"Stop! Wait. Look at what I'm offering. Your dreams! I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything you want."
...
"You have no power over me!"
Blinking slowly, as if waking from a deep sleep, Sarah clutched her hand to her head in a moment of vertigo. Closing her eyes and taking a steadying breath, she felt the niggling sensation that she had momentarily forgotten something important.
Her eyes flew open and she lurched forward, taking the stairs two at a time, "Toby!" she yelled, swinging open her father's bedroom door. "Toby?"
She stared around the room, throat stinging from the dust her flying entrance had stirred up. Sparse furniture, covered in plastic sheets, was haphazardly pushed against the wall. The rusty hinges of the door creaked quietly behind her, swaying slightly in the light breeze blowing through a broken window, the plastic that was suppose to temporarily seal it having long ago lost its tackiness. Dust eddies and dark specks floated through the stale air, the smell of mildew and old furniture wafting toward her.
`"Dad?" Sarah tried, turning on her heel and dashing out of the room. "Karen?" she shouted desperately, her hurried footfalls thumping hollowly down the darkened hallway. She came to a short halt infront of an off-white door. Strips of white paint drooped dejectedly from the wood and the doorknob was only a dull shine in the semi-darkness of the hall.
Sarah pushed open her door, standing in the doorway for a long moment. Gone were the posters and desk and bookcase from her room; her closet doors were open and contained nothing but the odd piece of debris. The vanity mirror that sat upon her desk keeled to one side where it lay against a bare wall, the wood frame warped and stained. The plastic covering had peeled from one edge and through the dusty film over the glass she could faintly make out her own figure, standing unsure outside her room.
She turned from her room and nearly slipped down the marble stairs in an effort to get back to the foyer. Sliding into the front door, she gripped the cold doorknob with a sweaty palm and turned the knob. To no avail. With increasing anxiety, she jiggled the lock. Letting out a dramatic scream, she pounded against the door with her fist.
Sinking to the floor, she slammed her head against the door once more, letting out another small scream of frustration. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. All her emotions rolled into a collective hiccuping sob. Chest heaving, she stared at the floor through misty eyes.
The sudden spray of colours flashing across the marble startled her from her reviver. Through a loose plank among the ones covering the window, she could see two police officers silhouetted by the headlights.
The pair trotted up the steps of her house, the stockier of the two fingered the gun at his belt, pulling a string of keys off the belt with his other hand. His partner, who she could now tell, from her view by the window, was a woman, stood by the edge of the door as her partner fit the key in the lock.
The door swung open and with it both officers stepped through the doorway. "Leonardville police!" he called, the flashlight he held in one hand sweeping through the foyer. The beamed landed squarely on Sarah's face, briefly blinding her.
"Wait!" she cried, throwing her hands up to cover her face. "I live here!"
"Live here?" the policeman laughed, "Nobody has lived here for nearly 10 years now, girl."
"What?" Sarah said, aghast.
The pair stepped closer, the woman leaving her position at the door in favour of getting a closer look at Sarah's face. "The Williams were the last residents to live here. They still own the property and you're trespassing. We're going to need to take you back to the station. What are your parents numbers?"
"I don't think you understand; I live here. My name is Sarah Williams, I was here last night. I was babysitting my baby brother," Sarah protested, clenching her fists at her sides.
The male officer, who she could now identify as Officer Larkin, sobered up immediately at the mention of her name. "Now listen here, girl. Sarah Williams has been missing for 10 years. If this is some silly little prank you and your friends made up for the anniversary of her kidnapping, you fess up and we can call your parents about this misunderstanding and we can let this go."
"I'm Sarah Williams; I'm 16! :ast night I babysat Toby so Karen and Dad could go out for dinner, like they do most Saturday nights. There was a big storm and the lights went out." Frustrated tears sprung to her eyes.
"Alright, we're going down to the station and since your friends are probably all gone, we can discuss their names once we're at the station," Officer Larkin said, voice steely. He gripped her upper arm tightly and led her out of the house. To her dismay, Sarah was pushed, none too gently, into the back seat of the cruiser.
"Please," Sarah pleaded, "you have to believe me!"
Officer Larkin and his partner exchanged angered looks, neither turning to look at her again.
"There's no need to keep up the charade anymore, girly," Larkin hissed condescendingly.
Slumping in the back seat, tears slipped unbidden down her cheeks. Wiping them away furiously with her shirt cuff, she figured the best course of action was to wait until they reached the police station.
Besides, she reasoned to herself, I couldn't have simply slept away a decade overnight, right?
A/N: Okay, new story! Sorry if it's a little cryptic but it will all be explained in time!
I already have 3 chapters done (they're a bit short though) and I want to post every Saturday, so look for the next installment in a week.
Feel free to PM me or leave a review about any gramatical/spelling issues. Or you can just leave a review on what you think! :)