Chapter 10 - The New Dawn
Chloe dropped the pistol onto the grass and fell to her knees in surrender.
She told the agents that my father had completely lost his mind when he realized the drive was a virus.
She refused to die for a man who had nothing left to offer her.
The tactical team rushed into the barn and found my father sitting on the dirt floor.
He was staring blankly at a shattered laptop, completely broken and defeated.
They placed him in heavy handcuffs and dragged him out into the flashing red and blue lights.
He looked at me one last time, but I did not hide behind anyone.
I stood tall next to my mother and my grandmother, showing him my bandages without any fear.
He was shoved into the back of a police cruiser and driven away into the dark night.
The nightmare that had haunted our family for years was finally over.
The federal government relocated us to a beautiful, quiet town on the coast.
My mother and Grandma bought a large house with a massive garden overlooking the ocean.
My bruised cheek healed completely, and the bandages on my wrists were permanently removed.
I finally felt safe, loved, and entirely free to breathe.
Six months later, I confidently walked through the front doors of my brand new school.
I smiled at my new friends and opened my metal locker to grab my textbooks.
Sitting perfectly upright on the top shelf of my locker was a brand new, identical doll.
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Tucked neatly under the doll's arm was a small piece of thick white stationery.
The handwritten note simply read, "Daddy will see you very soon."
