “And Kara is thirteen.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Kara mumbled.

He nodded at her, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

The niceties only lasted for so long, Kara remembered, as she huddled up in her bed seven months later. Her new bed. Her mother married that boyfriend, who turned out to be wealthy and looking for a family to share his fortune with, and now they all lived in his mansion. Her mother wanted to play a game of “happy family.”

Kara whimpered, memories of his latest attack on her body rekindling the pain she felt. “There is pleasure in pain,” he had whispered into her ear, as he twisted parts of her body he had no business placing his hands on. The same parts he had just chewed on, covering her mouth as she squealed, tears streaming down the sides of her cheeks.

He had been molesting her for months. She had stayed quiet at first, because he had threatened to kill her sister and mother if she ever said anything about it, but what if she could tell her mother when he wasn’t around?

After this latest visit from him, she finally had the strength to try.

💀💀💀

Kara moved the curtain back from the living room window, which gave her a good view of the circular driveway in front of the mansion. Beyond was a long path to drive down that led to an iron gate. She could see the gate was closed and her stepfather’s Jag was not in the driveway.

Good. He was gone. She’d already checked the house to see if he was there and hadn’t seen him. The only place she wasn’t able to check was the room that he kept locked. She had seen him and her mother go into that room on many occasions, but she and her sister weren’t allowed inside.

She dropped the curtain, letting it fall back into place. Part of her wanted to check that room, somehow. She couldn’t risk him overhearing. But the other part reminded her his car was gone and encouraged her to go through with it.

She looked in the direction of the kitchen, where her mother was sitting at the table drinking coffee. Maybe now would be her only chance.

She crept over, expecting him to leap out at her any minute. Maybe there was some room she had forgotten to check. The house was so big and there were lots of extra space her stepfather used for recreation, gatherings and work. His expensive paintings hung in every one of the rooms, most of them containing grisly rape scenes or monsters tearing people apart. She never understood why her mother didn’t object to the display of such depraved artwork in the home where she lived with her children. Then again, there were other things about him she never objected to, like how he often called her a bitch or laughed after purposefully tripping her.

She entered the kitchen. Her mother remained fixated on her coffee as she drew near the table. Kara frowned—it looked like her mom had been crying.

The chair made a sound as she pulled it away from the table and she watched as her mother hurriedly wiped her cheeks and looked up.

“Hey baby,” she greeted, forcing a smile.

“Hi Mom.” She folded her hands on the table and waited while her mother composed herself, sniffling her nose, clearing her throat and rubbing her eyes. There were bruises on her neck and she appeared haggard as she sat in her white robe, her short black hair uncombed and wild.

When her mother looked at her, Kara took a deep breath. “We need to talk about Ezra.”

A look of dread flashed in her mom’s eyes, but she forced another smile. “Isn’t he wonderful? He has made our lives so much better.”

Kara shook her head. “No. He’s not wonderful.”

“How can you say that? He adopted you and Talia after we got married and gave you both your own room!”

“Mom—”

“He’s given you girls more than you could ever dream of! Expensive clothes, plenty of food to eat, and a beautiful home to live in! He even—”

“Mom, stop.”

“No!” Her mother shook her head. The forced smile was gone and she held her finger up at Kara. “I know he’s not perfect, but he saved us, Kara. You should be grateful! He could have left us to rot in that trailer, where it was always cold and you girls were starving and—”

“He’s touching me, Mom!” Kara cried. She ran her hand through her long black hair. When she saw that her mother was frozen in her seat, looking at her with shock and silence, she felt confident enough to continue. “He’s molesting me. He’s been doing it for months.”

Her mother still did not move. The stunned expression remained on her face.

Kara burst into tears. “We have to get away from him. Please.”

“Oh,” her mother said now, as though she had been trying to say so much more but could only manage that one word. She slowly moved back in her seat, her arm retreating to her side as she did so. The shocked look on her face faded, replaced by a stronger expression of concentration. She appeared lost in thought as she looked away.

Kara continued crying. “Mom! Say something!”

