Stay or Run E-Book

A. Jackson

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 128

Beschreibung

Amy is a little girl who lived in a foster home until she got sold to an older man. He promises her a good life but it ends up being hell. She tries to escape but there seems to be no way out. Suddenly she comes across a secret, something that will change everything, something that she never expected

Leseprobe

Stay or Run

Stay or RunCopyright

Stay or Run

"I don't want to talk about it, just take her and promise me to take good care of her!" a lady said frantically. She got back into her car and disappeared as a nun opened the front door of the foster home.

The nun put the baby in a cot. She took a closer look at the baby girl when she discovered a ribbon around her wrist with the name Amy on it. "At least we now know your name," she said as she took the baby inside.

The children's home was a dirty place. About five hundred children lived in three rooms, pressed together like sardines. The rooms had no wallpaper or carpet and were sparingly furnished. As a matter of fact, the entire house was old and musty. You could even see the mold coming off the ceiling in some rooms. None of the five nuns who worked here looked after the children. They never took the time to play with the children. Children were mechanically bathed, swaddled, fed, and put back in bed. Crying children could be heard in the hallways, yet they were ignored and received neither care nor attention. Some children were sick, left to suffer until the end, and simply thrown away like garbage. It was a place of horror, emotional coldness, and loneliness.

Amy spent eight years there. She had made friends quickly, but she was sad. She longed to get out of here finally. Visitors kept coming to see the children and possibly adopt one. Still, it seemed that everyone wanted a younger child, so Amy always stayed.

In the summer of 1982, a prominent visitor changed everything. A celebrity wanted to visit the children's home. Wealthy People often donated for repairs, clothes, and groceries in the past. However, then, the reputation of the children's home was already tarnished, and many knew that the Orphanage was shady at the very best. Word got out that donations were rarely actually spent on the well-being of the children but instead financed the staff. Naturally, fewer and fewer donations came in.

But one day, a celebrity, Joshua Walter,  had just finished his tour and hoped to do something good for the children. The Orphanage welcomed the much-needed PR. The press expected to be there, maybe even to highlight this institution's "pristine" state. The public would see it on Television reigniting donations, once again filing the staff's pockets.

To the dismay of the Orphanage, he came alone, quite discreetly in fact. He only brought gifts.

"May I have a look around?" He asked politely. The nuns nodded and guided him into each room. He passionately greeted each child and gave each one a different toy and sweets. Joshua took his time, and the ordinarily sad children suddenly beamed with joy.

"Hello, what's your name? My name is Joshua," he said, looking at Amy. Amy didn't dare to look at him because she feared that she would do something wrong, Joshua would choose another, and she would have to continue living here. "Amy," she said softly and then looked up at him a little shyly.

"Do you enjoy being here?" Joshua tried to loosen up the conversation.

"No! I don’t!’’ Amy mumbled, and now she took a closer look at Joshua.

He was tall, had dark eyes and hair, and a lovely face. Amy gave him a slight smile. He spoke to her a little more, and then he moved on to other children.

"Would have been nice to be chosen," Amy whispered, mumbling to herself with tears in her eyes, "I'll never get out of here,” she said. "No one is coming out of here, Amy; he won't want any of you!" One of the nuns barked at her. Amy looked full of envy at the other children and how Joshua was talking with them, playfully handing them gifts. He went to the next room. Amy gave up hope then. But after what seemed to be a very long time, Amy saw him coming back to her. She felt her hopes rise again and her heart pound.

"Come with me. I want to talk to you!" He said to her. She looked anxiously and at the same time with a lot of hope at one of the sisters. "Come with me, Amy," she said, leading them both into another room.

The door closed, and she was now alone with him. What was going to happen? What would he want from her? There were a lot of other kids, younger kids. Why would he take her? All these questions suddenly crossed her mind. She positioned herself far away from him. She stood on the opposite side of the room. She kept her distance while he talked to her. She was fearful. It wasn't the kind of fear that made her want to scream, but more of an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. "Amy, come over here. I don't know what they did to you here, but you can trust me. I won't hurt you. Do you know that you are the most beautiful girl here?"

