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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/02321 on 2024-11-22 19:00:56+00:00.

( TW for child abuse )

I needed to mature fast after my mother passed away. My father took me and my little brother in. I was the one who got us ready for school, walked him to the bus, and every morning I would get to class on time. Planning meals with a limited budget was tricky. I made sure my little brother always had at least two meals a day. I wish it were three but the money simply wasn’t there. Due to scarifies my body didn’t grow properly. I was thirteen but appeared to be nine.

My father was rarely home. That suited me. One night he packed us in the back of his truck. It smelled terrible. I knocked aside fast-food bags jealous he was eating something we rarely got. This drive was different. He didn’t tell us where we were going. My brother was only six but he was smart enough not to ask questions. We drove for a long time. I felt sleepy but refused to drift off. Was he finally tired of us and decided to dump two poor kids at our aunt’s house? I dearly wished that was what happened that night.

He parked outside of an old rundown apartment building. I carried my sleeping brother as a pair of men outside eyed us. An urge to run started in the back of my mind. Soon I was being forced inside, the hallway reeking of old cigarette smoke. The walls of the long hallway were stained over the years and trash littered the ground. My arms burned from the strain but I refused to let go of the only family member I cared about.

We were led inside a dark room. Two men waited for us smoking in chairs across from a couch. I was shoved towards the empty seat. Carefully I put down Noah. He slept like a rock unaware he was no longer in the truck. I sat down next to him holding his small hand and studied the room. Aside from a table and the chairs, there was no furniture. I’ve never seen the other men before. My father appeared stressed. It was a new expression on his face.

“Are they good?” He asked the two men.

The younger one nodded towards the older man lighting another smoke. His grey hair was pushed back out of his face. I didn’t see his expression well in the dim light until he leaned over to study us. My skin crawled with his eyes on me. I swallowed hard fearing the real reason why we were there.

“Good enough.” He said in a deep voice that sounded like he had smoked a pack a day since he had been born.

The other man called for someone to bring in a bag from the other room. It landed in front of my father’s feet with a heavy thud. The zipper was half undone so I saw stacks of bills inside. A piece of paper was sticking out of the bag. He snatched it up quickly signing the bottom. My mouth grew dry. I knew what just happened. The man I once called a father had sold us. I was too scared to even protest. The room swam. This couldn’t be happening.

“There. Signed. I’m out of here.” He said and dropped the paper to lift the bag.

“Thank you. Oh, also one more thing.” The younger man said making my father pause.

With one swift motion, he pulled out a handgun and then fired once. A body collapsed to the floor. The sound woke my brother who started to tear up. He was confused and scared in a new place. But I was glad he didn’t see what I just did. The person who brought in the money walked back into the room again to retrieve the cash. My heart was beating out of my chest as I stared down at the lifeless body of the man who had just tossed us away.

Laughter started to fill the room. The smoker sounded like he had just watched the funniest thing he ever saw in his entire life. Within seconds we were grabbed by another stranger to be dragged away. We struggled, screamed, and cried. Our efforts meant nothing. We were manhandled into a small apartment with the door firmly locked. No matter how hard I pounded I could not get it open. I cursed my small body and I cursed my father. He got himself killed and now no one could save us.

Noah was crying hard. I needed to focus on him. I couldn’t do anything else. He was confused not understanding what just happened and I couldn’t explain it to him. I guided him to the small bathroom to get cleaned up. I didn’t dare risk using the dirty tub. Instead, I found a somewhat clean cloth to wash away his tears with warm water. Noah always acted much younger than he was in stressful situations. He was lucky that no one bullied him at school and he had a lot of friends. He kept asking me when our father would take us home. I had no answers and couldn’t even think of a lie.

There was a somewhat clean bed out in the main room. I checked it over for stains before I let him lay down for a while. We could do nothing but wait. I did look around for anything I could find to use as a weapon.

