Page 61 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Everything was ruined. The small sitting area was thrown around. Wooden chairs were smashed into the ground. The table was flipped upside down. All the cabinet doors were either missing completely or barely attached.

With each step I took either crunched with broken glass or further splintered the broken off wooden chunks, I wanted to turn back.

It felt wrong seeing a place of happiness in such a state.

I would watch the different women in the house cook for us.

I would play with the other children in the cushioned seating area in one corner of the room.

The little blocks and dolls we had were still sitting there.

They were half covered in the feather that was stuffed in the seating. He ripped everything apart.

A chill ran down my spine as I kept walking. The grunts from outside the door reminded me there wasn’t time for my stroll through lost memories. There would be time if we got through this. When we got through this. Atlas saved my life before; it was my turn now.

All I needed was a little help. I kept my gaze focused on the door at the end of the room, ignoring the set of stairs that led up to the other living space and bedrooms. There was an itch inside me to follow them upstairs. To see with my own eyes that everyone was gone.

My hand shook as I opened the door that led to our rooms. More throbbing took up in the back of my head as glimpses of memories tried to come flooding in. Quick flashes that I couldn’t grab onto to make sense of .

Any hope I had been clinging to for finding the notebook was shattered.

My father’s room was in the same state as the rest of the house.

Everything was broken and torn through. The desk he spent hours writing at was now smashed to pieces.

The door to my bedroom had a hole near the doorknob, like someone kicked it in.

My hands ran through my hair as I looked around the room, tears welling as a yell tore through me.

To hell with being quiet. This was my only shot at helping Atlas. At getting us both out of here alive. I dropped to my knees as sobs took over. What could I possibly do now?

I jumped as a hand grabbed my shoulder. My eyes squeezed shut as I waited for it.

There were only two options for who it could be.

One would continue the calming stroking of his thumb.

The other would lead to excruciating pain at any moment.

I only spoke up when nothing happened as the calming action soothed my racing heart.

“I’m sorry, Atlas.” My voice broke as the crying stopped. “I was trying to look for his notebook. It’s the only way I could be useful.”

“That’s not true.”

I looked up, eyes wide as I faced the man behind me. I scrambled back from him, knowing this had to be a trick. There was no way I could actually be looking at my father.