Fade to Black (The Black Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

face, again speaking incoherently. I was strapped to something above my head, but I was paralyzed with fear. The realization hit me that I should be dead, yet I wasn’t, whether I liked it or not, witnessing this crazed man’s breakdown.
    The pain was getting worse, and my ears thumped with my heartbeat. I decided to be submissive.
    “Daniel?” I said softly.
    He hit his knees again. I was so cold, I was numb, and I could no longer feel my hands.
    “I need to use the bathroom.”
    Without saying anything, Daniel left the room. I heard the water running in the bathroom. I began to fight the heaviness that was threatening to take me under again. I pulled at the cords on my wrists as hard as I could, stopping just short of tearing my flesh. Daniel came back into the room and began to untie me. I would not speak, and I couldn’t if I wanted to. My throat was nearly swollen shut now.
    Daniel picked me up and carried me to the tub. I ached from head to feet. My hands tingled, and my head rushed with blood. I couldn’t fight him if I tried. There wasn’t an inch of me that wasn’t hurting, or wasn’t numb from the bitter cold.
    Daniel sat me gently in the tub, and I jumped as my blue-tinged skin hit the water. I gasped from the warmth of it. My skin rose in goose pimples. Slowly, I lay back in the tub. I wanted to sink in it, and drown, be sucked down the drain, and never feel again.
    I didn’t care when Daniel began washing me. I sat perfectly still. No tears. Nothing. I had died in the other room at eleven years old, at the hands of someone my father had cherished, at the hands of my own mother, and this man she had allowed into our lives. I was dead and gone, but my body remained. My mind stayed still, as Daniel washed my hair and body. I shut my eyes and floated away.
    When I was dry, Daniel carried me into the room he shared with my mother and put me on the bed. He began to pace again. I watched as he began to talk, and all I wanted to do was lay there on the dirty, bare mattress that smelled sour from nights of vomit from my mother’s drunken binges.
    “You s-s-see? We c-c-can be together n-n-n-now?” he said excited, as I began to try and focus on his words. “I-I-I mean, we can’t m-m-marry till you’re s-s-sixteen, but that’s j-j-just a paper, right?” he smiled at me.
    I blinked, realizing for the first time ever that this guy was really nuts. He wasn’t sweet because he was mentally challenged, but literally crazy. As he looked at me, his eyes jumped with excitement behind his thick glasses. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to respond. I just looked at him and said nothing.
    “You’re t-t-tired,” he said, as if this were just another night. “I will l-l-let you s-s-sleep. We have t-t-t-he rest of our lives. Deborah is g-g-gone, and you are mine f-f-f-forever.”
    At this, I willed all my strength forward and managed to croak out, “Gone?” I instantly wished I hadn’t spoken, as pain seared through my throat.
    “Yes. She will n-n-never hurt y-y-you again. This is not what I w-w-wanted to happen, but she g-g-gave me n-n-no choice.” He began pacing again. I had to close my eyes. I couldn’t keep up with him. “That D-d-deborah,” he said in disgust. “She w-w-wanted our agreement ‘fulfilled,’” he said, in a mock, high-pitched voice. “Well, I d-did fulfill that c-c-cunt,” he spat.
    I didn’t understand, and I wondered if he realized I was even in the room anymore.
    “Ha!” he yelled, and I jumped startled. He stopped pacing and came and kneeled beside me on the floor.
    “I’m s-s-sorry. I s-s-shouldn’t yell. We’ll have n-n-no more worries, so go to s-s-sleep and rest. We will talk m-m-more when you are b-b-better.”
    He tucked a blanket under my chin and kissed my forehead. As he left, he snapped on my TV, which he’d moved into the room, probably when I was passed out. Daniel left the door open, and I could hear him moving around the trailer. I lay in the dark,