by Debra Webb
She felt bad again for about a second. He was her little brother and she loved him. She’d gotten in seriously deep shit sticking up for him. Her school record was ruined. She rolled her eyes. Who cared? It wasn’t like she was going to Harvard or Princeton now the way her father had always promised. She’d be lucky to get into a state school with financial assistance.
Her whole fucking life was falling apart and it was their fault. She glared at the wall that separated her bedroom from her parents’. The whole city knew the awful things they had done. All the jerks who’d ever pretended to be her friends had turned their backs when the government seized their home...froze their assets. A sixteen-year-old girl shouldn’t even have to know about those things much less be living them.
It wasn’t fair. Her parents had ruined her life. She and her brother would never recover from their bullshit.
Frustrated, Fern stormed from her room and down to the kitchen. Maybe she’d see if her father still kept a stash of beer in the garage fridge. She didn’t bother turning on a light. The layout of the house wasn’t that complicated. It was maybe a fifth the size of the home she’d grown up in. This place sucked in every way.
A quick twist of the dead bolt and she slipped into the garage. At the fridge, she opened the door, light spilled out around her and she spotted the Budweiser. She smiled and reached for one. Standing in the vee the open fridge door made, she twisted off the top and took a long, deep swallow. Something stung her neck. She jerked. Swatted at whatever it was. The half-empty bottle of beer hit the concrete, shattering and splashing foamy liquid over her legs.
“Shit.”
Before she could step away from the mess, an arm locked around her waist and a hand closed over her mouth. She told herself to struggle but her muscles wouldn’t work. The light from the fridge faded to darkness.
“Good night, princess.”
Copyright © 2017 by Debra Webb
ISBN-13: 9781460396476
No Darker Place
Copyright © 2017 by Debra Webb
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