Page 1 of Unmasked Prophecy
PROLOGUE
"Hush now, Lily. If you don't stop crying, then I’ll have to go."
My voice is a whisper, barely louder than the ragged breaths tearing through the little girl in my arms. Stroking trembling fingers through her matted blonde hair, I beg my heart to slow down, to stop beating so damned hard. I don't have long — maybe half an hour, if I'm lucky, before someone comes looking.
The tent smells of mildew and dirt, and the broken cot she’s lying on creaks with every small movement. Lily, barely five years old, weighs next to nothing. Her tiny frame is lost beneath the filthy blanket that’s supposed to keep her warm. She shivers, her body hot with a raging fever, something I am praying I can break soon.
I fear if I don’t, it will claim her young, innocent life.
"Come on, sweet girl, just a little," I plead, reaching for the stale sandwich I managed to sneak in. "Just one bite."
She turns her face away, her cracked lips trembling. Tears streak dirt across her hollow cheeks. Her bright blue eyes, once beautiful, are now sunken. Such a beautiful child, sucked into a world I fear she will never escape. There doesn’t seem to be a way out for any of us, and it doesn’t matter what I do — they will always be there.
Lurking in the shadows.
Out there, beyond the fence that traps us all, Lily would have been removed from these monsters. She would have been placedinto the foster system, taken from the devils who call themselves her parents. But in here? In here, she’s just another soul my father claims willfind freedom through suffering.
They preach about salvation. About trials and faith. About sacrifice.
They use God like a shield for their cruelty.
They're not holy. They're monsters.
"No," Lily whimpers, clutching her stomach.
"Please, honey. For me," I whisper, stroking her hair away from her face, so I can better see her little features.
Her big, sunken blue eyes — so full of pain — lift to mine, and something in my chest cracks wide open. Maybe she knows. Maybe she understands as well as I do that there is no saving us. It won’t matter what we do; they will always have control. In this world, we belong to them. In this world, they own us.
Finally, she leans forward, taking a bite so small it will do nothing to nourish her. It's not enough, but it's something. I push gently, coaxing her into another, and another. Each bite feels like a victory, but I know it’s very likely she won’t keep it down long. I can only hope her body absorbs as much as it can before she brings it all back up again.
"My tummy hurts," she moans.
"I know, sweetheart. I know."
I reach into the pocket of my dress and pull out a tiny white pill, broken into pieces. Painkillers. Swiped from the forbidden stash that only the leaders of the cult have access to — supplies that are only forthe worthy. If my father ever found out, he wouldn't hesitate.
He'd hang me. Beat me bloody. Call it mercy.
But I'd do it again. A thousand times over.For her.
"Here, just a sip of water first," I murmur, lifting the cracked cup to her lips.
She sips, then chokes and sputters, gagging on the pill as I press it onto her tongue. Half of it ends up spat down the front of my dress. I’m not bothered; I can only hope that some of it went down, that it’s enough to break the fever currently taking over her already weak body.
"I know it tastes yucky," I soothe, wiping her mouth. "But it'll help."
Carefully, I lay her back, pulling the tattered blanket up to her chin. Her frail little body curls into itself. It kills me, and I wish that I could do something —anything— to free her from this world. The very moment Lily was born, I knew I had to protect her. Her parents never thought she was worth saving, and in this place, if you are weak, you are not worth anything.
Lily was always seen as weak — a frail baby, a broken child.
To them, if she dies, it’s because God didn’t believe she was worthy of living.
And so it will be.
"Should we sing your favorite song?" I whisper, blinking back tears.
She nods, a small, broken movement.