Back then I vaguely knew what an older man would want with a child. Bile rose to my throat with those thoughts. I would rather die than let anyone hurt poor Noah. He had already gone through enough in his short life.

The door opened a few hours later. My brain had already thought of a thousand different horrible possibilities. I decided to be the one to make the first move. I charged at the man, teeth, and nails out. Latching onto his arm I tried doing as much damage as possible. He didn’t even flinch. He easily took the back of my shirt collar to lift me off my feet and place the rabid child at the foot of the bed. He looked at his scratched arm with a raised eyebrow. In his other hand were a few bags of fast food.

“Good effort. Here, I got some Happy Meals for you two.”

He offered the food but I refused. Noah woke up from the noise and crawled behind me. I knew he was starving but smart enough to take anything from a stranger.

“I’m not going to eat that. You drugged it so you could do who knows what to us.” I snapped.

He still held out the bags while putting a hand on his hip. He wore a button-down dress shirt with the collar undone and grey pressed pants. If it wasn’t for his unkempt hair, I would have assumed he had a somewhat respectable job.

“I don’t need to drug you two to do anything. You’re tiny. Like bugs.” He raised two fingers in front of his eye pretending to squish us.

I scowled hating how true his words were. As a sign of good will he reached in the bag to pull out a burger. He ate it in two bites trying to prove he hadn’t drugged the meal. I can’t explain why, but I accepted the food. There was something about his expression and tone that made me trust him. He appeared so much different than how he acted in front of the others. I should be weary of him considering he had bought us. And yet I let Noah happily eat the offered Happy Meal. He sipped at his milk offering me some. I refused knowing he needed it more.

“What are you going to do?” I asked as I picked away at the fries.

“Nothing you assumed I was.” He commented.

I narrowed my eyes trying to see if he was lying. But what was the point of making us get our guard down? He was right about easily being able to overpower two small children.

“Finish your dinner, then we’ll talk.”

I watched him find a chair on the other side of the room to sit down. He flipped through some old newspaper to read passing the next few minutes. It was nice to have a full meal in my stomach. It would help me face whatever was going on. Noah soon fell asleep again. It had been a long time since he last got to eat so much. I made sure he was comfortable then got off the bed to face the stranger.

“What’s your name?” I asked him trying to sound like an adult instead of a child.

He had his chin on his palm, his grey eyes studying me in a way I didn’t like. For a moment he appeared old. Not just like the middle-aged man his body was but something far greater than anything else I’ve ever come across.

“Graves.” he finally said.

“Lame.” I replied rolling my eyes.

He laughed not offended by my comment. For some reason I felt like if I asked questions, he would treat me like we were equals. I rarely came across adults that listened to my questions let alone gave answers.

“Why did you buy us?” I got down to the most important part.

“Your father was in deep with a little gang. They wanted to use my services to take care of a rival leader problem. I cannot act unless I am given permission by a human and if I’m paid for my work. I asked for a child or two. Your father just so happened to have just the thing. He was fully paid fair and square.” he shrugged speaking as if he was talking about the weather and not what led to my father’s death.

I huffed with my arms crossed.

“Ok, but why do you want some children? Are you going to like, eat us?” I said sounding brave but deep down praying that wasn’t the case.

He paused and then reached into his pocket to pull out a Happy Meal toy. I had noticed one missing. It wasn’t my main concern so I didn’t bring it up.

“I wanted this. But do you know how embarrassing it is to get the toys when you’re not buying the meals for some kids? I swear the workers just know. I could never live it down.”

I stood stunned at his answer. He must be joking. He had to be. Was my father really killed over a stupid rivalry and a small hunk of plastic? He had never been a good man. I never expected him to change his ways. No, I wanted to be the one to ruin his life. To see him rot for what he had done to us. It felt like he had gotten the easy way out. I shook my head needing to put that all behind me to address a different important point.

“Are you…?” I started but found it impossible…

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