My daddy doesn't love my mommy. All the other kids at preschool said their mommies and daddies slept in the same bed. Mine never did. Then one day, a group of bad men took us. Mommy managed to call Daddy. I heard his voice roaring through the phone. "Then just die already. And stop dragging that bastard child into your little dramas." Mommy frantically tried to cover my ears. But I still heard it. On the seventh day, Mommy fell into a very quiet sleep beside me. The red water mixed with the dirt, and my stomach, growling with a hunger that made me see stars, crammed it into my mouth. It was bitter. Daddy was crying, begging me not to fall asleep. I reached up with my small, filthy hand to wipe his face, my tummy aching. "Don't cry, Daddy," I whispered. "I'm going to be a star, just like Mommy." 1 The day the bad men tied me up, Mommy fell to her knees, her eyes swollen and red from crying. “Please,” she begged, her voice cracking. “Don’t hurt Lisa. She doesn’t know anything.” “Then you’d better call Mr. Vance,” one of them sneered. “Tell him it’ll take five million dollars to get you back.” Mommy stayed on her knees, her forehead touching the grimy floor as she pleaded. “He won’t come. I’m not worth five million. What about one million? I can get one million…” Before she could finish, a fat man slapped her hard across the face. I lunged forward, sinking my teeth into his hand with all my might. “Don’t you hurt my mommy!” The man flung me away and raised his boot to kick me. Mommy scrambled across the floor and threw herself over me, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm. “Lisa…” she gasped. I don’t know how long he kicked her. After a while, Mommy started to throw up, just like I did when I was little and sick. But what came out was red water. It was bright and crimson, like a shiny red ribbon from a prize-winning project. So much of it. A hollow ache bloomed in my chest. “Mommy… Mommy…” I cried. “It’s okay, Lisa, baby. Don’t be scared…” The bad men shoved a phone at her again, yanking her up to answer it. “Go on. Beg him. Get him to pay up, and we’ll let you go.” Mommy’s voice was a shattered whisper. “Damien, I’ve been kidnapped. Can you please… can you save me and our daughter?” She was sobbing so hard she could barely speak, but Daddy’s voice cut through her like a razor. “Serena, can you stop the theatrics? You’d really stoop to lying about a kidnapping just to get my attention?” I tried to run to her, but another bad man held me tight, his hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my screams. Mommy’s pain seemed to deepen, her hand clutching her chest. “Lisa is your child, too.” Her voice was desperate. “These men are killers. If you don’t pay the ransom, we’re really going to die.” Daddy’s voice came through the speaker, clear and terrifying. “Then just die already. And stop dragging that bastard child into your little dramas.” I bit down, hard, on the hand that was silencing me. “Daddy!” I screamed. The screen went dark. I didn't know if he heard me, or if he would come. Someone threw me to the ground and a sharp kick landed in my tummy. “Little runt.” Mommy fought against them, a wild animal protecting her young, and rushed to shield me again. “Don’t hurt her! Please, don’t hurt her…” she pleaded. “Just give me one more day. Just one day.” The men backed off. “One day. If you don’t have the money by then, don’t blame us for what happens next.” That night, I was freezing and burning up all at once. “Mommy, my tummy hurts…” I whimpered. She held me close, her arms a fragile shield. “It’s okay, Lisa, my sweet girl. Just hold on a little longer. Daddy will come for us.” Deep down, I knew Daddy hated us. But the light in Mommy’s eyes was already fading, and I couldn’t bear to be the one to snuff it out. “Really?” I asked, my voice small. “Really.” They threw another phone at us. I guessed Mommy was going to call my uncle. I remembered the last time we went to his house. He didn't like me. He wouldn't even let us inside. We stood on his porch for a long, long time, but the door never opened. The sun was so hot, and I was so thirsty, but Mommy looked so sad that I didn't dare say a word. When we got home, Daddy and Mommy were fighting again. I tried to climb onto the kitchen counter to get a drink from the tap, but I slipped and fell. It hurt a lot. Daddy saw me. “You won’t even give a child a glass of water? You’ll do anything to get me to come home and fund your family’s projects, won’t you? You’re unbelievable.” Mommy scooped me up from the floor, tears streaming down her face. I knew she hadn’t stopped me from getting water. The front door slammed shut. Usually, when Daddy got that angry, Mommy would chase after him. But this time, she just held me on the sofa, her eyes searching my face. “Does it hurt, Lisa?” I shook my head. “Are you thirsty too, Mommy?” She squeezed my hand. “Don’t drink cold water anymore, okay? It’ll give you a tummy ache.” I nodded fiercely. The phone finally connected on the fifth try. Mommy’s face, which had been pale as a ghost, lit up with a flicker of joy. It was the same look I got when I saw Daddy come home. “Serena, are you ever going to stop bothering me?” 2 Mommy