She wanted to believe him, but something made her hesitate. The thought that he could get her out of this dirt hole did not let go of her, and she decided to go over to him.

"There you go. If you are a good girl and always do what I tell you, I'll take you home with me," he said, "you would like that, wouldn't you?"

A certain undertone in his voice made Amy even more insecure. But she just wanted out of here. She didn't know the outside world at all and was very excited. What was waiting for her out there? Where would he take her? Many questions shot through her head, yet she was sure that anywhere would be better than here.

"Amy, do you want to be my little girl?’’

She nodded, and although she felt that something was not right, she took his hand. “This can't be that bad,” she kept telling herself, and after a short talk, he grabbed her by the hand and left the room.

While Joshua was doing the formalities with one of the nurses, Amy packed her bag. Suddenly she felt sad. She had never thought that this place, which she hated so much, would cause her some heartache if she left it. After all, there were many children here, and many of them had grown dear to her. With them, she had shared joys and sorrows. Over the years, she became an influence in their lives, sort of a big sister.

She had always hoped to escape one day, but now her conscience plagued her. Should she try to convince Joshua to have a younger child? Should she just stay here after all? No - this was her chance to get out of here. Amy tried to put these thoughts aside and went over to some of her friends to say goodbye before going to the nun, waiting to see them out. This was it. She was finally out of there. She took a deep breath and went over to the big black car that Joshua was pointing to. The driver waved in her direction, took the bag from her, and put it in the trunk. "Get in," said Joshua and smiled.

The interior of the car was exquisite. Leather seats and chrome all around, and Amy was amazed at how nice it looked. If the car was so lovely, how nice must her new home be where he would be taking her to? She finally felt that she was about to start a better life.

"Where are we going?" She asked after a while. "To the airport and then home," he said in a slightly rough tone. "I'm sorry, but it's been a busy day for both of us, and now I just want to take you home. So let's take a rest. It's still a long way to go."

Joshua was friendly, but there was something strange about him. There was always a certain undertone in his voice. Amy didn't know yet if she could trust him.

It was a very long drive, and Amy slept most of the time. All of the excitement had exhausted her. First, she was lucky enough to say goodbye to the foster home, and then this long drive with many beautiful landscapes amazed her. But she must have fallen asleep

at some point because Joshua was already on the plane with her when she woke up. She lay with her head on his arm and felt that this slim man had muscular arms. Amy repositioned herself back on the chair again and looked out the window. She enjoyed the view with all those clouds that looked like white cotton balls floating in the sky. The flight was long, and after the flight, it was another two-hour drive until they finally arrived at a big gate. The gate opened, and behind it was a large lot. Amy was amazed. She had never seen anything like it. There was a  vast garden with a long driveway and an enormous villa in the middle. The entrance was decorated with flower beds, and there was a fountain in the middle of it all. She hadn't seen anything like it before. It was all just so fantastic.

Chapter 2

"Amy, this is your new home," said Joshua.

"It's huge here!" she said as she looked around. She saw Several paintings on the walls, and sculptures were found in almost every corner of the house. This is like a museum, she thought to herself. 

"Where is my room?" she was so excited and could not wait to see her room. Everything was so lovely, and so she naturally wondered if her room was also so stunning.

Joshua led Amy up a flight of stairs and showed her a room at the beginning of the hallway. "This is where you will be sleeping. And here is your bathroom. If you need something - see the door there? That's my room," he said while pointing to a door at the other end of the hallway.

She tossed her bag on the large four-poster bed and looked around. The room was large and bright. It had a large window with a beautiful view of the property and on the wooden floor was a fur carpet in front of her bed. It was fabulous.

"Take a look around; I have some work to get to in the office downstairs. You will be picked up for dinner in thirty minutes. Oh, and there are some decent clothes in the closet for you. I called someone to get them for you. I hope you like them."

Amy was speechless. She opened the wardrobe and found a lot of what looked like expensive clothes there. Simply put, everything a girl's heart desired could be found there. Jackets, Coats, dresses and lots of shoes. Every dress had matching shoes and a matching coat. Amy would never have dreamed of something like this in her life.