Her mother only shook her head, still looking away. From what she could see of her mother’s face, she appeared to be thinking really hard about something.

“Please,” Kara continued to sob. “We have to get away from here. We have to go!”

Her mother slowly turned toward her. “We can’t.”

“Yes, we can!” Kara pleaded, getting to her feet and hurrying around the table to stand in front of her mother. “We can, Mom! He isn’t here. Let’s go now! Please!”

Her mother shook her head. “We can’t.” She picked up her half-full mug of coffee from the table and stood.

Kara watched as her mom limped across the kitchen. She placed her mug into the sink and numbly stared out the window.

Bruises, limping. Had Ezra done this to her? Is that why she refused to get away from him, even after being told he was molesting her daughter?

Kara used the sleeves of her sweater to wipe the tears from her eyes and face. Sniffling, she turned to leave the kitchen.

Then she froze, her heart shuddering. Ezra stood in the entryway, his face contorted with rage. He looked straight at her, eyes full of hatred. He must have overheard.

She gasped then ran out of the kitchen, using the exit near to where her mother stood. She sprinted all the way to her bedroom, locked the door and hid under her bed. After several minutes passed in which he did not try to gain entry, she huddled up beneath her covers and released her remaining tears.

💀💀💀

Kara shot up in bed, remnants from her nightmare causing her heart to pound in her chest. She sat there a few minutes. Once her breathing normalized, she squeezed her eyes shut. In her dream, Ezra had tried to kill her with a knife. She’d awakened just as he was about to stab her in her chest.

She pushed memories of the dream aside. It was just a terrible nightmare. She was alive. Ezra wasn’t here.

Light flashed at the far-left side of her room. She looked out the window to see rain coming down outside. Her curtains hung open.

She crawled out of bed and walked over. Staring outside, she watched as lightning flashed and volumes of rain continued to pour from the sky.

Then something grabbed a large chunk of her hair.

Kara screamed as she was dragged from her room. She struggled to break free but whomever was holding her had a strong grip.

The stranger pulled her down the stairs. She whimpered in pain and fear as she tried to see who it was that had her, but she couldn’t turn around enough to catch a glimpse. She only knew they were taller.

When they came to a stop, she heard keys turning a lock. A door swung open and the person dragged her into a brightly-lit room. As Kara struggled to stay on her feet, she caught sight of strange items all around. On a table were metal devices, though she had no clue what they were for. A large bed with manacles on each corner occupied one area, along with a cot that had straps on it.

As she was thrown against a wall, she gasped when she saw Talia bent over one end of the cot. A strap was holding her down, covering her arms that were tied together against her back. She was dressed in a white nightgown. A large strip of duct tape was over her mouth and Kara could see tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Talia!” She attempted to run to her but cowered back against the wall when Ezra stepped in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders then swung her around. She grunted as her chest banged against the wall. Then he grabbed each of her wrists and placed then into handcuffs attached to the wall above her head. She cried out in alarm as her pajama shirt was torn from her neck, exposing her back.

A panicked whimper escaped her mouth once she was left alone there for several minutes. She tried to turn her head to see where Ezra was but she couldn’t turn around far enough to catch sight of him. Then she screamed as a thick whip with metal things on the end struck her back. She screamed again as it hit her a second time, then again as it hit her a third time.

Kara’s throat grew raw as she continued to scream with each strike, losing count of how many times it hit her. Tears ran down her cheeks and she wailed in agony as the whip tore into the flesh of her back, biting away at her as it tore off a new part of her skin with each strike.

Then it stopped. She hung there, sobbing as the pain seemed to burn her. She tried turning her head to see what Ezra was doing now and she realized that if she hung from the handcuffs, she could move with her body and turn her head better to see more of the room.

When she found him, she gasped in shock.

He was right next to where her sister was bent over on the cot, lifting her nightgown up and placing it onto her back.

She shook with a jolt of terror. “No.”

He pushed down her sister’s underpants and began unbuckling his belt.

