The Dark Room

CHAPTER 1

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-Christine-

I remember that my family lived in a nice town. It was the type of small, quaint, town where everyone knew everyone. You could leave your door unlocked if you left to go to the grocery store real quick, and if you happened to go out of town for some reason a kind neighbor would be willing to house sit for you.

It was a town where gossip spread quickly too so everyone tried to be on their best behavior even the children like myself. So it was no surprise to me when my mom asked me to run down to the gas station down the street and get her some milk because we were out.

I just smiled at her and said. "Yes, ma'am." As she gave me the money. My mom looked at me also smiling.

"Now honey how much money did I just give you Christine?" She asked gently. I frowned then opened my right hand that contained the crumpled up dollar bills and a few cents.

I quickly put my second-grade math to work counting it out slowly in my head before I spoke. "You gave me three dollars and thirty-eight cents mommy," I answered cheerfully. My mom grinned proudly and ruffled my hair.

"That's my smart little girl. Here's an extra dollar buy yourself some gum or something while you're there." She told me as she extracted another dollar bill out of the pocket of her jeans and handed it to me.

I smiled. "Thank you, mommy, I will," I said as I left the house. I began walking the usual way to the gas station from our house. I had frequently gone to the convenience store to get milk and other things for mommy or daddy.

I was whistling Marry had a little lamb the best I could as I stood at a crosswalk when a man holding a leash walked up next to me. The man was frowning and he looked very sad.

The man looked at me and opened his mouth. "Um...excuse me little girl have you see a cute, little fluffy dog run by here? He broke off of my leash to chase after some bunnies." He asked me.

My eyes went wide. "Oh no the poor doggy. I haven't seen him but I can help you look for him real quick." I told him.

The man smiled at me gently. "Thank you, little girl." He said. I smiled at him and shoved the money into the pocket of my sundress.

The man glanced down at me.

"Well, let's hurry up find Coco shall we." He said grabbing my hand. I frowned but allowed him to lead me to where Coco had been.

However soon my legs were tired and I didn't know how long we had been walking. "Are we almost there?" I whined. Suddenly the man stopped and released my hand.

"Yeah...we're at the right place." He mumbled. I took a couple of steps forward to look at my surroundings however a second later I was tackled to the ground by the man.

I hit the ground hard, sharp sticks and rocks digging into my soft skin. I let out a cry of pain. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" I screamed. I heard the man began panting like a dog on top of me.

"Yeah, that's right keep on struggling you little Chinese bitch you're just making it better for me." He laughed. I let out a whimper suddenly I heard a sound that resembled a lot of static electricity.

Then in the next moment, a sharp, stinging pain went through my whole body. My body jerked, locking up for a moment, I bit down on the tip of my tongue and blood filled my mouth. My bladder released itself due to the sudden shock and fear.

As my body relaxed I felt numb and scared. No matter how much I wanted to. I...couldn't move. A cold chill swept through my body as both fear and unconsciousness claimed me.