Elizabeth Finn: Immortal Protector

The ropes cut into Ember’s wrists as she pulled. Pulling would only make it hurt worse and the ropes dig in deeper, but she was in trouble. The man had left her alone, but he would be back. She knew he would. She could hear the sound of his feet above her, and it scared her. She pulled and she twisted, but she couldn’t get out. She was cold, she was scared, and she just wanted to go home. She was in trouble.

All she’d wanted to do was go play at the ball diamond with the other kids, but he’d grabbed her. He was mean, and he threw her in his smelly old truck before she could even scream. She was supposed to scream. She knew she was. Ember knew better than to go anywhere with strangers, and she would also never fall for one of those stupid “Your mom is hurt, and I’m going to take you to her,” or “Can you help me look for my missing puppy?” or “Do you want some candy, little girl?” tricks. Duh … stranger danger. She’d heard the speech a gazillion times already in school. But this wasn’t supposed to happen—being grabbed and tossed into a truck. Then he hit her—hard. It was just like they did on the TV shows her mommy didn’t want her to watch, and it hurt. Her head felt like a firecracker exploding; she wanted to sit up, but she couldn’t. Her body felt like mush. She stopped screaming after that. Her head hurt, and she couldn’t see right anymore.

Yes, Ember was in trouble—the kind of trouble that had her cussing fuck as she pulled and twisted against the ropes. She was only ten, but she knew that word. It’s what the big kids said, but when she’d said it, her mommy had put a bar of soap in her mouth—more than once. But in the dark and smelly basement with the sound of his feet above, it was the only word she could think of to say. And she said it. As she cried, trying hard to be quiet, she whispered the word as she kept twisting, pulling, and yanking hard on the ropes.

Every step above her made her cry harder. She was shaking, and she couldn’t stop. There was a spider crawling across the floor toward her. It was big, nasty, and ugly, and normally she would be shrieking and running in circles screaming for her mommy, but right now, she just watched it. She stared at its long, hairy legs as it came closer and closer. She wanted to scream, but she was afraid he would hear her … so, she watched. She was almost as afraid of it as she was the man, but then his feet started moving above her head again, and she pulled on the ropes again, forgetting the spider.

Her mommy would miss her if she didn’t come home. Ember was all her mommy had. That’s what she always told her. Her mommy killed the spiders for her, but this one was getting closer, and Ember didn’t know what to do. She just wanted her mommy. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to go so bad it made her cry more and more.

I’ll eat the whole fucking bar of soap if I have to; just let me the fuck out of here and let me go home. She heard the big-kid words in her head, and she wanted to scream them. But he was scary. He was like a monster. She just wanted her mommy to come for her, and she didn’t understand why no one was there to help her. Mommies were supposed to be there. Big people were supposed to be there to help you when you were little. But there was no one. There was nothing but the sound of his feet walking around … and the spider.

It was at her foot now, and one long, spidery leg touched her bare foot. Ember jerked. She couldn’t stop the scared shaking in her body, and after lifting her leg in the air, she smashed her heel on it. It hurt, but she didn’t care. The spider’s body squished on the floor, and she was suddenly afraid he heard. Had he heard?

The footsteps moved. Maybe he did hear. Fuck . There was a light on the ceiling. It was just like her scary basement at home, and there were more spiderwebs up there, but when the man pulled the basement door open, she forgot about the spiderwebs. She forgot the spiderwebs meant there were more spiders somewhere. Bright light hit her face, and she couldn’t hold her eyes open, but it didn’t stop her from fighting, twisting, and pulling her wrists again as the ropes burned her skin. It felt like fire, and she could feel blood dripping down her arms, but she was afraid to look away from him. She just kept pulling pulling pulling, twisting twisting, and yanking as hard as she could.

She watched his feet as they walked down the stairs. He had big feet, ugly dirty boots. Every step made her cry harder. She wanted her mommy, and she cried for her, shrieking and squealing when his boot touched the floor and she could see him. She was more afraid than she had ever been. More afraid than when she broke her arm when she’d fallen off her bicycle; more afraid than when she got shots. She pulled and pulled and twisted harder and harder, but he was getting closer, and she cried louder than she’d ever cried before. She couldn’t stop crying, and every time he stepped closer, her body shivered and yelped. She wanted to be quiet. She didn’t want him to hear her, but she couldn’t be quiet.

He was going to hurt her. He was going to kill her. She was going to be one of those people in a box they put in the ground, just like her grandma. He was going to do that to her. And it was going to hurt. He’d already taken her clothes and left her freezing on the floor. He’d tied her hands together, pulling the rope tight before he tied the rope to a metal ring on the wall. It was like a dungeon, and it smelled so bad. She didn’t know what he was going to do, but it was really going to hurt her bad.

When he stopped in front of her, she stared. She didn’t want to look at him, but she was afraid to look away. He was scary-looking, like a real monster. He was ugly and dirty, and he was smiling a mean smile. He rubbed his crotch and talked to her. It was the first time he said anything, and he sounded mean. He sounded excited, but he was still mean. “Oh yeah. I’m gonna enjoy you. But don’t worry, when I’m done, I’ll kill you fast and dump your body where your dear mom will never have to see how much fun we had together.”

He reached down; she was crying louder now, and she curled up to the wall, but she couldn’t stop him when he grabbed her foot. She was screaming, and she couldn’t stop. But he didn’t care. He was supposed to care if she was scared. That’s what big people were supposed to do. But he didn’t like her, and he wanted to hurt her, and Ember didn’t know why. Ember thought people always liked her. What did she do to make this man want to hurt her? She was choking on the slobber that was dripping from her nose and running back in her throat as she cried. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Mommy … I just want my mommy… Please… Please… I want to go home.” He pulled her ankle, and she couldn’t stop him when her body was pulled away from the wall, and when she was lying flat, he lay on top of her. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe at all, and she was still choking on the slobber, but now he was too heavy, and she couldn’t breathe even more.

Ember shut her eyes tight. They burned, and she couldn’t breathe enough to make it stop. He was breathing on her cheek, and his breath stunk. He smelled like dirty teeth and onions. It made her stomach hurt, but she held her eyes closed tight and tried to breathe deep. She was too afraid to see him again, and it was dark and safe with her eyes closed. She could pretend he wasn’t there, and she could pretend her mommy was… He was too big to be lying on her. He was squishing her, and she was going to squish to death like the spider.