CHAPTER 3: ANSWERS

The blade was only a few inches away from my chest when someone knocked at the door.
"Who-who's there?" I asked shakily.
"It's Mr. Thompson, I mean Dad, I'm coming in," a deep voice bellowed through the door. Alarmed, I frantically looked for a place to put the knife. The knob turned and I started hyperventilating.
"Anne, how come you are shaking like that?" Mr. Thompson said, puzzled. Mr. Thompson was big man with wispy black hair with grey streaks here and there.
"Uh, um, nothing, nothing, everything is fine," I stuttered. The man looked at my hands which were tucked behind my back.
"What are you holding Anne?" he asked gently.
"Oh, um . . . it's, it's . . ."
"Anne, tell me what's behind your back!" Mr. Thompson said, a little more sternly.
"Well, you see . . ." I gasped.
"ANNE, WHAT IS BEHIND YOUR BACK?" he yelled. He grabbed hold of my arm and yanked it so he could see what was there. I looked up at him with frightened eyes. His mouth was shaped into an O, with his cheeks reddened. With that same face, Mr. Thompson walked over and sat on the ground. I followed him guiltily with tears just waiting to fall out of my eyes. My face was as red as his.
"Anne, were you, were you trying to commit suicide?" Mr. Thompson said quietly. I looked at my knife with longing eyes.
"Yes," I whispered, my voice cracking.
"Anne, I understand you've had a rough life, but . . . you can't just commit suicide!"
"YES I CAN!! You don't understand! Mrs. Thompson was yelling at me and, and I just can't take it anymore! I thought I was going to be happy here! Finally, after 13 years of PAIN AND MISERY, I thought I would finally have a break! I was happy for a bit, but then . . . then, everything just went bad! Mrs. Thompson, she, she betrayed me!! I don't know if you know what it feels like for someone to let you down, but I do," I cried, throwing my fists.
"Anne, you wanted to kill yourself JUST because someone you liked betrayed you?" Mr. Thompson said.
"No, it's not just that! All of this, this emotion, I don't know what emotion it was, it was like pain, and fury, and sadness and it just bottled up and I just wanted to escape!" I blurted out, "I wanted to go to a good place, where nothing went wrong, and I don't know! It was just . . . I don't know . . ." I teared up again.
"You know, I've been married to Mrs. Thompson for 10 years, and not one year was good," he said sadly.
"What do you mean?" I said a little more calm.
"Well, we got married 10 years ago. We had two children, but Mrs. Thompson, she-she, she killed them. She hates children-"
"Then why did she adopt me?"
"She wants to make you miserable, she wants to abuse you, and at the same time, she gets money for adopting you.
"WHAT? THAT'S HORRIBLE! YOU HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE!!!" I wailed.
"I can't dear, she threatens me with a gun every time I try to go out of this house."
"So you are saying, for the past 10 years, you have not once been out of this house?"
"Yes, dear, she's evil, she has problems. Serious problems." Mr. Thompson was actually had tears in his eyes this time, too. We both were silent for a few minutes.
"DINNER!!!!!!!!!!" a female voice cried out.