Trafficked by Kim Purcell

Author:Kim Purcell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2012-01-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-nine

That night, Hannah awoke to someone touching her shoulder. Maggie was standing in the garage in her frilly white nightgown, looking so small, despite her age. “I’m scared.”

Hannah blinked, groggy. “Come here,” she said. Maggie climbed onto the sofa next to her, and Hannah wrapped her arms around her skinny, quivering body.

Tearfully, Maggie told Hannah about her nightmare. She’d dreamed that her mother was a vampire, and only Maggie knew, so she had to lock herself in Michael’s room at night to protect him, but he wanted to see their mother, so he finally got away and then he became a vampire too and then they were both chasing after her. She sniffed. “It was so scary.”

She seemed much younger than eight at that moment. “It was only a dream, Maggie. Vampires aren’t real. You know that, right?”

Maggie sucked in a haggard breath and nodded in agreement.

But it wasn’t the vampires she was afraid of—it was her own mother. It was no wonder Maggie had a nightmare after Lillian’s freak-out. She’d nearly hit her. Over a book. Hannah tickled the back of Maggie’s hair by the nape of her neck, shushing her softly, and Maggie wrapped her arm over her chest, resting her head on Hannah’s shoulder.

Hannah held her until she fell asleep, then lifted her up and carried her out of the garage and down the hall. At the bottom of the stairs, she paused and listened. All she heard was her own heavy breathing. Even though Maggie was a skinny eight-year-old, she had to be sixty pounds, and it was no easy task to carry her. But she had to get Maggie up the stairs without anybody knowing that she’d woken up. She could just imagine what Lillian would do if she learned that Maggie had had a nightmare about her being a vampire. Slowly, she walked up each step, wincing as the stairs creaked.

Finally, she reached Maggie’s room. Fortunately, the door was already open. Her arms were aching. She placed Maggie gently in her bed and shook out her arms, gazing down at Maggie. She looked so young with her flushed cheeks and puffy eyes. Hannah smoothed a strand of dark hair away from her face, surprised and a little frightened about how much she cared about her.

She stepped out of the room. Still, the house was silent. She crept down the stairs. Near the front door, she heard someone yelling outside. Sergey? No, it sounded like English. She glanced back up the stairs. Everyone was asleep.

It would be best to ignore it, she thought, but she was curious; she’d always been too curious. She pressed her head against the crack in the door. Definitely English. Maybe it was Colin.

The dead bolt was cold in her fingers as she slid it open. She paused and listened for any noises coming from upstairs. This is what it would feel like if she were running away. It was tempting, sometimes, but where would she go?

She cracked the door and peeked out.

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