My mom always tells me that life isn't fair. All my life, I've lived in this house with her.
We never go outside… Mom says there are bad people out there. The doors are always sealed shut, the windows boarded up and covered by curtains.
Only candles illuminate the house. I wish I could step outside and see the light. It leaks through the cracks in the house when dawn comes. I yearn to see the source of that light, but… my mom won't let me.
She says it isn't safe. She says she doesn't want the people outside to take me away from her. Nothing much happens in the house… except on Fridays at dawn. Strange knocks echo from outside. Then the voices begin knocking, banging, kicking…
Mom always grows uneasy when it starts. She panics and tells me to hide. Never utter a sound. You mustn't let them hear you. Those words… a rule I never dared to break. I never know where Mom hides when the voices come, but when it's over, she reappears. And everything goes back to the way it was.
One Friday, I took an afternoon nap. When I woke up, I couldn't find my mom. I was scared… I searched… and searched… nothing. She was nowhere to be found. Dawn was approaching, and she still hadn't returned. Panic rose in my throat, cold sweat prickling down my face. I had no other choice, there was one place I hadn't checked.
Mom's room…