Page 50

Chapter 49

2000

Anna

I wake up to find my brother’s hand across my mouth and he’s whispering in my ear.

‘Get up,’ he hisses.

Before he gives me the chance to ask why, he’s yanking me by my arm and dragging me out of bed. He’s eight years older than me and a lot stronger. He leads me across the room, into the bathroom I share with Mum and Dad, then into their bedroom. Through light coming from a crack in the curtains, I can just make out Dad standing by a closed second door leading into the lounge. Behind us, Mum is in the corner of the room, holding something close to her chest.

‘Under the bed,’ Dad whispers and my brother pulls me to the floor. ‘Keep your sister safe.’

I’m only six but even I know something is very, very wrong. Not just because of what’s happening, but because my brother doesn’t argue. And he never does anything Dad tells him to do.

Suddenly from beneath the door, glimmers of moving lights catch our eyes. The next thing I see are Dad’s bare feet approaching the door, it opening, a light being switched on, the door closing again, followed by a deafening bang that rings throughout the flat.