After the long journey, she wanted to take a shower. She put her old clothes back on. It wasn't that she didn't like her new clothes – no, they were beautiful – but she feared breaking them or staining them. She didn't even know if a girl like herself would look right in these expensive clothes.

Joshua was very accommodating and spoke with her a lot over dinner. Joshua told her stories of his life and his job. She was really interested in what he had to say, mainly when he spoke of his job. He was a Musician and was working on a new album, and he also told her all about touring and how she would be accompanying him the next time.

"Amy, it's been a busy day for both of us. Why don't you go to your room and get some sleep? Good night! And tomorrow morning, we'll throw away the hideous old clothes."

Amy said goodbye and was looking forward to her new room. "It's really not that bad here," she said to herself and lay down in bed. The bed in the foster home was dirty and brutal. It is much cleaner and much more comfortable here. She felt happy and excited about all the new things she received and fell asleep.

The following day was also so lovely. Amy woke up from a sound sleep and went downstairs to breakfast. Breakfast was already on the table. From eggs with bacon to fruit salad and croissants, there was everything that you could wish for. She felt more and more like she was in paradise. Joshua sat down too, was very friendly, and smiled at her. He looked really friendly when he smiled. Maybe she had misjudged the situation and was just afraid of the unknown. She decided to enjoy the rest of the day. And she did.

She was allowed to do anything she wanted in the villa. She could walk around the property for hours as there was so much to see, she even saw a pool and a playground, and he even had his own cinema. There were also candy vending machines at the playground and a rollercoaster.

Joshua went to the studio every now and then to work, and she was allowed to accompany him there. He was working on a new album. It was exciting there. She listened to music in a separate room while he was working. After that, they went to a restaurant. It was strange that they were alone in the restaurant, but Joshua seemed to know the owner and was allowed to come after the closing time due to his status.

The weeks and months passed, and Amy felt more and more secure and happy in her new life.

But on this one night, things changed. Amy woke up at night because she felt something cold on her thigh.

"What are you doing?" she asked, shocked when she saw Joshua sitting on her bed and winced.

"Be quiet. You will wake someone up. I just want to feel you and be close to you." Joshua said while caressing her thigh.

"Please don't do that!" she pleaded and slipped back. She felt her body beginning to tremble out of fear.

"Amy, I don't want to hurt you. I like you," he whispered to her and left the room.

Amy was scared. But why? Maybe this was normal. Thoughts rushed through her head; something was wrong.

Why did she suddenly feel so scared again? She tried to calm herself down. But something about him scared her. She started weeping silently until she fell back to sleep.

The following day, Amy was very quiet at breakfast. She tried not to look at him because his sight seemed to make her feel uncomfortable. He kept glancing at her, but she just didn't want to talk to him right now, and she hoped that he would leave her alone… just for now.

"Amy, I don't like it when you ignore me. I don't know what's wrong with you, but if it's about last night then I have to tell you that it's perfectly normal that when two people like each other, they want to be close to each other too! So don't act like that, ok ?" he said in a brash but sweet tone. In the afternoon, an elderly man whom Joshua had invited came into the house.

"Amy, this is your teacher. He will come every day now to teach you." Michael introduced her to an elderly man with a big stomach and gray hair. He looked like he was someone's grandfather but not a teacher. His clothes were old, and he didn't look like the type of person that Michael would have spent his time with, but it seemed like he knew him pretty well because they were talking about past stories.

She looked at the many books he had brought with him. "I thought I was going to a real school," she interrupted their conversation. Michael looked at her so that she wasn't sure if he was angry or questioning what she had just said.

After the gentleman left, Joshua called Amy over. "You can't go to school, Amy. It's too dangerous. People know me, and I have a lot of money. If they know you are mine, they could kidnap you. I don't want that. That's why I have to protect you. You are getting homeschooling."

"But… "Amy started saying.

"There are two rules that you will obey. The first is that you do what I tell you. The second is that you will never leave this property without me. Do you understand that?"

"But ..."