Prologue

                                    

                                          
Song: Save me by Mary Ellen Kirk
                          
Skylar woke with a start at the sound of a loud thump. Clutching her blankie, she glanced fearfully about her, trying to determine the source of the noise, only settling down when she encountered nothing out of the ordinary.
                          
Curling into a fetal position, she stuck her thumb in her mouth and shut her eyes tightly, willing herself to go back to sleep. Her room was dark and filled with shadows, but she had promised her mom that she would be as brave as grown ups were and sleep with the light off. 
                          
She was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a crash and another thump. Her eyelids flew open and she stared into the darkness, frozen. 
                          
Did they have burglars? Should she go and tell her mom? Would the burglars get her before she could tell? 
                          
Her mind raced through different thoughts. She finally decided to stay put. If she lay really still, maybe the burglars would think no one was home and go away. 
                          
She tugged the covers over her head and shut her eyes again, willing them to go away. 
                          
Minutes ticked by, and, after she felt that reasonable time had passed, she breathed a sigh of relief, the tension leaving her body. 
In the morning, she would tell her mommy how brave she had been and how she had made the burglars go away...
                          
A muffled thwack reached her ears, followed by a dull thud and accompanied by a chilling scream.
                          
Skylar bolted upright in bed, her chest rising and falling in panic. That was her mommy's voice!
                          
Throwing her blankie aside, she jumped down from her bed and raced to her bedroom door. Standing on tiptoes, she reached for the door knob, throwing open the door and bolting towards the stairs where the sounds of a struggle were now significantly louder. 
                          
She took the stairs one at a time until she got to the middle where she stopped short at the sight of her mom and step-dad on the floor. 
                          
He was kneeling over her mother, his body bent over hers as he whispered harshly into her ear. 
                          
Abruptly, he sat upright and raised a bruised and bloodied fist, dealing blow after blow to the limp and sobbing woman beneath him. 
                          
Skylar screamed, running down the last few steps as quickly as her short stubby legs could carry her. 
                          
The adults stilled as they became aware of the child's presence. 
                          
'No, no,' the woman whispered hoarsely as she began to struggle, 'Skylar, honey, stay back...' she cried louder as the little girl hurtled towards her mother, in tears. 
                          
The man's eyes held a wicked glint and his lips rose up in a smirk as he looked between mother and child.
                          
He raised his hand as the child reached them, giving her a deafening slap with the back of his hand. 
                          
Skylar heard her mothers scream as she hit the ground.
                          
Her world went black. 
                          
•••••••••