Chapter 5 - The Fire Inside
I did not care about the vicious guard dog, the blinding flashlight, or the agonizing pain in my battered body.
I shoved violently past my mother-in-law, knocking her hard against the wooden banister as I sprinted blindly toward the kitchen.
I burst through the glass back door and ran across the wet grass toward the blazing, infernal shed.
The intense heat was absolutely unbearable, practically blistering the skin on my face as I approached the structure.
"Mia!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, grabbing the heavy, scorching iron handle of the shed door.
It was securely locked from the outside with a thick, heavy-duty steel padlock.
Through a small crack in the burning wood, I saw my oldest daughter trapped in the back corner, coughing uncontrollably from the thick black smoke.
My sister arrived right behind me, carrying a heavy concrete cinderblock from the garden retaining wall.
"Move out of the way!" she yelled, swinging the concrete block directly at the metal padlock with all her strength.
Bright sparks flew into the night air as the cheap lock shattered completely on the second heavy impact.
I ripped the burning door open and desperately dragged Mia out onto the cool grass just as the roof completely collapsed inward.
We collapsed together in the dirt, gasping greedily for fresh air while the massive fire raged behind us.
I hugged her tightly to my chest, hot tears of immense relief pouring down my dirty face.
"Thank God you are safe, my sweet girl," I sobbed into her soot-covered hair.
But my daughter did not hug me back in return.
Instead, she shoved me away with terrifying force, a look of absolute disgust and terror in her wide eyes.
"Stay the hell away from me!" she cried out, scrambling backward across the wet lawn like a frightened animal.
I froze in place, utterly confused and heartbroken by the raw hatred directed entirely at me.
"Dad warned me you were going completely crazy and violent," Mia choked out, pointing a trembling, accusatory finger at my face.
"He told me you were going to burn the house down for the insurance money, and he locked me in there to hide me from you!"
I stared at my own child, realizing with creeping horror that my husband had successfully weaponized her mind against me.
May you like
Before I could even attempt to explain the truth, a pair of bright headlights swept aggressively across the backyard.
A dark, unmarked, heavy-duty van aggressively pulled into the driveway, completely blocking our only exit.
