Of Stone and Sky by Charissa Stastny

Author:Charissa Stastny [Stastny, Charissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948861243
Publisher: Tangled Willow Press
Published: 2021-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

31

Saemira

Age 14 – Fushë Krujë, Albania

TERROR: paralyzing fear you never want to speak of or think about again.

Engjell gave Saemira a playful shove. “I should get you home,” he said.

Sometimes his motivation to please Baba made him lame. “The sun’s not even down yet. Let’s play another game of Hansel and Gretel.” They were too old to still play the game, but she wanted to see if the rocks she’d painted with the new solution would glow under the black light.

“I don’t know.”

She shoved the black light into his hand. “Stay here. Count to three hundred.” She took off to hide before he could protest.

“Don’t go far!” he yelled.

He couldn’t tell her what to do. Saemira dropped rocks sporadically on the way to the warehouse. She couldn’t pick locks so she slipped into the back lot, thinking to challenge his finding skills by hiding in one of the empty cargo containers littering the area. But she’d only leave a rock by the container she hid in. It was kind of cheating, but Engjell was a good tracker. He’d find her. Eventually.

She giggled and ran past several rusty containers, zigzagging toward the middle. A squeak made her stop and look around.

Had that been a rat?

She shuddered. Engjell had chased many of those away. She dropped a rock and moved forward, but a strong hand covered her mouth, and someone kicked her pebble away.

She tried to get traction as the person dragged her backward, but whoever had her was strong. Her heart raced as she was pulled into a pitch-black container and shoved to the ground.

“Ah, my little thief.”

Her legs warmed with urine as Engjell’s uncle spoke.

“You’re not so high and mighty now, are you, Temptress?” His hand pulled her skirt up, and he touched her urine-soaked panties. “The scent of fear.” He put his fingers to her nose, and she wanted to die of shame.

“Gem!” Engjell called from a distance. Not close enough to help, even if she could call out, which she couldn’t. “Where are you? Come out. I need to get you home.”

“If you make a sound, I’ll kill him.” Something hard and cold touched her cheek. “I’ll slit his throat. Nobody will miss the ugly devil boy. I’ll kill your baba, too. And I’ll make a whore of your mama.”

He lifted his hand from her mouth, and she choked back sobs.

“Gem!” Engjell called again, closer, but yet so far.

“Should we let him find us,” he hissed, “so I can cut him up?”

“N-n-no,” she stammered.

“You’re a wicked little whore. A thief, stealing my mind like you have.”

Engjell called her again, sounding farther away. That was good. She didn’t want her friend to die.

“Spread your legs, Temptress” the monster growled. “It’s time you repaid me.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.