Chapter 2 - The Denied Rescue
Aunt Clara froze in the doorway as Arthur pointed the weapon directly at her chest.
The confident, protective fire in her eyes was instantly replaced by sheer terror.
I grabbed Liam’s hand, pulling him closer to me as we scrambled backward against the wall.
The heavy cast on our shared leg scraped loudly against the floorboards.
Clara slowly raised her hands, trying her best to keep her voice perfectly calm.
She told Arthur to put the gun down so they could just talk like rational adults.
Arthur let out a dry, mocking chuckle that sent a shiver down my spine.
He asked her why she thought she could just barge into his home in the middle of the night.
Clara glanced down at us, her eyes full of desperate concern.
She boldly stated that she was taking us away from him tonight.
Arthur lowered the gun just a fraction, reaching into his back pocket with his free hand.
He pulled out a folded piece of official legal paper and tossed it onto the floor at Clara's feet.
He told her to read the document before she made a fatal mistake.
Clara carefully knelt down, keeping her eyes on the gun, and picked up the paper.
Her face drained of all color as she read the bold text printed at the top.
It was a court order officially denying her recent petition for emergency custody of us.
Arthur proudly announced that the local judge was a very close, personal friend of his.
He had total, absolute legal authority over our lives, and the law was entirely on his side.
Clara crushed the paper in her fist and took a sudden, aggressive step toward Arthur.
She yelled that a piece of paper did not give him the right to abuse disabled children.
Before she could reach for the gun, Arthur stepped forward and struck her across the face with the heavy steel barrel.
Clara collapsed onto the hallway carpet, completely unconscious and bleeding from her forehead.
Liam let out a terrified scream, and I tried to lunge forward to help her.
Arthur immediately pointed the gun down at us, stopping me in my tracks.
He grabbed Clara by the collar of her jacket and began dragging her limp body down the stairs.
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He looked back up at us with a cold, dead stare.
Arthur promised us that we were going to be the next ones to go down to the basement.
