The Girl In The Rain

Upstairs in the master bedroom, Lily was crouched inside the dark walk-in closet, her back pressed against the wall behind a row of Michael's heavy winter coats. She held her teddy bear tightly against her chest, her small heart hammering so violently against her ribs she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Outside the bedroom door, heavy, wet footsteps echoed on the carpet.

"Lily? Sweetheart?" Laura's voice called out, sounding unsettlingly sweet, like a twisted lullaby. "I know you're in here, baby. Mommy came back for you. We're going on a trip, just the two of us!"

Lily clamped both hands over her mouth to muffle her terrified whimpers. She heard the handle of the master bedroom door rattle violently.

"Locked?" Laura's voice shifted back to an angry, frantic screech. "Michael locked you in? Don't worry, baby, Mommy will open it!"

A loud, splintering crash echoed through the hallway as Laura rammed her shoulder against the wooden bedroom door. The cheap interior lock gave way with a sharp snap, and the door burst open, slamming against the wall.

Lily shrank further into the dark corner of the closet, pulling the coats around her.

Through the crack in the closet door, she watched as her mother stepped into the brightly lit bedroom. Laura was covered in rain and mud, her clothes torn, her face a terrifying mask of sweat and smeared makeup. She looked nothing like the mother Lily remembered.

"Where are you, Lily?" Laura whispered, turning around slowly in the center of the room. Her eyes scanned the bed, the desk, and finally locked onto the wooden doors of the walk-in closet.

A terrifying smile spread across Laura's face. "Found you."

She strode across the carpet and yanked the closet doors open.

Lily let out a sharp scream as the light hit her face.

"Come to Mommy!" Laura reached in with both hands, grabbing Lily by her arms and pulling her violently out of the closet.

"No! Let me go! Daddy! DADDY!" Lily shrieked, kicking her feet frantically and trying to pull away, but Laura's grip was fueled by a desperate, maniacal strength.

"Be quiet!" Laura snapped, slapping a strip of heavy duct tape over Lily's mouth to muffle her screams. "I'm your mother! You are coming with me!"

She scooped the struggling nine-year-old into her arms, pinning Lily's body against her torso, and turned toward the bedroom doorway.

Standing in the doorway was Michael.

He was pale, his hands shaking from the residual effects of the stun gun shock, and blood dripped from a cut on his forehead where he had hit the counter. But his eyes were burned with an absolute, terrifying rage that transcended physical pain.

"Drop... my... daughter," Michael said, his voice dropping into a low, murderous growl.

Laura froze, clutching Lily tightly against her chest like a shield. "Get out of my way, Michael! If you step toward me, I'll jump out this second-story window with her!"

"You won't make it to the window," Michael said, taking a slow, deliberate step into the room.

"I mean it!" Laura screamed, backing up toward the window frame. "She's my child! You stole her from me!"

"You gave her up the night you left her alone in the dark to break a rock through a cop car!" Michael roared, closing the distance between them in a flash.

Laura raised the stun gun to strike Michael again, but this time Michael was ready. He grabbed her wrist with his left hand, squeezing with immense force until the bones groaned.

Laura shrieked in pain, her fingers opening, dropping the stun gun to the carpet.

Simultaneously, Michael reached around with his right arm, wrapping it securely around Lily's waist and pulling his daughter free from Laura's grasp. He set Lily down behind him on the carpet.

"Run downstairs, Lily! Out the front door!" Michael shouted.

With her mouth taped shut, Lily couldn't speak, but she understood. She scrambled to her feet and sprinted out of the bedroom, hurtling down the stairs as fast as her small legs could carry her.

Laura, realizing her prize was escaping, went completely savage. She lunged at Michael, her fingernails clawing violently at his face, digging bloody furrows across his cheek.

"I'll kill you!" Laura screamed, turning into a whirlwind of desperate violence.

Michael absorbed the clawing, ducked under her frantic arm swings, grabbed Laura by her jacket collar, and executed a heavy sweep of her feet.

Laura crashed hard onto her back on the hardwood floor of the hallway, the wind knocked completely out of her lungs in an explosive gasp. Before she could recover, Michael pinned her arms beneath his knees, securing her firmly to the floor.

Downstairs, Lily threw open the front door and ran out onto the rain-soaked lawn.

Just as she reached the driveway, two police cruisers came screaming around the corner, their tires screeching on the wet pavement, emergency lights illuminating the rainy afternoon in red and blue.

Officer Olivia Price threw her door open before the car even came to a complete stop, running full speed toward the breathless, terrified child.