Sapphire Read Free Page A

paraphernalia
tacked all over the walls, partly to hide the peeling wallpaper.
The box was hidden under the floorboard with a tree-knot. She
yanked it up and reached down to extract the black box. Inside was
the large, extremely expensive, diamond-studded cross. It glittered
in the orange light like dozens of encapsulated suns. The door had
been cracked once, and Shawna had seen Mary pulling it out. She was
shocked because she’d never seen anything that expensive,
especially not in their house. Why did Mary hold onto such a thing
when they could hardly afford food?
    The parrot started making a racket, then just as
quickly quieted. She would be glad if she never saw a parrot again.
She shoved the cross into the bag and nearly had a heart-attack.
There were footsteps on the porch.
    She held her breath. When no other sounds of
creaking boards came from outside, she exhaled. The mountains on
the horizon held daylight for a few more minutes, then the house
slowly submerged into darkness. More aware of every muscle in her
body than ever before, she eased the backpack from the floor.
    It felt like someone was out there, watching,
waiting . Another board squeaked from the porch. A wave of
panic consumed her, and she dashed to the side of the open bedroom
door, not wanting to be seen. She knocked something off the
nightstand. The fallen object made a loud thud on the worn out rug.
Cursing under her breath, she stooped to pick up the iron
unicorn.
    Something scratched at the front door. She clutched
the statue tight. The sharp points of the mane dug into her palm as
she waited for another sound. A tiny whimper escaped her lips and
she clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to breathe shallowly. She
waited a few more minutes, then peered around the doorframe. The
scratching noise came again. Her spine tingled as a bead of sweat
trailed down it. Tears came to the edges of her eyes as she stared,
wide eyed, towards the front door. It was hard to tell in the
gloom, but she didn’t see anyone or anything through the front
window.
    Maybe it was just a cat, or a dog.
    She was about to flick on a light when the entire
door rattled from a loud, thud! Her eyes grew wider than
ever, she choked back a cry of terror, and her whole body went
numb. The silence that followed was more terrifying than the noise.
With quick trembling breaths, she took a step, then another. The
back door was blocked by Mary’s hoarding tendencies, but the stairs
weren’t far away. She could make it to her room and out the window.
Staring at the front door the entire time and inching as slowly and
quietly as possible, she made it to the first step. Her heart was
hammering so hard she was sure it could be heard all the way
outside. Glancing over her shoulder at every step, her eyes began
to make shapes in the murky night.
    The stairs groaned under her feet and she winced.
Another step, one more step, she was almost there. Her breath stuck
in her throat every time she glanced into the darkness behind her.
She finally made it to the landing and had to hold herself back
from rushing to her bedroom. Quietly, she slid her hand along the
railing, transfixed on the darkness below, and only relaxed a
little when she finally stopped in front of her bedroom door. She
reached out a hand to turn the brass knob, and the front door
slammed open. She couldn’t hold back a yell as her heart hammered
to the point of exploding. She tried to open her door. She had
accidently left it locked from the inside.
    “ No!” she squeaked in a high voice.
    She dropped to her knees and quickly raked her nails
across the little piece of wood that hid a key to her room.
Something heavy stepped inside, making muffled clicking sounds on
the wooden floors. The sound made no sense in her mind, and for a
second she slowed her frantic efforts to listen. A dog? The
thump and scrape of large claws on wood echoed up the stairwell,
followed by a deep growl. Whatever it was, it sounded bigger than a
dog and