Cry For Help by Clara Lewis (year 7 reading list TXT) 📗

Jennifer paused. She looked absolutely hurt. Her had quickly dug in her purse and pulled the gun out.

“You take that thing to a school?” Evelynn gasped.

Jennifer didn’t hear her. She only stalked over and pointed the gun at Evelynn’s head. She grabbed Evelynn’s upper arm in a tight grip and pushed her in the direction of the basement.

“Get to the basement now.”

Evelynn walked over in front of Jennifer and closed her eyes when she felt the phone slip from within her dress. Immediately, she wrapped her hands around her waist. Jennifer frowned but said nothing. She brought the gun closer and pushed her into the basement.

Evelynn still had no shoes. On her feet were thin socks that were absolutely hopeless for the damp basement floors. Evelynn rubbed her arms as a cold gust of wind came in through the small windows.

“Sit.”

Evelynn sat and gasped when the cold floor touched her bare legs. Jennifer fetched the shackle as she kept the gun trained on Evelynn. The rusted metal clicked closed and Jennifer stood up.

She took a deep breath and walked back up the stairs. Evelynn held her breath. Jennifer would most likely come back with some sort of punishment. Evelynn had done nothing but push Jennifer and she must have had enough of Evelynn’s disobedience.

The moment that Jennifer slammed the basement door closed, Evelynn dug the phone out of her dress and looked at her notifications. Alec had sent her dozens of missed calls and messages.

Evelynn had no time to look through all of them. She turned on her location and sent a message to Alec.

At Jennifer’s house. Send backup.

She quickly stuffed the phone back into her dress, just in time for Jennifer to come back with a belt. Evelynn couldn’t help but scoot back until her back hit the wall. Jennifer gave her a sad smile.

“I didn’t want to do this,” she said , “but you have to learn.”

Evelynn shook her head.

“I think three lashes would do.” Jennifer said, more to herself than to Evelynn.

“None would be preferable.” Evelynn retorted.

Jennifer gave her a glare.

“Turn around.”

Evelynn refused to do so. Jennifer huffed and roughly pushed her. It was all Evelynn could do to curl herself into a ball on the floor and close her eyes as Jennifer dealt out her punishment.

Each strike felt like fire. It was only three, but the pain got worse with each swing that landed on her back. However, Evelynn refused to make a noise. She had a feeling that if she did, Jennifer would take that as asking for more.

Judging from the wounds Evelynn had sustained when she woke up and her encounter with the baseball bat, Jennifer had a heavy hand.

In the midst of the chaos, the phone flew out of Evelynn’s dress and clattered loudly on the floor. Jennifer’s eyes followed the phone and her gaze turned deadly. Evelynn closed her eyes and shielded her head with her arms. No strike came.

Jennifer simply walked over and picked up the phone then hurled it against the wall. The screen cracked and the light eventually flickered and died. Evelynn bit her lip and hoped that Alec had gotten her message.

Jennifer lowered the belt and calmed down. Evelynn sat herself up and winced as the coarse material of her dress rubbed against her new welts. Jennifer came closer and got down on her knees. They were now at eye level. Despite that, Evelynn flinched away. Jennifer brushed a stray hair away from her face.

Jennifer looked at her with different eyes. This was no longer the Jennifer who called her Emily. This was the woman who had attacked her in the piano room for not being her real daughter.

“How did you know about the other girls?” Jennifer asked, her voice as sweet as honey.

“I- I guessed at first.” Evelynn said.

Jennifer stared at her, expecting more. Evelynn had found out more. Once she had recognized the wounds on Emily’s body weren’t because “she tripped and fell down the stairs” and that they were in fact signs of abuse, Evelynn had pointed a finger at Jennifer.

Although it was based on a hunch, Evelynn’s theories were proven eventually. At this point, she was a walking piece of evidence.

Jennifer finally realized that Evelynn wasn’t willing to say anything anymore. She stood up and brushed off her skirt.

“You’ll get no dinner tonight, not after what you did today.”

Evelynn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That was the last thing on her mind.

Chapter 9

Alec struggled to get the backup to drive to Jennifer’s house. She was a respected member of the community after all. It would make sense that any effort at getting a warrant was denied.

She had been gone for only twenty-four hours, but in the short time that he knew Evelynn, he could tell that she was stubborn. Enough so that he feared for her life.

He hadn’t slept a wink. He held his phone in a vice grip, checking constantly for a message from Evelynn.

“Hey man, I think you should just leave the case. Nothing good comes from stressing over something that’s essentially a cold case.”

Alec gritted his teeth. He decided to ignore the man.

He had started to doze off when his phone buzzed in his hand. He stood up abruptly causing his chair to fall over and skid on the floor. Heads turned but he didn’t care. He finally had something to show his boss.

The chief was on his way out. Alec intercepted his exit. In his hands he held the phone and a warrant.

“Please sir, I just need you to sign this.”

The chief looked down on him in irritation.

“I said no the first time, didn’t I now?”

Alec practically shoved the phone into his face. The chief’s face changed. He still couldn’t believe that Jennifer was capable of anything this horrendous, but Alec rejoiced that the chief started to doubt.

With a sigh, the chief signed the warrant and walked off.

Alec wasted no time. He rounded up a couple of the best men in the station and told