Somber Shackles

• Prologue •

Olivia

A callous, beefy hand gripped my shoulder and launched me onto the worn leather sofa. Another one of those hands created a sharp sound as it stung my skin. A scream flew from my lips, though I should have known better.

"Shut up!" The tone was harsh, angry, and it was a voice I'd heard all my life.

It belonged to my father.

One more slap laced my back, and I choked back the scream building inside of me. I glanced up to see my father's arm raised and could see the fury dancing in his eyes, hatred radiating from his skin. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact.

The doorbell rang, and my dad began dragging me to the stairs.

"Go!" my father yelled. I ran up the wooden steps quickly but quietly. I sat out of sight, but within earshot, my arms hugging my knees to my chest. I sat, rocking, listening to my father's footsteps move towards the door.

"Good evening George. Is everything alright?" I heard my neighbour Caroline say. "I heard Olivia scream."

"Oh no, she's fine. She just . . . saw a spider," my father lied. It wasn't the first time. Caroline, an older lady, who has been over here time and time again. She's heard the yelling, the screams, and even the beer bottle smashing. The lies were always the same too; either I broke something, saw an insect, or fell... but the lies were wearing thin.

"Okay . . . Well, I'll just be on my way," Caroline said skeptically. I could imagine her trying to peak into our dusty flat over my father's shoulder.

That was the last night I heard Caroline's voice. My father said that the neighbours were suspicious, and just like that we packed up what little we had unpacked into this flat. We spent two days in a motel across town before my father was decided that we were moving to America. While, I'd been moved around more times than I could count, it was usually around England, never across the globe.

I already knew that being the new kid was never easy. It was like being a shiny new toy that people like to prod, question, and poke at until the novelty wore off. But we were moving to sunny Jacksonville, Florida. Maybe things would be different.

Author's Note:

Hello Lovely Readers!

This story was taken down originally as it what was once A Long Way to Go was self-published. However,  my co-authors and I made some changes and slight tweaks to the story line, which was  created when we were much younger, and split it into three books and changed the name to The Somber Stories Trilogy, as it best suits the new series. We thought it would be a great idea to put it up once again, for your enjoyment!  The first book will be posted here with a new cover and title, and while it might be a new book to some of you and a not-so-new book to others, I'm sure that you'll definitely be surprised a long the way!  

This book does have some darker themes, so be cautious of that, if you find it hard to read. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the little world and characters of The Somber Shackles! <3