flinched but pushed on. “Victor, can you lend me five million dollars? I’ll pay you back in a few days.” “Ask Damien Vance for it,” he scoffed. “Three years ago, you handed him our company’s trade secrets. Don’t tell me he won’t even spare that much for you now.” The hand holding the phone trembled. Her voice was on the verge of breaking. “I understand why you hate me, but Lisa… she’s just a little girl. She’s been kidnapped. Can you please, please save her?” “Don’t try to play the sympathy card with me. You’ll say anything, won’t you?” he sneered. “She’s a Vance. The golden child of the Vance Corporation. Who would dare kidnap her? Call me again, and I won’t hesitate to drag up the past and take you to court.” He hung up. Mommy’s hand shook as she dialed again, and again, and again, until all she got was a busy signal. One of the bad men glanced at the phone. “You’ve got two hours left, Ms. Shaw. Don’t waste our time.” Mommy gave me a long, deep look. “Wait. Just… just give me a little more time.” This next call was answered almost immediately. “Ethan, can you lend me five million?” That name sounded familiar. I remembered Daddy gripping Mommy’s throat, his voice tight with fury. “What about Ethan Croft, then? When the Shaws were about to go under, you begged him for help, didn’t you? What exactly did you do for him?” Mommy just shook her head, trying to deny it, but that only made Daddy angrier. “Then tell me whose bastard child she is!” Mommy’s eyes found me then, and the tears started to fall. “I’ve already explained, nothing happened between us. Lisa is innocent. If this marriage is making you so miserable, we can get a divorce.” Daddy laughed, a chilling, humorless sound. “I paid a high price for you, Serena. Why would I let you go?” I stood frozen behind them as he ignored her struggles and dragged her into the bedroom. I heard her muffled cries of pain, but I couldn’t do anything. The door was locked. A long, long time passed. I eventually fell asleep, curled up against the door. When Daddy came out, he walked right past me without a glance. Mommy was slumped against the bed, sitting on the floor, looking like one of the flower buds from the preschool garden after a heavy rain. Her neck was covered in dark marks. When she looked at me, her eyes held an emotion I couldn't understand. “Don’t be afraid, Lisa,” she whispered. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m the one who’s wrong.” Her words finally broke me, and I started to cry. The line on the phone was silent for a long time. Mommy’s voice was tense. “Three million. Three million would work. Ethan, please. I’m begging you.” His voice was softer than Daddy’s, but it felt even colder. “Begging? I begged you once, Serena. I begged you to come to me.” He paused. “Is Damien Vance short on cash? Or is this another one of your little plays, a scheme to let Vance Corp swallow up Croft Industries? Think about the past, Serena. You were never worthy of my love.” He hung up. Mommy was like a flower in the garden, her stem finally snapped by the wind. She was completely lifeless. I don’t know why, but a wave of sadness washed over me, deeper than the time my neighbor, Leo, said he didn’t want to be my friend anymore. It seemed like all the strength had drained out of her. One of the bad men picked up a heavy club and walked toward her. “Mommy!” I screamed. Her eyes flickered towards me, and she started struggling against the metal cuffs binding her hands. “I have jewelry, a lot of it. You know who I am… the Shaws are rich. I can go back, sell everything, and give you the money. Just let Lisa go. Please, send her home.” Her voice was a desperate rasp. “She’s so small. She’ll die here.” The man laughed coldly. “Like we care.” “Let you go? You think we’re that stupid?” “Time’s up.” And with that, the club in his hand came crashing down on her. She didn’t cry out this time. I knew it must have hurt terribly, but she didn’t make a sound. She just kept whispering for me to run. The club quickly turned red. Mommy slumped out of the chair and fell to the floor. I scrambled over to her, trying to shield her with my own small body. Red water and strands of her hair were matted to her face. I didn’t hesitate. I wrapped my arms around her. “You’re all monsters!” My sobs echoed through the empty, skeletal building. The bad men stood together, talking amongst themselves. “Looks like he’s really not coming.” “Can you believe it? The richest man in Port Sterling is so cheap and heartless he won’t even save his own kid.” “We got the call. They said to wrap it up. We gotta get out of here before it’s too late. Settle it on-site.” “Before we do… maybe we should have a little fun first, boys?” Their laughter was like the sound of monsters on TV, only so much scarier. Mommy’s eyes, clouded with red, were wide with terror. She kept shaking her head, trying to tell me to run. I just held her tighter, refusing to let go, my cries of “Mommy!” tearing from my throat. One of them grabbed me, lifting me up like a doll. “Too noisy.” I felt a sharp, searing pain in my neck, and as I heard Mommy’s final, terrified scream, the world went black.
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