“NOOO!” Kara roared, rage flooding through her as she stood. The pain in her back was suddenly forgotten. All of his abuse and now his intent to rape her sister changed something within her. It provided her the strength to tear her hands free of the handcuffs, ignoring the cracking of her bones in her wrists, and the shift to free the beast slumbering within. It was wide awake now, ready to attack the threat of those she loved.

“NOT MY SISTER!”

Ezra looked at her with shock and that was the opening she needed to race over to him with an angry shout and shove him away.

He flew back against the wall, knocking over shelves of metal tools that fell onto his head and knocked him out.

Breathing heavily, Kara winced in pain as she struggled to remove the straps holding her sister down on the cot. Her hands were no good—her wrists were probably broken. She used her teeth to unbuckle the strap then untie the rope around her sister’s wrists.

Once Talia was free, she stood and hurriedly pulled her underpants back up.

“Kara!” she cried upon tearing off the duct tape, hugging her sister.

Kara grunted in pain and Talia unwrapped her arms, jumping back. She winced. “Sorry.”

“You bitch!” a voice cried out.

Kara jumped. Ezra, once again conscious, was running toward her. He wrapped his hands around her neck and started shaking her, tightening his grip as he attempted to strangle her.

Kara tried to grab his hands but she couldn’t get a grip on them. Her vision spun and she could hardly breathe.

Then came a sizzling sound from behind. Ezra screamed, his hands letting go of her neck. He moved backwards and fell to the floor. He rolled onto his stomach, clasping at a burned area on his back and whimpering.

Talia stood over him, holding the red-hot poker she had just used to burn him. “That’s what you get for hurting my sister, you perv.”

Kara looked to her left and smiled. She moved behind a large marble statue of a naked woman chained to a tall chair and knocked it over onto Ezra’s head.

Sounds of his skull shattering and the splatter of blood squishing onto the floor rang out as his head flattened underneath the overturned statue.

“And that’s what you get for hurting our mother,” Kara said, looking at his prone figure with satisfaction. She glanced at Talia. “Let’s get out of here.”

They left the room and walked to the nearest bathroom. Talia administered first aid to her sister’s wounds before they went together to their bedrooms, changing into fresh clothes and packing a tote bag for Kara and backpack for Talia.

Once they decided they had everything they needed, they walked to the bedroom their mother shared with Ezra. Talia turned on the light as they stepped inside. Looking to the queen-size bed, both girls gasped.

Their mother lay in a pool of blood on the middle of the bed, her nude body showing slashes from a knife in several areas. Lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling, though Kara saw the terror in them from when she was looking up at her killer.

Ezra. Ezra had done this. He had killed her.

Talia remained at Kara’s side, beholding their mother’s dead body. She began to cry. “Mama.”

💀💀💀

The sun slowly rose in the sky as Kara and her sister walked away from what had once been their new home, now erupting in flames. They had moved into that house full of hope for their future, unaware of what torture and nightmares awaited them after their mother’s new love interest had them right where he wanted them. All Kara got when she’d met Ezra was a bad feeling—she had no idea the perverted and twisted side that existed in him until it was too late. Her mother had been trapped, too scared to run away, and she’d ultimately paid the price with her life.

Sounds of the fire raging behind them hit their ears. “Don’t look back,” Kara told Talia.

Both girls had poured the gasoline over the exposed areas of Ezra’s body, then made a trail to the door. Once Talia touched the match to the gasoline, the fire raged. The sisters had grabbed their things and escaped before the fire came too close.

Now, as they walked far away from the burning mansion, they came to a stop to catch their breath. They looked at each other.

“Where will we go?” Talia asked.

Kara sighed. She hadn’t thought that far ahead just yet. “Away from here,” she finally replied. “And don’t worry. As long as we have each other, we’ll be okay.”

Talia glanced down at her sister’s mangled wrists. “I think the first place we should go to is a hospital. Get your hands looked at.”

Kara smiled. “I think you’re right.”

They turned and continued walking. The sun’s growing rays ushered in a new day, shining upon the girls, whose future was unknown but whose bond was stronger than ever.