The Girl in the Attic

by Jon Athan

Abigail said, “I’d be so, so, so very happy to pay for my own phone if I could just get a job, but I can’t do that because you won’t let me work. So, you can’t sit there and act like you… like…”

You can’t go into our room while I’m showering and take my cell phone like that. Give it back. Now.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Frederick said. “Sit your bony ass down and eat.”

Omg????

After an amicable divorce from her husband a decade earlier, Cynthia had moved her daughters with her to New York City. And after several years of hardship, she fell in with the wrong crowd and developed an addiction to meth. After Cynthia’s fatal drug overdose a year earlier, Frederick regained full custody of his daughters and brought them back to Goldpine, a small town in Colorado.

“That’s bullshit. You’re a fucking janitor. You can’t teach us shit.”

Oop

The attic, she thought. He took her to the attic.

Since Cynthia had already purchased a cell phone for Abigail while she was alive, Frederick figured it was too late to protect his eldest daughter from the world.

Sydney noticed her sister’s sudden lethargy, but she couldn’t spot any injuries on her face, chest, arms, or legs. She couldn’t see most of Abigail’s torso, either, because of the towel wrapped around her body.

“You’re going to be fine. Life’s going to be great. It’s… It’s going to be great,” Abigail said. She grunted to clear her throat, then said, “I want you to do me a favor.” “What is it?” “Put on your headphones, play our favorite song, then turn around and close your eyes. Sleep, Syd. I want you to sleep and I want to… to listen to music with you.”

She's probably going to kill herself

The noose—made from her bedsheet—left a dark ligature mark on Abigail’s neck. The mark resembled a choker. The muscles in her neck had hemorrhaged, but her spine was still intact. Her eyes had been cracked open since the previous night.

I knew it

“Daddy’s sorry, baby. Wake up. Please, wake up,” Frederick said. He glanced over at Sydney and shouted, “Syd! Call 911!”

“Cool. Now get the fuck out of here and don’t come back unless you’re one hundred percent sure we’re not around.”

“See that house? The one with the attic? Stay away from that house. Stay off the lawn, don’t touch the fence, don’t even look in that direction.” “Why?” “That’s Mr. Chandler’s place. He’s an asshole. To be honest, I think he’s worse than Evan and his goons. Seriously, I know I’ve said this before, but for your own safety, stay away.”

He noticed the Chandler house was the only home on that street with security bars over the windows. The attic windows appeared to be boarded up, too.

She hated the attic and despised her father, but her sister’s death left her feeling depressed and sluggish. She didn’t care about her survival anymore.

Her father controlled the light through an application on his smartphone. It helped her keep track of the time. When the light was on, it was daytime. When it was off, it was nighttime. She didn’t know the date, though.

She wasn’t allowed to have a pillowcase or bedsheet due to Abigail’s suicide.

She got whiter and skinnier every month, and she had been locked in the attic for ten months now.

Wtf

He blamed the outside world for Abigail’s death, unwilling to take responsibility himself.

POS

it was still just a secret, unauthorized prison cell for an unsentenced inmate.

“Good. That’s very good. Now finish your meal. I’ll be back in 15 minutes for your bath.” “I don’t want a bath today.” As he walked away, Frederick said, “A clean girl is a good girl, Syd. I’ll be back in a bit.”

The same thought kept running through her mind: What if he molests me this time?

I’ve been saving up for a while now. I just wanted to let you–” Sydney neighed like a horse. Frederick lowered the jug of water and slitted his eyes at her. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Sydney met eyes with her father.

Omg this is soooo im trying not to laugh

‘Damn.’ It was the only word Seth could think of to say

Real

Before he could step away, he heard a lock on the other side of the door. Then he heard another lock—and another and another.

Although he trusted his parents, the knot of worry in his stomach tightened and grew. I’m not overthinking it, he thought. Something’s wrong. Something’s very wrong.

“He has her on lockdown,” Seth whispered as he examined the security bars on the windows. “She can’t leave. There’s no way out, but maybe… maybe there’s a way in.”

He caught a glimpse of Seth’s legs and he heard his hurried footsteps.

Omggggggg

“She’s in the attic. Holy shit, she’s really in the attic.”

The whoosh of the swing was followed by a loud whack as the paddle hit her behind.

Omggggg

Splinters stuck out of her butt cheeks, droplets of blood oozing out of the small puncture wounds.

She was afraid her father would beat her again if he heard her. Frederick had successfully instilled fear into her. At the same moment, a fierce hatred had begun to rankle in her heart.

If he struck her head, he could have given her a case of whiplash—and

Oh my

You’ve always been a mean man. Did a ‘boy’ turn you cold, too? Is that why you treated us so badly?”

“I don’t care about that. All I know is… your ‘mistakes’ killed my sister. Abby… She ki… killed herself because of you. It’s all your–” Frederick slapped her—a quick but strong strike. Her jaw popped and teeth clacked. Due to her father’s rough, calloused palm, Sydney felt like she had been hit with a brick.

DAMNNNNN

She felt like she was freezing to death. And since she hadn’t had anything to drink since the previous night, she was parched, too. She started licking the cold water off her arms and chest. It wasn’t enough to quench her thirst, so she lapped at the puddle of dirty bath water underneath her. Some of the bloody mucus from her nose landed in the puddle as well. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Omggg :(

Parents had a lot to fear—pedophiles, rapists, serial killers, pedophilic rapist serial killers, drugs, guns, the internet, and drugs and guns on the internet. And most of those fears were fueled by one thing: Losing track of their child’s whereabouts.

“So, you think Seth was prowling around in your backyard?” Melissa asked—half-offended, half-curious.

“My son didn’t step foot on your property. Like I said, we know better than that. He actually heard something out there, too. We think it was the cats, but, well, we’ll keep our eyes peeled.” Eyes on Seth, Frederick said, “Yes, I think that would be for the best. Fortunately, I have a very reliable home security system.

“Myself,” Sydney answered, tears welling in her eyes. “I’d say I wish I was dead, but… but I feel like I’m already dead. I just… I can’t remember when I died.”

“You’ll pay,” Sydney repeated, listening to the door’s locks.

Make him pay, she told herself while sniveling.

Can you imagine what he’s doing to Sydney if no one has seen her in a year?”

Seth said, “I can’t ignore this. I don’t want to be the type of person that… that pretends like everything’s fine. I don’t want to ignore her like the rest of the world ignores people like her. Help me help her.”

He reached into the duffel bag next to him and pulled out a clothing iron. He plugged it into an electrical outlet in the corner of the room and started heating it up, then he returned to the bed and crouched in front of his daughter.

Pls no

“And you are my property. And you will be my property until you are a full-grown, competent, respectful adult. In the meantime, I think those slave masters—despite their wickedness—had the right idea. I can’t rely on whippings to control you. I need to break you. I need to set an example so you’ll never try to run away or raise a hand at me again.”

He pressed the hot soleplate against the bottom of her left foot. Her skin sizzled, plumes of steam rising from her burnt skin. She hit the back of her head hard against the wall as she violently convulsed and screeched.

WAHATTTTTTT

Her right foot resembled the left now—red, pink, orange, yellow, white, bloody, meaty.

He closed the pliers over her index fingernail, wiggled it around, then pulled. The fingernail came off with a moist crinkling sound.

HUHHHHHHHH

He didn’t recognize her. He couldn’t even remember what she looked like before Seth and his family moved in next door.

Dude. You're seriously about to piss me off.